History, Wonder Tales, Fairy Tales, Myths and Legends The Flemish | Page 71

SCOTLAND AND THE FLEMISH PEOPLE Y-DNA PROJECT
Some estimates suggest that up to a third of the current Scottish population may have
Flemish ancestors. These Flemish immigrants came to Scotland from Flanders over a
600 year period, between the 11th and 17th centuries.
The Flemish came to Scotland in several waves. The earliest Flemish settlers in
Britain came with William the Conqueror’s invading force in 1066. David Canmore
ascended to the Scottish throne in 1124 (as David I) and his wife Maud, of Flemish
stock, came north with him accompanied by a large retinue of her Flemish kinsmen.
This led to the first significant Flemish presence in Scotland.
In 1154 English King Henry II expelled many Flemish from England on the grounds
that they were encroachers on English trade. The fact that the Flemish by now had a
foothold in Scotland meant that this was an attractive place for those evicted to seek
refuge. The new immigrants worked with the suppliers of wool in Scotland to export
wool to merchants in Flanders. In the course of time the Scots, realizing that they
were losing out on the profits that came with the weaving of their wool, decided to
bring Flemish weavers to Scotland. The idea was to bring about a transfer of weaving
skills to the indigenous population.
Towards the end of the 16th century another wave of Flemish immigration to Scotland
took place. The root cause of this was religious persecution.In the wake of the
reformation a number of Flemish Protestants left Flanders in the second half of the
16th century through to the middle of the 17th century.
The Flemish in Scotland were concentrated, for the most part, in the North and on the
East Coast (where there were trading ports with Flanders).
The name Fleming and its variants give a clue as to the origins of its holder. However
there are a significant number of other family names that have Flemish roots. The list
of surnames shown above is preliminary.Some are rather speculative. But there are
likely to be other names that have not yet been identified for inclusion in the list.
This project has been set up to help those with a history of many generations in
Scotland who believe—even rather speculatively—that they may have Flemish
forbearers. As the techniques of DNA analysis are becoming more refined it is
becoming possible to more accurately pinpoint the geographic origins of a family.
Sources
Beryl PLATTS, “Origins of Heraldry”, 1980; “Scottish Hazard” Vol,I, 1985, Vol.II, 1990,
Procter Press, London.
J.Arnold FLEMING, “Flemish Influence in Britain”, 1930, Jackson, Wylie & Co,
Glasgow.
http://amg1.net/scotland/medievallinks.html
http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/ishr/Flemish/index.htm
http://flemish.wp.st-andrews.ac.uk/
http://www.familytreedna.com/public/Flemish_in_Scotland

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