#52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks. Week 31, Prompt - ‘Oldest'

Week 31:   'Oldest'

I decided to write up what little I know of my earliest ancestor.  

So here he is - the furthermost person back in my research, so far.

Meet Nicol Dewar DEWART (Dewer) born in 1543 in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland.  He would be 478 years old if he were to raise his head now.  

Nicol is a 9th Great Grandfather on my paternal line.

In 1562, Nicol married Helen HORNE/ HOONE born 1542, Dunfermline and they had a son named Robert in 1564.  (Probably named after Nicol's father)

(See below: SSB&B 1564-1950.) 

Nicol lived well into old age and was 80 years old when he died in 1623 
as shown in this cropping below, from 'FindMyPast'.

And that's it - Oh,  if only I could find some more about Nicol to tell you  :(
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According to ancestry.com  

Surname meaning for Dewar:

DEWAR is from Gaelic deoradh,  meaning ‘pilgrim’, ‘stranger’. 

The occupational name for a custodian of holy relics (which was normally a hereditary office), 

The habitational name from Dewar, a place near Dalkeith, of uncertain origin. 

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Dunfermline (Scottish Gaelic: Dùn Phàrlain) - 

is a former burgh and current town in the county of Fife, Scotland. It is just near the bridge,  the Firth of Forth.

The town grew under the influence of Queen Margaret to be an important ecclesiastical burgh (a town with special privileges). 

Until the 17th century, the town was the royal capital of Scotland.

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CRAZY WAR TIMES.

On reading a timeline of the history of Scotland one can see just how many battles occurred between the two countries in the Anglo-Scottish wars of the 16th century and how much animosity continued on over the years whilst Nicol and Helen were going about their daily lives.

Nicol was born the year after the death of King James V.;  Birth of Mary, Queen of Scots, at Linlithgow. She was six days old when her father died and she became Queen.

1544 - The "Rough Wooing" - England, pushing her territorial ambitions through a proposed marriage and alliance, was sharply rebuffed, and thus resorted to that more aggressive policy known as the "rough wooing" and aggression towards Scotland.  

NOTE: Following its break with Rome, England decided to attack Scotland, partly to destroy the Auld Alliance, and prevent Scotland being used as a springboard for future invasion by France, partly to weaken Scotland, and partly to force Scotland to agree to a marriage alliance between its child Queen Mary and the English heir apparent Edward, son of King Henry VIII. An invasion of France was also contemplated. War was declared by Henry in an attempt to force the Scots to agree to a marriage between Edward and the infant queen, thereby creating a new alliance between Scotland and England. Edward, crowned king in 1547 at the age of nine, continued the war for a time under the direction of the Duke of Somerset before Somerset's removal from power in 1549 and replacement by the Duke of Northumberland, who wished for a less costly foreign policy than his predecessor.   

Scot/English Border wars and conflicts, already present, reached their height during this time as bloody Border conflicts and reiving (raiding and feuding) abounded.

1546 - Murder of Cardinal Beaton.

1547 - Battle of Pinkie. 15,000 English under the Duke of Somerset defeated by the Scots.

1557 - The first Covenant. (Secret Scottish Protestant group).

1558 - Mary marries King Francis II (Dauphin) of France.

1559 - John Knox's sermon at Perth - regarded as the start of the Reformation in Scotland.

1560 - Treaty of Edinburgh; King Francis II of France died.

1561 - Queen Mary returns to Scotland from France. (r. 1542-1567)

1562 - Queen Mary visits Inverness; castle besieged by rebels.

1563 -Mary's WitchCraft Acts passed in Scotland condemning "witches" to burning as heretics.

1565 - Mary marries Henry Stuart Lord Darnley.

1567 - 2 years later Darnley Murdered. Abdication of Mary, Queen of Scots.

James VI (r.1567-1625) becomes King of Scotland.

1567  - Knox’s Liturgy translated into Gaelic by Bishop Carswell.

1568  - Battle of Langside. Moray and 45,000 men defeated Mary with only 4,500. Mary flees to England to seek help from Elizabeth I, who imprisons Mary in various Keeps, Castles, and Towers.

1570 - The murder of Regent Moray by nobles.

1571 - Regent Lennox slain.

1572 - Death of John Knox.

1573 - The final defeat of the Queen's (Mary's) party.

1579 - Bible printed in Scotland for the first time.

1581 - Regent Morton Falls.

1582 - Raid of Ruthven.

1582 - University of Edinburgh founded.

1587- Mary, Queen of Scots executed at Fotheringhay.

1587 - Act passed for quieting the clans of the Borders, Highlands, and Isles.

1594 - Battle of Glenlivet; Massacre of the MacDonalds by  the MacLeods in a cave on the Island of Eigg.

1597 - The future James VI of Scotland writes the definitive works on witchcraft and demons called "Demonologie" which results in hysteria about alleged "witches" and many witch burnings.

Also - 

Highlanders give assistance to Queen Elizabeth I of England. 

1598 - Highland Landowners ordered to "prove" their right to possess titles.

The Isle of Lewis granted to Lowlander "Adventurers", the Crown. Results in much feuding and problems.

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1600  - The Gowrie conspiracy. 

1601 - Lowland "Adventurers" in the Isle of Lewis are soundly defeated.

1602 - Battle of Glenfruin.

1603  - Union of the Crowns
James VI of Scotland becomes James I of England, bringing about the Union of the Crowns. This was not an altogether welcome move in much of Scotland or England.

1605 - Renewed attempt to colonise the Isle of Lewis by Lowland "Adventurers".

1607 - MacKenzie of Kintail aquires Lewis from the MacLeods of Lewis by no MacLeod heir and by marriage to a MacLeod of Lewis. Macleods of Lewis are displaced to the mainland.

1614 - Islay granted to Campbell of Cawdor by Crown.

1617- James VI (on his only return to Scotland) tactlessly lectures his countrymen on the "superiority of English civilisation".

1618 - The "Five articles of Perth".
James VI imposes Bishops on the Presbyterian Church of Scotland in an attempt to integrate it with the Church of England. This move was deeply unpopular with the Scots.

1625 - Death of James VI and I of Britain. (James VI of Scotland). 

Charles I becomes King on the death of his father. Although born in Scotland, Charles had no interest in the country and dealt with Scottish affairs with even less tact than his father, causing discontent.