SCOTTISH ROOTS RUN DEEP : WOMAN SOLVES MYSTERY ABOUT HER HERITAGE.

Byline: Victoria Giraud

When Joyce Haskell discovered her Scottish ancestry 20 years ago, it answered some lifelong questions and provided a consuming interest for her and her husband, Bruce.

Born with the name Coppock, Joyce was long puzzled by its origin. There was no information from her father's side since both his parents had died young. Then she received a letter from a cousin who solved the problem.

Coppock had originally been Keppoch, part of the MacDonell clan, and could be traced back to the Spean River and Fort William, which is near Loch Ness in Scotland. One of the family lines could even be traced to Robert the Bruce, king of Scotland in the 14th century.

There are so many variations of MacDonald, in her case MacDonell of Keppoch, Joyce found that an extra name designation had been added. Keppoch, which became a last name, means something like ``tree stumps'' and probably refers to the location of the family origin.

In 1980 the Haskells took their first trip to Scotland to do some exploring and research the Keppochs. They found the Scots friendly and helpful. ``You can't go to Scotland and come back without leaving friends behind,'' Joyce emphasized. ``Scotland's a beautiful place, if you don't mind the rain.''

As the Haskells discovered unmarked historical sites and the historical background of the Keppoch line, Joyce felt that these discoveries should be shared through landmarks to designate the sites. She enlisted the aid of a retired Scottish schoolteacher and the curator of the West Highland Museum in Fort William in her pursuit, and their efforts over the years have resulted in four cairns (a mound of stones with a plaque) and a continuing interest in more sites.

One of the cairns marks the spot where Iain Lom's home stood. Lom was a bard, a Scottish poet who recorded local history and events in his poems. Although this 17th century ancestor forswore killing, he was not beyond helping those he favored. In the 1645 battle Battle of Inverlochy, he led the Marquis of Montrose on a shortcut that resulted in the defeat of the Earl of Argyll, Joyce pointed out.

The 1688 Battle of Mulroy, the last clan battle fought in Scotland, is now marked by a cairn. And there are cairns to celebrate the long history of the little church that dates back to Norman times with the tongue twister Gaelic name of Cille Choirell. Joyce remarked, ``If you sound like you have a bone caught in your throat, you're speaking Gaelic.''

The Haskells saw the completed cairn monuments when they visited Scotland this year. Joyce was surprised and pleased when she found her associates in the landmark project had placed her initials, JH, at the top of each cairn.

Ten years ago, Joyce decided to share her Keppoch history with others of the same ancestry. Her newsletter ``Ceapach'' (the Gaelic spelling of Keppoch) began with only five recipients but has since expanded to include 100 Keppoch ancestors all over the world.

Joyce shares history, social events or even whimsical information about toes in her twice-yearly newsletter. The toe news came from a podiatrist that told Joyce's daughter that her Highland Scot ancestry was evidenced by her long second toe, which was longer than her big toe. Joyce shared the information, and was surprised at the response it created. The small article was picked up by other clan newsletters and by the Family Tree, a genealogy newsletter.

When this retired medical assistant and grandmother of 16 isn't busy reading or buying books dealing with Scottish history or her newsletter, she devotes time to organic gardening and oil painting. An accomplished painter, Joyce favors landscapes and seascapes, and three of her seascapes are at the Franki Waters Gallery in Bodega Bay, Calif.

She is also dabbling in writing, trying to write a children's book that was inspired by a character in a book she enjoyed. ``I'm doing it for my grandchildren, but it will probably end up being for my great-grandchildren.''

Joyce's latest Scottish projects is to help the Cille Choirill church redo its grounds because a nearby cliff is starting to slip. ``I'm the instigator,'' she appropriately explains.

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Photo: (ran in CONEJO and SIMI--color in CONEJO) Landmarks about her clan now stand in modern-day Scotland, thanks to Joyce Haskell of Thousand Oaks.

Jeremy Greene/Special to the Daily News