Having read some of the posts for Fasham Nairn, i have a direct interest now in the NEARNS - NEARNES - NAIRNS of County Kent , England.
My Nairn Family Ancestors came from County Sligo in Ireland , where my Gt Grandfather David John Nairn(1871- 1933) came from.
The Earliest mention of Nairns/ Nearns in Co Sligo , is that of a John Nairn & wife , in 1749.Havent been able to find any Nairns before this date & id always pondered on when & how they came to be there in 1749 ?Theories included ,they arrived with various Armies from Scotland/ England, & that they may have escaped after Culloden to Ireland as some escaped to the Continent after 1746.
I now have a DNA Link for The Nairns of Sligo that links them back to County Kent in the mid 18th century, to a David Nairn who married Hannah Gibbs in Westbere , Kent 20 July 1754.
From a little research ive found ''English'' Nairnes in Co Kent from at least the Early 1600s.As far as the Scottish Chiefly House goes the Nairnes were staunch Stewart Supporters from at least the time of Robert Third , King of Scotland. David Nairne of the House of Sandford, Fifeshire spent his entire Career as a Jacobite in French exile, being a Courtier to the Stuarts in Exile at St Germaine en laye, near Paris, and the Lords Nairne of the House of Nairne , Perthshire were Jacobites , John, 3rd Lord Nairne escaped to France after Culloden where he & his sons lived in exile.Several Sons were Officers in the French Army , but others were in the British army , so there were divided loyalties within the Clan.
The Nairns/Nearns apparently first arrived in Londonderry in Plantation times , ie 1609 onwards.records for Early Nairns in Ireland are very few !, but i have found ''Heraldic evidence'' for where some of the Earliest Nairns came from !. Burkes General armoury 1895 - NEARN (Reg,Ulsters office) IRELAND Az.a Griffin rampant.holding in each paw a key all or. The ''Crest'' being - a Lions head erased or.
NEARNE (Co Kent) Quarterly or and az. four Lions Heads erased counterchanged.
Both these are very different from the Nairns of Scotlands , Chaplet, but we still see the use of ''Counterchanging'' with NEARNE OF KENT which is The Scottish Nairns Heraldic system !
Both NEARN & NEARNE are variants of Nairn & Nairne.
One of the Co Sligo Nairn Families was still using ''NEARN' as their Family Surname well into the 20th century.