Freskin was a minor nobleman active in the reign of King David I of Scotland

David I of Scotland

David I or Dabíd mac Maíl Choluim was a 12th-century ruler who was Prince of the Cumbrians and later King of the Scots...

. His name appears only in a charter by King William

William I of Scotland

William the Lion , sometimes styled William I, also known by the nickname Garbh, "the Rough", reigned as King of the Scots from 1165 to 1214...

 to Freskin's son, William, granting Strathbrock in West Lothian

West Lothian

West Lothian is one of the 32 unitary council areas in Scotland, and a Lieutenancy area. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Falkirk, North Lanarkshire, the Scottish Borders and South Lanarkshire....

 and Duffus

Duffus

Duffus is a village in Moray, Scotland, centred on a Mercat Cross. The Duffus Village Inn, along with the local shop, Post Office and Duffus Village Hall provide a focal point for the community. Nearby are the impressive remains of Duffus Castle, St...

, Kintrae, and other lands in Moray, "which his father held in the time of King David". The name Freskin is Flemish, and in the words of Geoffrey Barrow "it is virtually certain that Freskin belonged to a large group of Flemish settlers who came to Scotland in the middle decades of the 12th century and were chiefly to be found in West Lothian and the valley of the Clyde". Freskin's land acquisition does not appear to be unique, and may have been part of a royal policy in the aftermath of the defeat of the Mormaer of Moray

Mormaer of Moray

The Mormaerdom or Kingdom of Moray was a lordship in High Medieval Scotland that was destroyed by King David I of Scotland in 1130. It did not have the same territory as the modern local government council area of Moray, which is a much smaller area, around Elgin...

, Óengus

Óengus of Moray

Óengus of Moray was the last King of Moray of the native line, ruling Moray in what is now northeastern Scotland from some unknown date until his death in 1130....

. For instance, on December 25, 1160, a charter was issued by King Máel Coluim IV

Malcolm IV of Scotland

Malcolm IV , nicknamed Virgo, "the Maiden" , King of Scots, was the eldest son of Earl Henry and Ada de Warenne...

 to Berowald the Fleming, who seems to have controlled Bo'ness

Bo'ness

Bo'ness, properly Borrowstounness, is a coastal town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies on a hillside on the south bank of the Firth of Forth within the Falkirk council area, north-west of Edinburgh and east of Falkirk. At the 2001 census, Bo'ness had a resident population of 13,961...

 in West Lothian, granting him the lands of Innes and "Nether Urquhart" [=Etherurecard] in the "province of Elgin"; notably, one of the three witnesses to the charter which granted "Berowald Flandrensis" these lands, was "Wilhelmus filius Frisgin", William, Freskin's son. Freskin appears to be the progenitor of the "de Moravia" or "Clan Murray

Clan Murray

Clan Murray is a Highland Scottish clan. The Murrays were a great and powerful clan whose lands and cadet houses were scattered throughout Scotland.- Origins of the Clan :...

" family who were lords of Duffus in the later 12th century and early 13th century and who rose to become the earls of Sutherland

Earl of Sutherland

Earl of Sutherland is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created circa 1230 for William de Moravia. The Earl of Sutherland is also the Chief of Clan Sutherland...

 (southern Caithness), although it was not until the 13th century that we can be certain they took the surname "de Moravia".

The Douglas Connection

It is also quite possible that the Clan Douglas

Clan Douglas

Clan Douglas is an ancient Scottish kindred from the Scottish Lowlands taking its name from Douglas, South Lanarkshire, and thence spreading through the Scottish Borderland, Angus, Lothian and beyond. The clan does not currently have a chief, therefore it is considered an armigerous clan.The...

 arose from the same stock. The first recorded Lord of Douglas, William de Douglas

William I, Lord of Douglas

William of Douglas was a medieval nobleman of Flemish origin living in Clydesdale, an area under the control of the King of the Scots.-Enigmatic origins:...

, is attested to in various charters of William the Lion. Five of his six sons became clerics, the eldest of which Bricius de Douglas became Bishop of Moray

Bishop of Moray

The Bishop of Moray or Bishop of Elgin was the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of Moray in northern Scotland, one of Scotland's 13 medieval bishoprics...

 in 1203. Alexander, Henry and Hugh de Douglas all became Canons of Spynie. It appears that the youngest, Freskin de Douglas, remained in Lanarkshire

Lanarkshire

Lanarkshire or the County of Lanark ) is a Lieutenancy area, registration county and former local government county in the central Lowlands of Scotland...

 as parson of the parish of Douglas, before being appointed Dean of Moray.
The similarity between the heraldry of the Morays and Douglases with the use of "Argent, on a chief azure, three stars of the field" for Douglas, and "Azure, three stars argent, two and one" for Moray, makes this compelling.
Belief in the common descent of the Morays and Douglases was certainly extant in the early 15th century:

"Of Murrawe and the Douglas,

How that thare begynnyng was,

Syn syndry spekis syndryly

I can put that in na story.

But in thare armeyis bath thai bere

The sternys[stars] set in lyke manere;

Til mony men it is yhit sene

Apperand lyk that had bene

Of kyn be descens lyneale

Or be branchys collaterele Andrew of Wyntoun

Andrew of Wyntoun

Andrew Wyntoun, known as Andrew of Wyntoun was a Scottish poet, a canon and prior of Loch Leven on St Serf's Inch and later, a canon of St...

External links

• Notes on Freskin's origins and descendants