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Locations of the Orrs. Did
we begin in Kirkcudbrightshire ?
It is likely that the Orrs took their name from a parish in
the south west of Scotland which is to some extent
substantiated by the existence of the Parish of Urr (Pre
1975 Parish ref.884 in Dumfries and Galloway Region ) to
the north west of the town of Dalbeattie. Around the 11-12C it became
practice for people, particularly land owners and gentry at Court, to
add the location of their home and property to their names. Landmarks and
specific locations were similarly named . There is
the earthwork called the Motte of Urr nearby, and several
other Urr features - Urr Water which flows to the sea from
Loch Urr, Haugh of Urr and the Old Bridge of Urr. Go to this page
The Land of Urr in the Stewartry
of Kirkcudbrightshire for my thoughts on our
origins.
The 12th
century Motte of Urr is said to
be the most extensive motte and bailey castle in Scotland.
Its position in the valley of Urr Water is not especially
commanding from a military standpoint now but in its day
was probably a more dominant feature and may well have
been built on the site of an Anglo Saxon fort. Excavation
at the top showed that the topmost 2 metres had been added
after a 12th century fire had destroyed timber fences and
houses. Coins and pottery indicate that there had been
occupants until the 14th century.
The
earliest records show the lordship of Urr in the
possession of Walter de Berkeley (died ca 1194) who was
Chamberlain to King William I. Two witnesses to a Balliol
of Urr Charter of 1262 were described as burgesses of Urr,
but how long it lasted is not known. The region itself was
close to many of the Border Reiver families and an area of
ongoing conflict with England, - perhaps the settlement
was caught up in those events.
It is of
interest that the run of the river valleys is generally
north west- south east and this would have influenced
communications, trade and migration - leading to Ayrshire,
Renfrewshire and Lanarkshire, where Orrs are to be found
in number in later centuries. Dalry is about 20 miles and
Dalmellington about 35 miles north west of Dalbeattie; and
the nearby Nithsdale route runs from Dumfries to
Kilmarnock , Lanarkshire, and to the River Clyde and
Glasgow.
Lochwinnoch
Lochwinnoch
is a small town in Renfrewshire on the side of a Barr Loch
and Castle Semple Loch. Just 4 miles south of Lochwinnoch
in Ayrshire, is Kilbirnie which faces the town of Beith
across Kilbirnie Loch, and Dalry is about 3 miles further
south. These are the parishes in which the Orr name
appears time and time again.
Andro
Crafurd [ Andrew Crawford ] wrote ( ca 1836 ) in his notes
for "The Cairn of Lochwinnoch " : "Lochwinnoch was the
headquarters of the Orrs for above 500 years " and that
Orrs were tenants of Paisley Monastery since the 1300s.
Although the period from then to ca 1700 is vague there is
a rich vein of Orr ancestry to mine in the locality as
shown by the Orr residents listed in
Fowlers
Directory 1831/1832. The main occupation was farming
and it is there we find some significant family records of
the Orrs of Risk and Kaim farms.
Shall we go to Ireland ?
There was
much change in Scotland and Ireland as the populations
moved about driven by political, economic and religious
pressures. In Scotland there were a number of campaigns to
force clearance of areas conducted directly by the English
Crown and also by substantial landowners evicting the
residents of all persuasions whether Highlander, Lowlander or Border people. In 1513
Henry VIII defeated James IV of Scotland at Flodden Field
and there followed years of disruption and war as Henry
sought control including the defeat of James V at Hadden
Rig near Berwick in 1542, and the `rough wooing ` in 1544
and 1545 which drove the population out of southern
Scotland. The accession of James VI of Scotland as James I
of England in 1603 merged the two crowns and led to
further political and especially religious pressures that
had a direct impact on migration to Ireland.
Life was
difficult rather than dangerous for the Presbyterians
under James VI/I but became more deadly with Charles I and
his drive to impose his supremacy and episcopacy ( the
rule of bishops) on the Kirk. Rebellion in Ireland in 1641
saw a reverse flow of refugees that hard pressed the
mainland Scots who had to cope with a huge influx of
essentially charitable causes. The firm hand of Cromwell
in 1649 -1650 saw some further disruption and reallocation
of land in Ireland while the Irish bishops continued to
harass the Presbyterians. The persecution that really
drove the Scottish Presbyterians to Ulster followed from
the Restoration of Charles II in 1660 through to the
`Killing Time` in 1685. But we get ahead of ourselves.
It should
be remembered that the West Coast of Scotland has very
many lochs and two belts of islands; the Inner and Outer
Hebrides. The coast of Ireland is very close to Scotland -
a mere 21 miles at its nearest, and there was always the
interplay between the local fishing industry and
small-scale trading. In times of crisis, famine or
war it was sometimes safer to move family and flocks to
another and more economically attractive residence. Such
escapes were often followed within a generation by a
return to the original homeland once conditions had
returned to normal. Against this background came the
opportunity of permanent settlement in Ireland with land
on offer at reasonable rents on the estates of two
Scottish landlords, Sir Hugh Montgomery and Sir James
Hamilton ca 1606, and subsequently elsewhere under the
Plantation of Ireland 1610 -
1630.
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