Volume 2 Number 3

Summer 1985

Letter From the Editor

Albert C Skinner Obituary

Debrett Ancestry Search

Ethnic Skinners

Gasoline Alley

Dolorose Skinner Legutki Celebration

miscSKINNERlaneous

NY, Sherburne

Christ's Church Cemetery

PA, Mill Run

Skinner Family

Queries

Resurgence

S.A.L.E.

Skinner Allied Lines Exchange

Scot's Skinner Reminisces

Skinner - Davis Scrapbook

Skinner Kinsmen Letter

Skinner Name of Scottish Origin

Skinner Settlement

John Skinner's Will

Truck Driving Granny

Index Page

Thanks to William Weiler for transcription of this article.

The stag at eve had drunk his fill
Where danced the moon on Moan's Rill
And in his midnight lair had laid
In lone Glenarchy's hazel shade

Glenarchy was the headquarters of the MacGregors, and my family quoted the above "Hail To The Chief" as the exclusive Skinner clan song and the Glanarchy part of The Lady of The Lake as pertaining to them.

When I was a little girl, my grandparents were always telling about how the Skinners were members of a Scottish Clan. They even used to sing the clan's song which was put to the tune of the United States President's "Hail to the Chief" (or was It the other way around? -ed]. They insisted the name Skinner in our line didn't come from the family occupation, but from the fact that in Scotland, where they lived, the English wouldn't let the men carry swords or wear kilts. To get around this, the clansmen first carried cudgels, arid then a little knife which they could hide in their stockings and which later became a part of their official Scottish dress. It was called a `Skyn Dhu,' which means `black dirk,' and the Skinner name, which started out 'Skiner or Skyner' came from that knife. My grandparents talked of how their people were among those put off their land by the big landowners who wanted to raise sheep. The feudal lords would turn out whole families, burning down their homes to make room for grazing land. Over the course of the years, due to these `clearances,' half the population of Scotland left to live in other countries.

My grandparents also told me that there was a Skinner plaid, and how they wore kilts and played the bagpipes. They said one of our ancestors was a Scottish Chief of his Clan, which they seemed to think was named the Skinner Clan.

I found the badge of the MacGregors used on their banners, and, just like in the Skinner song, it's a PINE TREE! (see illustration below) It said in the book that the MacGregors took great pride in their lineage...that they claimed Royal Descent from the McAlpine Kings of Scotland, and, of course, our song refers to that.

They referred to themselves as "The Skinner Clansmen" and the MacGregors were made to give up their name by the government. (They were too ferocious!) The MacGregor Clan had their name outlawed by the Privy Council in 1604. A lot of people were fined and put to death because they were MacGregors, (even to say the name put one under the penalty of death,) and the clan name wasn't restored until 1661. Thus many families assumed other names, never going back to the old, and there were Skinners among them.

From a Latter Day Saints chart, I see that Kenneth MacAlpin, son of the first King Alpin of Argyllshire who died in 834, was the founder of the Kingdom of Scotland. Kenneth died in 858, and the MacGregors claim him as their ancestor.

Was Roderick (named in the song above) the son of (Mac) their Alpine Dhu, the "Prince Dhu," or "Black Prince?" He must have had black hair. I think so. (Most of the Scots were red-headed.)

There was supposed to be a Skinner Plaid in our family, too, (I wonder if it was the MacGregor plaid? There was also a Skene plaid) and they said their name came from Robert (Somebody) who saved the King's life with his skyn-dhu (black dirk) and was granted a title for it. I have since traced this story which I think came from a family friend of mama's and not from the tradition of the family. It concerns the origin of the Skene family who were also called Skinners and were originally of the Moncrieff Clan. Robertson of Struan was riding with the king when he saved his sovereign's life with his skene (skyn) by killing a wolf. The king gave him a coat of arms with 3 dirks with points in pale (not the coat of arms we had). Regarding the name of Skene, the last male heir died out in 1828.

They knew they came from Thomas of Malden but never wrote down the chain of the line till I found it. They said they weren't part of the Royal Company of Skinners or animal hide takers by profession in England. They insisted they were Scots and even had me learn to do the sword dance and the `Hyland Fling' as a little girl because Mama said it was part of my Skinner heritage. They insisted their branch of the Skinners were Royal Aristocrats not tradesmen.

The name Skinner is associated in Scotland with the fact that the English refused to let the ferocious Scots carry swords. Therefore they resorted to cudgels at first and then to putting a hidden `Skyn Dhu' (or Black Dirk) in their stockings. This finally became a part of their full dress regalia. Mama always said the kilts of the Clansmen were part of our Skinner Heritage.

The following description of the Skinner Coat of Arms was taken from a Skinner genealogy book in the Grand Rapids (MI) Public Library called `A Sporting Family of the Old South,' by Harry Worchester Smith, Published 1936 Albany, NY. (This is the Skinner Coat of Arms that my family said was ours and that hung in our living room when I was a child. It was also apparently the coat of arms for this family, as it was engraved on all their antique silver and was approved as the coat of arms for the Henry Whipple Skinner family of Detroit, MI as well (see `Matthews American Armory,' page 222)

"Th[e Skinner] family's crest was a griffin's head with a hand, couped (cut off) in a griffin's beak. The use of such a hand comes from an ancient Scottish custom. The legend is that when a warrior of olden times found himself faced by hopeless odds, he cut off his left hand, hurled it within the ranks of the enemy and followed the severed hand to his death. The Skinners were of Scottish origin."

The following is from `Bolton's American Armory,' by Charles Knowles Bolton, 1927, and in the possession of the Grand Rapids Public Library. It describes the Skinner Coat of Arms... "Skinner: Sa on chev or bet 3 griff ins' heads erased arg a cresc of the first Crest; a griffin's head erased arg holding in its beak a dexter hand couped gu. .."

Engraved on an alms dish from Richard Skinner, 1727, Send Church, Marblehead, MA Old Sil Am Ch. p 268.

Again, this is the same coat of arms we had, and the Henry Whipple Skinner Family had approved for them. Note the Richard Skinner in the John Skinner of Woodbridge, NJ who was born c1705 and died 1772. Is this the same Richard Skinner? He's the one from the Henry Whipple Skinner line for whom the crest was officially approved.

However, for those of a different lineage, I've found the following, also taken from `Bolton's American Armory.' "Skinner: Arg a sea horse sa within an orle and encircled by 16 torteaux. Crest: A demi sea horse. Motto: Droit et avant." (Is this coat of arms French? The motto is.) From: framed paintings owned by Mrs. E. B. Ficklen (Myra Skinner), Mrs. Margaret Skinner Ferguson, Mrs. W. H. Whedbea--all of Greenville, NC and Miss Marian Drane, Edenton, NC, daughter of Rev. Dr. Drane, rector for 47 years of St. Paul's, who married Miss Skinner."

Mama also said Cornelia Otis Skinner's family were our 7th cousins. This proved to be right as did a lot of other traditions she told me about in the family. A friend and cousin of hers, Gail Pritchard, was our local genealogist who worked closely with my grandparents. So maybe that's how Mama knew these things. Also from the Skinner reunions held at the homestead at Dana, MA.

Gail left a lot of her work in the Grand Rapids (MI) Library, but I couldn't find our family in it, though she wrote Grandma that she knew Mama had two Revolutionary War ancestors on the Skinner side. This, too, proved to be right. They were Benjamin Skinner and Joel Brooks (Great-Grandmother Skinner's ancestor) in the Brooks line.

I was always told, "The Barnards were English and so were the Brooks. But don't you forget. You're a Scot, too! Be proud! You're a Scot because you're a Skinner."

Scottish Clansmen's Blessing For the Bride and Groom

May you have:
Enough love for each other to keep you close,
Enough forbearance to keep you patient,
Enough faith to keep you going,
Enough work to keep you busy,
Enough wealth to keep you in comfort,
Enough daughters to keep you content in your later years,
Enough sons to keep the honor of the Skinner name,
And may the songbird of happiness sing in your chimney
After every storm.

-Written by a Skinner