Ewing Family
Association

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Thor Ewing, Who Were the Ewings?
Ewing Family J., Vol. 16, No. 1 (February 2010), pp. 1-9.

Thor Ewing is a writer, historian and historical performer in the UK; he has published studies of Viking and Anglo-Saxon culture and translations of medieval Scandinavian and Celtic poetry. He joined the Ewing Surname Y-DNA Project in 2007 (he is JT in Group 2*), and his own line comes through Lurgan, County Armagh, in Northern Ireland. He is web master for the Clan Ewen Society, and his recent New Notes on Clan Ewen (2009) looks at how modern Ewings and MacEwens originate in the clans of medieval Scotland.

Other materials prepared by Thor Ewing on the Origins of the Ewing Family may be found on:

Additional resources about the surname:

Various Authors, A Chief for Clan Ewen
Various issues of the Ewing Family Journal starting with Vol. 17, No. 1 (February 2011).

There has been no official chief of Clan Ewen for many generations. The last formally acknowledged chief of Clan Ewen of Otter, Swene McEwen, died in 1493. The Lord Lyon in Scotland is organizing a Family Convention to determine whether the chiefship of Clan Ewen should now be reestablished and perhaps to appoint a chief. [In 2014, the Lord Lyon provisionally re-established Clan Ewing with Thor Ewing as Commander.  A chief is to be appointed at a later time.] The articles in this collection discuss this issue and the possible involvement that the Ewing Family Association can have in the deliberations at the Family Convention.

Colson,Steven R., A Brittonic Y-DNA Cluster (PDF)
J. Clan Ewing, Vol. 13, No. 4 (November 2007), pp. 55-61.

"In May 2005, I received my full 37-marker Y-DNA test results. Subsequently, a sixth cousin with a shared patrilineal fifth great-grandfather showed similar results. Standard genealogical research traced this Colson patriline back to early 17th Century Lincolnshire, England. My Colson Y-DNA shows the closest affinity with a group of McCorkles and Mitchells, both with known Scottish ancestry. The mystery of this genetic relationship prompted me to broaden my perspective and consider pre-surname
relationships."

Ewen, C. L'Estrange, A History of Surnames of the British Isles (PDF)
(London, Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner and Co., Ltd.) New York, The Macmillan Co., 1931, pp. 352-365.

"Having traced out step by step the evolution of the surname from the personal description or address, examined the various processes of derivation, and gained an insight into the deceptive results of orthographic corruption, a possibly rash essay will now be made to reverse the operation, and taking a modern name, to attempt the exemplification of a method of working, whereby the geographical distribution, language, etymon, and original signification is discovered."

[Transcribed by John D. McLaughlin (Lochlan at aol dot com) and David N. Ewing (DavidEwing93 at gmail dot com).]

Ewing, David Neal, Ewing Surname Y-DNA Project: Article 11 (PDF)
J. Clan Ewing, Vol. 13, No. 3 (August 2007), pp. 27-43.

This Ewing Surname Y-DNA Project article analyzes potential relationships of Ewings to northern Irish Clans (Maclachlan, MacEwan, Lamont, MacSweeney and MacNeill).

Ewing, David Neal, Orr-Ewing Information in Burke’s Landed Gentry (PDF)
Ewing Family J., Vol. 17, No. 1 (February 2011), pp. 3-5.

This is a transcription of those parts of Burke's Landed Gentry pertaining to Ewings. Included is information about several Orr-Ewing and several Ewing families.

Ewing, Elbert William R., Clan Ewing of Scotland, Chapter IX: Origin of the Ewing Surname
Cobden Publishing Co., Ballston, Virginia. 1922.

"This story of our clan origin considered in connection with the Gaelic Highland records, is all the light we have regarding the origin of our family name. That evidence leads to the conclusion that the name of the Glasgow-Loch Lomond Ewing clan, or family from which the Ewings here considered descended, is of Cymric Lowland origin. It is clear, in my opinion, that those who hold to the Gaelic origin overlook the Cymric evidence, certainly as to our family, it is worth repeating for emphasis. Of course, it must not be forgotten that, as has been said, there are Ewings who are Scotch or of Scotch ancestry who are not descended from our ancient Scotch ancestors."

James R. McMichael partially transcribed this Chapter and added information from a 1991 Scotland Research Report commissioned by the Association. This led to an article which may be viewed by clicking here .

Ewing, Wallace K., Walking With Ghosts  Near the Shores of Loch Fyne (PDF)
Ewing Family J., Vol. 16, No. 3/4 (August/November 2010), pp. 1-5.

This 'trip report' reveals information about a possible homeland for the Ewings. The trip took the author and his wife to Kilfinan, Scotland, where they visited the old inn, the cemetery, and MacEwan Castle. The report reveals information about the possible home territory of his line of Ewings. It includes information about Ann McEwen, a possible ancestor of the Ewings in America.

McEwan, John, Origins of the MacEoghainn Clan: What information can Y chromosome markers provide? (PDF)
J. Clan Ewing, Vol. 11, No. 3 (August 2005), pp. 23-29.

"The intention of this article is to provide background to the Y chromosome investigation we are attempting to undertake into the origins of the Ewing and McEwen surname variants. ... Specifically, this article reviews the recorded origins of the MacEoghainn surname and then describes some potential investigations that can be done using ... DNA data."

McLaughlin, John D., The Clan Ewing of Loch Lomond - An Alternate View (PDF)
J. Clan Ewing, Vol. 12, No. 4 (November 2006), pp. 20-23.

"[There] are several problems with [the theory that the Ewing name is distinctly of Gaelic and clan origin], the first of which is that the pedigree linking the MacEwens and other clans to the Ui Neill of Ireland is most likely a medieval fabrication; and secondly the fact that the Ewings do match the NW Irish modal does not necessarily mean they were descendants of Nial or descended from the Irish O'Neills."

Moore, Laoise T. Moore, et al., A Y-Chromosome Signature of Hegemony in Gaelic Ireland
Am J. of Hum. Genet., Vol. 78, February 2006, pp. 334-338.

"Seventeen-marker simple tandem repeat genetic analysis of Irish Y chromosomes reveals a previously un-noted modal haplotype that peaks in frequency in the northwestern part of the island. It shows a significant association with surnames purported to have descended from the most important and enduring dynasty of early medieval Ireland, the Ui Neill."