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                              The Ervin Name

The purpose of this document is to introduce the reader to a list of identified research material involving the origin of the Ervin name, provide a general overview of its ancestry, and introduce the relationship to over two hundred fifty other spellings.  The following information was gathered from several sources.  "The Original of the Family of the Irvines or Erinvines," written in 1678 by Dr. Christopher Irvine, M.D., Historiographer Royal of Scotland.  Second, "The Book of Irvings," by John Beaufin Irving of Bonshaw, Chief of the Clan Irving.  This book includes the first book, and published in 1907, was written as an update to the original.  Alastair M.T. Maxwell-Irving, B.Sc., F.S.A. Scot, in 1968 published "The Irvings of Bonshaw".  Another publication, that I have not been able to locate is, "The Irvines and their Kin," by Lucinda Boyd of Chicago, 1908.

In more recent times, Dennis Ervin of Columbus Ohio has written a short story of the clan that is published on a web page at www.castles.org/Chatelaine/DRUM.HTM .  The Clan Irwin Association also has an abbreviated history of the Clan on its web page at www.clanirwin.org.  

Prior to written history, this very large family of Scots were known as Erinfines, Erinvines or Erivinus.
In the tenth century, when royalty first started taking second names, King Duncan of Scotland took the name of "Eryvine". His grandson Crinan, became Abthane of Dule and lay Abbot of Dunkeld and, as such, was second in command to King Malcolm II. Crinan was the husband of Princess Beatrix and father of King Duncan I of Scotland as King Malcom II left no male heirs. (This King Duncan is the one who was killed by his cousin MacBeth, a nephew of Beatrix.)  According to the above mentioned publications, Crinan Eryvine was the progenitor of the male line of all the kings of Scotland down to Alexander III, who died in1286, and the female line of all the sovereigns of Scotland down to the present day. 

The Irvings of Bonshaw are descended from Duncan Eryvine, also known as Duncan of Eskdale, who was the younger brother of Crinan. Duncan of Eskdale was appointed Governor of Cumbria, went to the border between England and Scotland, married an heiress of the ancient British royal line of Coel Hen, and founded the great estate known as "Bonshaw".  This was in 1020 and Bonshaw tower is still in the family,  presently owned by Dr. Bruce Irving.  In the 11th century, when the parish system was introduced by King Malcom Cainmore, the Irving lands became known as "Irving Parish".

The most common spellings seems to have been Eryvine, Erivine or Erevine until the 11th century and after the Norman invasion, the dominant spelling became "de Irwyn." (The "de" was in vogue at the time).  In 1124 King David granted the feudal superiority of Annandale to the Norman family of de Brus and for the first time in history, the Irvings, being part of the Royal Family, were not directly responsible to the king for their lands but had to suffer the indignity of being subjects of suzerainty.  They were vassels for four centuries, first under the Bruces and finally achieving independence under the Johnsons. 

Robert de Bruce descended from a daughter of David Erevine, Earl of Huntingdon, brother to William, King of Scotland. Robert de Bruce, during his struggle to become King, befriended William de Irwyn of Bonshaw.  William became a close confidant and armor bearer for Robert and for his twenty years of faithful service was awarded 10,000 acres in the "Forest of Oakes" and the Castle of Drum.  Granted in 1323 and made a free barony the following year, Drum castle remained in the Irvine family until 1975 when it was deeded to the National Trust of Scotland for its preservation. This is thoroughly documented in "Burkes Landed Gentry" and readily available at any good library.

In the 14th century the name changed from de Irwyn to Irving in the south of Scotland, Irving Parish, and to Irvine in Aberdeenshire in the north.  Shortly thereafter a branch of the Irving family took the spelling of Irwin and by the end of the 16th century, there were at least seven names, Ervin being the sixth most common.  These new names are believed to have all been generated in the southern part of Scotland, in and around Irving Parish.  The Clan Irwin Association has now identified over two hundred fifty spellings of the name. 

These seven names are usually pronounced Ervin, unless there is a "w" involved.  The "g" is usually silent.  Irvine is also pronounced Ervin in Scotland.  In Ireland, Irvine is pronounced with a long "i", as in Irvine California, although they are of the same family.

There are members of this clan scattered all over the world.  Many of them date back to the fifth century when they fought the Romans in Eastern Europe under the great Fergus.  One ancient family in Hungary is called Ervin and readily admit that their origin in that country is as stated.

By the 16th century, the Irvings owned over 26,000 acres in Irving Parish, about twenty miles southeast of Lockerbie, and had a fighting force of over 600 armed men.  In Aberdeenshire, the Irvines owned over 15,000 acres and other Irvines owned a large part of the Orkney Islands. During the reign of King James VI, the Irving Clan territory comprised about 46,500 acres.  It is estimated that they owned approximately 1/400 of the entire country at that time.

Many members of the clan have been Members of Parliament, many have been knighted and over fifty coats of arms are listed in Nisbet's "Heraldry," 1804; Burkes "General Armory," 1844; and "Scottish Arms"", 1370-1678, by David Lindsay.  There are several "Clan Crests" and the clan flower is the Holly.
No official tartan existed until about one hundred fifty years ago.  Until then, the Lairds of Drum wore the Forbes tartan as there were several important marriages between the two families.  The Irvine tartan is very similar to the Forbes and was worn by the Laird of Drum for the first time in the year 2000 at the Alma Michigan Highland Games.

Throughout Scottish History the Irvings, Irvines, Irwins, Irvins, Ervines, Ervins, Erwins, et al have played a significant role.  Several times they have fought against each other due to religions or differences in loyalties to a King, but never stayed enemies.  In the seventeenth century, they were numerous and settled in Ireland where they played vital roles at the sieges of Derry and later Roscommon.  In the eighteenth century, they migrated to North America, the Indies and Later Australia/New Zealand.  Members of the clan were prominent in the Revolutionary War and have fought for their country in every war since.

The original Ervin, in this line, to emigrate to North America is believed to have been John, the father of James Ervin who married Sarah Green.  This has not been proven but there is a record of marriage between  John Ervin and Mary Bellows in 1745 at Gloucester, NJ. Charles E. Hanna in his "Ohio Valley Genealogies" lists the early Ayrshire Scotch settlers in Harrison County, Ohio and Ervin is among those listed.  There was only one Ervin in the county at that time and that was James Ervin who married Elizabeth Barnes and moved from Maryland about 1804 to settle in Short Creek Township.

In my travels to Scotland, I have not been able to locate even one Ervin.  I believe that many of them left during the "Plantation of Ulster" which began in 1603 and ended in 1624, and continued to emigrate during the "flood" of emigrants in the eighteenth century.  Not well understood, these "Plantations" were strictly Scottish as they did not mingle with the Irish population at all.  When the great emigration to the colonies started from Ulster and other Northern Ireland counties, these people were known as "Scotch-Irish" and were mistakenly identified as a mixture of the two.  C.A. Hanna, in his book, "Ohio Valley Genealogies," states that they were not a mixture, but they had remained completely Scottish, even though they were located in Ireland for one hundred years or more.  

Not one Ervin left in Scotland but, there are over 9000 in Texas!

Robert L. Ervin
4033 E. Hanover Court
West Bloomfield
MI   48323-3106

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