From Black's 'Surnames of Scotland' (New York Public Library 1946) - BEATON: Two learned families named Macbeth and Beaton or Bethune practised medicine in the Isles in the 16th and 17th centuries. Their names in the 17th century and 18th centuries became merged in English in one surname of Beaton. The Macbeths practiced in Islay and Mull, and the Beatons in Skye. . . . . . . . (a lot of information follows which I'm not going to type out until it comes to): The Beatons of Skye were really Beatons or Bethunes from Fife, descended from the Lairds of Balfour. A grandson of the 5th laird, Dr. Peter Bethune, settled in Skye about the middle of the 16th century. His descendants were numerous and intermarried with the best families in Skye and the Isles. They are still strong in Skye. . . . . The last of these hereditary physicians came to an end in 1763 in the person of Niel (sic) Beaton. Under BETHUNE it says: Of territorial origin from the town of the name in the department of Pas de Calais (France). The name first appears in Scotland between 1165-1190 (which probably means they came into Scotland with other Norman French knights, invited there by the Scottish kings). Lachie