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"Farquhar" is a good name with a most interesting history. It can be tracked throughout time. Family members (and others) have carefully documented and recorded individuals as to who was born from whom, at what time, and even where. I am grateful to be able to benefit from such a wealth of culled information.
By working with family stories and documents, and the recent sequencing of DNA, much has come forth, and I have come to a very interesting juncture..... Is the name Highland Scottish from the Farquharsons of Invercauld, Scotland, (which family documents state), or are we connected to the Lowland Scot, Ayrshire (Strathclyde region), and possibly, the Farquhars of Gilmilnscroft? The Ulster-Scots are a part of this picture and need to be considered as well for the people moved back and forth in those early days between Ireland and Scotland, but in regards to origins, even they look to Scotland. And then there is the curious linguistic link to the Persians....
To be a Scot with Persian ancestory is really not that surprising when one considers the popular (and accepted) stories of the Milesians and Scythians. The common ancestor of many Gaelic Scots is documented to be Fenius Farsaid who is written to have been a Scythian King. Robert Shaw, author and historian wrote in 1892, "Fenius Farsaidh was the Persian." (Historical Origins Comprising the Chaldeans and Hebrews) Mr. Shaw drew heavily upon the Orkneyinga Saga: The History of the Earls of Orkney.
From the Gaelic "Fearchar" our name has a classic Persian equivalent: Forouhar - http://www.namepedia.org/en/firstname/Farquhar/ which matches with the Middle Persian words fravahr, foruhar, or faravahar. "FARAVAHAR" has a great deal of significance (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faravahar), and then there is the mysterious mountain in the Highlands of Scotland called, Mhic Fhearchair Triple Butte....http://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/torridon/coire-mhic-fhearchair.shtml
The Scots do not name mountains by chance, and so I wonder for whom are the Triple Buttes named for? Perhaps the buttes honor the first Farquhar, or Ferchar, (Fhearchair, Ferquhard, Ferchard, etc.) that arises in the area? If so, I have found a few different sources to contemplate...
1. Ferchard, (Farquhar) father of Fergus, seems to be the first and earliest time the name appears, 380 BC. I quote from John Fordun's Chronicle of Scottish Nation, "Fergus, son of Ferchard, the first king of the Scots, begins to reign in Scotia." Another quote, same Ferchard: "In the old Scottish Chronicles, under the head of Fergus 1st, is the following entry: 'Fergus mac Ferchard, a prince from Ireland reigned from 380 to 305 BC. ' There is a possibility that he may be the one, even though historians now call him "mythological" and seek to remove him from the books.
2. Ferchar Foda (Farquhar the Tall) is said to have died c.697 and was probably king of the Cenél Loairn of Dál Riata, in Scotland, and perhaps of all Dál Riata. His father is named as Feredach mac Fergusa and he was said to be a descendant in the 6th generation of Loarn mac Eirc. Loarn and his brother, Fergus, were the earliest kings of the Dalriadic Scots. Both born in Ireland, they left their homelands for Scotland (Alban) and crossed into Kintyre, known as the "Headland" in the 6th century.
This "Headland" region is the opening to what was once called, The Strathclyde Kingdom, and is home to the Farquhars of Gilmilnscroft, (Sorn, Kyle, Ayrshire) and there are some who say this family's origins lie with Ferchar (Farquhar) Foda. Malcolm MacDonald of the Guild of One Name Studies believed this to be true.
I would like to take this time to thank Mr. Malcolm McDonald for the many years that he dedicated himself to the research on the Farquhar name worldwide. He passed away in August of 2016. His mother was a Farquhar. My condolences to his wife and family.
Some of the histories of Ferchar (Farquhar) Foda follows....
As a result of a revolution, the sceptre was transferred to Fearchar FODA the Long, the great-great grandson of LORNE, and who reigned from A.D. 677 to 697. From his line, some of the most powerful thanes and clans of Scotland trace their descent, with the most famous being MACBETH, who is said to be a direct descendent, and who on his mother's side, is traced back to Aedhan MC GABHRAN.
Ferchar Foda's sons Ainbcellach and Selbach were kings of Dál Riata and his descendants included Mac Bethad mac Findláich (Shakespeare's Macbeth). DNA sequencing is opening up the Dark Ages (400-900 AD). Much history is being revealed as we speak and it is not necessarily what we have been taught.
3. Farquhar MacTaggart, or Ferchar mac in tSagairt - son of the priest, was the first (2nd?) Mormaer or Earl of Ross (1223–1251). https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fearchar,_Earl_of_Ross. In 1234 the traditional progenitor of the clan, Farquhar Mac an t-Sagairt, (lay abbot of Applecross) was named the first O'Beolan Earl of Ross by Alexander II of Scotland for suppressing the uprisings in Moray and Ross. Farquhar MacTaggart was the progenitor of the Earls of Ross who became the most powerful of all the Highland chiefs in the 13th and 14th centuries, and the Earldom one of the most influential in Scotland.
4. And last, but not least are the Farquharsons who begin with the Duff Family Line which moves into MacDuff (which has relations with MacBeth), Shaw, Chatten, Mackintosh, and eventually, Farquhar Shaw, progenitor of the Farquharsons, but beholding to Finlay (Findlaich)….
The stories continue to unfold. Recent DNA sequencing on our Y chromosome has shown our Scottish lineage to have a Scandinavian Ancestor as young as 2000-1500 years ago which of course brings in the Vikings' influence ( Orkneyinga Saga: The History of the Earls of Orkney) Familytree DNA is now doing The Big Y for us so we will have even more stories to add in the near future.