A Norman de Ros or de Roos family in Yorkshire moved to Ayrshire. The Halkhead/Hawkhead family of de Ros in Renfrewshire adopted the Celtic name of Ross in 1489 when Sir John Ros (sic) was inserted among the Barons of Parliament as "Lord Ross of Hawkhead". The Rosses of Balnagowan held title to the first use of the surname in Scotland by a margin of 118 years. Clan Ross historians refer to the Hawkhead-Rosses or the Lockhart-Rosses in order to distinguish them from the Rosses with the Pictish/Celtic origins who were named after the land of Ross.
A Norman family called de Ros settled in south-west Scotland in the 11th century and some of their descendants also became known as "Ross" or sometimes "Rose". Four water bougets with a cross in the middle were the arms of the Counts D'Eu in Normandy, and of the ancient Earls of Essex in England of the surname of Bourchier. They were indicative of an ancestor of the respective families who bore them having been engaged in the crusades, and forced, in the deserts of Palestine, to fight for and carry water in the leather vessels called bougets, budgets, or buckets, which were usually slung across the horse or camel's back. The badge of the Roses is Wild Rosemary. The family of Rose of Kilravock appear to have been settled in the county of Nairn since the reign of David I.
The chief Laigin clans which branched from the Cenél nAlbanaich of the Airghialla Federation of Ely and Brega are the Clann Dhomhnuill (Clan Donald) and the Clann Dubhghaill (Clan Dougal). A branch of Hy-Maine included among the prominent Aighialla families were the Ua Baigeallain of Síl Maeluidir in the area of Dartraige, co. Monaghan. According to a tradition at one period prevalent among the Clan Donald, the first of the Kilravock family came from Ireland, with one of the Macdonalds, Lords of the Isles. They possessed the vast district of Foulis on the Cromarty Firth in Ross, and also lands in Strathoykell. There does not seem, however, to be any foundation for this, except, perhaps, that as vassals of the Earls of Ross, the clan Rose were connected for about half a century with the lordship of the Isles. Mr Hugh Rose, the genealogist of the Kiravock family, is of opinion that they were originally from England, and from their having three water bougets in their coat armour, like the English family of Roos, it has been conjectured that they were of the same stock. But these figures were carried by other families than those of the name Rose or Roos. The Monros (Mac an Rothaich), derive their name from a place at the foot of the River Roe in Derry (Tirowen), and according to the Clan Donald tradition, they came into Scotland in the train of a daughter of the O’Cahan that became a MacDonald princess. The MacDonnells of the Hebrides invaded, A.D. 1211, the territories of Antrim and Derry, where they afterwards made settlements.
The Russell family of Co. Down dates back to the 12th century at Downpatrick. Downpatrick was originally named ‘Aras-celtair’ and ‘Rath-Keltair,’ one signifying the house and the other the castle or fortification of Celtair, the son of Duach; by Ptolemy it was called ‘Dunum.’ The name Russell is one of the earliest surnames recorded in Scotland. This name is probably derived from "rous" meaning red- the first being a Walter Russell who witnessed a charter in Paisley Abbey some time between 1164 and 1177.
Cavan county lies about midway in the island between the Atlantic Ocean and the Irish sea. The river Erne, which flows into the celebrated lake of that name in the neighbouring county of Fermanagh. Bruce hill forms a striking object in the southern extremity of the county; the Leitrim mountains overlook its western confiness; while towards the north-west rises the bleak, barren, and lofty range of the Slieve Russell mountains but the chief mountains are those which separate this county and province from Connaught... Russels can be found in Aberdeenshire where Rozel, an English baron who had fought at the siege of Berwick and the Battle of Halidon Hill in 1333, obtained an estate at Aden. The family was described as "Russel of that Ilk." There was a significant family of Russels in Selkirkshire in the Scottish Borders. In 1348, William Russell (Russhele at Braddan, 1611) was elected bishop "of the Sodor diocese by the clergy of the Island of Man in the cathedral church of St. German in Holm of Man." There were Russells in the South of Scotland before the English Russells came over with the Conqueror. Some believe that author of the Croyland Chronicle at Crowland Abbey was John Russell, Bishop of Lincoln, who was Richard III's Chancellor for most of his reign and a member of Edward IV's council.
Ros, of which ‘Rushen’ (roisen) is a diminutive, may mean ‘a wood’ or ‘peninsula,’ and if one accepts the latter derivation, one’s mind naturally reverts to Langness, which is not only an outstanding feature of the Sheading, but is the only peninsula in the Island of Man.