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I am still about! I don't seem to get email notifications for this thread (except this time). I haven't been active in my genealogy for a while, but I am always interested if people arrive with new information. Hi! emesar.

No Douglas ''created'' my family , what they did ''create'' was trouble for their self , and then they merely used our name to  not have any more trouble , if there is any truth to the document  at all.......
Also  I wonder why the Johnstones have no record of this beef with their own spin on it ?. if they do I havent found it yet ....

I am aware of the earlier existence of our name, and my above post was a response to the question posted about the name change.

Since first reading the story of the errant Douglas family I have spent many spells trying to find supporting evidence, and other than the Drysdale name springing up in the Clackmannan, Dollar and Dunfermline area, there doesn't seem to be anything to be found.

Looking first at the story:

I have looked at many old maps, some about 300 years old, and after scouring the length of the River Dryfe and its valley, I found no trace of Brushwood Haugh or Greenstone Hill. If they existed, at the time of the story the chances are that at least one of the names would have survived until the late 1700s/early 1800s. There was nothing similar to be found anywhere on the old maps.

By 1503, Edinburgh had been established as the capital, yet the story mentions that a record of the fracas had been carried to the king and of the tocsin being sounded. I assume that a journey from Dryfesdale to Holyrood would have taken some time back then, and for a Royal Decree to be brought back, we would probably be talking about 4 to 7 days. The story reads as though the situation developed maybe overnight.

So what happens when these Douglas brothers decide to flee from the King's wrath? They head northeast towards Edinburgh and then into a part of Fife that would be on one of the routes from Edinburgh to Stirling Castle. The story in fact mentions the King passing through on just such a journey.

On the balance of probabilities, I think the story may have been wildly exaggerated or even totally fabricated.

However: It is true that a strong branch of the Drysdales sprang up in Clackmannan/Dollar area and this is where my family came from.

Can anyone please assist with information on the above change of family name which I believe was
recorded in the Dunfermline press on 30 Sept.,1863?

This is the story that I always hear about the origin of my family name:

http://cdsna.squarespace.com/drysdale/

Hi Andrew. I am afraid I don't have any information to link James to my Teesdale and Langleydale ancestors. One of my many-greats uncles lived at Snow Hall in Gainford and there is some history here:

http://familyrecords.dur.ac.uk/nei/NEI_snowhall.pdf

If you scroll down to page 10 and look at the pencil drawing, you will see a family coat of arms on the building, with a chevron and three stars. The chevron and three items seems to be a common feature of the many variations of Rayne crest I have seen.

Sorry I missed your posts mwr, but I don't think the email notification is working for me on this thread.

That is another coincidence, as I know that the house or estate at Clifton Reynes was at one time called Sweet Shipley. It is all rather frustrating.

Thanks for the extra info.