Some History of our Jam?son Families on the Isle of Bute

There is considerable evidence of humans living on the Isle of Bute in prehistoric times, in the form of several local megalithic sites,[1] although little seems to be known about those inhabitants who might have been responsible for them. Somewhere around the 9th or 10th centuries, Bute was absorbed and colonized by Gaelic peoples. The island subsequently fell under Norse control and formed part of the Kingdom of the Isles, ruled by the Crovan dynasty. However, in the 12th century, the island fell under the control of Somerled, Lord of Argyll, and possibly his Clan Somhairle descendants. At about the turn of the 13th century, Bute appears to have come into possession of the family of the Steward of Scotland, during a time of internal strife amongst Somerled's descendants.[2]

During the 13th century, Bute was the target of two Norwegian attempts to reassert authority in the Isles. For instance, Rothesay Castle fell to a Norwegian-backed King of the Isles in 1230, and fell again to the Norwegians in 1263. In 1266, the Norwegian king, Magnus VI, ceded the Kingdom of the Isles to the Scottish king, Alexander III, in return for a very large sum of money, by the Treaty of Perth. Alexander Stewart had been the chief military commander of Scottish forces, and was now rewarded by Alexander (the king) by being confirmed in possession of Bute and Arran.

Several Jameson's can be found in important positions of influence and power on Bute from these early times into the mid 1700's. From 1436 to 1458 Niel Jamieson (Nigellus Jacobi) was the Chamberlain (camerarius) of Bute, and was responsible for the rents paid by tenants in the isle to the Crown. In 1458 when the king was in residence in Rothesay, Neil made such a poor mouth about the bad weather for the past twenty-two years and the loss of his fees from Arran, which had been scoured by raiders in 1444, that the compassionate monarch allowed him an extra payment of 8 chalders, for his vexations in gathering and dispatching the royal rents, or marts, to the courts. In 1506, Robert Jamesoun is enumerated among the so-called "Barons of Bute" who received charters from King James IV. In 1534, apparently the same individual, Robert Neilsoun, is confirmed by James V in the Crownership of the island and sheriffdom of Bute, which according to the deed of the grant, been held hereditarily by the family above two hundred years. In 1642, "Robert Jamieson, Crowner," the last of his family in the office, was an elder in the Church of Rothesay. After 1672 the Crowner's duties were transfered to other officers, and in 1748 the heritable jurisdiction was abolished by Act of Parliament.[3]

Then there was John Jamieson, Provost of Rothesay, who in 1644 along with several other townsmen and adherents of Sir James Lamont of Inveryne and Ascog, were cruelly murdered by the Clan Campbell, near the Castle Hill of Dunoon, on the Cowal peninsula, north east from Bute in Argyll. That episode was the grounds for one of the indictments which brought Archibald [Campbell], Marquess [Marquis] of Argyle [Argyll], to the block for high treason, fifteen years after it occurred.[4]

Besides holding important hereditary office for over many centuries, Jamesons on Bute had considerable landed property, which included Kilmorie Castle, the Jamieson's ancient castle, in what is now North Bute parish,[5] Buteshire, along the west coast of Bute island, opposite Inchmarnock. This castle is sometimes known as Crowner’s Castle and is thought to be a sixteenth-century fortified keep. Its towers and other buildings are now in utter ruin.[6] The Jamieson family holdings in this Kilmory area, included tenant farming on what was probably a large scale for Bute during those times. Their land area would not only have included that of the area surrounding the Castle in what is now the Meikle-Kilmory area, but southward to what is now known as the Little Kilmory and Chapel Kilmory area, where an old chapel now in complete ruins is located.[7] The entire property, including the castle remains, lapsed to the Bute family in 1780[8] and has since been further devided and sold.

There were several other known Jam?son families in other parts of Bute. one of these were the Jamiesons of Ambrismore, in the area of south west Bute, northeast of Scalpsie Bay south east of Lock Quinem, in Kingarth Parish. John McKeimy/Jamieson, eldest son or Robert and Helen Rankin, is said to have been born there.

Another was the Jamieson family of Scalpsie Farm in Kingarth, just north of Scalpsie Bay and a little west of Loch Quien, in the south west part of Bute. William Jamieson, who married Margaret Frazier, can be found here in the middle 1700's.

The Jam?sons of Bute have always been identified as a 'sept' of the Clan, Stuart's of Bute. Their exact relationship with the Stewart families of Bute, or the Royal Stewarts, who were also on Bute, is not fully known or understood. There may have been some blood connection given their vaulted position on Bute, however that connection is not known.

The Jamieson surname is an anglicized version of a Gaelic name McKemie (McKemy, McCamie, etc.), meaning son of James or son of Jamie. These were somewhat common surnames used on Bute since the beginning of surnames, all the way into the eighteenth century, sometimes interchangeably with each other. It can be often be found used for the same families on many records or references during those times. The McKemie surname is also recognized as a sept of the Stuarts of Bute, as well as a sept of the Clan Fraser in the area of North East Scotland. There are also some historical mentions that the McCamies and Jamiesons of Bute were Fullartons.[9]

It appears that by the end of the nineteenth century most Jam?ons on the Isle of Bute have left permanently, some went to mainland Scotland or England, probably Ireland and others to New Zealand and Australia, probably America as well. To the point that nowadays there are no Jam?sons living on Bute at all.

Y-DNA testing amongst any descendants of the known Jam?son families has not yet been done. Y-DNA testing should help to reveal if the various families found on the Isle of Bute were related to each other and if there are any connections with Jam?sons from other areas of Scotland, or for that matter, with any pedigree relationships with any Stewarts (Royal or otherwise), Fraser or Fullarton families. It will also help to show where all the Jam?sons of Bute may have migrated.