Drysdale connections to Robert the Bruce - Bruce of Lynn Mill, Clackmannanshire

[Ronald Drysdale]

Robert the Bruce (11 July 1274 – 7 June 1329) - King of Scotland

There is no confirmed number for the exact number of living descendants of Robert the Bruce, but statisticians and genealogists estimate there are likely hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people alive today who can trace their ancestry back to him.

Given that he died nearly 700 years ago, the number of potential descendants across approximately 28 generations is vast. This number is so large that many people with deep ancestral roots in the British Isles are likely related in some way, even if they are unaware of it.

Obviously you don't have to be called Bruce to be a descendant

Drysdale connections

In other pages on this website, a number of connections between the Bruces of Annandale and the Drysdales from Dryfesdale, in the period 1200-1450, are noted, and, although there are no specific records of family ties surviving from those times, it is probable that intermarriage between members of the Drysdale, Jardine, Bois and Bruce families occured. The Drysdale family arms display/incorporate the arms of the Bruce Clan like many other of the prominent Annandale families of that era.  

When parish Churches started keeping BMD records, around the end of 1500s, it became possible to trace lines back to family members with Bruce ancestry.

The earliest formal records of a Drysdale/Bruce connection occur in Clackmannanshire where a family of Drysdales seem to have had close ties with the Bruce family of Lyn Mill.

Margaret Drysdall born 1597 to John Drysdale & Margaret Bruce a...

In the 1599 Will below, for David Dryisdail in Gartfynnane, Clackmannanshire, his son, Johne Dryisdail, is mentioned [see above - married to Margaret Bruce, daughter of Robert Bruce elder of Lynmill] together with 2 Members of the Bruce family:
- Thomas Bruce in Linn Mill became cautioner.
- Debts owed to the deceased by Jhone Bruce, miller in the Lynmyln [Linn Mill], 20 pounds

David Dryisdaill of Gartfynnane Clackmannanshire & family - Wil...

Ref: Collections towards a history of the county of Clackmannan By W. Downing Bruce

Ref: https://www.brucefamily.com/lineage.htm

[Genealogy of Bruce of Lyn mill]

Sir David Bruce, 7th Baron of Clackmannan, who married Janet Blackadder daughter of Sir Patrick Blackadder of Tulliallan.
They had 5 sons: John, Edward, Robert, David, Patrick; 4 daughters: Elizabeth, Mariot, Agnes, and Allison.
John, predeceased his father, leaving a son - Sir Robert, 8th Baron of Clackmannan
Edward, of Blairhall and Easter Kennet (1505 - 1565). He married Allison/Cristina Reid and had 4 sons and two daughters.
Patrick, of Green and Valleyfield in Perthshire in 1542 m. Margaret Falconer.
Robert, of Lynmiln. He had a son, Robert and a daughter, Marjorie.

David, of Green. Had a son, Archibald, ancestor of the Bruces of Kennet.
Alison, m. Sir James Colville of Easter Wemyss.
Elizabeth, m. 1st Alexander Dundas of Fingask and 2nd to Robert Collace of Balnamoon.
Mariot, m. 1st sir Robert Bruce of Airth and 2nd to Marcus Sinclair of Carberry.
Agnes, m. Sir James Cunningham of Polmaise.

More to come........

Best regards

[William Douglas]

David, of Green married off his daughters well!

[Ronald Drysdale]

1365 - Earliest reference to Lynn Mill and the Bruce family in Clac...

[Ronald Drysdale]

Some further Drysdale/Bruce connections from the late 1500s & 1600s

ScotlandsPeople marriages and births before 1700:

Also the Familysearch publication "ROYAL ANCESTORS OF SOME LDS FAMILIES" gives a number of family lines

-  one of which includes Drysdales in the line (my ancestors incidentally)

One other interesting possibility is the 1618 Clackmannan marriage of Patrik Drysdal (in Dollar) to a Nance Wryght (in Forest).

I think it quite likely that this Nance Wryght was the daughter of one John Wryght who was born in 1575 and married in Clackmannan to Janet Bruce (in Kershill) in 1594. Also there is a record for a 1595 birth of a John Wryght in Clackmannan with Jhone Wryght as father & Janet Bruce mother (witness Robert Bruce younger in Lynmill).

Note also the relationship of "Robert Bruce, millar of Lindmill [Linn Mill], and Agnes Wright, his spouse, of the houses and lands of Lindmill" which is mentioned in an image above.

https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/31003324069?pro...

Final point: The father/daughter relationship between John Wryght and Nance Wryght  (and thus Patrik Drysdale's connection to the Bruce line) could not be confirmed from available records, only inferred.

Best regards

[Ronald Drysdale]

This should have been included with previous post

[Russell Lynn Drysdale]

Work well done Ronald !

[William Douglas]

William Bruce, born 1538, son of Edward Bruce and Alison Reid is a bit of an engima.

I show him as a priest - which does not mean he cannot marry and have cildren, but other sources show him dsp

eg William of Cothill and Collestoune (dsp before 24.05.1609, priest)   Source:  Stirnet

He was a priest at Kinloss Abbey, Kinloss, Morayshire, Scotland. He died in 1609.

WILLIAM BRUCE OF COTHILL
Evidence from the National Records of Scotland
1 1587: Tack by Walter, abbot of Kinlos [Kinloss], and the convent thereof to William Bruce, brother of Robert Bruce of Blairhall, of the teinds of half the town and lands of Tillimad [Tillymaud] in the parish of Ellone [Ellon]. [Seal] National Records of Scotland, Lord Forbes, Lord Forbes, reference GD52/1714

2 April 1595: Tack by Mr. Edward Bruce, commendator of Kinlos, to William Bruce, his brother, of the small teinds of vicarage of parish of Allane, in sheriffdom of Aberdene, for 19 years. National Records of Scotland, Erskine family of Cardross, Perthshire, reference GD15/880

Nothing here is proven - just research notes.

[Ronald Drysdale]

Hi William, 

Many thanks for this input.

It allows me to say that, in my opinion, Bruce family Genealogy is in a bit of mess, they don't really have anything like the Douglas Archives, and there is no other single definitive or authoritative source for early Bruce family records.

As far as Bruce family lines are concerned I've frequently come across one seemingly impeccable source for a person only for it to be wholly contradicted by another totally impeccable source.

In this case the birth date of 1538 for William Bruce has been assumed (no records) but I don't think he was a priest who dsp - see below!

In theory, the new Red Book of Scotland was supposed to provide some clarity and be the 'go to' source for genealogists, but obviously where records don't exist, the info isn't provided, however this publication does show that William had issue:

Best regards