43 AD Emperor Claudius orders the invasion of Britannia.

1st century A.D. Roman general Agricola occupied the region surrounding Glasgow. In 84 AD. the Romans erected the fort of Vanduara on high ground, now covered by houses and streets in Paisley. The 800’+ peaks of the hills (Laws) surrounding the Levern Valley provided a military advantage. Roman soldiers could see Solway Firth to the south, Ireland and the undulating plains of Ayrshire to the west, the Firth of Clyde and Highlands to the north and what eventually developed as Glasgow, Renfrew and Paisley to the northeast, and much of the lowlands to the east that was more densely settled.

Agricola’s secretary, Tacitus, wrote that a Britannic iron-age tribe or people called Damonii hunted in and resided at the Fereneze Forest that covered much of the present day Neilston Parish, and another tribe, Maeatae on Mearns Moor. He describes them as barbarians, drinking to excess and sacrificing innocents.

The Damonii were simple farmers, forming small settlements, and hunting when crops were poor. The Damonii built huts on logs on shallow lakes, as a means of protection. They had successfully resisted several invasions by the pagan Picts. The unconquered Damonii were relatively powerful at the time of the Roman invasion.

Like most Celts, the Damonii worshipped many God and Goddesses under a highly sophisticated religious system governed by the Druids. Druids sacrificed criminals or tribal outcasts in wicker baskets, an early form of the Wicker Man burning ceremonies which developed in the third century A.D. In the century following the reformation, burning witches at the stake was particularly enduring in Renfrewshire. The last burning at the stake in Scotland for witchcraft occurred in Renfrewshire around 1700.

The Druids revered the birch and oak trees. These trees abounded in the Levern Valley. The oak trees were mighty, strong, enduring and steadfast, living generation after generation. Until men devised iron-cutting tools, the oak resisted all attempts to fell it. The oak tree reached from earth to heaven. Touching a piece of oak wood was thought to bring good luck. The shade of the oak tree was favored for gatherings of large numbers of people. The etymology of the word “Druid” derives from "dru-wid," meaning "knower of oak trees," but "deru" also means truth or troth and so could also give the meaning "knower of the truth."

The Damonii were sun worshippers, and celebrated the summer solstice by ceasing all work and gathering together in large open-air camps meetings for the last week of June. When the Damonii became Christianized, these summer solstice gatherings lent themselves to evangelical revivals. "The lunar month which takes its name from Jupiter, the Oak-god, begins on 10th June and ends on 7th July. Midway comes St John's Day, 24th June, the day on which the Oak King was sacrificially burned alive. The Celtic year was divided into 2 halves, with the second half beginning in July, apparently after a 7-day wake, or funeral feast, in the Oak King's honor.

The groves of birch trees were recognized to be a single plant. The Celtics regarded the birch grove as the lady in the Woods, displaying graceful femininity and light-filled grace. Today’s Green Movement shares with the Druid-Celts this tree-hugging cult, willing to sacrifice jobs on the altar of environmentalism. A tree of extreme hardiness, birch thrives in places where oak would die. Although the wood of oak is used for building due to its strength and durability, the resilience and specific magical properties of Birch lend the use of its fiber to very specific ends. Maypoles were often of Birch, as were the twigs used to ignite the Beltane fires, signifying new beginnings and a fresh start. The Yule log is, traditionally, Birch also. Cradles made of Birch are said to protect the infant from harm, particularly of a psychic nature. For the same reasons it is said that a small piece of Birch carried upon a person will prevent kidnapping of the individual by the sidhe, or the Faerie Folk.

The Damonii formed an alliance with the Romans, to prevent southward movement of Picts and other wild highland tribes.

128 AD Romans completed Hadrian's Wall and erected a line of forts throughout Renfrewshire in order to protect themselves from the Picts, the inhabitants of Caledonia. The Romans constructed a mini-fortress on the hill overlooking Loch Winnoch, the future site of Castle Semple. The remaining mound is still visible today. A Roman road is built on one of the hills adjacent to the Caldwell Estate for access to the peak. There may have been a Roman wooden fort at what later was used as the site of the Caldwell castle. From the peaks of adjacent mountains the Roman scouts would have in view more than half of the population of Scotland in the 1st century. The main advantage of a stone castle is that a smaller garrison can be used to withstand a siege. The Levern Valley is particularly narrow at Caldwell, so it would have been an ideal location for a Roman fortress, especially given the ample supply of fresh water from its artesian springs.

In the later centuries of their occupation of Scotland, the Romans took children of local chiefs to Rome, where they were held as hostages, insuring the continued allegiance of their families to Rome. While there, they were educated in Roman ways and the Christian faith.

410 AD . The "Peace of Roman" or Pax Romana, of the island ends as troops are recalled by Emperor Honorius to protect the Roman Empire. Bloody conflict is quick to fill the void that is left in its wake. The Picts and the Scotti (the Roman word for bandits or raiders), unruly barbarians who lived in the unconquered lands north of Hadrian's Wall, spill over the borders in droves and roam about the countryside freely, raiding unprotected British villages, killing inhabitants, carrying off women and children to be their slaves or sacrifices for their gods.

The 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica provides a brief summary of subsequent events: “{A]fter the Romans retired (410) the territory was overrun by Cumbrian Britons and formed part of the kingdom of Strathclyde, the capital of which was situated at Alclyde, the modern Dumbarton. In the 7th and 8th centuries the region practically passed under the supremacy of Northumbria, but in the reign of Malcolm Canmore became incorporated with the rest of Scotland. During the first half of the 12th century, Walter Fitzalan, high steward of Scotland, ancestor of the royal house of Stuart. settled in Renfrewsbire on an estate granted to him by David I. Till their accession to the throne the Stuarts identified themselves with the district, which, however, was only disjoined from Lanarkshire in 1404. In that year Robert III. erected the barony of Renfrew and the Stuart estates into a separate county, which, along with the earldom of Carrick and the barony of Kings Kyle (both in Ayrshire), was bestowed upon his son, afterwards James I. From their grant are derived the titles of earl of Carrick and baron of Renfrew, borne by the eldest son of the sovereign. Apart from such isolated incidents as the defeat of Somerled near Renfrew In 1164, the battle of Langside in 1568 and the capture of the 9th earl of Argyll at Inchinnan in 1685, the history of the shire is scarcely separable from that of Paisley or the neighboring county of Lanark.”

Included in the references for the Encyclopedia are these particularly promising items, none of which I have read: Description of the Sheriffdom of Lanark and Renfrew (Maitland Club, 1831); Craig, Historical Notes on - Paisley (Paisley, 1881); and A. H. Millar, Castles and Mansions of Renfrew (Glasgow, 1889). Dean Caldwell Jackson posted here mention of John Paterson, The History of the Counties of Ayr and Wigtown, 3 vols, 1863-1866, and William H. Metcalfe, History of the County of Renfrew from the Earliest Times, paperback, January 2004, ISBN 09026648875, Zeticula Press.

450's The Britons hire the Anglo-Saxons as mercenaries for protection against the Picts and Scots. Under Hengist and Horsa, the heathen, but civilized Anglo-Saxons begin making plans for their own conquest of Britannia. After many years and a seemingly miraculous (for the Britons) setback at Badonsward, the Anglo-Saxons possess Britain. Anglish (or English) becomes the official language of the state.

The Anglo-Saxon word for artesian spring is “Cauld Weille.” The possibility therefore exists that from the time that the Romans withdrew and the Angle mercenaries remained, there was a place in the Levern Valley named “Caldwell,” however spelled. The clergy using the Latin alphabet would have spelled it “Caulduellis,” as the Latin alphabet had no “w.” A Celtic scribe unaccustomed to pronouncing the letter “d” might spell it “Calwell.”

Between 450 AD and 600 AD a warming climate and melting glaciers bring about a rise in sea level, inundating the marshlands and estuaries of southwest Denmark (occupied by Angles) and northern Germany (occupied by Saxons). These Anglo-Saxons immigrated west to Britain and settled throughout the midlands of England, distal from the estuaries, forcing out the original inhabitants, the Bretons. The Domesday Survey of 1086 (written in Latin) identifies more than a dozen settlements in the midlands, called Caldwell, or variant spelling thereof, all established before the Norman Conquest of 1066, thereby refuting the notion that the place name Caldwell is of Anglo-Norman origin..

6th century Bretons and Celts attempt to oust the Saxons. Arthur Pyndragon might have been in the Levern Valley seeking to expel the Anglo-Saxons. Few could rival the successes of Rhydderch Hael, the Ruler of the Kingdom of Strathclyde. Much of the information we have for this King comes from the medieval chronicler Geoffrey of Monmouth. According to him Rhydderch Hael, or Roderic the Generous, was of Roman descent, although he had strong allegiances with the Welsh Kings, and like most other people in Strathclyde at that time he spoke the Welsh language. After uniting the Celtic tribes of the Damnoii, Votadini, Selgovae and Novantae, King Rhydderch seems to have come to the throne of Strathclyde sometime around 550, while he was still a relatively young boy, possibly no older than sixteen. Like the other Roman Britons, he retained a strong devotion to the Christian religion introduce by his Imperial predecessors. However, the Saxon tribes and the Britons in the south, under the leadership of Gwenddolau were still strong followers of the Druid religion, and even in Strathclyde, there still existed strong support for the pagan teachings. Eventually these dissentions broke into open battle, with the Christian forces of Rhydderch Hael meeting the pagan warriors of Gwenddolau at Arderryd, some eight miles north of Carlisle. Here the King of Strathclyde’s forces overran the invaders and today the battle is widely regarded as the decisive victory of Christianity over paganism, a marking point in British history. The following years of Rhydderch’s rule saw him establish peace and prosperity throughout his Kingdom, the centre of which was regarded as Dumbarton Rock, where he is thought to have held court. Unlike most Kings of the time, he is said to have died peacefully in his bed, having reached a considerable age. The alliances with Welsh Kings might explain the presence of Welsh names in vicinity of Caldwell.

570's Christian missionaries, St. Ninian, St. Kentigen, and St. Columbia begin their work in Britannia (Mercia, Wales, etc.), Caledonia (Scotland), Northumbria, and Hibernia (Ireland). The Celtic church was a powerful missionary body sending missionaries throughout Europe.

St. Columba came to Scotland from Ireland at age 42, around 563 A.D. He was a churchman and politician, the first statesman of the Celtic church in Scotland. He helped convert the Picts to Christianity and thereby unite the highlands with the lowlands. Much more than did the Church of Rome he quoted from scripture. He established a presbyterian form of church organization without a lay Kirk of Elders, based upon monastic administration governed by an abbot -- called a presbyter. The Presbyterian Church of Ireland credits him with being the founder of the modern day Presbyterian church, while the Scottish Presbyterian Church reserves that honor to its native son, John Knox. Although there was an office of bishop he had no authority over the abbot, and was used purely for ordination and consecration. Columba showed no regard for the papacy. The first churches were simple buildings of wood and wattle, with hatched roofs. Columba was a man of action, not pious slot. Like John Knox, he was hungry for influence and power, but lacked the printed Bibles that gave Knox an immense advantage in converting Catholics to Protestant.. Columba established a community on Iona that included church, refectory, a hostel for travelers, a common room for relaxation, kitchens, a sickbay, a library, a writing house, and a seminary where he taught pupils to become priests. His students copied scriptures – gospels, psalms --- and from these the ordained brothers preached, in the Gaelic tongue, to the people about, and beyond He fostered a personal religion of prayer and meditation, rather than mere attendance at mass and performance of rituals. Local children were taught t o read, write, count, and sing. Some people would say that he should have been honored as the patron saint of Scotland, rather than St. Andrew, upon whom that title was granted in 1320 by Papal clergy. Venerable Bede wrote this we know for certain, that he left successors renowned for their persistence, their love of god, and their observance of monastic rites. The impact of St. Columba aids in understanding why the Scottish Reformation and conversion to Presbyterianism was so strong in Ayrshire and Renfrewshire.

604 St. Paul's Cathedral is erected in London.

655 Bede says that after King Oswy defeated Penda of Mercia, he gave the church 10-hide estates, including what became known as the Parish of Colewell, then known as Colwela, in Northumbria. (G.W.S. Barrow, The Kingdom of Scots, 2003, p. 27.)

700's Great monastic fervor sweeps the island. An Anglo-Saxon church is erected at Caldwell, North Riding, Yorkshire, remains of which can still be seen. Another one is built in Caldwell, Derbyshire.

Strathgryffe (strathclyde) by then extended to North Riding, Yorkshire, where there was a Caldwell settlement in North Riding. A road -- Dere Street -- extended from Edinburgh to the Caldwell settlement in North Riding and the port at York. (G.W.S. Barrow, The Kingdom of the Scots, 2d edition, 2003, p. 113.)

800's Normans [This was their name in the Netherlands, Germany and France. They also became known as the Danes by the British] were fierce and warlike tribes who made piratical expeditions to all parts of the European seas (primarily Britain, Germany, Friesland, Flanders, and France), plundering by land and sea, and often overrunning large tracts of country, usually by means of cruel and ruthless methods. They were, perhaps, the only barbarians who applied the highest title of magistracy to denote the leader of piratical squadrons, whom they termed Vikings or sea-kings. The poverty of their country (Sweden, Norway, Denmark) compelled them to adopt this mans of subsistence, and their religion inspired them with a love for daring enterprises, assuring them that warriors fallen in battle were admitted to Valhalla, the northern paradise. For 200 years the Normans invade Britannia. Although there is much devastation, many Normans, including a famous leader Canute, are converted to Christianity by their victims. (Encyclopedia Americana: "Normans", 1986.)

843 Many of the Pict and Scot clans unify under Kenneth I against the invading Normans.

871 The Saxon king, Alfred the Great, plays an important role in defending Britannia from the Danes. After repelling them, he turns his attention to rebuilding his war-ravaged country. Trade flourishes, as well as education and research. The Saxon Chronicles take shape during this time.

911 The Treaty of St.-Claire-sur-Epte is signed where King Charles III the Simple of France cedes the lands of Neustria (Present day Normandy) to the Norman leader Rollo in order to save France from further Norman invasions. Rollo, the first Duke of Normandy, embraces Christianity and is baptized under the name of Robert. His followers similarly abandoned their roving and piratical habits and confessed Christ. However, they still retained their marks of Scandinavian origin and their warlike ardor.

9th century Norsemen raid Strathgryffe –which straddles Lanark and Renfrewshire--as far as Paisley.

10th century Gaelic speech is still current in the Levern Valley among the peasants, but English was becoming prevalent.

Danes from Dublin, Ireland, invade the lowlands, and seize land to protect a trade route from Dublin to York. Scottish King Malcolm I (943-54) agrees to be a vassal of English king Edmund, in exchange for help. A succession of English Kings seeks to prevent these incursions by erecting a line of forts in Renfrewshire. The possibility exists that a stone Caldwell Castle, the first of several, was erected in the Levern Valley in the 10th century., and an Anglo-Saxon band of soldiers or knights established a community called Caldwell. This is speculation, not proof.

1034 Upon the death of Aethelred the Unready, Scottish King Malcolm II seizes Strathclyde
The clans of Scotland unify for the first time under Malcolm II against their common enemy, the Danes.

1066 Led by William I the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy, the Normans invade the British Isles and defeat the Angles and Saxons (in England) at the Battle of Hastings . William I did not see himself as conquering, but rather as reclaiming the throne that was deprived of his kinsmen when the Saxons recaptured the throne. Among the regions most devastated by William I are Derbyshire and Yorkshire, within which are located two of the chief Caldwell settlements.

1072 Radical cultural shifts begin to occur in Britannia. Changes include a complete transition of customs, manners, and entertainment as well as a transition of language from English to Anglo-Norman. Highland Dancing originates in the Highlands when Margaret, the wife of King Malcolm Canmore, introduces Norman entertainment at the Scottish Court. It is likely that modern ballet and Highland Dancing have common roots in the classical dances of the day. It is during this time that Malcolm promises, vaguely, allegiance with William the Conqueror.

1086 Domesday Book lists about a dozen Caldwell settlements in the midlands of England. The Domesday Survey does not cover territory above the River Tees, and thus, would not have recorded the presence of the settlement of Colewell (Colwyla) in Northumbria or Caldwell in Renfrewshire, if present.

1092 William Rufus cleaves Northumbria and sends peasant colonists from the south to settle in the north and cultivate the area around Carlisle. Upon Henry I’s death, Scottish king David I takes over Carlisle, the capitol of Strathclyde.

1097-98 Priory of Coldingham founded by Edgar, King of Scotland, and attached to the convent of Durham, north of Berwick.

In 1161, the Name "Neilston" was first mentioned in documents as the name of a manor. It derives from Neil’s ”tun” or “manor.” Neil is a Gaelic name.

In 1163, Walter Fitzalan (1136-77) [a Bretonic name] from Shropshire, England, was appointed High Steward of Scotland and was the first of four hereditary "Stewarts" of Scotland. (R.W. Eyton, History of Shropshire (1854-60); G.W.S. Barrow, The Kingdom of the Scots, 2d edition, Edinburgh Press, 2003, p. 314.) Walter I was the feudal overlord of Strathgryffe (intially a region within Renfrewshire and Lanarkshire), including the Levern Valley. He has to be distinguished from but has been often confused with his elder brother, William Fitz Alan, a large landowner in England.
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Walter I was succeeded as steward by his son, Alan,1177-1204, who in turn was succeeded by Alan's son,Walter II, 1204-41. (G.W.S. Barrow, The Kingdom of the Scots, 2d edition, Edinburgh Press, 2003, p. 315.)
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The lands of the Stewarts include what today is known as the Forest of Ferenze and Ferenze Hills, in Neilston Parish, as well as virtually all of modern day Renfrewshire, and the region encompassing Prestwick and eastward within Ayrshire. They also owned lands in the highlands (Bute), and in various pockets in the eastern lowlands (Innerwick, Mow, and Ledgewood). These are all shown in a sketch. (G.W.S. Barrow, The Kingdom of the Scots, 2d edition, Edinburgh Press, 2003, p. 313.)

Walter I originally granted 1/10th of his venison from this forest to the monks at Paisley Abbey, taken by him “in fermison,” a French derived word meaning “the close season for stags and time for hunting hinds, 11 November-2 February.” In subsequent charters and cartularies, "Fermison" became known as a location with a variety of other spellings, e.g., Forineisum, Ferineisun, Formeson, and ultimately, Ferenze. (Barrow, supra, p. 316.)

The fact that the Stewarts owned lands in both Renfrewshire and in Ayrshire likely eased the ability of Caldwells from Renfrewshire to relocate to Ayrshire, particularly near Prestwick and eastward, that Tom Caldwell has identified as part of “Caldwell country.”
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:In 1163, Cluniac monks – known for rejection of material possessions, in contrast to the St. Benedictine Order that had been at Dumfermline since the 7th century AD-- relocated from Renfrew and founded Paisley Abbey. The austere Cluniac monks ironically persuaded the wealthy landowners to cede much of their land to the Abbey in exchange for promises that candles will be lit for their souls for eternity. The acquired lands are cleared of the forests so that the land can be leased or “farmed” to tenant farmers. Within a few centuries vast tracts of land in Renfrewshire are denuded of any trees. The enclosure of the lands to aid the raising of the sheep leads to the dispossession of many tenant farmers. Sheep do not provide the manure that cattle had, and gradually the soil becomes more impoverished. Graham writes that the people blamed Providence rather than their own improvidence. The inability of the tenants to leave their land without permission of the landowner, and the obligations they owed their landlord in services and food, served to shape the determination of many Scots to immigrate to lands where they would owe no obligation to church or government, the Promised Land that would deliver them from slavery and humiliation. This was not an easy task. The medieval mappamundi, which shows the world as a disc with Jerusalem at the center and the ocean on its rim, shows Scotland diametrically opposed to Paradise. (J.D. Mackie, A History of Scotland, 1964, reprinted Penguin Books, 2d edition, 1991, p;. 11.)
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In 1170 Sir Robert le Croc was granted a fief of the Levern Valley by Walter I.

1124-53 The reign of Scottish King David I. The King grants the lands within the Parish of Colewell in Northumbria to Walter Corbet, a knight. In 1124, David I, who grew up in England and married a Norman wife, said to be the wealthiest woman in England, and renovates the Celtic (Pictish) form of government of "Scotland" to introduce many of the Anglo-Norman formalities in church and state (e.g. sheriffs, and clergy). These changes attract many more Norman and Flemish settlers to the bonnie Lowlands of Scotland.

1165 William the Lion, Celtic King of Scotland, after unsuccessful negotiations with Norman King of England, Henry II, sets a precedence by aligning with Louis VII, King of France against England (in what would become known as the Auld Alliance). [This is an interesting relationship as the rulers of England are/were Norman and Normandy was part of France!]. In a boundary dispute with England over Northumbria, William is captured and forced to sign a treaty in Normandy recognizing the superiority of the English Archbishops over the Church of Scotland. Scotland's independence is retained in 1193 due to the war between England and France and the diligence of William, and his successors. As William and his advisors work to secure restoration of Scottish independence, many civil improvements are made. For instance, Thomas a Becket founds the abbey at Arbroath, the Church of Scotland rebels and is granted direct access to the pope, and many burghs in Scotland are chartered. The Scottish flag has a lion recognizing William's 49 years of tremendous service.

1180 Lazar House founded by Sir Robert de Croc between Crookston and Neilston, probably at Chappell.

1200 Marion de Croc married to Walter, grandson of the High Steward.

Before his death in 1204, Walter II granted a large portion of Neilston Parish as a prebend to Cluniac monks settled at Paisley. The term “prebend” means an estate devoted to support the church, monastery, or cathedral. He also granted a large portion of lands he owned southeast of Castle Semphill Loch. I do not know whether or not this resulted in any diminution in the size of or splitting of the Caldwell estate, but it certainly meant that the Caldwell estate was surrounded by land under control of the clergy. By the 14th century the Abbots and Bishops owned most of farmland in Renfrewshire and their annual rental income far exceeded the rental income going to the nobles. Lord Thomas Babington Macaulay in the mid 19th century would write his famous History of England, in which he observed that before the reformation, many Scottish men entered into the service of the Catholic Church because of the opportunities for great wealth.

1214-1286 The years of relative prosperity due to the work of William are considered, by the Encyclopedia Americana, the Golden Years of Scotland.

1246 Robert de Sempill of Eliotstoun, Chamberlain (steward) of Renfrewshire, witnessed a charter to the Paisley Abbey.

1200-1300 All important civil disputes were formerly settled either by arbitration or in ecclesiastical tribunals, according to the approved laws and customs, but during the 13th century, the king’s Justiciar acquires increasing authority. Cf. Regesta Regum Scottorum. In 1305, King Edward I formerly provides for four justiciars, one part for Lothian, one for Galloway, and two for lands beyond the Scottish Sea. (Barrow, supra, p. 81.) The significance of this means that if we seek to identify writings referring to Caldwells prior to 1300, we need to examine ecclesiastical records carefully.

Tom Caldwell of Australia, John Caldwell of California, and David Caldwell of Manitoba, have kindly posted here the names of numerous Caldwells residing in Scotland and England, reaching as far back as records seemingly are preserved, to the 13th century A.D. John and Tom Caldwell each cited a charter or other document of Paisley Abbey in the late 13th century. The status of this Caldwell is unknown. Tom Caldwell says he is “associated” in some manner with Paisley Abbey. This suggests to me that he may have been a Prebendary, i.e., manager of the property held to support the Abbey. For castles, the property manager would have held the title of “butler.” William Caldwell, Lord High Chancellor (1349-1354), was one such Prebendary. Centuries later mention will be made of another Caldwell who was a property manager or servant for the Earl of Lennox. The earl’s son, Lord Darnley, had been murdered, and the earl and his servant, Caldwell, visited Mary, Queen of Scots, held in prison, seeking her confession. This story is told in Alison Weir’s book, Mary Queen of Scots and the Murder of Lord Darnley.

In a book by George Crawfurd, History of the Shire of Renfrew (1710), he concluded that a Caldwell clan resided in Renfrewshire long before the ascension of Robert I (Robert Bruce) as King of Scotland and his death in 1329.
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Crawfurd drew his conclusion from records of a marriage in 1332 or 1333 (I forget the exact year) of the Caldwell heiress “of that ilk” to Godfrey Mure, by which ownership of a large Caldwell Estate located at present day Uplawmoor, East Renfrewshire, Scotland. The Scottish words “that ilk” refer to landed gentry “in all respects substantially the same.”

Hypothetically King David I might have chartered a fief in the 11th century to an Anglo-Norman knight that became the first Caldwell Estate. King David I invited more than 1000 Anglo-Norman knights to settle in southern portion of Scotland. King Alexander III did the same But books have been published reproducing the known charters of David I and Alexander III, and if any mention is contained therein of any Caldwell, I assume someone would have publicized that document.
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By the 11th century, English-speaking people of Angle ancestry had migrated from Northumbria and Yorkshire into and occupied much of Renfrewshire. Many of the place names in Renfrewshire of settlements established by the 11th century reflect this migration. The suffix -ton as in "Houston", or Hewe's Town, is of English origin. Celtic place names remained more common in Ayrshire.

A pattern emerges in which the given Christian names are characteristically English (e.g., John, David, Andrew, Alexander, etc.), rather than Scandinavian, Norwegian, Gaelic or Celtic, and the Caldwell surname is found virtually only among the Angles or their descendants, first in the Kingdom of Mercia, followed by Northumbria & Yorkshire, then Renfrewshire and Ayrshire, and virtually absent in areas of pure Viking settlements, such as in northern Scotland and the Hebrides, or strictly Gaelic speaking regions of Scotland, such as Galloway. This implies to me that the Caldwell place name is more likely derived from the Anglo-Saxon or Old English word, “cauld weille,” meaning artesian spring, rather than from any Scandinavian or Norse word, such as “kelda” or “kald,” for spring.

There is ample reason to conclude that the earliest use of the place name and surname of Caldwell within Scotland originated in the Levern Valley of East Renfrewshire, and spread along the course of the Levern River into Ayrshire.

Tom Caldwell objects by asserting : “The places of greatest concentration are not around the place Caldwell but rather in the area from Paisley-Kilbarchan through the Lochwinnoch area to Beith and Dalry then Saltcoats and Irvine down to Ayr. With outliers into Maybole, Coylton, Ochiltree and up the south bank of the Irvine River to Kilmarnock. Why it almost looks like a re-run of the lands held by the Stewarts (amazing). Funnily enough the Caldwells are found nearly everywhere the Wallaces originate. Perhaps they were Stewart followers from the Welsh Borders who spoke some recognizable form of Gaelic but different enough to be regarded as "Galdwallys" (foreign Welsh from Wales) in the land of the "Wallys" (the original Strathclyde Britons).” I have no weapons to deflect a blow, but maybe I can duck one by some quick dodging. In the 10th to 13th century, Ayrshire and Renfrewshire were sparsely settled and no records were kept of the individuals. No one really knows where the greatest concentration lies in those centuries. When Scottish King Malcolm Canmore ordered landowners to adopt surnames based on their possessions, someone assumed the title of Lord Caldwell, if a member of the nobility, or Laird Caldwell, if of lesser status, and the people who worked on or resided at the Caldwell Estate became known in Anglo-Norman as “de Caldwell” and in English as simply, Caldwell.

1286 Alexander III's infant daughter, last of Scotland's royal bloodline, dies, leaving political unrest between the clans and competition for the "throne". King Edward "Longshanks" of England, still ruling over Scotland, appoints John Balliol as "vassal" king. Balliol, goaded into defiance, begins war with England but is quickly defeated because of lack of support from the other clans vying for power.

1305 William Wallace, later knighted Sir William Wallace, hero of the recent movie "Braveheart", routed the English at Stirling Bridge. He later lost at Falkirk and was martyred by Longshanks.

1314 Robert the Bruce I, whose father was an Anglo-Norman noble but whose mother was daughter of a Celtic Earl of Carrick, who had taken up the cause to free Scotland, together with 30,000 Scots, routed 100,000 English soldiers at the Battle of Bannockburn and recaptured Stirling Castle from the hand of King Edward Longshanks. This seats Robert the Bruce as Sovereign of Scotland. Scotland is a united kingdom once again. Men of Levern were present under the High Steward, and it is hypothesized that the last remaining male heir to the Caldwell Estate died.

Early 1300’s Neilston Parish emerges as an administrative unit.
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In 1329 King Robert I died and is succeeded by David II.
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In 1332 [est.] Caldwell Estate heiress marries Mure.
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The years 1296-1328 encompass the War of Independence, initiated by William Wallace and Robert Bruce. Because Edward I’s policy of filling Scottish benefices with English incumbents, Scottish bishops and clergy sought ecclesiastical freedom and applied the enormous wealth of the church to aid the Scots in their War of Independence. The Scottish Bishops were relatively independent of the Pope. (Barrow, supra, p. 214.) As far as I can tell, the Caldwell Uplawmoor, Scotland did not sustain any forfeiture of the Caldwell Estate during these Wars. This suggests to me that the Caldwells either avoided the wrath of King Edward I, or that the male Caldwells who were the targets of his wrath had died in the War of Independence and Edward I elected not to forfeit the Estate that passed to the Caldwell heiress or which held as prepends to support the Glasgow Diocese.
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Between 1349-1354, at the peak of the Black Plague, William Caldwell served as Lord High Chancellor of Scotland. He served during a period when the Scottish King David II was being held for ransom, 1346-57. Scottish nobles initially rejected Caldwell’s plea for ransom money refused to pay ransom and tried to retake Berwick but are defeated. Caldwell’s successor paid part of the ransom, David II is released, but the nobles reneged on full payment. He was a prebendary of the one of several prebends supporting the Glasgow Diocese. He may have been one of the ambitious men to whom Lord Macaulay referred. As Prebendary he would have been among the most wealthy. As Lord High Chancellor, among the most powerful. Usually the Lord High Chancellor was selected from the best educated among the clergy.

In 1314 at Bannockburn, men of Levern were present under the High Steward and aided in the defeat of King Edward II and creation of Scottish independence. This might explain why the all the male Caldwell heirs to the Caldwell estate died, leaving only an heiress.
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The Caldwell surname does not appear on the Declaration of Arbroath, of 1320, signed by over 2000 Scottish nobles and clergy. This makes sense if Caldwell was a mere vassal of the Le Croc clan, and not part of the nobility or a high-ranking clergyman.

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1399 King Henry IV is the first English king to learn English. The Anglo-Norman language begins loosing common usage and is used in civil services only until 1422 when English is reinstated as the official language of England.

1414 Shire of Renfrew mentioned in the records.

1456 The Guttenberg Bible is released the first mass produced Bible.

1477 Lands of Glanderston in possession of Sir John Maxwell of Pollok.

1500's The game of golf [spelled backward is "FLOG") is established..

1500's The bagpipes, which were popular all across Europe and the Middle East, and consisted of bag, chanter, blowpipe, and single tenor drone are altered by the addition of a second drone. The bagpipe had replaced the harp as the Celtic instrument of war. The bagpipes fit into the clan system where the chiefs have their own pipers. Colleges such as the MacCrimmons in Skye produced pipers and classical "CeolMor" piping music. [The bagpipes are mentioned in the Holy Bible in the book of Daniel where King Nebuchadnezzar commanded that when the bagpipe sounded everyone would fall down and worship the golden image (of himself) or be thrown into a furnace. Some people that I know would rather be thrown into a furnace then listen to bagpipe music!]

1505 Lord John Sempill I (founded the Collegiate Church of Lochwinnoch (Castletoun, Renfrewshire). This was one of the first schools in Scotland. Later he builds Castle Semple. The ruins of the peel tower and Collegiate Church are still very much in evidence today although Semple Castle was destroyed in 1560. Moral: Build God's house first, He then, will build yours

1513 (1519?) Flodden Field. Men of Levern present. James IV and Scottish Knighthood bite the dust

540's John Knox, Protestant clergyman, begins preaching reform. This movement gains political as well as religious prominence. Knox later preaches against Mary, Queen of Scots and Queen Elizabeth of England as the "monstrous regiment of women."

1540's While, Mary, Queen of Scots is growing up in France, French garrisons are established to manage Scotland. National resentment to foreign rule, reinforced by the movement toward Protestantism, result in riots in which churches are burned.

1560 Scottish Parliament denies papal supremacy and forbids the celebration of Catholic Mass.

1565 Marriage of Henry, Lord Darnley to Mary Queen of Scots. Lord Darnley owns lands in Neilston Parish and may have been allied with or friends of a Caldwell residing in Neilston Parish. During Mary's imprisonment, a Caldwell acting on behalf of the father of Lord Darnley sought to get Mary to confess to his murder. This story is told in a book authored by Alison Weir, Mary, Queen of Scots and the Murder of Lord Darnley. Mention of Caldwell’s visit to Mary is made in a Letter allegedly written by Mary (she said it was a forgery). A reproduction of the text of the letter is attached as an appendix to Antonio Fraser’s book, Mary, Queen of Scots.

* 1572 Revd. Patrick Hamilton, first minister of the combined parishes of Neilston, Mearns and Kilbarchan.

* 1574 Scripture Reader in Neilston Parish. Parish school, under Scripture Reader.

* 1588 Plague and Famine in Neilston Parish.

* 1603 Union of the Crowns.

* 1650 Cromwell in Glasgow. Sermon by Revd. Zachary Boyd.

* 1666 Covenanters muster at Shitterflats near Beith, Rullion Green. Local Covenanters rounded up and shipped  to America. Ship was wrecked on Orkney Islands.

* 1672 Conventicles at Mearns, Eaglesham and Lochgoyne.

* 1676 Conventicles at Communion Hill, Neilston.

1572 Revd. Patrick Hamilton is the first minister of the combined parishes of Neilston, Mearns and Kilbarchan. He is Presbyterian.

:1574 Scripture Reader in Neilston Parish. Parish school, under Scripture Reader.

1588 Plague and Famine in Neilston Parish. This might explain how portion of the former Caldwell estate was acquired by three Protestant knights recently arriving from France. The National Library of Scotland has 1654 map that can be seen on-line, that shows three Caldwell castles in East Renfrewshire.

1603 Union of the Crowns.

1650 Cromwell in Glasgow. Sermon by Revd. Zachary Boyd.

1666 Covenanters muster at Shitterflats near Beith,

Rullion Green. Local Covenanters rounded up and shipped to America. Ship was wrecked on Orkney Islands. On board was a John Caldwell. The Mure of Caldwell Estate was forfeited to Sheriff Dalzeill but restored a few years later. (G. Crawfrd, The History of the Shire of Renfrew, 1710.)

Tom Caldwell provided this comment: The "Battle of Rullion Green" near Edinburgh was a mere skirmish but it shocked the ruling party which took stern action against all who had supported this little rising. The Laird Mure of Caldwell and Caldwell of that Ilk who had joined a band of horsemen in support of the rising at Chitterflat but not actively taken part were forfeited along with many others. Both Caldwell and Mure fled into exile. Mure eventually got his lands back but Caldwell did not. It think that Caldwell of that Ilk ended up in New Jersey. Good fodder for you US researchers! General Tam Dalyell put down the rising - he was well trained in the Russian service - both ruthless and avaricious.

1672 Conventicles at Mearns, Eaglesham and Lochgoyne.

1676 Conventicles at Communion Hill, Neilston "

1712 - Presbyterian clergy barred from performing marriage or baptism. This may explain my inability to find any documentation for the birth of Andrew Caldwell, 1712-1757, my earliest known ancestor.