ORIGINS OF THE NAME OF CUMMINGS
From the book Cummings Genealogy,
Isaac Cummings 1601-1677 of Ipswich 1638 and Some of his Descendants, compiled
and published by Albert Oren Cummins, Montpelier,
Vermont, 1904.
TRADITIONS
Isaac Comings, according to tradition,
was of Scottish ancestry, claiming descent from the "Red Cumin", of
Badenoch, in the southeastern district of Inverness-shire, a wild mountainous
country, presenting wide stretches of bleak moorland. Here the clan
flourished from 1080 to 1330, and then began to decline. Some deduce
their origin from Normandy
and others from
Northumberland.
According to the Chronicle of
Melrose, the first of the name who figured prominently, was slain with
Malcom III at Alnwick in 1093, leaving two sons, John and William. From
John, all the Cumins in Scotland
are said to be descended. Sir John, the Red Cumin or Comyn, was the first
Lord of Badenoch, and in 1240 was an ambassador from Alexander II to Louis IX,
of France.
His son John, called the Black Lord of
Badenoch, was inferior to no subject in Scotland for wealth and power, and
was one of those who vowed to support Queen Margaret, daughter of Alexander III
in her title to the crown. At her death he became a competitor for the
crown of Scotland,
"as the son and heir of John, who was son and heir of Donald, King of
Scotland". The son of the Lord, called, in turn, the Red Cumin, as
the last Lord of Badenoch of the surname of Cumin.
In 1335 a number of the Cumin clan
was slain in the feudal battle of Culbleau, in Glenwick, where a stone now
marks the spot.
The badge of the clan, in Gaelic, was
"Lus Mhic Cuiminn", in English, The Cummin Plant.
Another TRADITION runs: Comines
- Comynges - Comyns - Comings - Cumyn -Cumings - Cummings; "a family
which rose to great power and eminence in Scotland
and England.
The name was taken from the town of Comines near
Lille, on the
frontier between France and Belguim.
In 1445 one branch of the family gave
birth, in the old chateau, to the historian, Phillipe di Comines. Another
branch followed William of Normandy to the conquest of England.
In the year 1069, Robert of Comines,
or Comyn, with 700 horse from William the Conqueror, seized Durham and held it 48 hours, but the people
rose up against him and he perished in the flames at the burning of the
Bishop's Palace.
His nephew, William, became
Chancellor of Scotland in 1133. The Chancellor's nephew, Richard,
inherited the English possessions of the family and married the Countess of
Athol, grand-daughter of Donald Bane, King of Scots, and his son, William, in
1210, became Earl of Buchan by marrying the Celtic heiress of North Eardom.
By this marriage he became the father
of Elexander, Earl of Buchan, who married the daughter of Roger-de quenci, Earl
of Winchester.
By other marriages the family
obtained the Earldom of Angus and Athol, so that by the middle of the 13th
century there were in Scotland
on Lord, four Earls, and thirty-two belted Knights by the name of Comyns.
Within 70 years this great house was
entirely overthrown, there were none left of them, save those who took refuge
in the "Monks of Deer", a monastery founded in 1219 by William
Cumyns, Earl of Buchan.
John Cumyns, son of the Earl of
Badenoch, who was in 1291 an unsuccessful competitor for the crown, was a
descendant of Donald Bane, king of the old Celtic dynasty. John Cumyns,
Earl of Buchan, was defeated by Bruce in a pitched battle in 1306.
Such of the Cumyns as escaped the
sword found refuge with their wives and children in England, where, although they were
so poor as to be dependent upon the bounty of the English Court, they married into the best
families, so that their blood circulated through the nobles in other kingdoms
and descendants of Henry IV.
The Earl of Shrewsbury was the
representative of the Lord of Badenoch, who was at the head of the race."
Another TRADITION from an educated
American who spent much time in Rome, "The Cummings family is a very old
family; as far as can be gathered, the family lived in Lombardy, northern Italy
during, and prior to the fourth century, it then came over the Alps, and
settled in Provence, and then went to the Gironde country in the southern part
of France, and thence to the north of France, on the borders of Belgium, where
was founded the town of Commines, where lived Phillip of Commines, whom Hallan
called the father of Ancient History, thence they went to Scotland and England
and Ireland.
An educated native of Rome insists
that the original family of Commines was a family once well known in Lombardy,
that he had traced them to France, and it is a fact established by ancient
history that they were a strong family during the great’ Hearth' war, which
lasted for many years, and that Earl do Cumminges was perhaps the principal
factor in bringing on and continuing the war. History tells us they went
to England
about the time of the invasion by William the Conqueror," etc.
Although these traditions are given
as such, it will be noticed that they carry many indications of having been
compiled by fertile brains from the many historical books extant.
I too well recollect of my
grandfather, who was born in 1768, caressing me, in my childhood and calling me
"a little Scotchman," and a large majority of the traditions, and
circumstantial evidence, strongly indicate that we are of Scotch descent.
From what I have learned in the six years of my researches of the Cummings
records, I have formed the opinion that Isaac came to America from England, but that he was of Scotch
origin, though all my efforts to make a connection with his ancestors have been
futile.
In the second tradition given is a
mention of the historian "Phillipe de Comins", and there was
published in Paris in 1552 a French work on a man of that name, at the close,
or end, of which are many genealogical Comines trees, and I have made
considerable effort to obtain a coy of the book, but it being out of print,
have not been able to secure one. Also, some 150 or more years ago there
was published in England
a Commins genealogy, but that is also out of print.
From the book Genealogical and Family
History of the State of New Hampshire,
by Ezra S. Stearns, assisted by William F. Whitcher and Edward E. Parker,
published by the Lewis Publishing Company of New York
& Chicago
in 1908.
"The origin of the Cummings
family is uncertain; the name was taken from the town of Comines,
near Lille, on the frontier between France and Belgium. Various traditions account
for earlier origin of the family, but all of them are entitled to no more
credit than mere traditions. The name has been variously spelled Comines,
Comynges, Comyns, Comings, Comyn, Cumings and Cummings. Tradition states
that the emigrant ancestor of this family descended from "Red Cumin"
of Badenoch in the southeastern district of Iverness-shire, a wild mountainous
country presenting wide stretches of bleak moorland. Here the clan
flourished from 1080 to 1330, and then began to decline. According to the
Chronicle of Melrose, the first of the name who immigrated permanently, was
slain with Malcom III, at Alnwick, in 1093, leaving two sons, John and
William. From John, all the Cumins in Scotland are said to be
descended. Sir John, the Red Cumin of Comyn, was the first Lord of
Badenoch, and in 1240 was an ambassador from Alexander II to Louis IX of France.
His son John, called the Black Lord of Badenoch, was not inferior to any
subject in Scotland
for wealth and power, and was one of those who vowed to support Queen Margaret,
daughter of Alexander III in her title to the crown. At her death he
became a competitor for the crown of Scotland. "As a son and
heir of John who was son and heir of Donald, King of Scotland." The
son of this Lord, called, in turn, the Red Cumin, was the last Lord of Badenoch
of the surname of Cumin.
In 1335 a number of the Cumin clan
were slain in the feudal battle of Calbleau, in Glenwick, where a stone now
marks the spot. The badge of the clan, in Gaelic, was "Lus Nhic
Cuiminn," in English, the Cummin plant.
SPELLING OF THE CUMMINGS NAME by
Barry C. Moravek
Various spellings of Isaac Cumming's
name in the records include: CUMMINGS, COMINGS, CUMMENS, CUMMINS or with a
single 'm', with, or without the 's', and COMYNS. Both of the above books
talk about the spelling of the name having taken on various forms over
time. The Mooar book mentions that SOME OF THE FAMILIES HAVE RETAINED THE
SPELLING OF COMINGS, as if this is the original spelling in this country.
For record keeping purposes, I have
used the spelling of CUMMINGS, since it seems to correspond with published
works, and most of the descendants have used this spelling. There are
several exceptions that I have made for the spelling - These are the same lines
that have different spellings in the Mooar book or some other book:
1. The first is for Samuel
COMINGS (Samuel, John III, John II, John I, Isaac) and his descendants.
The Mooar book uses this spelling for his descendants. The History of
Cornish New Hampshire refers to him with the spelling of COMINGS, and his
children are also listed with this spelling. It seems to be at this point
that this spelling was adapted by most of his descendants. Since this is
our own family line, I want to try to determine at which point in time this
spelling became the accepted spelling. -- NOTE that per the History of
Cornish, NH, Daniel Morris Comings, his grandson the son of Warren, changed the spelling of his name to
CUMMINGS.
2. The second is for Daniel
CUMMINS (Jacob, Joseph, John, Isaac, Isaac) and his descendants. The
Mooar book uses this spelling for his descendants. -- It should be
noted that this is the line of A. O. CUMMINS, who arbitrarily used the
'Cummings' spelling in his own book, even for his own line! NOTE that
A.O. Cummins used the 'Cummings' spelling so consistently throughout that even
when a daughter would give a first or middle name of 'Comings' or 'Cummins' to
a child, A.O. Cummins would print this first or middle name as 'Cummings',
while Mooar would use the actual spelling!
3. The third is for Free
COMINGS (Jacob, Joseph, John, Isaac, Isaac) and his descendants. The
Mooar book also uses this spelling for all of his descendants.
4. The fourth is for David
COMINGS (David, Ephraim, Thomas, John, Isaac) and his descendants.
According the History of Cornish, NH, this line also spelled their name
'Comings'.
