Thom(p)son is MacTavish

Surname Facts
MacTavish, MacComas, MacCawis, Tawes, Tawis, Thomson or Thompson.
-with sources-

Thomsons are certainly MacTavishes.

The MacTavish - Equally known as Thomsons.

“…the Thomas-sons of the Highlands are generally said to have been descended from Tavus-cor, (1) the bold and celebrated bastard son of one of the chiefs of Lochaw. Hence they are equally well known, and as often called M'Tavish, as Thomson, in Argyleshire.” (History of the County of Ayr, with a genealogical account of the families of Ayrshire, Vol. I, by James Paterson, Dick, J., Stevenson, T.G., Historical and Antiquarian Bookseller, Edinburgh, 1847, p 40) 1- Paterson writes Tavus vice Tavis.

Shadow Names or Aliases

From the Craignish Manuscript is read:

1100 Collin Moall math had 2 Botord (l) sones, famous in ther day for mighty warriours, viz. Taviss Corr and Ivcr Crom of whom descended 2 numerous Clans the McTavishes or Tomsons (2), and the McIvers, both which are now much decayed ; yet many of them extant to this day. He married a Niece of K. Alexander the first, by whom he had 3 sones viz. Duncan the Eldest who [The year] 1140 Inheired the Lordship of Lochow, Donnald-Don or brown haired died without issue the 2d, and Dugall of Craignish the 3d. (Manuscript History of Craignish by Herbert Campbell, Miscellany of the Scottish History Society, Fourth Volume, Scottish History Society, 1926, p 225)
1- Botord is Bastard, but used mistakenly, emphasis provided.
2- Tomson (Thomson/Thompson) is a shadow or alias of MacTavish, used interchangeably.

“A curious case of double names belongs to families who bear them on the pretext of an alias. Documents abound in which the same name occurs not once, which might have been an accident, but continually accompanied by its shadow. Thus, under the date of 1535 already we meet with a “Richard Jackson, alias Keneren.” In Scotland the custom prevailed for some time to use the Gaelic name with the English translation superadded. Men called themselves McTavish alias Thomson 1. McCalmon alias Dorr, or Gow alias Smith. Hence, probably, arose the eccentric, and otherwise inexplicable custom of some families to write themselves by one name and to call themselves by another, as with the Enroughty’s, who are called Derby. The alias was gradually omitted, and the two names remained to be used for two different purposes.”
(STUDIES IN ENGLISH; OR, Glimpses of the Inner Life of Our Language, Professor of Modern Languages, M. Schele de Vere, LL.D. 1867, Scribner & Co., N.Y.)
1-Bold text supplied, M(a)ctavish families often used the Thomson name as an alternative, particularly in Kintyre and South Knapdale, and even in North America.

“MacTavish, Thompson, etc. – The MacTavishes, Tawessons, Thompsons, etc., are said to derive their origin from “Taus Corr,” an illegitimate son of one of the Lords of Lochow, who lived in the days of King Alexander II.” (The Clans, Septs and Regiments of the Scottish Highlands, Third Edition, Frank Adam, Sir Thomas Innes of Learney, W. & A. K. Johnston, London and Edinburgh, 1934, p 131)

Corrupted and Latin Spellings

TAWES: The name Tawes is a corruption of MacTavish which means son of Thomas in Gaelic. (Thirty Four Families of Old Somerset County, Maryland, Woodrow T. Wilson, Pub. Gateway Press, 1974, p 394)

Domine Thome Tawis (or Sire Thomas Tavish/Tamhais) is listed in 1456 &1491 as a Chamberlain for the Earl of Argyll. (Rotuli Scaccarii Regum Scotorum, Court of the Exchequer, Vol. VI.). Likely the title Domine refers to a vicarage not the priesthood. Tawis is used referring to the same family.
In the case of Johnne Bisset in Aberdeenshire, 1506, Andrew Tawis bears witness under oath that he heard Robert Lumisdaill say that he struck Johnne Bisset and took his horse. (Records of the Sheriff Court of Aberdeenshire, Vol. I, David Littlejohn, Sheriff Clerk of Aberdeenshire, Aberdeen, for the New Spalding Club, 1904, p 65)

Alexandro Maktawis is the Latin form used for Alexander MacTavish, one of the warrior/knights who accompanied John Campbell, Thane of Cawdor, to slay Mclean of Duart, after Mclean tied his wife, Lady Elizabeth Campbell, sister to Cawdor, to a rock that lies between the Isle of Lismore and the coast of Mull, now called the “Lady’s Rock”. Alexander is listed in the Latin remission of John of Cawdor. (Book of the Thanes of Cawder, Cosmo Innes, Spalding Club, Aberdeen, 1859, p 147; and History of the Western Highlands and Isles of Scotland, D. Gregory, Hamilton and Adams, Glasgow, 1881, p 128)

VcCaus, McCaus, and McCawis is also a Gaelic-Latinizing of MacTamhais as found in the Sasine of 1533 for the lands of Dunardry (Argyll Transcripts, Niall Diarmid Campbell, later 10th Duke of Argyll)

As early as 1554 there was a tack of One-eighth merkland of Dowlater in Glendaruel, which had been occupied by Duncan Mackellar, but granted by Archibald, 4th Earl of Argyll, to Ewin McGillechrist VcCaus (English; John McGillchrist MacTavish) and his male heirs. (Argyll Transcripts, Vol 5, No 76).

In 1644 at Perth is found John Taus, and in the same document, the same man listed as Johne Tawis. (Register of the Privy Council of Scotland, Vol. VIII, Brown, H. M. General Register House, Edinburgh, 1908, p 107)

TAWS: Taws, Tawis, Tawes, Tawse, as surnames in their relationship to MacTavish appear unrelated to the taws strap (a short whip). The dialectic use for the taws strap comes from English, to taw, meaning to tan, as in a hide, hence the saying, “tan your hide”. In Scotland and Ireland it is a still called by this name, its use was commonly found in schools were a headmaster or teacher used it on students who failed to follow standards of conduct. In language it migrated to the Scottish lowlands, and hence the taws is a strap that is used for punishment. (A French and English Dictionary, Joseph Wilson, Robinson, London, 1833, p 255; English Literature, David Daiches, Mark Van Doren, pub. Prentice-Hall, 1965, p 16; and A Dictionary of Lowland Scotch, By Charles Mackay L.L.D., Tocknork & Co., Boston, 1888, p149)

The ancient meaning, use and spelling of the root of MacTavish,
Son of Thomas in Gaelic.

Dewar Manuscripts, John Dewar, 1964 Edition, Glasgow, Maclean, MacKechnie, pub., W. MacLellan, p 288: “Tamhas Crom. The story-teller is pointing out that the name MacTavish comes from Tamhas, Thomas. MacBain agrees with him as far as to say that MacTavish is from M’Thamhais, son of Thomas. In the Book of the Dean of Lismore, Clyne Tawis appears in 1488, 1494 the forms of M’Cause and M’Cawis appear, all forms of Mac Thamhais”.
(Note: Dewar exchanges the bynames Ivor Crom and his brother Tavis (Tamhas) Coor. Crom vice Coor, may be the correct byname of Tavis.) [Emphasis is supplied] { The Dewar Manuscripts, collected originally in Gaelic by John Dewar for the 8th Duke of Argyll, translated into English by Hector Maclean of Islay, edited by the Rev. John MacKechnie, Glasgow, 1964. }

In 1646 Chief Malcolm MacNauchtan of Dunderave commanded a garrison in the defence of the Skipness Castle for the Campbell’s who were besieged by Colkitto MacDonald’s (Clanranald) army. From the Papers of Duchess Ina Campbell at Inverary Castle is a poem about those days, describing a MacTavish/Thomson hero who overcame a siege machine used against Skipness Castle. Alistair Campbell of Airds in his second volume of A History of Clan Campbell, pp 238 & 239, describes it thusly,

“…they had a siege engine or gun called Muc Nimhe or ‘Deadly Sow’.
The hero of the day was a MacTavish – perhaps the laird of Dunardry, perhaps not – who destroyed the Muc Nimhe.
[Campbell of Airds provides this fragment of the poem]

The Thomson who was in the castle
Was the best of their Thomsons,
He set the Muc Nimhe in a blaze
And he brought the crushed iron home.

Here is a rare and interesting mention of the name.”

NOTE: In truth the use of Thomson vice MacTavish is not rare at all, and in that era we would have probably seen McCawis used, vice MacTavish.

The Scottish Clans and their Tartans, Whyte & Innes, 1944, W. & A. K. Johnston Ltd., Edinburgh & London, pp. 21, 22.

P. 21 MacTavish G. MacThaimhs for MacThamhais, “Son of Thomas,” or Sc. Tammas.

p 22 Thomas. G. Tòmas, Tàmhas, Hence MacTavish and MacCombie, also Tomason.

Celtic Baby Names: Traditional Names from Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Brittany, 1997, Sierra, Folkprint, Oakland, p.32

Tòmas, Tàmhas m. (TAW-muhs) The Gaelic form of Thomas.

Americana, American Historical Company, National Americana Society, New York, American Historical Society, John Austin Stevens, 1906, p. 328

MacTause or MacTavish, from, Gaelic MacTamhais, son of Tamhus, i.e. Thomas, also MacThomas, Taweson, Thomas, Thomason, Thompson.

The Wordsworth Dictionary of First Names, Macleod, Freedman, Ware : Wordsworth Editions, 1995, p. 219

Tomas Scottish Gaelic form of Thomas.
Tomás Irish Gaelic form of Thomas.

Transactions of The Gaelic Soceity of Inverness. Vol XXII, 1897-98, GSI, 1900 Inverness, p. 163

“St. Thomas Gaelic is now Tomas; but older dialects had Tamhas, whence M‘Tavish. Gil-Tavish appears as M‘Laws and M‘Lehose. Gilles Makgilhouse was keeper of the Royal Park at Stirling, 1479, Pat. Makgilhois, Kippen 1510, J Makgilhewous, Menteith, 1465 and 1622 …..”

Prænomina; or, The etymology of the principal Christian names of Great Britain and Ireland, Charnock, Hill, London, 1882 pp. 115, 119 lists:

p. 115 TAMHUS A Gaelic form of Thomas.
p. 119 TÒMAS. A Gaelic form of Thomas.

It is clearly established by linguists and scholars in the aforementioned sources that anciently, the now modern Gaelic form of Tòmas or Tomas was written early on as Tamhas or Tamhus, and later Tamhais, hence the name MacTamhais/MacThamhais and it was taken from Saint Thomas the Apostle. The modern spelling in English is MacTavish.
Since Tamhas is confirmed in these learned texts to mean Thomas in the Gaelic, and ‘Mac’ bears the meaning ‘son of’, there is no mistaking that MacTavish means a ‘Son of Thomas’. This is borne out in publication after publication, and to refute the basis and root of the name is to discount the learned credibility of scholars and researchers on this topic. When Anglicized MacTamhus, MacTamhais, or even MacTòmas becomes Thomson or Thompson. For a further explanation of the meaning and names which appear derived from Thomas in Scotland, see Black, The Surnames of Scotland, published by the New York Public Library, various editions.
The intrusive letter ‘p’ in Thompson, can be seen in the same light as that in Simpson (probably Simonson, Symson or Simson) or Campbell (originally Cambal, Kambel, Cambale, Cambaile, etc.) where it is a sliding or transitional consonant (The Surnames of Scotland, Black, Published by New York Public Library, 1999, p lv, and Simpson, a Family of the American Frontier, John Simpson, Gateway Press, 1983, p 1)

“... the intrusive ‘p’ does not appear until the latter half of the fifteenth century.” (Journal of the Clan Campbell Society (United States of America), Pub. CCSUSA– 1996, p 10.)

“Even the 'p' in the name Thompson is an intrusive ‘p’. Extra sounds are added as the vocal organs move from one sound to another.” (Blooming English, Kate Burridge, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge England, 2004, p 32)

While the Disciple and Apostle of Christ, Saint Thomas, is described in the Bible as Thomas the Twin, the Aramaic the word for twin is Tau'ma, written as תאומא. In the case of the Bible passages, John 11:16; 20:24; and 21:2, “Thomas the twin” is a tautology, an unnecessary (and usually unintentional) repetition of meaning, using different words that effectively say the same thing twice (often originally from different languages). But Thomas was correctly named Jude or Judas Thomas, or Judas the Twin (Ref: Epistle of Jude, The epistle is titled as written by "Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James" (NRSV). The tautology of Thomas eventually became the name by which Jude/Judas the Twin is most commonly recognized, being Thomas, and as canonized, Saint Thomas.

The Book of Thomas according to Syrian tradition also names Thomas, Judas Thomas, or Jude Thomas, literally Jude the Twin. The Nag Hammadi "sayings" Gospel of Thomas begins: "These are the secret sayings that the living Jesus spoke and Didymos Judas Thomas recorded."

However, the word for twin is found in the Gaelic is not Thomas or Tomas. A Pronouncing Gaelic Dictionary by Neil M‘Alpine, published 1866, shows “leth-aon” as twin. This publication can be found at the University of Aberdeen.
It is clear that Tavish or Tamhais is not the Gaelic word for a twin. If a twin patronymic were to be found in Scotland it would read MacLeathaon, but no such name has ever existed in Scotland or the Gaelic speaking world. The root and foundation of Tavish or Tamhas, is taken from Saint Thomas, used as a proper name in the context of Biblical text. He is also known as Jude or Judas Thomas, and “doubting Thomas”. The Gaelic name Tamhas (Thomas) is not taken from the meaning or implication of the saint’s name in Greek, but rather from the name of Thomas (Aramaic) itself. In the ancient Greek Didymus, used to describe St. Thomas, bears the meaning of twin. Thomas Didymus (Thomas the Twin) is seen in the original Greek New Testament scriptures, which delineates between the name of Thomas, and the adjective used to describe him, the twin.

There is a distinction between the meaning of the name “Thomas the twin” used both in Aramaic and Greek, and the basis of the name as it came to be used in the Gaelic. Tamhus means Thomas, it is the literal Thomas. Tamhus does not mean leth-aon. In the ancient languages of Aramaic and Greek ,Thomas becomes synonymous with twin, but in the Gaelic Tamhus (Thomas) came to be used as the actual name of the saint.
Saint Thomas bore the name Jude or Judas Thomas. Didymus is the adjective that describes Thomas (or Judas) as a twin. In the Gaelic usage Tamhus and the later Tamhais, is purely Thomas but not does not conform to Didymus or Leth-aon in either Greek or the Gaelic. Didymus and leth-aon are synonymous with twin, while Tamhus becomes synonymous with Thomas as a proper name, with no bearing on the Greek or Aramaic meaning. The Gospel says : Thomas the Twin, (i.e. Thomas as a given name, and Twin as the amplifiying adjective).
With any Scots or Gaelic patronymic using Thomas as its root, prefixed with Mac, its meaning is ‘Son of Thomas’. Thomas’ English equivalents associated with MacTavish are often seen as Taweson, Tawesson, Taweison, MacTawes, Tawes, Thomas, Thomson and Thompson, etc... In lowland Scots, Thomas can appear as Tammas and Thammas. All bear the meaning Thomas.

SWAPPING THE SHADOW NAME

The Sheriff Court Records at Campbeltown, Argyllshire tell a tale of MacTavish and Thomson.

From Issue 35 of the Magazine of the Kintyre Antiquarian and Natural History Society, Campbeltown, Argyllshire, Ian McDonald writes regarding The Kintyre Smugglers:

… 1824 shows that it was necessary to go to the extreme north of Kintyre to try to arrest the main culprits in North Kintyre. In the case of Archibald McTavish or Thomson who was engaged in the making of illicit whisky near Scotmill, parish of Kilcalmonell, when the company were surprised by the gaugers, McTavish fled from the site with the complete worm, a vital part in the process, chased by the assistants but he being fleet of foot outdistanced his pursuers and reached Skipness from whence he got on board a boat and escaped to the island of Arran.

Without the worm the gaugers were unable to prove that illicit whisky was being made. This old site can still be seen and the writer obtained the story from the late Angus McPhail who resided at Scotmill and died in 1989 at the age of 94 years.

Ian McDonald writes in the LARGIESIDE DISTILLERS, Issue 19 of the Magazine of the Kintyre Antiquarian and Natural History Society, Campbeltown, Argyllshire:

By 1850 with the introduction of large distilleries smuggling being suppressed severely it was only carried out in inaccessible areas. The last recorded account in Clachan area was at Achaglass burn, where Revenue men surprised a party at work. The shepherd in Scotmill, Archibald McTavish or Thomson, shown on wanted lists, quickly removed the vital parts and ran off pursued by several Revenue officers. "Come back, Thomson, we know you", they shouted but he being fleet of foot made for Skipness from where he took a boat to Arran, then crossing to the mainland he remained in the Borders for almost seven years before returning.

Thomson was the Anglicized form of McTavish, though use of the alias was not uniform in coverage or timing. There are and were Thomsons in the Southend area, in Campbeltown itself, and in the nearby parish of Killean and Kilkenzie (Skipness area) and elsewhere, who appear, moreover, to be MacTavishes when comparing lineages in the Old Parish Registers (OPR). McTavish/Thomsons in the Southend area, are shown in the Duke of Argyll's census of his properties in Kintyre in 1792. One group of them were once located at Dailmore, Southend (still a working farm now called Dalmore).

MacTavish is Thom(p)son
Use of the shadow name.

Flora McTAVISH was born 1822 Skipness, Argyll, and married James LINDSAY in 1851 at Kilcalmonell and Kilberry parish , the listing is McTAVISH. James and Flora’s first child was Gilbert Lindsay born 1852. Little Gilbert died age 4 1/2yrs old in Tarbert, Argyll. Parents given names in the record are James LINDSAY and Flora THOMSON (the McTavish name reflects the alias of Thomson in the Tarbert record).

John THOMSON married Barbra MCCOLL in 1814 at Kilcalmonell & Kilberry
Their Children were listed as:
2 born in Kilcalmonell & Kilberry Parish
1. Flory THOMSON 1815
2. Donald THOMSON 1817
And 3 born in South Knapdale,
3. Duncan McTAVISH 1820
4. Matilda McTAVISH 1824
5. John McTAVISH 1827

Here again we see the names McTavish and Thomson used interchangeably.

From OPR records, years 1783-1854, FHC film # 1041076, Old Skipness Parochial Register
Archibald THOMSON aka McTAVISH m. Mary Livingston on 22 Feb 1803, source OPR p. 153
Their children were:
John, baptized. 25 Mar 1804, OPR p. 113
Kath(a)rine, baptized. 17 Mar 1807, source OPR p. 122
unnamed daughter, baptized. (probably died) 19 Dec 1808, source
OPR p. 125
Mary, baptized. 3 Feb 1811, source OPR p. 129
Archibald, baptized 20 Dec 1812, source OPR p. 133
Alexander, baptized 1 May 1815, source OPR p. 138
Dugal, baptized 23 Nov 1817, source OPR p. 145
Margaret, baptized 12 Nov 1820, source OPR p. 3

Sourced from record comparisons in Kilcalmonell and Kilberry, Tarbert, and South Knapdale, Argyll.

From a Tombstone in old Skipness, Argyllshire, graveyard is this inscription:
"Here lies the remains of Archibald McTavish, late farmer at Altghalbhais who departed this life on the tenth day of June, 1790, aged 55 years, and of his wife Catherine Taylor, who died 8 June, 1832, aged 88 years. And Mary Livingston, wife of Archibald Thomson, Jr. tenant at Cullendrach.”

Archilbald McTAVISH’s son is noted in the memorial inscription as Archibald THOMSON Jr.
Note: Altghalbhais is pronounced Altghalv'-ais.

From the book: The Scottish Clans and their Tartans, Edinburgh, 1944, originally published by W. and A. K. Johnston, Edinburgh, p. 21 we find:
“MacTavish, G. MacThàimhs for MacThamhais, “Son of Thomas,” or Sc. Tammas.”
(Note: G.=Gaelic, and Sc.=Scots)

From the Publication of the THE KINTYRE ANTIQUARIAN & NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Campbeltown, Argyllshire, The Kintyre Magazine, Issue 28, April 1999, Ian Stewart and Ian McDonald write, “McAvish is the same as McTavish Anglicised to Thomson.”

Sarah Galbraith's Research


				Thom(p)son is MacTavish



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