Origins of the Scottish Surname of Hope - Section 2.1.
2.1 The Scottish Border Hopes prior to 1296 AD.
(In 1016 the northern border of Northumbria was moved south to the River Tweed and the Northumbrian inhabitants north of the river found themselves in Scotland - the area we now know as the Scottish Borders. For more about the Scottish Border connection with Northumbria including the founding of the Scottish Flag and indeed also the founding of the Scottish Nation see Kingdom of Northumbria page on this site.)
One of the first persons with the surname of Hope recorded in Scotland was in 1296 AD. This was John Hope of Peeblesshire a signatory of the Ragman Roll. As outlined in the following Section of 2.2 which covers the era after 1296 AD it is mooted that this John Hope could have arrived in Scotland with the army of Edward Ist. This could still possibily be the case but recent research - still under review - including some DNA evidence. probably indicates otherwise. This research indicates that it is more probable that at least some Hope families living in what is now the Scottish Borders are descended from Angles that populated the Kingdom of Northumbria (c400 -1100 AD.). Northumbria stretched from the River Humber in the south up to the Forth estuary in the north. including the eastern part of what is now the Scottish Borders.
The above chart shows how immigrants to the presend day Scottish Borders could have come via England (Cumbria) the red route or via The Kingdom of Northumbria. the yellow route.
The last decades of the thirteenth century were a milestone in Scottish history. The death of King Alexander III in 1286 followed by the death of his sole heir the Maid of Norway a few years later heralded the end of the "Golden Years" and the start of what is now called The First War of Independence.
King David I King of Scots (1124-1153) is credited with bringing Scotland into line with the rest of Europe by the forming of a central feudal state by elaborating the administration machinery and putting tax and justice systems on a sounder footing. This King David accomplished by importing the required expertise from northern Europe.
King David was a religous man not surprising considering that he was the son of Queen Margaret later Saint Margaret. He set about constructing a line of magnificant abbeys in the Border country namely at Melrose, Kelso, Dryburgh and Jedburgh. For Melrose King David imported Cistercian Monks an Order with emphasis on manual labour and self sufficiency and who supported themselves through activities such as agriculture and brewing ale. Melrose administrated large tracts of land and the monks involved themselves in sheep and cattle farming and got involved in the management of the local wool trade. The wool and fleeces were exported from the port of Berwick and there were Flemish merchants based in the town overseeing the preparation and shipment of the wool to northern Europe. This was big business.
The name of a hope as a topographical feature - a narrow enclosed valley came up the north east part of England c500 AD when the present day Scottish Borders was part of the Kingdom of Northumbria. The narrow side valleys of the River Tweed and it's tributaries appealed to the residents as perfect for the appelation of hopes. The name spreading westward along the Tweed and its main tributaries the rivers Teviot, Yarrow and Ettrick and probably even over the water-shed to the River Annan. - the River Tweed being the main means of communication across the region. The area covered becoming known as the Ettrick Forrest. To a lesser extent the name also spread along the smaller northern tributaries - Leithen Water, Gala Water, the Leader and the Black and White adders which had their sources in the Lammermuir Hills in the Lothians. The name of Lammermuir means the moor of the lambs. Over the Lammermuir watershed can be found the Hopes Water and associated reservoir, the Hopes Water flowing north to join the River Tyne (Lothians Tyne!). However this is not the most northerly record of the Border Hope name - this is the site of the ancient 13/14th century chapel dedicated to St Catherine Of The Hopes. This was on the southern slopes of the Pentland Hills and the remnants of the chapel are under the waters of the Glencorse reservoir. St Catherine Of The Hopes was named so as not to cause confusion with another St Catherine in Edinburgh who was named St Catherine Of The Kaimes(Hills). In the records there is the usual variation of the spelling of the Hope of our St Catherine - Hoippes, Houpis, Houp and Houpes.
The hopes were named, some with Hope as a prefix but more usually as a suffix. Were the hopes with Hope as a prefix named by people who usually communicated in Latin or French and hence had the noun first? We know that Hopecarton was managed by the Cistertian monks of Melrose. Examination of these names show many Easterhopes, Westerhopes, Summerhopes, Winterhopes etc. These were obviously pastures associated with a hill sheep farms. These are similar to the names of Eastfield, Westfield, Springfield, Sommerfield etc which would be pastures associated with farms with flat pastures. However one unique feature is Winterhope which would have provided shelter for flocks against the prevailing winter storms.
View of St Mary's Loch at the head of the Yarrow valley. The burn entering the loch in the foreground is the Summerhope Burn whhich originates in Summerhope. Directly opposite amongst the clump of trees is Bowerhope farm at the entrance of Bowerhope - the hill on the left is Bowerhope Law. Just a few miles north of this idyll is Dryhope (pronounced Dreep).
The Hopes were probably named so that the origin of the wool and fleeces could be established so that relevant tenant farmers, shepherds could be renumerated for their efforts. Actual branding of the sheep by means of a brand applied by a hot iron was unacceptable as this would detract from the quality of the fleece. The alternative to branding would be the cutting of notches out of the sheep's ears and marks on the horns ie rings and notches to identify the animals with probably the incising of initial/initials of the owner of the land. This procedure was continued into the twentieth century with the marks being entered into a log-book, in order to identify on which hirsel of the farm the sheep usually grazed - the word hope dying out. Indeed carried into the twentyfirst century with the tagging of livestock with plastic tags crimped to the ears which can be read by a computer. The Monks of Melrose were probably the first to identify and record sheep records as part of the wool business - they would have had no idea that they were innovators of a practice that would last for centuries! Apart from being able to reimburse the appropriate farmers etc the records would assist with selective breeding programmes to improve the quantity but also the quality of the wool and also improve the quantity and quality of milk for the important by-product of milk/butter/cheese. This practice would also apply to cattle that provided the important hides. Hence the names of the Hope valleys associated with sheep would be recorded and became well known. The lands controlled by the Monks of Melrose were extensive including land at Hopecarton near Tweedsmuir. These lands of Hopecarton on the east bank of the Upper Tweed would have included the present day lands of Stanhope and Patervan and hence included good pastures beside the Tweed for cattle and also the hopes for sheep. The monks had held the land for some time as a charter during the reign of Alexander II (1214-1244) gave the monks a right of way through the lands of Mospennoe (Mosfennan) to reach their lands of Hopcarthen on the other side of the Tweed. This charter is the earliest mention of a named hope that I have come across so far.
It was not only the practice of identifying sheep innovated by the Monks of Melrose but also the selective breeding process was also continued into the twentyfirst century viz the champion Cheviot Ram glorifying in the appelation of Winterhope Picasso.
The monks of Melrose would also be involved in the export of hides, While the sheep grazed the hills and hopes the cattle would be on the flatter pastures beside the River Tweed.
Circa 1100 AD the requirement for Surnames came in. This was so that everybody could be identified as part of the formal structuring of the administration of Scotland. Those in the wool producing business would choose surnames like Shepherd, Wooler, Shearer etc and also I believe Hope. Also named Hope valleys would be adopted by the land owners hence the number of surnames with Hope as a prefix or suffix that appear on the Ragman roll of 1296. Those involved in the hide trade would adopt names such as Herd, Skinner, Tanner, etc.
Scottish history records that during the Golden Years of the reign of Alexander III the wool trade through Berwick flourished with both Flemish and German cloth factories being established in Berwick. The noted Historian Simon Schama describes Scotland during Alexander' reign as a flourishing Kingdom. The prosperous maritime port cities from Aberdeen in the north to Berwick in the south, shipped hides and wool and housed the same mix of local artisans and foreign merchants and established a place in the dynamic trading economy of the North Sea.
The commencement of the Wars of Independence would herald the beginning of the end for the wool/hide trade as the Borders region became a war-zone. Berwick became part of England and the port denied to the Scots. The Border Abbeys, including Melrose were duly laid to waste by English armies. The main port in southern Scotland was now Leith the port for Edinburgh enjoying the dynamic economy of the North Sea previously enjoyed by Berwick, as mentioned above Is it sheer coincidence that John Hope the progenitor of the Edinburgh Hope dynasty owned property in Leith?
Hopes were used extensively for sheep farming well into the twentieth century as evidenced by the ruins of shepherd's cottages and the remnants of sheep enclosures including buchts the open-ended enclosures used for the milking of ewes. The name bucht is also used in Northumbria but not in Cumbria where the word is ewe-lock! Small flocks of sheep still browse around the ruins, a relic of thousands that wouild have been around in days of yore. Modern afforestation taking over - a new industry replacing the old.
Upper Menzion in Tweedsmuir Parish.
How many people in the Borders/north Northumbria would take the name of Hope? Probably not all that many. But as hope as a topographical feature is localised in this area this would account for the Border lands being a heartland of the Surname.
If the Hope families of the Scottish Borders are descended from Angles in Northumbria where did the Hope families in Cumbria come from? There must be quite a few according to the surname profiling map on the Hope origins page. The profiling map also indicates a significant number of Hope families in the south-west of Scotland in Dumfries and Gallaway. This would appear to indicate an influx of the name from Northern Ireland. However I believe that there is a distortion here and that the Hopes in Dumfries and Galloway are in fact concentrated at the east of that area and hence associated with the Scottish Borders Hopes.
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