Who Here is Saxon?

[Anfang]

Either Continental, English or "Diaspora?"

And does anyone here know Englisc?

[Allenson]

Well, I do have a fair bit of Puritan East Angliaish in my family tree...so, chances are there's a Saxon or two in the woodpile from way back when.

I also have to northern German ancestry and a fair bit of Dutch....thus adding to the potential of Saxoness.

I can't speak Englisc but I like to read about it and pour through my Anglo-Saxon dictionary looking for fun words.

[BeornWulfWer]

I haven't got a clue. I can only assume to have, like Allenson, a few Saxons tucked a way in the past somewhere. If by being a Saxon you have to be from England and have a discernable history for more than 600 years than I can put my hand up to that one.

But then if we were to go by names, then it gets confusing.

My name is Clark. A quick history of its name produces lots of stories, but they tend to exist along the same lines.

The term "clericus" was originally applied to someone in a religious order but it was later applied to anyone who was a secretary, scribe, scholar as well as a cleric in the church. It is therefore not surprising that this occupational name became widespread when surnames began to be used. At the end of the 12th century, a Roger clericus held land in Kelso and in 1249 Alan clericus was a witness to a charter in Aberdeen. There were nine people from Scotland with that name who signed the "Ragman Roll" when King Edward I of England demanded in 1296 that all landowners had to swear allegiance to him. However, it is only after 1400 that we can be certain that it was being used as a surname rather than as a description of someone's occupation or status.

There was never a Highland clan of that name. However, it is frequently found among the Clan Chattan confederacy. Clarks appear to have been a sept (under the protection) of the MacPhersons (whose origins were also from the church, "Mac-a Phearsain" meaning in Gaelic "son of the parson" in the days when celibacy of the priesthood was not enforced).

The name is common throughout the Lowlands and Highlands of Scotland. It is particularly prevalent in Caithness and there were important families of Clarks in places as far apart as Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Paisley and some have become landed families with baronetcies.

Source

Clark is an Anglo Saxon surname derived from the Latin clericus meaning "scribe", "secretary" or a scholar within a religious order, referring to someone who was educated. Clark evolved from "clerk". First records of the name are found in the 12th century. The name has many variants.[2]

According to the 1990 United States Census, 'Clark' was the twenty-first most frequently encountered surname, accounting for 0.23% of the population.[3]

Clark is also an occasional given name.

Source

Interestingly, I have heard that the Clark of England were settled mostly in Northumbria and I have met a few Northumbrians who share the same last name as me, all unrelated, but we are all consistently mistaken to be brothers.


Perhaps I'm a dastardly Anglo!?

[Psychonaut]

Let's see...

One of my genealogical lines goes back to Otto der Erlauchte. Another line goes to Heinrich der Finkler.

[Anfang]

Well, I do have a fair bit of Puritan East Angliaish in my family tree...so, chances are there's a Saxon or two in the woodpile from way back when.

I also have to northern German ancestry and a fair bit of Dutch....thus adding to the potential of Saxoness.

Do you know where in North Germany?

[Papa Koos]

My paternal grandmother was a Saxon from Hermannstadt. She was a proud Siebenbürger Sachsen!

[Hauke Haien]

My paternal grandmother was a Saxon from Hermannstadt. She was a proud Siebenbürger Sachsen!

The Transylvanian "Saxons" are not Saxon. Their language is Mosel Franconian, so one would assume them to be significantly Frankish in origin and they did indeed come from areas along the Rhine, with some Bavarians and Thuringians thrown in.

[Anfang]

On my maternal side almost everyone comes from near the Oldenburg area in Niedersachsen and some from Sclheswig-Holstein, apparently "Sachsen Schleswig-Holsteiners".

[Hauke Haien]

some from Sclheswig-Holstein, apparently "Sachsen Schleswig-Holsteiners".

Holtsaten = Wood Saxons
Other Saxons in Holstein are Dithmarscher and Stormarn. They proceeded to colonise Slesvig and still control the south.

[Haereticus]

I can't be certain, though I'd think so to some extent. Somebody, I'm assuming a relative, with my father's surname fought with Richard the Lionheart in the 12th Century and was subsequently given land in Scotland. Could well have been Norman though. I have Irish, I'm assuming Celtic, ancestry on my mother's side but I'd be surprised if there wasn't some Saxon in there somewhere.

I don't understand any form of English other than the relatively modern.