The branch of the kindred, called in the annals the Eoghanachta Magh Geirginn, from which he came were said to be located in an area known as Circinn, usually associated with modern Angus and the Mearns.
After the ejection of Ebenezer Erskine and his fellow-ministers for opposition to patronage, Willison attacked their exclusion in a sermon to the Synod of Angus and Mearns in 1733 (published as "The Church's Danger").
The southern part is more self-sufficient, with the fertile Mearns area sustaining a strong agricultural economy.
Jim Smith, Paul Good and Alex Campbell were victorious over Mearns 14-10.
Until the 1780s Busby village consisted of a scatter of cottages along a track leading from Carmunnock to Mearns.
Prior to finding HMAS Sydney, Mearns said that it was, in some ways, "bigger than the Titanic" because of what it meant to Australia.
Born in Newcastle upon Tyne to a World War II veteran, Mearns was educated at St Mary's RC Primary School, Forest Hall and St Mary's RC Technical College in Newcastle.
The king, in person, commanded the center, which was composed of the men from Ross, Perth, Angus, Mar, Mearns, Moray, Inverness, and Caithness.
It is also known as Mearns's Quail, the Harlequin Quail (for the male's striking pattern), and the Fool Quail (for its behavior).
More recently, the town appeared as the setting for the thriller novel Aztec Love Song (Weathervane Press 2009, ISBN 978-0-9562193-2-9) by Marty Ross, a Scottish author best known for his BBC radio plays who grew up in the town and studied at Mearns Castle High School.