Laird-Craig

Double barrelled names are the (usually) Victorian equivalent of the Anglo-Saxon compound personal names of the pre 8th Century. That is to say that the two elements have individual meanings but not when conjoined. In this case we have two prominent Scottish surnames "Craig" being a clau name of the 15th Century when three families in Edinburgh were described as being "of that ilk". John del Craig and his band of 300, being prominent in the Battle of Cubleau in 1335. The name is locational for one "from the hill". In the case of Laird this does mean literally "The Lord of The Manol". The name is quite rare although an early recording, Roger Lauird of Berwick in 1257, settling title with the Abbey of Kelso. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Johannes de Crag, which was dated circa 1190, a charter witness of Edinburgh, during the reign of King William of Scotland, "The Lyon", 1165 - 1214. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.