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The ancestors of the Bait family were part of an ancient Scottish tribe called the Picts. They lived in the lands of Beath in Fife. 1 2 The name is a topographic or local surname, which was given to a family who held a barony or lands, had houses, manors or estates in that area. The name could have also been derived from the Gaelic beith which means birch tree.
The surname Bait was first found in Fife, at the Hill of Beath, a hill and a village in Fife, Scotland just outside Dunfermline and joined to Cowdenbeath. The village is best known as the location of the meeting of the Covenanters at which John Blackadder was one of the preachers in the summer of 1670. As of 1896, it had a population of about 1,300 people.
The first entries for the family was "Edmund de Beeth witnessed the gift of 10s. annually to the monks of Dunfermline by Gilbert de Cles in 1231, and Malcolmus Beyth witnessed a charter by Maldouen, earl of Leuenauch to the monastery of Arnbroath in the same year." 1
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Bait research. Another 209 words (15 lines of text) covering the years 1231, 1480, 1491, 1498, 1508, 1550, 1580, 1633, 1635, 1657, 1672, 1675 and 1696 are included under the topic Early Bait History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Prior to the invention of the printing press in the last hundred years, documents were basically unique. Names were written according to sound, and often appeared differently each time they were recorded. Spelling variations of the name Bait include Beath, Beeth, Beith, Bait, Baith and others.
Another 43 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Bait Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
The freedom of the North American colonies was enticing, and many Scots left to make the great crossing. It was a long and hard journey, but its reward was a place where there was more land than people and tolerance was far easier to come by. Many of these people came together to fight for a new nation in the American War of Independence, while others remained loyal to the old order as United Empire Loyalists. The ancestors of Scots in North America have recovered much of this heritage in the 20th century through Clan societies and other such organizations. A search of immigration and passenger lists revealed many important and early immigrants to North America bearing the name of Bait: