Predating the ''Origin of the name Drysdale''

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The ''Document'' below could have possibly been titled a bit different, as  it is misleading .We know the surname  Drysdale was already in use as we see from the  above referenced from criminal trial records  above .Drysdale in its many variants  of spellings was a common accepted surname , not unusual at that time .  THE NAME DRYSDALE  , was not pulled out of the hat of  Douglas as touted in this fairy tale ''Document'' supposedly from 1503 but rather the imagination of The Dunfermline Press.  

There are several printings of this since the mid 1800s , one  of the most  funny versions is the Canadian 1958 versions , pretty much the same substance , one little inclusion explaining how changing the spelling of the name DRYFESDALE  to Drysdale , by dropping the FE , somehow , aided  in escaping . It is  ludicrous to think that  in 1503 spelling  of the name Drysdale  or any other name had multiple variant and was mostly phonetic , and changed from scribe to scribe .

I have noted over 40 spelling variations  myself. I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed , by far , still folks seem to accept any lie pushed in front of them as facts . Here is a question , why has Clan Johnston no record of this ? HMM  ... Nothing in the Scottish archives ... none of the Original ''copies'' has surfaced , no original ''document'' , but I can look back , and produce The earliest known written record of the name Drysdale , recorded in Latin from the inquisition of  Earl David ... recorded spelling was D R I V E S D A L E ...  look on the second line directly below the yellow bar

Standardized spellings only came about with the advent of the industrial revolution and the printing press .

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THE ORIGIN OF THE NAME DRYSDALE

"On the Twentieth Day of May, One Thousand Five Hundred and Three Years

We, Thomas, William, and James Douglas, sons of the departed Thomas Douglas , of Brushwood Haugh, in the parish of Drysdale, and Shire of Dumfries, left our native place for the reason here assigned, viz:- Defending our just and lawful rights against our unjust neighbour,Johnston ofGreenstone Hill, who, being determined to bring water to his mill through our property, and having obtained leave of his friend, the King, began his operations on Monday, the 16th of May, We prevented him by force.

The next day he brought twenty of his vassels to carryout his  work. We with two friends and three servants, eight in all, attacked Johnston with his twenty, and, in the contest, fourteen of his men were killed, along with their base leader.

A report of these proceedings was carried to the King, and we were obliged to fly, (the tocsin being sounded).We took shelter under the shades of the Ochil Hills, in a lonely valley on the river Devon. After having lived there a full two years, to returned home in disguise, but found all our property in the possession of Johnston's friends, and a great reward offered for our lives.

We, having purchased a small shot, called the Haugh of Dollar, and changed our names to the name of our Parish, are clearing in mind to spend the residue of our days under the ope of the Ochils, and wish the name of Dryfdale to flourish in the lonely valley.

The King passed through this with his Court on the 12th of June, 1506, going from Stirling to Falkland - dined on Halliday's green. (an eastern neighbour;) but we were not recognised."

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The above story has been preserved among the descendants of Thomas, William, and James Douglas, now known by the name of Drysdale, and copied at several times by different individuals -

first, by Simon Drysdale of the Haugh of Dollar, in the year 1620;

by Robert Drysdale of Yillicoultry, in 1708;

by John Drysdale, Dunfermline, in 1835;

by James Hogg  Drysdale, Dumfermline, in 1838;

and was printed first in the year 1833 by John Drysdale , Montrose

and again in the same form by the last named John Drysdale, Glasgow 1883 ;

and now by Thomas D. Drysdale , Westerton Farm , Leslie , Fife , 1906 . 

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         To further predate the above , back as far as 1116 ad ......

To further predate the name Drysdale , reference the PoMS Paradox of Medieval Scotland site search , There are at least 16 records there from the 12th century transcribed from Latin .  The above are  in reference to Lands of Dryfesdale Parish of Dryfesdale , or Church of Dryfesdale , not persons , Still the Drysdale in its old form is far older than the ''1503''  1906 Drysdale document version leads one to think . At one time a Scandinavian named Ingebald held the lands of Dryfesdale ,  1215 AD    Robert de Brus restores to Hugh, son of Ingebald, certain lands in Dryfesdale, to be held “ in wood and plain, land and water, in  monestary and mill” as his father held them before him, rendering to Brus the services of two vills and in the king’s army the service of one knight

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