Longmore

This interesting Scottish surname is one of the forms of the topographical name "Longmore". There are several villages so named, including Longmore near Ayr and Langmuir near Kirkintilloch. The word and hence the surname denotes a person who lived at a village by an extensive area of marsh or fen. The derivation comes from the Olde English pre 7th Century "lang", for long and "mor" a fen. The surname is found as early as 1296, and amongst the recordings are examples such as Robert de Langemore of Edinburgh, and Johan de Langemore of Ayrshire both of whom rendered homage in that year. John of Langmuir is recorded in 1424, and John Lanmour, in 1477 was a charter witness at Dalkeith. Later examples of the surname recording include Ann Longmuir, daughter of Margaret Longmuir, who was christened on 3 March 1748 in Glasgow, and Dand Longmuir, who was christened on January 25th 1786, at Avondale, Lanarkshire. The Coat of Arms granted in 1663 has the blazon of a black field charged with a gold chevron and an ermine canton. The Crest being two gold spears. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Elice de la Longmore, which was dated 1296, who was burgess of the County of Edinburgh, during the reign of 'The Interregnum Government' of Scotland, 1296 - 1306. 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.