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What's In A Name The Name Carruthers The following paper was prepared byJames C. Carruthers Middlebie Heights R.R. 2, Mossley Ontario NOL1VO Canada. In no way do I claim any of this to be my own work. If my memory serves me correctly, I obtained my copy of this work from Mr. Christopher Graham, of Carruthers Farm, when I visited him in 1995 with my cousin William Albert Carruthers of Langbank, Scotland. ...........The Caer of Ruther....................... From whence did your forefathers obtain the hereditary right to the name Carruthers? Do you know enough about its sixth century origins to be truly proud to wear it? What is its meaning? Who first used it and why? These are intriguing questions that do have answers. The third one aroused my interest since public school days. My surname was a very commonplace possession to me in those early days of teachers, something that I had because I had. Never did I question its meaning until our public school inspector Mr. Oaks, on one of his yearly visits to our one room school spoke on surnames. His address was primarily to the senior grades, so I was not really included, being about grade four or five. I remember his lecture being one to break the monotony of academic excercises and he, somewhat of a joker, probably made-up the meanings of surnames presented to him as he went along. It wasn't long before he encountered Carruthers, since almost one third of the enrolement of the school were students of that name. I recall he had difficulty and after two or three starts eventually settled on the assumption that we must of had some connection with automobiles. I rejected this explanation but it did set my thoughts into a ferment. What did this name of mine really mean? It definitely was not one that could be lightly put away. In this paper I will attempt to assemble the information I have been able to mass together pertaining to the remnants of the Dark Age King's fort which we as Carruthers are called after. My father and I were part of a six person Carruthers contingent from canada, that visited this site in July 1982. An account (recorded by my father) of this pilgrimage as appeared in the Annandale Observer is included at the end. Apparently many of our name have travelled to this height of land on Carruthers (farm) as Birren Hill (800 ft.) adjacent to Carruthers Hill(1019ft.) I was greeted at the door of the estate dwelling by Mrs. Graham, the owner's wife. I introduced myself and homeland but before I had a chance to ask permission for our group to go up on the old fort site she said, "Oh you want to go up on the hill". I possibly took a step backwards. "Yes we do! How did you know?" "We have many Carruthers come here each summer; most from the United States, a few from Canada and you are the first group this year." Mr. and Mrs. Christopher Graham and family increased our awareness of the extreme rural Scottish hospitality. Upon our descent of the historic hill we were welcomed in to sit by their fire and as we warmed and dried ourselves the welcome that was bestowed upon us was not unfitting for a king. Coffee and biscuits (cookies) were served. Christopher and his daughter are accomplished musicians and played the piano accordian and grand piano for our pleasure. Two exhilarating hours were spent in the dwelling of these present-day owners of this, the first of of many Carruthers' lands.
The Caer Of Ruther It was not until 1215 that we find the first recorded use of Carruthers as a surname. About this time surnames seem to have become general in Scotland. Towards the close of the eleventh century and the beginning of the twelfth Norman lords began to obtain lands in Dumfiesshire: for example the Bruces ("de Brus" in Normandy), Johnstones (Jeansville) and these to a great extent retained their territorial names derived from their foreign possessions. At this time the Celtic families in the area usually had two names but not hereditary, the second usually indicating their parentage or personal appearance. The head of the family or clan was usually called after his principal residence or lands. Thus,at the beginning of the thirteenth century we find the man in possession of this fort property naming himself after his lands. John-de-Carruthers (John of Caer Ruthers). Caer the Saxon name for fort.Who was Ruthers? How is it that this property is still named after him fourteen hundred years posthumous? It is important to understand the conditions within the area we now know as the Borders, at the dawn of Christianity on the Island.
AS early as 208 A.,D., Tertullian wrote, "Places among the Britons unpenetrated by the Romans have come under the rule of Christ." There were undoubtedly Christians amid the Roman legionaries and from them the new faith spread to the native Britons. St. Ninian was the first of the great Christian missioneries in Alban (Scotland). After visiting Rome he returned a bishop in 397 or 398 to his native Strathclyde and established a monastery, known as Candida Casa, at Whithorn near the Solway. At this time Strathclyde included the present-day Dumfriesshire and extended from the Derwent in Cumberland (possibly Dunmail Raise was the boundary) in the south to Loch Lomond in the north. The inhabitants of this area where the Carruthers emerged from were known as Britons and spoke Welsh.The period of British history after the Roman occupation of Britain is referred to as the Dark Ages because of the lack of recorded history. The Roman legions being withdrawn from Britain in 407 A.D. created a vacuum into which flowed waves of barbarian Tuetonic invaders from Northern Europe. These invasions continued until about 520 A.D. and were made-up of the following: Jutes about 450 A.D., Saxons about 490 A.D. and Angles about 520 A.D. These peoples destoyed all signs of Roman civilization and pushed the Celts to the island's fringes. So comletely did the Anglo-Saxons displace the earlier inhabitants that they became the dominant element in the island's southern population and imposed on it their language and institutions.We now have the setting of Ruther, definitely a contemporary of St. Columba and possibly of the legendary King Arthur who disappeared from history in 542 A.D. When in 573, it seemed likely that the whole of the Britons or Welsh would relapse into their original pagan cult; RHYDD ERCH HAEL(or Ruther the Liberal) headed a Roman party among the North Britons who still strove for Christianity. Gwendoleu, the pagan Welsh leader, assembled his forces on the banks of a stream now called Garwhinlow (Caer-Gwendoleu). Ruther gave battle to the pagan leader at a place called Ardderyd (Arthuret) on the Scottish bank of the River Esk. He was completly victorius and established himself as the first monarch of Cumbria in Strathclyde, under the title of King of Alcluth. Ruther removed the capital from Carlisle and established it at Alcluth or Ailcluaithe (meaning Clyde Rock).The earliest document referring to this rock as a stronghold is in 440-460 A.D. when St. Patrick wrote to the soldiers of Ceredig of Alcluith, King of Strathclyde, reprimanding them for a piratical raid on some of his Irish converts. This rock today known as the Rock of Dumbarton (Dun Breatann) as it was called by the Gaels, meaning fortress of the Britons has a longer recorded history as a stronghold than any other place in Britain. From at least the fifth century A.D. until the twentyeth century. It is indeed a very impressive rock, a vocanic plug of basalt, situated at the juncion of the River Clyde and Leven. From its highest points can be seen Ben Lomond to the northeast, banked against a foreboding horizon. Standing there, gazing out over the clyde it becomes easy to meditate on the days of Ruther. Legend says that Merlin recommended by St.Mungo (St. Kentigern) stayed for sometime in his court.
The interesting feature of the engagement between Christian and pagan forces at the Battle of Ardderyd 573 A.D. (Arthuret near Longtown) however, lies in the fact that for sometime before the conflict the Christian tribes led by Ruther may have been established in the ancient earthworks on a hill, in the modern parish of Middlebie. This fort later became known as Caer-Ruther. (Fort of Ruther). Traces of an ancient Briton fort can still be discerned on Birrens Hill on the heights above Carruthers and are believed to be the remnants of Ruther's stronghold...This description of the fort is taken from "Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland, County of Dumbries"...464. Fort, Birrens Hill, Carruthers--This fort (fig. 118)is situated on the crest of a ridge at an elevation of 800 feet over sea-level, overlooking to east-ward the valley of the Kirtle Water, to the southward the 10 miles of cultivated land that stretches to the Solway, and to the westward rolling uplands with the table like mass of Birrenswark Hill dominating the horizon.To the north the ridge inclines by an easy gradient to the summit of Grange Fell, 1 mile distant...The fort is oblong and approximately rectangular with rounded angles, lying with its main axis north-north-west and south- south- west, measuring 230 feet in length by 180 feet in breadth through the centre, and containing an area of just under an acre. (Fig.118 appeard here in the original paper, which at this time I am unable to reproduce. E.J.Carruthers) The south-east side appeared to be curved somewhat, and there seemed likewise to be a considerable convexity on the north-west flank. The angles are rounded with a sweeping curve. A bold rampart surrounds the interior area, rising some 3 to 4 feet in elevation on the inner face, covered by a trench, no longer measurable on the north-east, some 29 feet on the south-east, having a fairly uniform depth of from 7 ton 8 feet below the crest of the scarp and about 4 feet below that of the counterscarp, the scarps being smooth and sharply cut. The entrance has been through the centre of the south-east end....The profiles are considerably impaired along the north-east and south-east sides by secondary constructions and on the latter side also by excavations. To the north angle there stretch across the moorland two road parallel mounds, some 10 feet apart and with the height of a couple of feet or thereby, having a slighter parallel mound on the north-west. This last is carried across the trench of the fort, up the scarp and along the rest of the rampart, curving inwards towards the position of the entrance as it approaches the south-east end. The central of the three terminates on the counterscarp of the trench, while the third is continued along the noth-east flank at the base of the rampart, almost entirely filling the trench--which has probably been shallower on this side-- and onward beyond the end of the fort, terminating with a right angled return to the westward... Immediately within the position of the entrance there is traceable the end of a rectangular foundation and also a triangular fold-like enclosure. In front of the position of the entrance is a hollow, and there are several other smaller depressions adjacent, from whish stone apears to have been quarried. From these constructions and excavations two parallel mounds again trend away from from the fort in a southerly direction. The hollows in front of the position suggest an analogy with the rectangular fort on Gotterbie Moor, where deep quarry-like holes passed across the front of the entrance. The position of these holes at Gotterbie, sunk directly on the level and not into the face of the rising ground adjacent, is peculiar. With regard to those at Carruthers, though some appeared undoubtedly to be excavations for stone, a hollow running down from the fort was rather like a natural ravine crossed by a bank near the fort, so as to form an enclosure within it.1ii N W 16 August 1912....................................................................................................Rhydderch Hael was one of the great Princes of North Wales and although he lived in the Dark Ages much is known about him. This is because he is celebrated in Welsh poetry and there are many other references to him, especially in the "Lives of Saint Ninian and Saint Kentigern (St. Mungo). Adamnan writes of him in his "Life of Saint Columba".. He is also mentioned and his genealogy given by Nennius. Of his ancestors, we also know a considerable amount. He was the son of Tudwal Tudclud (of the Clyde district), King of Cumbria and legend traces his ancestors back to Maximus, King of Britain 383-8 (Roman Emperor). He was of Irish extraction by his mother's side. Ruther's surname, Hael, denotes "Liberal" referring to his understanding and generous character. His greatest honour was his patronage of religion and he was the King who occupied the most prominent position with regard to Sain Kentigern (St. Mungo). There are many accounts of his generosity and liberality. One such account involved his dealings with his unfaithful Queen Languoreth; another centered on his reliance on the Saint when an Irish court jester that had pleased him asked him for a dish of mulberries in the midst of winter as his pay. These ancient accounts contain a considerable amount of legend and romance connected with the history as do most writings of this period. However, these legends were originally woven around particles of truth. Ruther died in 603, the same year as Saint Kentigern and was buried under the sod of Llan Morvail in Arberech
The location of the Fort of Ruther is bordered by many map names bearing the Carruthers name. Many of them within a miles distance of the fort. This area was originally in the Parish of Carruthers but in 1609 due, inpart, to the lack of ministers in the newly reformed church, the Parish of Carruthers was united with two others to form the present Parish of Middlebie. These map locations of which I speech are;...Carruthers Fell--one of the most impressive steep grassy hills in the immediate area.... Carruthers Bridge--a one lane roadway bridge over the Kirk Burn about a quarter mile north of Carruthers farmhouse... Carruthers Bank--the wooded area along the stream in the vicinity of the bridge....Carruthers Cottage--located at the bridge, has had a second storey added on and looks modern in its old setting between the road and Kirk Burn....Carruthers Old Kirkyard--at the junction of Annies Gill (stream) and the Kirk Burn gives one the feeling that this has been hallowed ground for unrecorded generations. Here are three stone edifices which are noteworthy but unexplainable. A large stone slab in the wall on which is incised an equal limbed cross of Maltese form. Forming the gate-post on the left side is a richly carved slab, tradition holds that it is part of a child's stone coffin. The third being a font-like basin in the form of a scalloped capital suggestive of Norman design......Carruthers Kirk--not used as a church now, the interior has been made in to living quarters.....Carruthers Village---this is the site of the ancient Village of Carruthers. It is on Carruther's farm, midway between the farmhouse and the fort. It probably dates midway in time between those two as well. I learnt of this ancient village, days after our trek up to the fort and must have walked over or past its location on my way down the hill. I wandered off the trail to look at an unnamed seasonal burn flowing east down Burren Hill to the Kirk Burn. This was in a picturesque shaded area with many ferns. Little did I know I was on or near the long forgotten hamlet.. There are two other hills in this area that also bear the Birren name. They are Birrens and Birrenswark. Birrenswark is a large flat topped hill that is visible for miles,one of the noted landmarks in Annandale. Both are remarkable examples of Roman camp engineering, the best to be seen in North Britain except for Ardock in Perthshire. Birrenswark, the larger of the two, was an outpost for Hadrians wall and Birrens was a station or fort used as a summer quarters in connection with the more confined winter entrenchment at Birrenswark. Archeology digs in 1895, 1936-37 and 1962-67 revealed that Birrens was not only used by by the Romans but also much earlier in the Bronze Age. I have not found any information about excavations being done at Birren Hill but possibly it predates Ruther to Roman or even pre-Roman times (Bronze Age). These three hills, Birren Hill, Birrens and Birrenswark, which are in sight of each other, arouse my suspicions as to the origins of their names....Ruther was definitely an outstanding leader of his time, one who had a profound influence on his subjects. A king from an age when kingly powers were bestowed on one who was renowned as a warrior, possessing leadership, widom, and strength of character. His stronghold "The Caer of Ruther" has been reduced by time and man to a mere rectangular ridge and a ditch but this name has continued to multiply and spread. From the land around this fort the name Carruthers, (adapted as a surname in the 13th century), spread to Mouswald, then to Holmains in the 14th century and to numerous family lines of which you can read in A. Stanley Carruther's book, "Records of the Carruthers Family". Some early spellings of our clansmen named after this fort are as follows:...John de Carutherys 1320... Sir Nigel de Karrutheris, 1337 Sir Nigel de Carrotherys, Sir Nigel de Karuther 1340, Sir Nigel de Carother 1344, (These last four supposedly the same man...EJC.)John de Carotheris 1361, Simon de Carrutheris 1394, John of Carrutheris 1398, Sym of Carruthers 1429, and John Carruthers 1446 ( Keeper of Lockmabane Castle)... In Scotland, the commonest and usual spelling was Carruthers (with slight variations). At a comparatively early date the name crosses the border into England and is found in the counties of Cumberland, Durham and Yorkshire. In England, it became disguised as Carrothers, Carrodus and Cruddas (in Yorkshire) and Crudace (in Durham) The nineteenth centuty scattered numerous clansmen bearing our name to Canada, United States and Australia. Although our world-wide clan no longer has a heriditary chief we do have the saga of Caer of Ruther.....Is this small area in Middlebie Parish, Dumfriesshire, Scotland, the ground from whence our most personal possession originated? Is there more to learn?....As a family members I would encourage you to visit this sullen picturesque area of Annandale and take the two thirds mile climb up Birren Hill. Search for remnants of the ancient Carruthers village and journey along the stone dykes (fences) to the remains of Caer of Ruther. It isn't so much what you see, but a feeling of the experiece of being there. The sight of Carruthers Fell rising in front of you to the north will beckon you to climb its smooth grassy slopes........Good name in man and woman, dear Lord, Is the immediate jewel of their soul.Who steals my purse, steals trash;'tis something, nothing, "twas mine, 'tis his, and has been slave to thousands; But he that filches from me my good name, Robs me of that which not enriches him, And makes me poor indeed.---Shakespear, "Othello."............................. ................................................... James C. Carruthers, Middlebie Heights, R.R. 2, Mossley, Ontario,NOL 1VO, Canada................... ................................................... I knew that there was something I could put into my web page of interest to researchers of the family name Carruthers. In 1995 and 1998 whilst on holiday in Scotland from Australia I visited the Caer of Ruther. As James C. Carruthers says it is an experience to be remembered. The short hair on the back of your neck rises when you consider that you are actually standing where your forebears came from, a virtual "Holy of Holies"