1901 The Jamesons in America 1647-1900; Genealogical Records Gunn Family History

The Jamesons in America 1647-1900;
Genealogical Records and Memoranda

By E. O. Jameson

Published in Boston and printed by The Rumford Press, 1901. First Edition. Scarce. Hardback, original cloth binding with gilt titles, 4to (27.5 x 20cm), pp xvi, 599. Profusely illustrated with photographic portraits of members of the Jameson family, as well as showing some of their residences.

CONDITION
A very good first edition of this scarce family history. The cloth binding is in very good condition as can be seen in the images provided. Endpapers are very good. All contents present and all pages very clean throughout. No writing or names to the book. Overall a very clean and well-preserved first edition.

FROM THE INTRODUCTION
The Jamesons in America have all come from a common ancestry in Scotland. Some of their ancestral immigrants came to America directly from their Scotland homes, while others first passed over into Ireland, and they or their descendants at length found their way across the seas to this coun try. As to the origin and history of the Jamesons in Scotland, casting aside all shadowy and unverified traditions, and studying the extant history and literature of that country, we are quite confirmed in the assurance that the Jameson name had its origin in a Highland clan, The Clan of Gunn. A gentleman who visited Scotland, and made this matter a subject of special investigation and study, writes as follows of the Clan History of the Jamesons:

"There is no doubt," he says, " that the first appearance of the Jamesons in Scotland was in the extreme north of that country; more specifically, in what is now Sutherland and Caithness, where they were members of the Clan Gunn. The best authorities agree that the founders of this clan were Norsemen, but the accounts of their settlement in Scotland are so varied that it is perhaps best to give extracts from various publications bearing on the subject."

The following is from a volume in the public library of Edinburgh, Scot-land. Its title is, Clans of the Highlands of Scotland, by Thomas Smibert, published in 1850 by James Hogg, Edinburgh, and David Robertson, Glasgow:

CLAN GUNN, GUN, OR GUIN. A very curious document exists regarding the origin of the Clan Ross. In fact, there are three papers, in one of which the genealogist calls the first Gunn one of three brethren, Guin, Leod, and Leandois (Ross), who came out of Denmark to the north parts of Scotland to follow their fortune, and Guin took possession of the braes of Cath-nes, where his posterity remains to this day, called the Clan Gunn.

The name Gunn is Gaelic or Celtic, and has certain meanings. As a substantive, guin signifies fierceness, a pain, a dart, a wound; as a verb, to wound, to pierce, to sting, etc.

The Gunns are represented as living to the north of Dunrobin Castle, which is on the east coast of Sutherlandshire, and they had a chieftain of their own name, and a castle of their own called Halbury. MacKames (which means Macjames or Machamish) seems to be the oldest sept name of the Gunns the conclusion being that they are true Celtic High-landers. It is clear from this whole and rather confused story that the Gunns had been a branch of the purest aborigines of the north. It strikes me that they are perhaps among the very purest remnants of the Gael to be found about Sutherlandshire and the adjoining parts.

The following is quoted from the "Clans of the Scotch Highlands" by R. R. Maclan, published in 1845 by Ackerman Co., London. This book is found in the public library, Edinburgh.

CLAN NAN GUINNAICH OR GUNNS. The Gunns were in the North, the counterpart of the MacGregors in the South. Although not numerous, they were most martial and resolute, and the appellation by which they were distinguished is very indicative of their general character. "Guinneach' signifies sharp, keen, fierce, and was, doubtless, imposed as descriptive of their known or imputed disposition. The genealogical derivation of the clan is from Guin, second son of Olans or Ollar the Black, king of Man and the Isles, who died in the year 1237. County of Caithness was originally the seat of this hardy clan.

(Location  : Scotland, Top Shelf)