Our family comes from Caithness and originally Western Norway. There is a place called Freswick in Caithness (on some 18th Century maps spelt “Fresweek”) which is linked with Fresvik in Sogn and Fjordane, Western Norway. At the head of the Fjord is Lærdal, a possible origin of the surname Laird in Caithness, as there is a tradition in Norway to take the surname from the place of origin. A further possibility is that a number of farms in the area have "Leire" (meaning "clay") as part of their name , e.g. "Leirdal" and "Leired" (near Bergen). Our ancestor was a Norwegian sea captain but we do not remember exactly when.

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Further information on Norwegian emigration may be found at the Norwegian-American Bygdelagenes Fellesraad http://www.hfaa.org/bygdelag/ . The Norwegian-American Bygdelagenes Fellesraad is made up of the organizations of emigrant descendants from particular areas of Norway who are now living in North America. Each lag seeks to preserve and strengthen bonds with its home district or community-of-origin in Norway, much of it through genealogical research.
(From Ruth M. Sylte,  sylte@manitouheights.org )