Sconce

Recorded in a wide range of spellings including Scoon, Scoone, Scone, Sconce, Scoines, Scones, Skones and Skune, this is an Anglo-Scottish surnames, but of Norse Viking pre 7th century origins. It has at least two possible origins. The first is locational and as such derives from the descriptive word "scearn" which loosely translates as "a muddy place". This description would apply to the meaning of the village of Old Scone in the county of Perthshire, in ancient times the capital of the kingdom of the Picts and for many centuries the place where all Scottish kings were crowned as with Jonne de Scone, a mason connected with St Giles cathedral, Edinburgh in 1387. However people of confirmed English origins may well originate from either a now "lost" medieval village or from the Saxon word "chon", meaning "a bright person", and hence given as a baptiosmal name of endearment. The name in its various guises, has been well recorded both in Scotland and England since medieval times, and examples of the recordings include: Elizabeth Scones who married Richard Ireland in the city of London on July 12th 1562, Awdrey Skonce, who married James Turner, also in London on September 1st 1605. Robert Sconce was the under-sherrif of Stirlingshire in 1706, whilst Thomas Skune was recorded at Edinburgh on June 8th 1637. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Ysaac de Scone, which was dated 1260, witnesses the charter of the land of Drumkarauch, Perthshire, during the reign of King Alexander 111 of Scotland, 1249 - 1286. 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.