Finding Mosshat

Several sources link my maiden surname to a  lowland Scots farm called Mosshat from at least 1650 to 1800.

I first heard about Mosshat in the mid-1990's when I received a copy of a letter written in 1949.  The writer, a Canadian, was recounting for her younger relatives the stories her own grandmother had told of life in Scotland before several siblings moved to Canada nearly a century earlier.  She said that the family were lairds, landowners, at Mosshat Farm, but had to sell out about 1800 when an epidemic swept through the sheep flocks, killing sheep "by the hundreds".  She named her grandmother's grandparents, the earliest known generation; her grandmother's parents; and added that there was an Aunt Betts who married a Watson, and an Uncle Tommy who "farmed at Cobbinshaw".

The Cobbinshaw reference was pivotal.  A cousin had already documented that our direct ancestor Thomas Lind was farming at Cobbinshaw by 1800, and that his sons and grandsons continued to farm  there until 1884.  Our shared great-grandfather was born there about 1839.    We were reasonably certain that our Thomas was the "Uncle Tommy" referred to in the 1949 letter.  But where was Mosshat?

Baptismal records didn't help much.  All the daughters of our earliest known ancestors, John Lin(d) and Helen Howison (also spelled Housin, Houston, etc.) were baptised in the Parish of Carnwath in Lanarkshire.  All the sons were baptised across the county line in the adjacent Parish of West Calder, Midlothian.  We assumed (always a dangerous practice, but this time correct) that Mosshat must be somewhere BETWEEN Carnwath and West Calder.  As it turns out, as maps and county lines changed over time, Mosshat was sometimes in Carnwath, and sometimes in West Calder.

A series of wills from the first quarter of the 18th century linked "portioners" (individuals owning a portion of a specific property) at Mosshat and at another farm, Auchengray.

It was several years before it dawned on me to look first for Auchengray and then for signs of Mosshat.  Auchengray appears on current maps.  Sometimes it is described as a village, sometimes as a hamlet, sometimes as a farm. Then it occurred to me to look at the UK Ordnance Survey maps, the last word in current mapping in Scotland.  Sure enough, just north and a little west of Auchengray is Mosshat Road, which wends its way northward to Woolfords.  Nearly within baseball throwing distance, certainly within hollering distance of Woolfords, are North and South Cobbinshaw Farms.  And there at the end of the paved section of Mosshat Road near Auchengray is ... Wester Mosshat Farm!  There is also an Easter Mosshat, but because of the links between our Linds, Mosshat and Auchengray, it is highly likely that our ancestors lived and farmed at Wester Mo  sshat. 

Yesterday, in one of those "new services to help your online research" emails came a link to the National Library of Scotland digital collection, including historic maps.  Take a look yourself.  Google "National Library Scotland", select digital collection, then maps.   Then go exploring.  I found a 1654 map showing Auchengray (spelled Auchingra), Mosshat (spelled Mofsat), and Cobbinshaw (spelled Cobinfhaw).  On this map, all are in Lanarkshire. There are many from which to choose. 

Then the piece de resistance:  Google Earth.  It actually images the paved length of Mosshat Road, ending at Wester Mosshat Farm.  To see for yourself what Wester Mosshat looked like in March 2011, here's the link.

Do your own exploring online.  Look for applicable maps.  READ those genealogical society newsletters that arrive in your mailbox, either electronically or by snail mail.  Explore locations related to but not necessarily exactly the places where your ancestors lived.  Keep your mind open for unexpected links.

Keep hunting!