I have found a whole lot of new areas to explore by noting the families that are associated with my particular branch.
I have noted that the Hunter, Guthrie and Wilson families (amongst others) seem to have frequently married Caldwell's in the same area. (I will post a more comprehensive list at a later date).
Obviously they lived in a relatively closed circle of relationships.
I am starting to build up a little collection of brothers, sisters and "cousins" (in various degrees). I hope to eventually link up a little web of relationships.
I know now that one of the children of Allan Caldwell and Janet Guthrie whilst born at St Quivox was actaully christened at Dundonald. This suggests a link back to Dundonald and this appears from other records to be where Janet Guthrie may have come from. I don't know where either Allan or Janet were born or whom their parents were but circumstantial evidence seem to point to Allan coming from Ayr and Janet from Irvine/Dundonald area. There are quite a few "Janet Guthrie's" about the right time and "Allan" sems to be a Lochwinnoch Caldwell name rather than an Ayr name. The next generation pops up in Galston and the wife of John Caldwell is "Mary Morton" - there are lots of "Mary Morton's" as well but Morton seems to have been more prevalent in the Galston-Newmilns area. John possibly went to Galston for work in a new mine and met a local lass. A William Caldwell ( M Elizabeth Breckenridge) pops up as a contemporary of John C in Galston. He does not appear to be a relation and there are no Williams in our family. This William came from Kilwinning and therby possibly from the Beith/Lochwinnoch area. The names "William" and "Allan" point to this area but are far from conclusive.
To me it points to a disturbance in the family in the Covenanting times of the 1600's displacing young men into the coalmining areas of Saltcoats/Kilwinning and Newton upon Ayr/St Quivox.
William and John of Galston may have been urelated or they may have been as close as second cousins.