| Notes |
- In 1646 in Scotland, Clan Lamont (pronounced Lamb-it) found itselfunder siege by Clan Campbe ll in their two castles, Toward and Ascog.Sir James Lamont, clan chief (university educate d in Glasgow) signeda peace treaty that guaranteed the Lamonts safe passage from thecastles . But when the castle gates were thrown open to admit theCampbells, a massacre ensued. Numbe rs differ on how many Lamonts diedthat day, but researchers believe as many as 350 Lamont me n died anduncounted women and children. Three dozen Lamont "special gentlemen"were hanged i n a tree in the old churchyard that to this day iscalled Gallows Hill for that event. Thes e "special gentlemen" were"chieftans" of Lamont family groups or septs. Sir John Lamont wa s thespecial gentlemen who headed the Lamont family colony on the CumbraeIslands. John's wi fe was Mary Young, from the Clan Young of Dunbar,or Auldbar. Castle Toward, where much of th e massacre took place, canbe seen from the Cumbrae Islands as noted in the Clan Lamont histo rybook, pg. 203. The Cumbrae Islands are close enough that Mary YoungLamont must have bee n able to see the havoc, hear the cannon roar,and fled with her four sons across the 39 mile s of ocean fromScotland to a town called Larne in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. Wedo no t know if there were older sons who might have been with theirfather on the mainland or not . Hundreds of those who survived themassacre or were somehow able to get away from the Campb ells soughtany safe haven they could find. It was common practice to change theirsurname wh en these refugees reached safety. Mary Young Lamont's foursons changed their names. John, th e oldest, took the name Sitlington,which was the name of a "burn" or small stream on their S cotlandestates. The two middle sons took the names White and Green. It hasbeen stated tha t the White son may have been named William. Theyoungest son, Andrew, took his mother's maid en name of Young for hisnew surname. These four boys had to have been under the age of teen sbecause if they had been teens or older, they would have been fightingwith their father an d not left behind with their mother.
Clan Chief, Sir James Lamont, was imprisoned by the Campbells invarious dungeons, constantl y moved and held for five years. In 1651Oliver Cromwell invaded Scotland and at that time Si r James wasreleased from his dungeon. Argyll Campbell a few years later wasbrought to tria l by the English Crown and beheaded for the deed ofthe massacre. The Clan Lamont history boo k tells us that Sir Jameslived on the Isle of Bute for a time after he had been released fro mthe dungeon, and would ride out on Bute until he could see past BigCumbrae Island and gaz e upon his one-time home, the ruins of CastleToward.
Our Lamont family remained in County Antrim and never returned toScotland. Brothers John Sit lington and Andrew Young, along with theirsons and grandsons, ran a successful agricultura l and linenmanufacturing business four miles west of Larne for 90+ years. Thelinen mill an d John's and Andrew's homes were still standing in the1960's, in good condition and being us ed. Amazingly, in the 1920's,both homes were still occupied by descendants of the families w hopurchased them from the Sitlington and Young families when theymigrated to America. We ha ve Irish genealogist Mary Semple, who was arelative through Sir James Lamont's mother, who w as also a Semple, tothank for giving us the story of this Young family back in the 1920's.T his Scots/Irish Young family was devoted Presbyterian. Pictures ofboth Andrew's and John's h omes and the linen mill.
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RNT Family History
[Birth]