Hardie

Hardie

Surname Meanings

There are a number of different ideas as to the origins of the name Hardie. The two main schools of thought on the origin of the name, one schools puts it as being a stand alone name of Teutonic Origin - with two potential sources. The other suggests more celtic derivations. The three options are outlined below:

• One comes from the French nickname for a brave or foolhardy man - 'hardi' meaning brave or bold, given to Scottish mercenaries fighting for the French. These Norman Hardies came to Scotland following the Norman Invasion in 1066. The Norman Hardies spelled their name 'Hardi'; settlers in England adopted the Anglicized 'Hardy' while those in Scotland adopted the Celtic 'Hardie'. There are instances of the use of this surname, (spelt with a y) as early as 1296.
• The other suggests that the Hardies were Norse who came directly to England as part of the continual Viking raids. This latter theory is outlined in The Chronicles of Clan Hardi, a book by Kenneth Ray Hardy of Virginia Beach, Virginia. This identifies the name as originating in the second century A.D. when the Hord tribe and one of its clans, Hard, moved under pressure from the Roman invaders from the valley of the Weser river to the Hardanger Fjord on the west coast of Norway. In the ninth and tenth centuries these Viking tribes raided the Saxon tribes of Britain, giving them a new word for a band of unruly armed men, a 'hord.' They were also among the Norse who raided, and then occupied, the Norman coast of France. The earliest written record of the clan Hard occurs in a saga from the ninth century, and the clan was well entrenched in East Anglia by the tenth century. The Old Norse letter 'd' is a unique feature of the clan name, and in transliteration to English has created some confusing variations on the names of descendants of the clan. Evidently members of the clan spread widely throughout Europe, a factor that explains Hardies in Burgundy and Normandy. The French word 'hardi' may have come from this clan, rather than the reverse. Canute the Great, king of England in the early eleventh century, is even identified as a member of the Clan.This is one William Hardy a land owner in Lanarkshire who is recorded on the Ragman Rolls of Edward I of England after his invasion of Scotland in 1296.
• The celtic explanation is that MacHardie - common in Aberdeenshire - was shortened to Hardie after some time around the 1700s or after 1745 to avoid reprisals, or as part of the Highland Clearances. In this instance, the name originates with Mac C(h)ardiadh, 'son of the sloe', from the older G. cardi. (The 'h' is intrusive, and silent in the vernacular). It is suggested that the name came from Pictish Gartnaigh, pronounced Gratney, a well known name of old in Mar. (There was an Earl of Mar called Gartney or Gratney about 1300). He thinks it was developed to MacCarday, and ultimately before 1587 to MacHardy. There appear to have been two main branches - the Machardies of Strathdon who followed the Mackintoshes Clan and - the Machardies of Braemar who followed the Farquharsons. The notation of Hardies in both of these clan registers would indicate this is a valid interpretation. _{The Surnames of Scotland, Their Origin Meaning, and History, by George F. Black, Ph.D., Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations, The New York Public Library, 1962. ISBN 0-87104-172-3}.

Surname Stories

Many legends assert that the family are sprung from the Macleod clan. One story as to the origin, is outlined in "The Braemar Highlands". In this story set in 1080 or there abouts, a young man named McLeod killed one of the Kings Malcolms hounds, and was condemned to death. The young mans wife begged for mercy, and what ensued was a very William Tell episode where McLeod would be spared his life if he could shoot a mark off his childs head with an arrow. The child was place on the other side of the River Dee. McLeod took two arrows upon taking aim his body shook very hard and he turned to the king, who stood near, and said. 'This is hard'. The king did not relent, and he returned to his stance. He let the arrow fly. It struck the mark, and a cry of wonder and triumph rolled through the crowd. The king approached McLeod, and, after confirming his pardon, inquired why he, so sure of hand and keen of sight, had asked for two arrows?

McLeod replied, Because had I missed the mark, or hurt my wife or child, I was determined not to miss you .The king grew pale, undecided what to do, eventually he again approached McLeod and with kindly voice and manner told him he would receive him into his bodyguard, and that he would be well provided for. McLeod replied, Never,After the painful proof to which you have just put my heart, I could never love you enough to serve you faithfully. The king in amazement responded , 'Thou art a Hardy ! and as Hardy thou art, so Hardy thou shalt be'. McLeod went under the name of Hardy, and his descendants were termed the MacHardys, Mac being the Gaelic word for son._{The Braemar Highlands: their Tales, Traditions, and History, by Elizabeth Taylor. Nimmo, 1869, pp.99-103}