Dumfriesshire, Scotland

    When I was a young boy I asked my Grandfather one day, "Grandpa, where did the Bell's come from?"  He replied in his kind way that we had originally come from Scotland, that we were named Bell because we lived near a bell tower, and that we were Scotch-Irish. During the next 40 years I digested this information as the truth and not until 2007 did I decide to look further into the matter.      
   While I don't have a paper trail that leads me to my Bell ancestors in Scotland, I'm quite certain that is the place they are from.  And although I haven't yet taken a Y-DNA test to confirm my exact paternal origins, I have come to the conclusion through research that my paternal ancestors were Border Bells,link from the Dumfriesshire region of southern Scotland.  How I came across these facts will be shown later.

 
  What is a "Border Bell"?  Border Bell's originated over 900 years ago on the southwest of Scotland near the border of northern England.   For over 400 years between the 13th and 17th centuries the Bell families of this region were involved in bitter feuds with neighboring clans resulting in much loss of life and property. Although the Bells were dependent upon agriculture for their livelihoods, they were also expert horseman and were known as "Reivers",link or raiders. During times of hardship or the frequent wars that plagued the Borderlands, the Bells and other clans would raid nearby lands for livestock and portable items of value. The reputations gained by the Bells put them in demand as mercenary soldiers, owing to the fact of their riding skills as light cavalry. By the late 16th century, no doubt many of the Bell Clan grew weary of the constant strife.

   In an effort to control the area, a 1587 act of King JamesVI Parliament officially designated the Bells as one of the Border Clans, which meant they were ruled by a chieftain and pledged their allegiance to him.  Despite King James efforts the Bells and other clans in the region continued their lawless ways and by the early 17th century a plan was hatched by King James and John Chichester, his Lord Deputy of Ireland. The plan was to create a colony (plantation) in Northern Ireland which would be open to Border Scots and others in an attempt to Anglicize Northern Ireland and at the same time control the clans of the Border area. This part of Ireland would soon be known as The Ulster Plantation.link
 
  By 1610, Bell families from the Border began arriving at the Ulster Plantation.  Some were asked to leave Dumfriesshire but the majority of these families chose to go, hoping to escape the past troubles and over-population in Scotland.  These Bell's didn't know it yet, but new harsh realities awaited them there.