A Castle, A Clan, and A Connection

Jim and Lynn at Urquhart Castle c. 1989

Sometimes a place calls us to it and we don’t learn for decades later why! 

For me, the place is Urquhart Castle on Loch Ness, close to Inverness Scotland. In 1988-89, my boyfriend (now husband), Jim and I studied our junior year abroad at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland. In addition to our travels to Europe during winter break and around the UK during spring recess, we took day trips and long weekends organized by the exchange program. At least twice that year, we visited Urquhart Castle. I’m sure that the infamous Loch Ness was one reason, but a love of castles was another. 

The Castle

Urquhart Castle, like most castles in the UK, has a long and storied past. For those interested, please visit the official historic website. There are many beautiful photographs of the location, far better than my (over) 35 year old digitized photos can provide!

 

Sometime after we were married, we happened upon a vintage image of what we thought was Urquhart Castle. I think we found it on our trip back to Scotland in 1999. We didn’t get that far north on that trip to Scotland but we must have picked it up on our travels. We liked it enough to have it framed and it has been hanging prominently in our house on a kitchen wall for decades. In researching for this blog, I learned that the image is actually a copy of a vintage engraving from 1895 printed in a book called Souvenir of Scotland: Its Cities, Lakes, and Mountains One Hundred and Twenty Chomo Views. Who knew?!

The Clan

There was also a clan named Urquhart who resided in the region. Both Urquhart Castle and the Clan Urquart were named for the Celtic word “Airchart”, which is a region now called Cromarty, just about 25 miles north of Inverness. The research that I read suggests that the Clan Urquart was not affiliated with Urquhart Castle, they were both just named after Airchart. So maybe it was more of a draw to the area and not really the castle?

The Connection

About 10 years ago as I was investigating my great-grandmother (Cora Viola Orcutt–the one whose Irises I have in my yard), I learned that the name Orcutt is a version of Urquhart that shows up in America. My great-aunt, Helen Tubbs Judson (my genealogy angel), researched the Orcutt Family and identified who she thought was the immigrant. That was William Orcutt (1618-1693) and his wife Mary Lane (1646-1693). There is some question about Mary, as it seems he might have had more than one wife and possibly more than one wife named Mary. There is documentation, though, that they had a son named William in 1664 in Bridgewater, Plymouth, Massachusetts, where William died. William Orcutt was born in Fillongley, North Warwickshire Borough, Warwickshire, England. In some information I found, it appears that there were Orcutt’s who migrated to England before heading to the “new world”.

Why now?

Why did I have a renewed interest in Urquhart Castle and the Clan Urquhart? Well, as I was investigating lineage societies recently, I came across Clan Urquhart Association, a lineage society open to anyone who can trace their name back to an Urquhart, Orcutt (as well as Cromartie and Cromarty)! The one-time fee of $20 would get me a membership card, two newsletters a year, and invitations to international gatherings of the Clan. The organization was established in 1976 to help promote awareness and preserve the history and heritage of the Clan. There is still also a Chief of the Clan. I haven’t decided if I am going to try to join, but I may invest in some article of clothing with the Clan’s tartan, which I find quite appealing! And just maybe I will wear it sometime when I’m back in Scotland and visit my family’s long ago homeland near Urquhart Castle?