General Notes

REFN: 7555AN
Freskin, whose curious name has been the subject of some speculatio
n. He is said to have been a person of Flemish origin, whom David I took n
orth with him from the Lowlands and settled in Moray, when he suppress
ed an insurrection of the natives of that province in 1130. From the ter
ms of a charter granted to one of his sons by William the Lion, it would a
ppear that Freskin held from King David the lands of Strabrok in Linlithgo
wshire, along with his lands in Moray, but he is nowhere designed 'Flandre
nsis' or le Flamyng, as was the custome when Flemings were mentioned in ea
rly charters. It may be, as has been surmised, that his name is the sa
me as Fresicus, the Low Latin for Friscian, and was therefore sufficient
ly distinctive. On the other hand, Freskin may be a corruption of some com
pund of the Gaelic 'Fear,' with a noun or adjective descriptive of some tr
ait of character or physical peculiarity. [The Scots Peerage II:120-121]
Freskin, a person of unknown descent, but who is believed to be of Flemi
sh origin, upon whom King David I, in pusuance, it is said, of a colonisi
ng policy, bestowed wide landed possessions. These included Strabrock (Uph
all and Broxburn), in West Lothian, and the lands of Duffus, Roseisle, Inc
hkeil, Macher, and Kintray, forming the larger part of the parish of Duff
us and a portion of the modern parish of Spynie, between Elgin and the Mor
ay Firth. At least Freskin is said to have held these lands of King Dav
id I, for Freskin himself is named only once, in a charter granted to h
is son William, between 1166 and 1171, by King William the Lion, which con
firms the lands named as having been held by Freskin. Freskin therefore mu
st have died before 1166. According to the editor of the 'Registrum Moravi
ense,' followed by Sir William Fraser in his 'Sutherland Book,' he had thr
ee sons, Hugh, who was the ancestor of the Sutherland family, William of D
uffus, and Andrew, a churchman. But Hugh, son of Freskin, is only named on
ce, in a writ dated between 1147 and 1150, and that in such circumstan
ce as to make the evidence untrustworthy, while Andrew is clearly identic
al with a namesake of later date. The weight of testimony rather poin
ts to the probability that Freskin had only one son, a view already adopt
ed by Lord Hailes and George Chalmers. Shaw, in his 'History of Moray,' al
so assigns to Freskin only one son. [The Scots Peerage VIII:319-320]
De Moravia
The Morays are a family of Flemish descent, who settled in the northern di
strict of Moray during the reign of David I. They can trace their origi
ns in north-eastern Scotland to Freskin, a man of Flemish origins, who w
as granted lands by the king in Duffus, Moray, where he built a motte a
nd bailey castle on the shore of Loch Spyine. Freskin, and the other famil
ies of French and Norman descent granted lands, were used to establish roy
al authority in the outlying Gaelic districts, which in the past had enjoy
ed their own semi-independent traditions. In this regard they occupied t
he same military, political and administrative role as the Old English alo
ng the Gaelic frontiers of Ireland; and like the Old English time wore aw
ay any cultural and linguistic difference between them and the native peop
les.