Hi Marbe,
Thank you for the quick response. I'm assuming your William is a Renfrewshire Sproull, and if so there could be a remote connection, as the Sproulls were not very many at that time. Like Joe, I feel the family split in the late 1600's and part went to Ireland. It's strange, but I remember my grandfather taking about the Bleach works his grandfather had in Paisley at NethCraigs, and mentioned that part of the family went to Ireland to grow the flax. Just a story from the past, but I often wonder if it could have been partly true. Definitely the Bleach works part of the story was true.
Incidentally, the blog is from Mary, not James. I am a Sproull married to Jim Pomeroy, but I don't know how to change the entry.