[email protected] wrote: > > Hi Valorie, > > Interesting post. Thanks for the contribution. I think there is a > long tradition of Cowan's being merchants. It starts with Cowane of > Stirling in the late 1500's and numerous Cowans in Glasgow. It's > impossible to prove but they are probably Colquhouns who changed the > spelling of the name but not necessarily the pronunciation. The > Colquhoun country is just to the north of Glasgow in Luss, > Camstradden, Dumbarton and the western shore area in general of Loch > Lomond. Gaelic was the spoken language there until the 1830's and > 40's. "Cowan" looked more normal of a word to an Englishman. The Colquhoun origin of our Cowans is what my Dad thinks, also. However, it seems that *our* Cowans were in Selkirkshire as far back as the OPRs go. So who knows how we are connected, if at all. Only thing to do is keep researching, I suppose. > Also, I believe you have it correct on the use of the old style "s." > It is a carry over of Elizabethan Handwriting. The handwriting > convention was for the "s" to be made with a long descender when used > internally in a word. This form of the "s" makes it seem like our > modern "f" but it is not. It is not an alternative, it's simply the > Elizabethan convention. I didn't mean alternative in the sense that one can use it or not, as one pleases. Only that it was another type of s, NOT an f. <snip> > John "Coo - whoon" MacLay > Cowan of Cowansville Valorie Cowan Zimmerman Black Diamond, Washington USA