DICKSON FAMILY
HISTORY
Part 1
up to Robert Dickson's emmigration to Gothenburg.
Sources:
Mainly my father in law, Allan Dickson's (2:6:11 5) stories.
Robert Dicksons stiftelses arbetarbostäder av Thorsten Rinman
(a book)
Ulla
Dickson (born Stiernsten 2.6:11 5:2 P married to Lars Dickson)

Bataviska sammansvärjningen
av Rembrandt på Nationalmuseum
http://www.abcgallery.com/R/rembrandt/rembrandt53.html
The Swedish National
Museum
has a very famous painting by Rembrandt called “The
conspiracy of Julius Civilis”. Under the leadership of Julius
Civilis the Batavian people
gathered
to rise against the roman conquest,
which had been
completed.
In the middle of the painting you can see the head of Bobinus
Chatti. According to
the
legend, Rembrandt, when he
did
the painting, had a
model in an enambel picture, that earlier was attached to a
sword-hilt, owned by Bobinus son.
He
had
gotten
it from his very good friend Sir Alexander Dickson of
Westerbinning, who himself was a late
descendent
of Bobinus Chatti.
Bobinus
was chief over a Germanic tribe, the Chatti (eller KATTERNA)
who lived in today’s Hessen, or as then called, Turingia. Even
though the conspiracy of Julius Civilis was quite successful,
Bobinus Chatti, who would not yield under the roman law,
choose some parts of his tribe and left, in the year 76,
ending up in the north of Scotland, at Caithness (then
Chattiness). Scotland was not under roman law, as the rest of
Great Britain was. The Chatti people left in Hessen, later on
played a fairly dominating role, for instance under the Chatti
Riot.
Bobinus, who at first was an intruder in the north of
Scotland, acclimatized himself and his tribe rather quickly
and so well, that he got married to the Pictkings daughter.
Under
pressure, most from outside, the tribes came to unite under a
Scottish king. Scotland became christened fairly early. Under
the 8th and 9th-century there were many conflicts with the
Vikings. Mainly they came from Norway, first to rob and
plunder, but gradually they established themselves as
merchants there. They where also in some ways “culturespreaders”.
The Danish people also came over to plunder. Under the Danish
king Sven Tveskäggs time, two Danish armies were sent to
conquer Scotland. They were lead by a common commander, named
Camus, whom year 1010 tried to land at Firth of Fourth. Malcolm
II of Scotland where in a terrible despair, and the battles
did not go so well.
At the
battle of Barry, the head of the family Keith, (the name
Chatti had gradually changed in to Keith), Robert, succeeded
in killing the Danish herald, Camus. Robert himself was
fatally wounded and when he late at night lied in the
battlefield unable to leave, Malcolm II walked out into the
battlefield and found Robert Keith, who through his courageous
efforts had saved his life. The King then dipped three fingers
in Camus blood and stroke, partially over Keiths forehead,
partially over his shield and said: “You are a real Keith”.
Because of this, Malcolm II appointed him to “Great Marshal of
Scotland”. That meant that the eldest son, always in every
bloodline, would be Marshal of Scotland.
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The
shields of the Chatti's, had been silvercoloured with a
top field of gold. After the battle of Barry year 1010,
the ancestors of Robert Keith, has added three vertical
lines of blood ( heraldic term beam) on the
Chattishield’s golden field.
During the following centuries the Keiths did Scotland
some extraordinary favors, primarily under
Alexander I, Alexander II, David I and Robert de Bruce. |
Robert Keith was given some domains in East Lothian and
they expanded under Harvey Keith with Keith Marshal, as
gratitude for extraordinary services. Even through
marriages the Keiths acquired gradually great domains in
East Lothian, the Grampainland and as far as northeast
of Scotland, towards Caithness. It has been said, that
once a Keith could start at the Border (southeast of
Scotland) and ride to Caithness and every night sleep in
his own bed. Rumour has it that a Scottish king once
said that his Great Marshal were more powerful than him
self.
In
those days large areas of England and the main part of
the Scottish hills where covered with forests. The
expanding population and foremost the shipbuilding, had
not yet demanded very large quantities of the lumber
supply. |
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Around
year 1240, Richard Keith was the Great Marshal of
Scotland. He was a great folk hero and where called “Dick”.
His children where called “fils Dick” or “Dickson”. The eldest
son came to inherit the title as Great Marshal and kept the
weapon and the name Keith. After a couple of generations
“Great Marshal” where elevated to the title “Earl Marshal of
Scotland” which remained for ten generations. After that
the title “Earl Marshal” was abolished. The last Earl Marshal
died in 1788.
To raise
and broaden the education of the Scottish people, the fifth
Earl Marshal (George), paid the for the expenses of the university in
Aberdeen, the so called Marshal College. Numerous Keiths has
been Bishops or Deans of Abbeys.
The
pressure from and the conflicts with the English were under the
centuries, until 1746, very hard. On one occasion the regalia
were saved and brought to the Keith stronghold Dunottar,
southwest of Stonehaven and where kept there, to be protected
against the British. At an other occasion the Keith family
archives were loaded on to a ship at Edinburgh, to be saved
from British destruction, but unfortunately the ship sank.

Dunottar Castle
A magnificent ruined castle where Richard was staying when
news came in of the shipwreck in Ringed Castle. The Scottish
Crown Jewels were sent here during the English Civil War when
Cromwell swore to melt them down. The castle was beseiged but
they were smuggled out and buried under a church until the
restoration made it safe to return them to Edinburgh. Dunottar
was used by Mel Gibson for his filming of Hamlet.
The
head of the family Keith, as of today, is the Earl of
Kintore, who lives at Keith Hall in Aberdeenshire. (http://www.vsd.cape.com/~beachbum/keithinfo7.htm).
The last Earl George's, total possessions were
confiscated by the British, when he served as a
mercenary for Fredrik the Great. His younger brother,
James, was very successful. He became field marshal for
Fredrik the Great and contributed strongly to the fact
that Fredrik could be called “the Great”. James Keith’s
statue is located in Peterhead. |
 |
Another
field marshal, Andrew Keith, who was in Sweden during Erik
XIV’s period, got married to Gustav Wasa's cousins daughter,
Sigrid Birgersdotter. He became a count of Finsta and Eka and
founded a family in Sweden, but had no male offspring.
Numerous count themselves as relatives on the female line of
the family.
Andrew Keith was sent by Erik XIV to the British court, to
arrange an engagement between Erik and Elisabeth I, which did
not succed. He was in favor at the British court and became
appointed Lord Dingwall. He got some fiefs, amongst
other, a farm, that was called Uppland. It still exists and is
located at Invenshire.
When Karl
XI reigned there was another Andrew Keith, who came to Sweden.
He was a major and he paid the expenses for some mercenary
troops from Scotland. Neither he had any male offspring.
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We
now return to the descendants, who from year 1247 called
themselves Dickson. Richard Keith’s second son Thomas
Dickson, became a champion against England. This made
him Govenor of Douglas Castle. Through heroic successes he
also became Lord Symingstone. |
Sir
Walter Scott has described his last battle against the British
at Mary St. Bride in Lanmark. He fought with a two hand sword.
He was fatally wounded in his abdomen. With his left hand he
had to hold his intestines back, so they would not fall out.
He then
continued the battle with the two hand sword in his right
hand, until he fell. A monument has been raised there, and
because he was a folk hero, people who came took pieces of the
monument as relics. Today the monument has disappeared totally,
just as the octopus in Wartburg disappeared after Martin
Luther.

Mungo Parks Surgery,
Peebles,
Photo by McKnaught & Son |

Looking to neidpath
from church spire, Peebles, ZI6/49 |
The rest
of the Dickson family mainly settled close to the border, in
Peebles and Kelso. They were known to be extremely dangerous
to the British. Since they were trusted by the people, the
Dicksons were often majors and judges. After a couple of
generations of being mainly merchants and silversmiths in
Kelso, some of the Dicksons moved to Montrose and worked as
silversmiths there. One James Dickson married a Christiean
Murie (Christina Murray). They had three sons and a daughter.

James
Dickson, Montrose
Even
if the industrialism had started both in England and
Scotland, with coal, steel and texture, the Scotish had
been poor for centuries. It was hard to make a living,
as anything else than a mercenary. The oldest son,
Robert Dickson [1], therefore left, with a very small
capital from Montrose to Gothenburg, where he arrived in
1802. He traded mainly in textures and grain, and to
some extent in ore and pig-iron. |
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