Hello

I'm new to this forum (this is my first post)
I have been researching my family for a while and have been more successful with some lines, than others. I have come to a halt with Ralph Pentland and after searching this forum for the Pentland name, it looks as though there are far more Pentlands in Ireland than in Scotland! I'm beginning to wonder if he had come from Ireland (for work maybe?) Do any of you have tips on searching for people emigrating between Ireland and Scotland?
Some background: All I know of Ralph Pentland is that he married Mary McGowan and was a cab driver. Their son William John Pentland was born in 1833 in Bothwell (that's how I have the parents' names). Scotland's People doesn't seem to have anything, even in parish records.
As an aside, the name Ralph has come totally out of the blue after successive generations of Johns, Williams and Josephs and I'm also curious as to how it would have been pronounced in that part of Scotland at that time.