trying to find out if I do have Scottish or Irish heritage

[Steve Ashton]

I'll second the comment that there is no substitute for doing your genealogical research. You really can't go by last names to determine origins.

I'll also comment that you must remember that your family tree is actually shaped like a tree with you as the single trunk. Many people make the mistake of following one line of a family. Their family tree then looks up-side-down. That is - here at the bottom are me, my brothers, sisters, and cousins. We all trace our lineage up to King Jim MCII.

When in fact you need to think of it as - Here is me. I have two parents. Who each have two parents, who each have two parents. etc. etc. Each generation gets wider and more interconnected.

If you go back one generation you have four grandparents. Go back five generations and you have 64 grandparents. You can trace your lineage through all 64 people.

OH, and by the way five generations only takes you back a little over 120 years. You are not even back to the American Civil War yet.

[EagleJCS]

Steve, how far back the number of generations goes partly depends on when your ancestor was born in the family.

For example:
Including me (born late 1960's), my father's family goes back 7 generations in KY - that we can conclusively document. That 7th previous generation was born in 1801. A couple of males in my paternal line didn't sire the next generation in that line until their early-to-mid 30's.

[Steve Ashton]

EagleJCS,

I am not talking about timeframes at all. I'm simply reminding people that each generation doubles the number of ancestors.

Here is a simple family tree. You are at the bottom. You have two parents. This is the first generation.



Each of your parents had two parents. And so on, and so on. This example is only four generations and you have 16 ancestors. 8 male and 8 female.
You can trace your ancestry through any one of these 16 people. And each of them had a different name and may have come from widely different places.

If a great uncle died without children he cannot be your ancestor.

The average time between generations obviously differs depending on how old your ancestors were when they had children, but most genealogists use an average of 20 years between generations.

[Nathan]

EagleJCS,

I am not talking about timeframes at all. I'm simply reminding people that each generation doubles the number of ancestors.

Here is a simple family tree. You are at the bottom. You have two parents. This is the first generation.



Each of your parents had two parents. And so on, and so on. This example is only four generations and you have 16 ancestors. 8 male and 8 female.
You can trace your ancestry through any one of these 16 people. And each of them had a different name and may have come from widely different places.

If a great uncle died without children he cannot be your ancestor.

The average time between generations obviously differs depending on how old your ancestors were when they had children, but most genealogists use an average of 20 years between generations.

Angela Kaye Bodine: All the Lamberts I know claim Irish decent, even the French speaking ones in Quebec. That's just my small sample and not statistically valid. It may, however, provide a lead in your own research. Good luck.

Steve:
This diagram is, of course, perfectly accurate, thanks for sharing. The individual in your diagram has 30 ancestors displayed in just 4 generations and this is the same for all of us as you point out.

There is, however, the Scottish notion of patrilineal descent when it comes to Clan affiliation.

In my own studies, I have traced the line of the name I carry more closely than all the other equally valid lines that make up my genetic existence. I know all of the MacDonalds in my line going back just to 1804 (7 generations) and the names of their respective wives and children. I do not, know the names of all of the parents of those wives etc...

This is not a scientific distinction but, I suppose it is a cultural gender bias. I am trying to connect my line to the founding line of my clan. This has proven challenging. While I haven't ignored the other lines completely, I haven't done enough digging in the other branches of the tree yet. The tree diagram is a reminder of the equality of one's ancestors in terms of percentage contribution.

I did find it interesting when I learned that Y-DNA is so similar among men with a common male ancestor and that it is passed so in tact from father to son in particular. Fascinating stuff, really.

Cheers!

Nathan

[Steve Ashton]

And please remember this one little fact. It is the one that so many people have such a hard time with.

You can be 100% Scottish. Born, raised and able to trace your lineage back many generations - And not be a member of a Highland Clan!

The population of the Highlands has always been a small component of the total Scottish Population. The majority of the cities are in the lowlands. The majority of the jobs and industry are in the lowlands.

Prior to the Highland revival the general population of Scotland did not know or care what went on in the Highlands and did not care who lived there. The Historian Neil Oliver once said, that prior to the revival most Scots thought of the Highlanders as, "Stupid dumb hillbillies who don't have enough sense to learn to read and write and wear pants". I'm sure he was joking but it does make you look at our current idea of "What Clan does my name belong to" in a different light.

[Pleater]

how to tell - well you take yourself off to Scotland - maybe Stirling - then on a misty morning you go outside and the air is like crystal and you walk a little way and then the sound of bagpipes comes to you on the breeze and the mist begins to flow in curtains down the slope, and as the higher land begins to come into view you feel your heart begin to thump and your blood feels like freshly uncorked champagne and you feel that you could climb that hill if the bagpipes kept playing.

In fact you feel that you could run up there, and then fight and win a battle - or you could fly up there and do anything, though you might weep a little afterwards because it is all so incredibly wonderfully - something indescribable.

It is nothing you can understand on an intellectual level, nor do you need to prove anything with names or dates .

Anne the Pleater :ootd: