Re: Wich Clan THE BINNIES belong to.
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In reply to:
Wich Clan THE BINNIES belong to.
2/08/02
The Binnie/Binney/Binney families, like the majority of Scots, originate in the Lowlands and therefore do not belong to any Highland clan. Our Binn(i/e)(y) forebears of 300-400 years ago would have regarded Highlanders generally as a bunch of dangerous savages and would have been utterly shocked at any suggestion that they had anything to do with Highlanders, tartan, clans and the like.
As for the supposed connection with MacBain/MacBean, I was fooled into believing this too when I was young and ignorant of the history of my country. It's an invention of the tartan/Brigadoon industry, based on rather tenuous grounds.
The name originates mainly in West Lothian, where there is a place called Binny. Fine white sandstone was quarried there, and much of Edinburgh is built of Binny stone. It is possible that the name might be from Gaelic 'bàn' meaning 'pale', referring to the light colour of the sandstone, and 'MacBain' does mean 'son of the fair(-haired) person' but to suggest that all Binn(i/e)(y)s belong to Clan MacBain is a leap too far. It is also possible that the place name is from Gaelic 'beinn' meaning 'hill' and has nothing to do with 'pale' or 'fair' at all.
When it comes to spelling, Andrew, you are on pretty shaky ground. And don't you dare to try to tell me that my Binnys, documented mostly with a 'y' in Scotland back until at least the 15th century, are not Scottish.
As for Inverness-shire origins, there are 13 references in the IGI to Binn(i/e)(y) baptisms and marriages in Inverness-shire, 1118 in Angus, 1182 in West Lothian and 4989 in Stirlingshire, and in each of the last three counties there are baptisms etc earlier than the first one in Inverness-shire.