DNA Over Deeds (With Charters): E-BY5775 Linking Colquhoun, Kilpatrick & McCarter

DNA Over Deeds (With Charters): E-BY5775 Linking Colquhoun, Kilpatrick & McCarter

By Tiffany McCarter Evans — The Lennox Chronicles

Plain-English takeaway: We match Y-DNA breadcrumbs (E-BY5775 and daughter branches) with page-cited medieval charters. When documents and DNA point the same direction, we build testable working theories—and we show our receipts so anyone can follow.

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What we’re doing (no jargon, promise)

Y-DNA passes down the direct father-to-son line. Every so often it picks up a tiny mutation—call it a breadcrumb. Scientists give each breadcrumb a name (a SNP). If a group of men share the same SNP, they usually share a distant paternal ancestor.

Our project follows one breadcrumb cluster in the Lennox: E-BY5775. We put charters (land grants, witness lists, place-names) beside modern Big Y-700 results. Where both sets of evidence agree, we have a testable working theory. Where they disagree, we adjust. That’s “DNA Over Deeds—But Not Without Charters.”

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The plot twist that livens things up: two Kirkpatrick haplogroups

Here’s where it gets interesting. We now have a Big Y-700 tester on E-FTB39515 who is a Kirkpatrick. That matters because we already knew there are R-M269 Kirkpatricks/Kilpatricks and E-M35 Kirkpatricks/Kilpatricks. Those breadcrumbs help untangle different paternal lines that share the same surname.

Why the split? Surnames sometimes follow a maternal pathway—not a scandal, not an NPE—just a daughter whose children take her husband’s name and the surname runs on while the Y-DNA follows the father. We call this a female-mediated surname carry-over (“female switch” Theory). It’s normal in medieval kin-networks.

Our working theory (flagged as theory, not proof)

• Umfridus de Kilpatrick (later Humphrey de Colquhoun) shows an E-M35 signal by the cluster we see today.

• Traditional pedigrees often make him son of Ivone de Kirkpatrick of Closeburn and Euphemia de Brus (yes—Bruce kin).

• But the Closeburn Kirkpatrick paternal line tests as R-M269 → R-L21 → DF63 → CTS6919, which doesn’t match the E-M35 signal associated with Umfridus’ line.

• A better fit: Ivone & Euphemia had daughters. We propose one—call her Anne (Annabelle) de Kirkpatrick, b. ~1175—married Robert de Kilpatrick (the Robert who is father of Umfridus). That would tie Umfridus to the Closeburn Kirkpatrick family by his mother, while his paternal Y-DNA stays E-M35 from the Kilpatrick/Colquhoun side.

Timing helps: evidence places the Closeburn Kirkpatrick kindred in the Old Kilpatrick orbit in this era (before they’re firmly fossilized at Closeburn). That’s the same time and place we meet Mathew de Kilpatrick and his sons. The lines overlap in geography and witnesses, which is exactly the kind of pattern charters were made to test.

Longer bridge (still theory): Some researchers (us included) see the Closeburn Kirkpatrick paternal branch as Lennox-derived (R-L21 > DF63 > CTS6919)—the same umbrella as the Earls of Lennox—and tentatively link Ivone’s ancestry two generations up toward a figure remembered as Arkill of Lennox (b. c.1035–d. 1121), and thence to Alwyn I (first Earl of Lennox). That’s a historical hypothesis, not a proven chain, but it explains why the Closeburn paternal signal aligns with Lennox.

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The medieval frame: Old Kilpatrick and the birth of “Colquhoun”

Three earls structure our early map: Alwyn I, Alwyn II, and Maldouen (Malduin), 3rd Earl of Lennox. Within their orbit we meet a local family:

• Mathew de Kilpatrick — senior generation in our reconstruction.

• His sons (now better distinguished in the records):

  • Conan — the heir who dies without issue; first holder of Colquhoun (by later reckoning).

  • Gilbert — a chaplain (think: holder/administrator, not the eponym).

  • Robert — father of Umfridus (Humphrey).

  • Patrick (4th son) — working theory: progenitor of a distinct E-M35 branch E-FTB39515 with TMRCA ≈ 875 years ago (± a few generations) by Y-DNA dating—neatly in the 12th/13th-century window.

Key charters:

• 1226 — a Lennox grant places Conan as holding Colquhoun.

• 1246 — later confirmation shows Umfridus (Robert’s son) inheriting the lands of Colquhoun when of age.

Under King Alexander II (1214–1249), surnames stabilize. Our “Umfridus de Kilpatrick” begins appearing with the locality as a surname—Humphrey de Colquhoun—and becomes remembered as the first Chief of Colquhoun. Technically, Conan held the lands first; Humphrey gives the name that sticks.

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The modern anchor: Donald “Donnalld” McKertur (1628–1684)

We ground our theory in a later, document-rich century:

• Donald “Donnalld” McKertur — b. 5 Oct 1628, Gargunnock, Stirlingshire; d. 21 Jul 1684, Stirlingshire.

Two sons drive our present-day signals:

• John McKertur (married Agnes McCauley — b. 23 Dec 1659, Gargunnock, Stirlingshire; d. 1720, Gargunnock, Perthshire) → ancestor of Moses McCarter and John McCarter Sr. (Kincardine & Bart Township). Downstream SNP: E-BY3078.

• Archibald McKertur (married Margaret McFarlan in Kincardine by Doune Parish) → One of the Spartanburg McCarter Branches, the E-BY5776 McCarty Branch.

Both lines have Big Y-700 testers confirming the SNPs. The paper trail and the DNA breadcrumbs line up.

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The branch map (today’s snapshot)

• E-M35 — umbrella haplogroup.

• E-BY5775 — Lennox/Colquhoun trunk we’re tracking here.

  • E-BY3078 — John → Moses/John Sr. McCarter line.

  • E-BY5776 — Archibald → Spartanburg McCarter/McCarty branch.

  • E-FT350465 → E-Y76642 → E-MF104747 — “natural son” Patrick Colquhoun branch in our notes.

• E-FTB39515 — Kirkpatrick tester on a parallel E-M35 path (our Patrick-of-Mathew working line; ~875 ybp TMRCA).

• R-M269 → R-L21 → DF63 → CTS6919 — Closeburn Kirkpatrick paternal signal (Lennox-aligned), explaining the surname overlap when combined with a maternal Kirkpatrick → Kilpatrick marriage around Old Kilpatrick.

As more men test, more twigs appear. We’ll keep the tree sketch simple and up to date in this series.

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Why the Book of Deer still matters

Long before Lennox charters bloom, the Book of Deer preserves a memory of St Columba (521–597) and Drostan arriving from Iona to Buchan in the late 6th century (often dated to the 580s) with an early land grant. Its Gaelic notitiae were penned later—c.1131–1132 and c.1150—precisely when our Old Kilpatrick story is coming into documentary focus in the west. It’s a reminder that church memory and landholding were being written down across Scotland at the very moment our people step onto the page.

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What’s proven vs. what’s a working theory

Proven (document-based):

• The 1226 and 1246 Colquhoun land steps (Conan → Umfridus).

• The Old Kilpatrick setting and key forenames in the right era.

• The Donald → John/Archibald McKertur branches and their Big Y-700 SNP calls (BY3078, BY5776).

Working theories (open to revision as we add scans & testers):

• Maternal Kirkpatrick tie for Umfridus, with Anne/Annabelle de Kirkpatrick (b. ~1175) marrying Robert de Kilpatrick.

• Patrick (4th son of Mathew) as the seed of E-FTB39515 (TMRCA ~875 ybp).

• Closeburn Kirkpatrick paternal line as Lennox-derived (R-L21 > DF63 > CTS6919) with deeper links toward Arkill of Lennox → Alwyn I.

Disagreeing researchers welcome—bring your page numbers and kit numbers. We’ll bring ours.

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Series roadmap (10 parts)

1. Today — E-BY5775 Linking Colquhoun, Kilpatrick & McCarter (method + anchors)

2. Old Kilpatrick, c.1110–1150 — geography, parish, early names

3. 1226 & 1246 — Colquhoun’s handoff from Conan to Humphrey

4. Witness Lists 101 — rank, kinship, proximity

5. Agnes de Luss (1361) — a rare female witness, why it matters

6. E-BY3078 focus — John → Moses/John Sr. McCarter line

7. E-BY5776 focus — Archibald → Spartanburg McCarter/McCarty

8. Natural Son branch — FT350465 → Y76642 → MF104747

9. From Lennox to America — McCarter/McCarty migrations

10. What We Can Safely Say Now — next sources to scan, next tests to fund

Sources & Editions (11th–13th c., Ark uploads)

Primary (page-cited in this series):

• Fraser, William. The Lennox (1874) — Vol. I (History) & Vol. II (Charters).

• Fraser, William. Chiefs of Colquhoun (1868) Volumes I & II (Charters)

• Registrum Monasterii de Passelet (Paisley Abbey Register, Maitland Club, 1832).

• Registrum Episcopatus Glasguensis (Glasgow Cathedral Register, Bannatyne Club, 1843), Vols. I–II.

• Registrum Monasterii de Cambuskenneth (Bannatyne Club).

• The Book of Deer (Spalding Club edition; Latin text with Gaelic notitiae, 12th‑century additions).

• Registrum Episcopatus Brechinensis (Bannatyne Club, 1856).

Also consulted (uploaded to the Ark for this period):

• Glasgow & Paisley Cartularies (1970 facsimile editions) — used for modern readability; citations normalized to original Bannatyne/Maitland Club pagination.

• Combined “Four Registers” PDF — reference compilation; page references in articles point back to the original volumes listed above.