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About Kaye McAlpine
Expertise
Lifecycle (birth, marriage, death) customs in Scotland, Early Modern Scottish social customs, modern Scottish social customs, Border March laws and procedures, criminal processes and judicial execution practices, social history in Early Modern Scotland, ephemera printing in Scotland. While I have knowledge of the clan system and function of the clan society (Highland and Lowland), I am not a an expert in clan genealogy.

Experience
Freelance tutor in outreach courses from Edinburgh University on Scottish Culture and Tradition, including lifecycle customs, broadsheet ballads in Scotland, the traditional ballad and history. Freelance writer, guest presenter on Ch4 History Hunters programme, contributor to BBC Radio Scotland's 'Songlines' series on 'The Dowie Dens of Yarrow'. Currently co-director of amedia production company

Publications
Books: Forthcoming - Compendium of Scottish Ethnology, chapter on The Traditional and the Border Ballad; The Harris Repertoire (2000, Scottish Text Society, co-editor), The Ballad in History (chapter on Border ballads). Journals include Folklore, The Review of Scottish Culture,Sottish Studies, and The Scottish Literary Journal

Education/Credentials
Ph D, M. Phil, BA (hons)

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Scottish Culture - Public Register of All Arms and Bearings in Scotland

Expert: Kaye McAlpine - 10/27/2009

Question
Hello,
I am an American man seeking my national origin (my roots). My surname is Bell. I have heard that that is a Scottish name. What is the protocol for contacting the Public Register of All Arms and Bearings in Scotland to ascertain that my last name (clan name) is Scottish. Must I physically go there to Edinburgh, Scotland to do this, or can I do this legally via letter, fax, telephone call, e-mail, or some other means?
Please respond to this message at your earliest convenience. Thank you.

Answer
Dear Ray

You do not have to prove that Bell is a Scottish name through that route. Bell is prevalent in Scotland (as it is in Northern England).
To work out where you come from, start with what you know - mother, father, grandparents and so on and work back - *always* work backwards. This is the way you can find out if your family name of Bell is Scottish or otherwise. No public body has the type of organisation where they will focus on any one family for one individual.

I don't know how it works in America, but I presume records may be held state by state. Start with those ancestors you know, and wend your way backwards - even in 'unspectacular' families, there are always little surprises to be had!

Scottish census details are available online, as are birth, marriage and death certificates, accessible at www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk. Also, please do check out http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/famrec/index.html.

There are also some emigration lists.

Do not assume if there is Scottish ancestry, you have a clan name - ie. a name of one of the Highland clans. There are many Lowland families - but to muddy the waters further, there were also notorious reiving clans along the Scottish/English border - and the Bells were one of them, so if you can get back to Scottish origins please do not assume that you're Highland - as far as I'm aware 'Bell' is not associated with any Highland clan.

The etymology, from a quick check may be as follows (please remember that there was a lot of trade with France in the past, which may serve to explain one of the meanings:

Bell Surname (Origin Scottish) A name taken from the sign of an inn or shop. The sign of a bell was frequently used. "John at the Bell" became "John Bell." Bel, French, beautiful, handsome, fine.

Source: An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names With an Essay on their Derivation and Import; Arthur, William, M.A.; New York, NY: Sheldon, Blake, Bleeker & CO., 1857.

I hope this is of help - please follow up if this is not the type of search you intended, but you will, I'm afraid, have to do the footwork - or employ someone or several people to do it for you, which is always costly.

Good luck!

Kaye

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