Tracing clan affiliation, family name Stobie.

**derosa** · 20th October 09, 06:39 PM

My wife is working on tracing her family heritage and is trying to find out what clan her family name Stobie is affiliated with. Her grangmother used to point to a Stewart tartan and claim that was the family tartan and even marked it in the book. Unfortunately both are no longer available for consultation. I have tried searching the family name with no luck but there are many here who know far more then me.

Please help.

**MacMillan of Rathdown** · 20th October 09, 07:01 PM

My first thought was that it might be a variant of Scobie, which is a sept of Mackay. But since your wife's grandmother was adamant about a Stewart tartan, I wondered if Stobie might instead be a variant of Storie which is a sept of Ogilvie. I am now inclined to think this might be the case, as the Hunting Ogilvie tartan and the Hunting Stewart are not entirely dissimilar and, for that matter, neither are Royal Stewart (or any of the "red" Stewart tartans) and Ogilvie so totally dissimilar that an elderly person could easily tell them apart.

This, added to the fact that there are no Stewart septs that I am aware of that are even remotely similar to the Stobie/Storie name/spelling, leads me to suppose that the Ogilvie connection is probably your best bet.

**SteveB** · 20th October 09, 08:05 PM

MoR beat me back to the thread. Ogilvie is the most likely clan that you are looking for without doing the actual genealogical research.

Most of the Stobies that came into New York State came from Fife if that helps you on your research.

Slainte

**slohairt** · 20th October 09, 08:24 PM

Stobie is a variant of Stobo, a place name near Peebles, derived from Anglo-Saxon Stubb-holh meaning 'post-hole'.

I would suggest the Tweedside District tartan, which is very old. It has two variants: Red or Hunting.

**ThistleDown** · 20th October 09, 10:30 PM

I'm with Slohairt. Stobie is a familial form of Stobo and that's from the barony of Stobo in Peebleshire. But, of course, who knows where your ancestor lived post 14C? Perhaps on some Stewart estate elsewhere in the counry? That's very likely. Which Stewart tartan did your grandmother point to when she said that was her family tartan? There are a whole bunch of them -- red to green to blue to black -- but if you can find the one she said was her's we will have a whole bunch more info to work with.

In the meanwhile, to keep your interest alive, George Black wrote that Major Robt Stobo was guide for the Fraser Highlanders in their climb to Abraham in Quebec in 1759. Sneeky devil! Knew his way about in the dark, that man.

**derosa** · 21st October 09, 05:27 AM

Originally Posted by ThistleDown

Which Stewart tartan did your grandmother point to when she said that was her family tartan? There are a whole bunch of them -- red to green to blue to black.

The main issue is no one can remember which Stewart, there was even a scrap of the tartan in the book which has probably been thrown out as garbage by the uncle who took it. He isn't reachable to look at the book either since he is nasty to everyone.

**MacMillan of Rathdown** · 21st October 09, 06:41 AM

It is also possible (although I don't think likely) that the name was Stewart, written as Stuibhard in Gaelic, and was badly mangled when forced into English by some less-than-sympathetic English-speaking civil servant lo those many years ago... that at least might explain grannie's indicating "Stewart" as the clan tartan.

So it looks as if you have three choices for the name "Stobie":

1: Stewart (due to a misspelling); 2: Stobo (a variant on a place name); 3: Variant of Storie, a sept of Ogilvie.

Unless your wife's rotten uncle has a change of heart you may never know...

UNLESS

...you sit down with a couple of Scottish telephone directories, look up the name (Stobie) in widely separated cities (Glasgow, Aberdeen, and Inverness) and write to some of these folks and ask them about their clan affiliation. It is amazing how many people will take the time to reply to a letter from overseas.

ONE MORE THOUGHT was Stobie your wife's grandmother's maiden, or married, name? If it was her married name, might her maiden name have been ... Stewart?

**RockyR** · 21st October 09, 11:26 AM

I have the 'Collin's Guide to Scots Kith and Kin' book that we use as a BIBLE around here. It lists Stobie / Stobbie as not being a sept. It just tells me that the name is from Berwick / Perth and is from the 14th Century.

**derosa** · 21st October 09, 05:36 PM

Originally Posted by MacMillan of Rathdown

...you sit down with a couple of Scottish telephone directories, look up the name (Stobie) in widely separated cities (Glasgow, Aberdeen, and Inverness) and write to some of these folks and ask them about their clan affiliation. It is amazing how many people will take the time to reply to a letter from overseas.

ONE MORE THOUGHT was Stobie your wife's grandmother's maiden, or married, name? If it was her married name, might her maiden name have been ... Stewart?

Her maiden name was stobie. We're hoping to track down some of the cousins in Scotland and get what we can from there soon. We know they all originated in Fife.

Originally Posted by RockyR

I have the 'Collin's Guide to Scots Kith and Kin' book that we use as a BIBLE around here. It lists Stobie / Stobbie as not being a sept. It just tells me that the name is from Berwick / Perth and is from the 14th Century.

Thanks, that confirms what I've been finding.

**macwilkin** · 21st October 09, 05:56 PM

Originally Posted by 91tbrick

Her maiden name was stobie. We're hoping to track down some of the cousins in Scotland and get what we can from there soon. We know they all originated in Fife.

Thanks, that confirms what I've been finding.

If they originated in Fife, then the Fife District tartan would certainly be an option.

T.