I'm new to the forum but not things Scottish (history, culture, archaeology, heraldry, etc.) Actually, I've got doctoral degrees (real ones- not internet) in history and archaeology. All the talk about finding a link several generations back, etc seems strange to me, because my last name is Cummings and my mother's maiden name was Fraser. Major families, made even easier because the immigrant ancestors were younger sons of prominent people who were transported. Cummins (Cummings, Comyn) after Cromwell's Irish Campaign and Fraser in 1716, after the surrender at Preston. What many will discover (or have) is that IF a direct ancestor is found who was in one of the major branches of a very powerful family in the 17th or 18th Centuries, following the ancestry (usually) is pretty easy. The other is that back then, marriage among these families was business and politics.Thus the major families all married into one another; if you're directly descended thru a main line of a "power" family, chances are you are from nearly ALL the others -- including royal descent. Just a little input.