SCOTTISH. NAMES.

Press, Volume LXVII, Issue 20171, 25 February 1931, Page 13

SCOTTISH. NAMES.

<lO ' THIS : IDITOB . OB THE f BESS. Sir, —The letter of "Scottie" in your issue oi February 18th has aroused my interest .in a. study also ; related to Forfarshire—or rather, as one . should now say, Angusahirje, since the ancient name has been revived officially: To take the name "Glamis." I have < always' understood the correct pronunciation to be aB "Scottie" gives it, that .is, to rhyme with "Psalms." And now:, the study to which I have referred is the derivation of two old Angusshire names to be found in the Earldoms of Minto and Dalhousxe. These two names -are Melgund unci Kynynmond. . In ,the. first instance the Earl of Minto is also Viscount Melgund. ana .his eldest son adopts this .title by courtesy. But just how this name originated X .have been iquite unabje to discover, in spite of a most extensive search. The nearest I have been able to get to it is that it has been derived from the name of Maule, once the most powerful family in Angus-shire-r-who owned • vast estates, part of which became the ''lands of Melgund." The ultimate line of descent of this once great family is the Earldom of Dalhousie (family name, Ma'uleitamsityr). Alexander Robert MauleRamsay, a brother of the present Earl, married Princess Patricia, daughter of i the Duko of Connaught. ' | But 1 in the second instance, that or the naitae Kynynmond,. I. have been , quite enable to get eren'-Tas far as that. The full family - name of the Earl of; Minto'is Eliott Murray Kynynmond* The first Earl adopted this name from his grandfather—Hugh Dalrymple Murray Kynynmond,- on his mother's side. But just how this, queer name -came about, or' what it tppans, seems to Jje .wrapt in /silent mystery. There is no possible trace of it in any other family of the, nobility, and as for gazetteers, they-are even 'more confusing, for they give a variety of similar names, none . of which, fit-in with the t family,of Eliott." .For", instance, Kininmonth, is in.; Aber-, [ dcenshire;, but, so' far as I* have been | ab]e„to ( gather the familv of- Eliott has always t>een associated' with Roxburgh-' i shire and ' 1 I should be slewed if any of,-jour

readers .could elucidate this puzzle. Thanking you, Sir. for your kind as-sistance-in the matter. —Yours, etc.," . R. MELGUND THOMSON. Auckland/ February .20th, 1931.