Sutherland and Caithness in Saga-Time; or, The Jarls and The FreskynsGray, James
History
Sutherland and Caithness in Saga-Time; or, The Jarls and The Freskyns
Gray, James
Caithness (Scotland) -- History; Freskin family; Sutherland (Scotland) -- History
A century or more after the death in 1231 of Earl John, we find
Reginald Chen III, known as Morar na Shein or "Lord" Schen, in
possession of a moiety of the Caithness earldom, without the title,
and living in Latheron and Halkirk parishes, while the other moiety
was held by the Caithness Earls of the line of Angus, and in 1340 we
find Reginald More, Chamberlain of Scotland, ancestor of the Crichton
or Sinclair Earls of Caithness, acquiring from Malise II, one of the
Stratherne Earls of Caithness and a descendant of the line of Paul
and also of the line of Erlend, part of south Caithness (including
Berridale), which therefore Reginald Chen III did not then own or
acquire, though he owned half Caithness. But Reginald Chen III did
acquire Berridale and other lands later in David II's reign according
to _Origines Parochiales_, II, p. 764.
Now it is known from other sources that Reginald Chen III was a
grandson of Johanna of Strathnaver, the mysterious lady of unrecorded
parentage already referred to, who owned land in "Strathnauir," and
who was dead in 1269, and who had married, at a date which we hope to
fix, Freskin de Moravia, Lord of Duffus, then also dead, and had
had by him two daughters, Mary and Christian, who were married
respectively to Reginald Chen II and William de Federeth I (whose sons
respectively were Reginald Chen III and William de Federeth II)
and these ladies succeeded each to one fourth of Caithness; and a
grant,[17] which was made in David II's time by William de Federeth II
in favour of Reginald Chen III, placed him in possession of William de
Federeth II's quarter of Caithness. Reginald Chen III thus had all the
half share of Caithness which was held by his grandmother, Johanna of
Strathnaver. We also know that by another grant in 1286[18] William
de Federeth I had already conveyed to Reginald Chen II four davachs of
land in Strathnaver and all his other lands there; and, besides these
grants, we have authentic record in May 1269, which recites that Lady
Johanna had before that date granted a considerable part of her lands
in Strathnaver to the Bishop of Moray for the maintenance of two
chaplains to minister in the Cathedral of Elgin.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account