The following is a copy of My great uncle Rob's [Francis Robert Buchanan Stewart] papers concerning his Stewart ancestors; with my comments interspersed.
"The Stewarts of Appin are all descended, from an illegitimate son of Robert II of Scotland, older than the son who succeeded him on the throne. Their coat of arms is the Royal Coat, crossed with the bar sinister denoting "bastardy* [The arms do not contain the bastardised version of the lion rampant].- their crest the Lion Rampant with a different motto "Nobilas Ira."
"Robertson Buchanan Stewart was a Justice of the Peace for Dunbartonshire between 1872 and 1878. He used the crest and motto on his notepaper, which meant he must* have applied to Lord Lyon and paid the necessary tax."
There is NO record of tax having been paid, notepaper may well have been bogus. I am also informed by my aunt that he had a reputation for being a braggart.
"Robertson Buchanan Stewart's great grandfather was out in the *45 and- lost his estate [might mean no more than the lease or the tack of his farm or croft.] in consequence - would probably have lost his life when he returned to Appin from Culloden if he had not assumed the humble position of a schoolmaster and taught the children of the Clan, probably his own children among them."
The problem here is finding any evidence when his true identity would have been concealed. The dates I have on the chart make it more likely that his grandfather rather than his great grandfather would have been actively involved in the 1745 rebellon, but as I have traced a possible Bute-born ancestor here, this is a moot point. Nevertheless, in two alternative versions of the chart which I have seen, RBS's great grandfather is also shown as having been born in Bute.
"He had at least two sons, one of whom (Robertson Buchanan Stewart's grandfather) finding no opening in Appin where distress and poverty were universal went to Glasgow and either joined or set up a coal merchants business, doing quite well. He had at least two sons by his first wife. The elder of then was the father of the said Robertson Buchanan Stewart. (The younger, John Stewart, went to Canada, joined Hudsons Bay Company). By his second wife [Helen Bannnatyne] he had some family of whom one daughter married a Henderson."
The phrase above "by his second wife" is confusing as I think it refers to RBS himself rather than to his (RBS's) grandfather.
"We are the MacRobs, for in two generations at least we have had "Robertson" and "Robert" as Christian names and no 'Donalds' at all."
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