HOWIE, James ^{1 2 3}

   User ID: C714.

  General Notes:

"HOWIE
JAMES
JAMES HOWIE/
M
30/01/1625
483/10 35
Kilsyth"

from Births and Baptisms




Two years before the birth of his son in 1625, James Howie was probably the witness at another baptism in Kilsyth parish:

"Jullie 1623
5 (from previous entry)
Also Lybra baptised to Johne howie in Lenzie witness James howie & allex^r jack" ^{1 3}

  Research Notes:

MONKLAND

When his son, James, was baptised in 1625 in the parish of Kilsyth:
"James baptised to James howie in monkland witness James cleilland & Jn robyson"
James Howie was recorded as being "in monkland".
In assessing this it is important to remember we are dealing with a recorrd of the early 17th century, not a modern document.

The system of separate civil parishes, evolved, from church parishes, found in the 18th and 19th centuries had not yet developed fully. The group of parishes we know as Slamannan, Kilsyth, Cumbernauld, Kirkintilloch, Cadder, Old Monkland and New Monkland, which form a small clump in the centre of maps of Scotland, belonged to different, and sometimes, changing counties. The first four mentioned all belonged to Stirlingshire at one time, with a few of them, for administrative reasons, changing over to Dunbartonshire. Cadder and Monkland were in Lanarkshire.

"The parish of Kirkintilloch is bounded: on the north by Campsie and Kilsyth parishes in Stirlingshire; on the east by Cumbernauld parish; on the south by New Monkland and Cadder parishes in Lanarkshire; and on the west by Cadder parish; and is about 6^ miles long by 2 to 3^ miles broad." (Electric Scotland-Kirkintilloch site)

The Church of Scotland Registers of these parishes do not all date from the same period either. This list shows the years of the first birth or baptism records in each Church of Scotland parish that are available on Scotland's People website :
Kilsyth 1619 (marriage, same)
Kirkintilloch 1656 (marriage, same)
Cadder 1662 (marriage 1663)
Slamannan 1681 (marriage, same)
Cumbernauld 1688 (marriage 1689)
Old Monkland 1695 (marriage 1790)
New Monkland 1698 (marriage 1703)

In the earliest days of their existence, the earliest-formed parishes covered a wider area than later parishes did historically.

"In 1621, the people of Cumbernauld district petitioned Parliament to have Lenzie Barony made two parishes, or to have the church brought nearer to the centre of the parish. In 1646, a new church was built at Cumbernauld for Easter Lenzie (now made a separate parish), and the chapel in Kirkintilloch became the church of the western parish. The old church was then deserted."
(Kirkintilloch by Select Contributors)

"The parishes of Old and New Monkland were formerly one parish, under the general name of Monkland,\emdash a name derived from the monks of the Abbey of Newbottle, to whom the lands belonged. The parish was divided into two in the year 1640,\emdash the eastern division being named New Monkland, and the western Old Monkland." (Electric Scotland-Monkland site)

So before Lenzie parish, there was a Barony of Lenzie. Then Lenzie parish, stretching from the western end of Kirkintilloch to the eastern part of Cumbernauld, was divided and became two parishes: Kirkintilloch and Cumbernauld. These abutted Cadder and Monkland, for Monkland was not split into Old and New Monkland parishes until 1640, being until then the West and East part of the same parish of Monkland. Beyond the parishes mentioned Kilsyth was to the north. No doubt residents on the borders of these parishes attended whatever church was nearest, and used the services of the minister there.

Bearing these circumstances in mind, it is less surprising than one might think that James Howie, "in monkland", that is in the single parish comprising what we now know as Old Monkland and New Monkland, should have his son baptised in 1625 in Kilsyth parish. ^{2 4 5 6 7}

James married.