Untitled

CAKK FAMILY KMX'ORDS IMK'S'P ( ! i;.\ i;K' A TION.
HIvSTOKY.
The history of the English s])eakitig faniih^of the Carrs and
Kerrs is as old as the Norman eonquest. One of llie follo"wers
of William 1st, taken from a charter in Battle Ahbey, bears
the name of Karre. The early posterity of this Norman soldier,
undoubtedly settled in the north of Kngland, and succeeding
generations spread on both sides of the border land of England
and Scotland, and afterward into the north of Ireland.
The orthography of the original name w^as modified by the
English and Irish branches of the family, from the Norman-
French Karre or Carre to the present name of Carr, wdiich has
been retained with but few exceptions ever since. Tlie Scotch
l)ranc]i of the family had various waj^s of spelling the family
name, but most generally either Karr, Kerr or Ker.
In the first centuries of the Norman rule in England, our
family name took on various forms in writing, no (loul)t, large-
I3" due ti) the caprice of different meml^ers of the family, or the
free and easy manner of writers in those days, who had very
little regard for uniformity in such matters. From old docu-
ments we find that there were no less than ten different ways
to express the name in writing, thus: Carre, Carr, Care, Car,
Karre, Karr, Kar, Kerre, Kerr and Ker. Notw^ithstanding this
nuirked difference in orthography^ there was a general uni-
formity in the pronounciation of the name; the vowels a and e
taking the quality of u in such words as far, mar, etc.
Just as various in writing the family name has been the colors
of their arms and mottos. Although the original arms have
always remained the same form olden times to the present—
three mullets or etoiles on a chevron—the amplest play has
been given to taste, fancy or ignorance of heroic patching with
regard to colors. Also the crest, originally a hart's head, has
in like manner been subjected to various changes. This dis-
tinguished family in its various l)ranches jiossessed a great
numl)er of arms, many of them the author of this l)ook has
copied, but it would cost too much to produce them in this
work.