The Girnoc Farms
Past Research
Location Map
Gordon Tombstones
Sources
"Don't Leys Me Out!"
Gordons o' Girnoc
The old churchyard of Crathie and indeed its close counterpart Glengairn literally burst with fond memorials to the families of Leys. At one time, certainly over a century ago, they were one of the families to form the true life-blood of the upper reaches of the Dee.
It is sad then that the history of this Leys family group has been utterly lost.
The following account is based upon the accumulated details taken from the parish records, tombstones and census returns. Much, if not all the work can be attributed to Sharon E. Jameson, a fellow researcher who shares this writer's fascination with the long lost folk of our Deeside Glens.
Work is still of course to be done. The following should serve as no more than a template for future research. It should be noted in particular, that there is a need to return to the original parish records.
It seems that the Leys (in early records the 's' was dropped) were not known in Upper Deeside prior to 1696, for no individuals of this name appear within the Poll return of that date. The assumption then must be that sometime after 1700, the family came from elsewhere to domicile within the parish. The earliest reference found so far pertains to Jean Ley who was christened the 21st July 1723, and whose father was John Ley.
This account has been entitled "Don't Leys Me Out." The pun should be forgiven as it aptly describes the route of interest into this family for the writer. Section One describes this more fully, but in essence this relates to the long and utterly challenging research to find the origins of 'Camlet John Gordon.' This distant 5G-Grandfather of the writer raised his family within the elbow of Glen Girnoc at a farm of true fascination: The Camlet. 'Camlet John' married Euphemia McAndrew in 1782, and family lore has it that he was 'aff the wrang side of the Abergeldie blanket.' Here the evidence, flimsy at best, becomes contradictory, and decades of research largely unfruitful.
However one fragmentery clue has stuck fast: that was a statement by a grandson of 'Camlet John' who confirmed in print that his grandfather was the 'son of ------- Gordon and Mary Leys.'
The Leys Families of Upper Deeside
