Dapifer of Dol in Brittany (letter from Philip B. Stewart, 6 Sabal Ct., Sewall's Pt., Stuart, Fl., 4/24/1990).
The Stewarts were of Breton origin and had settled in Scotland in the eleventh century. They long held the hereditary office of High Steward of Scotland, whence their name. The spelling Stuart, which has become more familiar in England was a corruption of the French version Steuart and was widely adopted in the seventeenth century (Williamson, David. Debrett's kings and queens of Britain. Topsfield, Mass. : Salem House Publishers, 1986, pg. 134).