I have been trying to keep a balance between my work and personal life. If I have no friends and do no work, I can attain perfect balance. If I do any work, I can regain balance only if I reach out to my friends. Well, my “tagwerk” is completed and here is my personal note.

The Caldwell surname was adopted and popularized during the Dark Ages, i.e., the centuries when records are scarce that can shed light on what occurred. It is understandable that any explanation why the Caldwell surname became common would be thin on evidence that can clarify what occurred. I hope you will treat my latest theory like a guest who can liven up the conversation at the dinner table but will not be staying over night.

When the surname Caldwell initially became common in lowland Scotland, and later, in North Ireland, and then transported to other English-speaking parts of the New World through largely through lowland Scot and Scotch-Irish immigration, the peoples bearing this surname had a median male height appreciably greater than the median height of males from continental Europe.

William Wallace was a man of great height. Wallace was 6'6." It gave him a great advantage on the battlefield, when he swung the long sword or battle axe. This height would have been due chiefly to the blending of paleolithic, Celtic, Scandinavian, and Anglo-Saxon genes in lowland Scotland.

Colonial settlers of heights over 6 feet likely had an advantage on the frontier in hand to hand combat. Their williness to occupy the frontier where large families were an advantage may have favored growth of Caldwell surname that could have withered if space were limited.

There seems to be a consensus in the literature that in the 12th through 19th century, the taller males had a selective reproductive advantage. Where there was a relative scarcity of women with whom to mate, the taller males tended to have better likelihood of mating and having children to bear their surname.

Additionally, the “stature” of the taller individuals likely aided these immigrants and their descendants in pursuing a professional or business career in America. Most of the salesmen, educators and physicians of colonial America were of lowland Scotch ancestry. This became especially true after the Union in 1707 between England and Scotland eased the ability of these lowlanders to immigrate to British colonies.

I wonder whether there is any way to show that the earliest Caldwell immigrants to America were unusually tall.

My earliest ancestor, Andrew Caldwell, was 6'2.” The shortest of his four sons was Rev. David Caldwell (1725-1824), reputedly 5-10 or 5-11" in height when he tutored at age 90, according to his pupil, Gov. John Morehead. The spinal discs of a 90 year old would have long dessicated and lowered in height , and Rev. Caldwell may have been several inches taller as a younger man. The Cub Creek John Caldwell and the Fighting parson James Caldwell evidently also were men greater than 6 feet in height.

I wonder whether this selective advantage is now lost. Most of us have sedentary occupations. We no longer engage in mano a mano combat, swing an axe, or tether the reins of an oxen team. The only manual labor I do is shuffle a mouse pad. I am 6'2", but my wife says I am still the Doofus she married 30 years ago.