1 is Parish of Petty Several Sages stayed here. 2 is Cawdor where Kenneth Sages lived 1714-1761. 3 Is Auldearn. 4 Is Ardclach. 5 The Kenneth Sages lived in Cawdor then in the Parish of Edenkillie. Aberlour is a few miles off this map.
Our Sages came from Auldearn and Ardclach, since there are very few Sage families it is reasonable to assume that the Inverness and Caithness Sages are all related.
The earliest record for our Sages is about 1685 when William Sage was born in Auldearn, the parish records start in 1687 so just miss the birth and of course no record of parents.
They stayed in Auldearn for the birth of the children of whom Alexander is our ancestor. He married and started his family in Auldearn until 1736 approx, his next child was born in Ardclach in 1739, they
stayed there for the birth of two children. Our William Sage is believed to have been a preacher or minister for a Sect of the AntiBurger Secessionist Church and moved about a bit, first back to Auldearn then Nairn and finally Perth.
In 1765 the Church of Scotland was required to admit that the "true religion" was professed within the realm, those that admitted it were Burghers and those who disagreed became Anti-Burghers, later they rejoined, always as
part of the Church of Scotland. Secessionists were also part of the Church of Scotland in origin, the church was Established as a State Church and run as part of the State, Secessionists wanted a purely Church run organization.
Moderates were happy with Landed Owners in each Parish appointing the Minister, multiple livings and low level religious beliefs. Moderates, Free Church and Secessionists could all be part of the Church or split from it. Many other factors
were also at work causing many schisms in the Church organization.
The people of Auldearn are noted as being of a "dark and gloomy" faith in the Statistical records.
Auldearn and Ardclach are about 8 miles apart near to Nairn.
1 is Parish of Petty Several Sages stayed here. 2 is Cawdor where Kenneth Sages lived 1714-1761. 3 Is Auldearn. 4 Is Ardclach.
5 The Kenneth Sages lived in Cawdor then in the Parish of Edenkillie. Aberlour is a few miles off this map.
The name Sage has several early variations, Saidge and Saige are normal these spellings soon vanish and all become Sage. The same thing happens in the Devon area but persist longer. Sadge was brought up in the Kenneth line and soon became Sage. Since this name is only around the Inverness and North area in Scotland and the South Coast of England the only logical conclusion is that a Sage arrived in Inverness from the South. The Inverness Sage line has been extended back following names and normal years between Known and Projected Fathers. They converge about 1590 on a single source for the name, this is a Non existent Person, but gives a date to work from.
In the book written by Donald Sage he says that Murdoch Sage was the third generation and the originals (about 1620) came from the South. This is possible as would match the number of known Sage families in Caithness area. However it still leaves open many questions, like is this story any better than those spread about the Perth Sage origins? and where is South to a native of Caithness. It could be Inverness or the next valley probably even Auldearn. Later in his book Aberdeen is described as South, it is probable then that the Sages in Caithness came from the Inverness area and they are related to our Sages. They are included in the Inverness Chart.