Moira le Leche

The Leche family was an ancient family of physicians and surgeons on the Island of Bute in the early 14th century. There are many references to the family in the old texts relating to the Island of Bute.

Loch na Leiche. Leitch's loch; the physician's loch. Lubas. Dr M., "A small bay." 1440, Lubas; 1449, Lowpas [5]

Their descent was from the le Leche family of Carden, Chatsworth, Cheshire, and the Durham area. One ancestor of the family of Leche (John le Leche) of Chatsworth, was the surgeon of King Edward III. [1],[3]

Moira was the daughter of Robert le Leche, Laird of Ardmaleish, Bute, a Physician on the Island.

Here is one reference to another early member of the Leche (Leitch) family on the island of Bute, most probably the "Christian Leche" often confused with Moire:

"From 1445 to 1450 we find the crown lands of Scoulogmore, in the Southern Division of Bute, were held by a descendant of the Leche family, Christian Leche[1] , and the rents, together with one mart, due yearly out of those lands, were regularly remitted to her by gift from James II." [2]

This is 125 years after Moore’s birth.

Leitch was the name given to the medieval "Doctors" , physicians or surgeons, who had medical skills at this time. Modern DNA ancestry shows this name originated in a very particular region of Southern Germany, many hundred of years ago, before spreading throughout Europe and America .... This name is still traceable to this region today. One medical "technology" used at this time was the Annelida the "Leech".This animal was named after its practitioners "Leitch/Leche/Leich....".

Leeches are segmented worms that belong to the phylum Annelida and comprise the subclass Hirudinea. Like other oligochaetes, such as earthworms, leeches share a clitellum and are hermaphrodites. They were used to extract blood believed to be "infected". This old practice has been discontinued, and has been replaced by other contemporary uses of leeches, such as the reattachment of body parts and reconstructive and plastic surgeries and, in Germany, treating osteoarthritis++.

Sources: [1] 'Genealogical data of the families of Burt, Dewey, Mears, Darbyshire, Leach, Maude and Fenton'.

[2] 'The Stewarts of Ballintoy : with notices of other families of the district in the seventeenth century'. Author: Hill, George, 1810-1900; ISBN: 9785518839304

[3] "The Stewarts of Ballintoy : with notices of other families of the district in the seventeenth century" , 1801-1900, by George Hill. ISBN: 9781153165747 "A later descendant of the Bute family was Henry Leche (1520). He was a medical practitioner of the time. In 1510, James IV., confirmed to Master Henry Lech, the lands of Kerry- lamond, Meikle I.owpas, and Little Lowpas, in the lordship and sheriffdom of Bute, of the old extent of £6 16s 8d, which had been held by his father Thomas Lech, and his predecessors beyond the memory of man, the grantee paying yearly a silver- penny as blenche ferme, and giving his services as chirurgeon* when required.

[4] The abbey official web site: www.paisleyabbey.org.uk/history "For that reason, the Abbey claims to be the 'cradle of the Royal House of Stewart.' Our present Queen is descended from Robert. In fact, the Abbey is the final resting place of six High Stewards of Scotland, Princess Marjory Bruce, the wives of King Robert II and King Robert III for whose tomb, Queen Victoria provided a canopy in 1888"

[5] The Isle of Bute in the olden time : with illustrations, maps, and plans" ,UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO LIBRARY.

[6] Bute in the Olden Time,JAMES KING HEWISON, M.A., F.S.A. (Scot.),MINISTER OF ROTHESAY,WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS EDINBURGH AND LONDON, p 141

[7] Citations: [S11] Alison Weir, Britain's Royal Families: The Complete Genealogy (London, U.K.: The Bodley Head, 1999), page 226. Hereinafter cited as Britain's Royal Families.

[8] Leitch,J, In Search of the Medieval Anglo Saxons by Research and DNA(online), London. Retrieved from https://amazon.com/dp/B08R43XHWJ

++ Wikipedia

• Chirurgeon {Old spelling of (French : chirurgien, chirurgienne) for Surgeon}

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Abbrev: Ancestral File (TM)

Title: Ancestral File (TM)

Author: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Publication: June 1998 (c), data as of 5 JAN 1998

Repository:

Name: Family History Library

Media: Internet Database (Rootsweb)

Abbrev: McKinnon-Suggs Ancestors

Title: "Our Kingdom Come"

Author: Eileen McKinnon-Suggs

Publication: feb 2004

suggs16@msn.com

http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=emsuggs&...

Abbrev: Ancestral File (TM)

Title: Ancestral File (TM)

Author: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Publication: July 1996 (c), data as of 2 January 1996

Date: 1 Aug 2002

Media: Other

Abbrev: Mac 14Febxx.FTW

Title: Mac 14Febxx.FTW