What evidence is there that some Wauchopes were indeed Norman?
• Ancient Scottish historians said the family was Norman. Perhaps the earliest surviving recorded mentions of the Waughs/Wauchopes coming from France in 1062 were made by the Bishop of Aberdeen William Elphinstone (1431-1514) and by his protege Hector Boece (c.1473-1536) in their separate histories of Scotland. There is some speculation that Elphinstone s history was actually written by Boece. Unfortunately, mention of the arrival of the Waughs/Wauchopes could not be located in the following chroniclers histories of Scotland: John of Fordun (?-1385); Walter Bower (1385-1449), an expansion and continuation of Fordun s work; John Major (1469-1550); and George Buchanan (1506-1582). • The Niddrie family said it was Norman before it became fashionable to say so for purposes of affectation. • John s and later brother William s ownership of vast lands in Ireland about 1300 is further substantiation of Norman roots, as it is well known that at this time the entire island was held almost exclus
