The first Wighton to appear in Errol was Johne Vichtane who married Margery Jaksoun in 1559. (John was the fifth earliest Wighton that I was able to find.) There was a relatively steady, albeit small, stream of Wightons living in Errol up to 1725. Most of these carried the Wichtown and Wichtoune spelling.

The Wighton population in Errol began to grow after 1750. In the 100 years between 1750 and 1850, there was an average of 1 or 2 marriages and 1 or 2 births in Errol each decade. However, the Wighton presence had peaked by 1825 and the marriages in the last quarter century were primarily Wighton women.

There is nothing in the History of Errol commentary (the previous description) that explains why Errol was able to attract Wightons when other agricultural centers (such as nearby Kinnaird) were losing their populations. Certainly Errol had better farmland than Kinnaird's, but this alone was insufficient to explain its attraction. Errol's farmland hadn't attracted Wightons earlier so why would it prove so attractive after 1750?

However, if you read the 1795 Statistical Accounts for Errol, the key is to look for what's not there. Unlike Kinnaird's Account, there was no mention whatsoever of small farms being combined. In 1795, Errol's farm land was rich, rents were reasonable, and most importantly, farmers were not being driven off their lands. That explains why Wightons began to drift into Errol after 1750. However, the second edition of the Statistical Accounts (written in 1837 in Errol's case) correctly read the future. By then, farms were being combined, rents had been doubled and tripled, and the small farmers were leaving the area. The village itself became a linen manufacturing center. We can conclude therefore that Errol was another of those centers that provided our Wighton farmers with a brief respite from the onset of the Industrial Revolution but that respite could not last.

There is nothing in the records to suggest that the Meigle line of the Wightons was ever in Errol. (Meigle and Errol are about 20 miles apart.)

Sources

ScotlandsPeople Database: http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/

Previous reading: The History of Errol