The name BOYD originated from the word BUIDHE, meaning yellow. One of the earliest Boyd's named was Robert Buidhe of the yellow hair. Some of the earliest Boyds recorded in history are as follows:

The tenth Lord Boyd was named Lord Kilmarnock. The fourth Lord Kilmarnock was a supporter of Prince Charles in his bid for the throne on 1745. Lord Kilmarnock's regiment at Culloden was composed of many Boyds. However, Lord Kilmarnock mistook a group of enemy cavalry as his own, was surrounded and taken prisoner. He was beheaded in the Tower of London and his Earldom forfeited to the crown.

The title Lord of Kilmarnock was recovered in 1941 about the time the Boyd tartan was registered in Scotland. The Chief of the Boyd Clan became the sixth Lord Kilmarnock. The Boyd tartan is red with green stripes and a narrow yellow and white overstripe. The Clan Seat is in Edinburgh and the Clan Motto is Confido (I Trust). The Coat of Arms is blue with horizontal red and silver chequered stripe. This is overlayed with a hand, the index and middle finger raised, much like the current peace sign. The historical significance of this sign is unknown to us.

Between 1650 and 1790, one hundred and thirty-three Boyd families settled in Northern Ireland. Many sailed to the New World. They pioneered settlements in Antigonish, the Carolinas, Virginia, and Upper Canada. The first Boyds of Antigonish County arrived in Pictou aboard the "The Dove of Aberdeen".

In 1801 the Highlands were undergoing vast changes both in economics and population expansion; and British NorthAmerica had land available for the asking. Into this situation came the emigration agents - Such as Hugh Duooon (Denoon). He was the eldest son of the Rev. David Dunoon of Killearrean parish, Ross-shire. He was born in 1762 and went to North America with the British Army. He settled in Mergomish, near Pictou, Nova Scotia. As a landowner and local merchant he had an obvious interest in expanding Pictou's population. He returned to Scotland to recruit emigrants. By April 1801 he had about three hundred persons and their families on board his vessels at Fort William. He had two ships at this time, the Dove of Aberdeen (186 ton) and the Sarah (350 ton).

Hugh Dunoon evaded the regulations regarding passenger totals in the manner in which the children were counted. The children's ages were added together and then divided by sixteen and that was the figure listed. So, although the Sarah carried 350 souls she was listed as having 258 passengers on board. In similar fashion the Dove of Aberdeen carried 219 people though her passenger lists stated 180.5 people on board. Hugh Dunoon kept his totals down and so sailed with more passengers than would have been allowed under slave trade regulations. He also overlooked the regulation that the passengers be immunized against small pox.

The Dove of Aberdeen left Fort William on June 8th, 1801. She cleared quarantine on September 8th,1801. The passage lasted for eleven weeks but due to an outbreak of smallpox, she remained in Caribou Harbor, Pictou County, Nova Scotia for the remaining weeks.

From George MacLean's, The Pictou Book, we learn that the vessels were vermin infested and barely seaworthy. There were so many deaths aboard the ships were called "coffins". Two other facts that proved interesting were that the term "spinster" denoted a woman who could spin. Many so called spinsters were the wives of the men listed immediately before them in the passenger lists. Secondly, Hugh Dunoon told the highlanders that the same tree in America would produce soap, sugar, and fuel.

The local residents of Pictou, who themselves had emigrated nearly thirty years earlier, took the newcomers into their homes for the winter and in the spring allowed them to sow grain on their lands until they could clear their own land.

Ten Boyd's were listed amongst the passengers on the Dove of Aberdeen that left Fort William, Scotland that day in 1801. They were as follows:

The above names are the beginning of the Boyd's in Antigonish County. There were five males. John- The Pioneer -his three sons, Alexander, Hugh, and Angus and his grandson John. We know that Angus was seventeen years of age becuse in 1822 he petitions for land in Malignant Brook and lists his age at this time at thirty eight He resides in South River and is married with six children. He is married to Mary Catherine MacGillivary. John the Pioneer's grandson John is age seven. He is Hugh's son. This John becomes the father of John Boyd who founded The Casket, one of Nova Scotia's earliest newspapers and still in existence today.

There were five females listed. There are three named Mary. One is a child of four and we believe the other two are, a daughter of John, and the wife of Alexander, The last two females Catherine and Anne are believed to be daughters of John the Pioneer. The Kate MacPherson listed amongst the Boyd's is John's wife.

The one with whom we are concerned is Alexander who is the progenitor of the Boyd's in our area of Antigonish County.

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