Comments on: The MacVays, Part One http://macvaysia.com/2009/04/09/the-macvays-part-one/ Celtic by blood, Canadian by birth, Malaysian bit by bit. Sat, 31 Jul 2010 18:11:51 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7 hourly 1 By: Jordan http://macvaysia.com/2009/04/09/the-macvays-part-one/comment-page-1/#comment-226056 Jordan Thu, 09 Apr 2009 14:25:25 +0000 http://macvaysia.com/?p=1007#comment-226056 I've seen the name spelled McVay on documents, and of course on that gravestone. As far as I know, in my family it's always been MacVay. Some members of the family got used to the McVay spelling and stuck with it, but most continued to use MacVay, even when they were still in NB. It would have been MacVay originally anyway, 'Mc' just being a contraction. One interesting thing is the presence of the lines under the 'c' in 'Mc' on the gravestone. Alexander's name was also spelled that way on the birth certificate of his daughter Isabella in Scotland in 1855. The clerk who copied down the name didn't spell other 'Mc' names with the little lines. I know the lines were used to signify a raised 'c' (and therefore 'Mc' as a contraction of 'Mac'); I suspect they were also used to show that a name spelled with the contraction 'Mc' was actually spelled 'Mac', whereas 'Mc' names without the little marks were always spelled 'Mc'. That's just a theory though. The short version of all this: I'm pretty sure we've always spelled it MacVay. I’ve seen the name spelled McVay on documents, and of course on that gravestone. As far as I know, in my family it’s always been MacVay. Some members of the family got used to the McVay spelling and stuck with it, but most continued to use MacVay, even when they were still in NB. It would have been MacVay originally anyway, ‘Mc’ just being a contraction.

One interesting thing is the presence of the lines under the ‘c’ in ‘Mc’ on the gravestone. Alexander’s name was also spelled that way on the birth certificate of his daughter Isabella in Scotland in 1855. The clerk who copied down the name didn’t spell other ‘Mc’ names with the little lines. I know the lines were used to signify a raised ‘c’ (and therefore ‘Mc’ as a contraction of ‘Mac’); I suspect they were also used to show that a name spelled with the contraction ‘Mc’ was actually spelled ‘Mac’, whereas ‘Mc’ names without the little marks were always spelled ‘Mc’. That’s just a theory though. The short version of all this: I’m pretty sure we’ve always spelled it MacVay.

]]> By: dave.wordswords http://macvaysia.com/2009/04/09/the-macvays-part-one/comment-page-1/#comment-226055 dave.wordswords Thu, 09 Apr 2009 13:14:32 +0000 http://macvaysia.com/?p=1007#comment-226055 Fantastic. You've done great work making these connections. And I've seen that train station; the MacVay boys did a nice job. I notice Alexander's grave says McVay. When the switch? When they came to CB? Or am I jumping ahead? Fantastic. You’ve done great work making these connections. And I’ve seen that train station; the MacVay boys did a nice job.

I notice Alexander’s grave says McVay. When the switch? When they came to CB? Or am I jumping ahead?

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