I’ve been looking around a fantastic new website called: The Paradox of Medieval Scotland at www.poms.ac.uk
As many of my readers will know I have traced my Scots line back to a Norman called William de Haya or de la Haye who was Pincerna, or butler, to the Scots king, Malcolm IV and William the Lion. Well this academic site from the universities of Edinburgh, Glasgow and King’s College London, has allowed me to find biographical references to my illustrious ancestor. There are references to gifts of land and to the spelling of his name in medieval documents. For example I find that he is Willelmo de Haia in one document and that Uilliam is another spelling!
I need to spend a good bit more time on this fascinating site where you can search the database for free by people, original source or by ‘factoids’ that is relationships, titles and transactions in which a name is mentioned.
So why is the website called The Paradox of Medieval Scotland? The answer is because of the complexities of the Anglo-Norman and Celtic strands of the emerging Scots identity in those times.
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