I guess you can't be completely Scottish without having a Highland branch on your familytree, for me, it is clan Lamont. My mother is the daughter of James Paterson, the son of Annie Orr Harvey daughter of Mary Tannock daughter of Jane Kininmont daughter of William Kininmont. William Kininmont is the son of David Kininmont who farmed at Ardyne, Inverchaolain, who was married to Margaret Lamont.

The Tannocks and Kininmonts were land stewards to the Lamonts of Knockdow, the earliest being a David Kininmont, who was living in the 1700s. Below is the forebearers of Margaret Lamont, starting with herself:

Margaret Lamont, c.1826, Dunoon & Kilmun parish. M. 8 May 1852 at Inverchaolain.

Robert Lamont or McPhorich, c.26 Oct. 1792, Dunoon & Kilmun Parish. M. Margaret Jenkins, 11 Dec. 1821, Dunoon & Kilmun Parish. Robert was a farmer in Killellan, Toward.

Robert Lamont or McPhorich, c. 1748, M. c. May 1774 to Margaret Campbell. Robert was a farmer in Counston [Toward], Dunoon & Kilmun Parish.

Duncan Lamond/Lamont or McPhorich, c. 1720s, Dunoon & Kilmun Parish. M. to Agnes/Ann/Nanny Moodie/Moody, 23 January 1744, Dunoon & Kilmun Parish. Duncan was a farmer in Cownstown, Toward.

The McPhorich Lamonts

 The Lamonts who lived between Ardyne and Dunoon were styled “McPhorich” and are to be distinguished from others of the tartan including the below McPhadrick Lamonts from the western shore of Loch Striven.One writer states that MacPhorich was an alias adopted after the Dunoon massacre of 1646 when the Campbells killed a large number of Lamonts.

Lamont of Coustoun [Loch Striven]

The McPhadrick (son of Patrick/Paterson) Lamonts of Coustoun were living on the western shore of Loch Striven, opposite the lands of Knockdow. The first Lamont of Coustoun witnessed a charter in 1498. Documents from the mid-1500s show the McPhadricks were very much a part of clan Lamont, and subject to the chief. In 1646, seven McPhadricks were murdered at Dunoon by the Campbells, including four sons of Baron McPhadrick of Coustoun. The last Baron McPhadrick, Cornelius, sold the lands to a natural son of the chief, Archibald Lamont.

Another Lamont connection to the Wilsonss of Kilwinnet is to the Lambie family from Mauchline. John's great-great-grandfather's first wife was an Agnes Lambie, they were married in 1856. Her family can be traced back to a James Lambie c. 1702, Riccarton Parish, Ayrshire. Another member of this Lambie family a David Lambie, married another family member Agnes Wilson in 1903. A third member of the Lambie family married David McQueen, the son of Janet Wilson, the eldest daughter of John's great-great-great-great grandparents, Robert Wilson the "gallant weaver"and Margaret Thomson. Also John's great-grandmother, Marion Johnstone's Uncle William Johnstone, married a Martha Lambie, from Avondale parish, Lanarkshire.

Lambie- Sept of Clan Lamont

Lambie is a form of Lamont states clan Lamont history. No Lambies were found in the Old Parish Records for the clan-lands, the name may have come into being after a Lamont had settled outside his clan teritory. A will does exist refering to an Alexander Lambie, indweller in Inverary, Argyll in 1735. The name essentially is confined to the mid-Ayrshire parishes of Loudoun, Galston, and Riccarton. The only other area having any number is Avondale Parish. Possibly the Lambies may descend from one man who may have settled in Ayrshire before, or after the Dunoon massacre of 1646.  

A Hew Lambie, son to James Lambie in Over Quhithauch, Sheriffdom of Ayr left a will dated 1594. James Lambie, merchant, brother to John Lambie in Foulpossill, Parish of Loudoun, Ayrshire, left a will in 1612. (see Scottishdocuments.com).

My mother's surname of Paterson is also associated with clan Lamont, meaning the son of Patrick, a common Lamont alias. Patrickson is McPhadrick in Gaelic.

Paterson - Sept of Clan Lamont

McQueen, White, and Forsyth are other names in my extended family, that are associated with clan Lamont.

In 1992, my Father married for a second time to the granddaughter of a McSorley - enter another possible Lamont connection!

The McSorley Lamonts were the oldest of the Cadet families settled north of Loch Gilp, near Lochgilphead, on the eastern shore of Loch Fyne. Tradition says they descend from Duncan, Sir Laumon's uncle, Farquhar, Sir Laumon's grandfather. The name is derived from a Somerled of the early 1300s. Little is known of this Lamont branch, Baron Donald McSorley or Lamont gone to Ireland in 1618. Other McSorley's  may have went to Northern Ireland with others of Clan Lamont during the 1600s, possibly after the Dunoon massacre. I found no McSorleys in the Old Parish Records of Argyll, some mcSorleys returned to Scotland during the 19th century to Glasgow.

To contact the DNA Lamont Surname Project: OLDHIKER50@aol.com;

Above: The Clan Lamont seat,Toward Castle.