Dozens of people have been identified as descendants of a Scottish noble family who inscribed their name on the Declaration of Arbroath thanks to a groundbreaking genealogy study at a Scottish university.
A specific genetic group belonging to the Boyd family, which included the Earls of Kilmarnock, was identified as stretching back to around 1205 - 115 years before the document calling on the Pope to recognise Scotland as an independent state was signed.
London-based architect Tim Boyd, a confirmed descendant of constable of Scotland Gilbert Hay and Sir Robert Boyd of Noddsdale, was invited to take a Y-DNA test to create a genetic marker by researchers at Strathclyde University.
READ MORE: Iconic Declaration of Arbroath on display to mark 700th anniversary
This information was then used to distinguish noble Boyds from others with the same surname by matching the similar genetic strands, helping to identify 30 members of the noble family from as far afield as the United States.
It is the latest part of a project aimed at celebrating the 700th anniversary of the document being signed at Arbroath Abbey.
Researchers are also seeking the Dunbar, Lindsay, Seton, Sinclair, Stewart and Sutherland families in a bid to bring together distant relatives of the signatories for a special exhibition at the Abbey on July 3.
Hay was made Heritable Constable of Scotland by Robert The Bruce in 1314 following the Battle of Bannockburn.
Sir Robert never held a title, but was an eminent backer of Bruce during the wars of independence.
Arbroath Abbey will host a special exhibition with the descendants of the families on July 3
Graham Holton, Lead Tutor in Strathclyde’s Genealogy Staff Team, said: “The genetic group we have identified forms part of R-U198 and several more specific genetic markers have also been identified via advanced testing.
“They distinguish this notable family from others of the Boyd surname, some of whom have a very interesting male ancestry of African origin, belonging to another genetic group, A-M32.”
He added: “Around 30 of the members of the Boyd Y-DNA project now know that they belong to the Boyds of Kilmarnock. Scotland is now unfamiliar territory to most of these, since almost all of them live in North America or Ireland, but it remains part of their heritage.”
Mr Boyd was also found to have other notable people in his ancestry, including William Boyd, 4th Earl of Kilmarnock (1705-1746), whose wife was a descendant of Gilbert Hay, and who supported Bonnie Prince Charlie in the 1745 Jacobite rising.
READ MORE: Why the Declaration of Arbroath still chimes with us
After the Battle of Culloden in 1746, in which his son, James, fought on the victorious Government side, the Earl was captured and subsequently beheaded.
James Boyd later became Earl of Erroll and, as a result, took on the name of Hay.
In 1941, his direct descendant, Josslyn Hay, 22nd Earl of Erroll was the victim of a notorious murder case in Kenya, which became the subject of the 1988 film White Mischief.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel