Quote Originally Posted by RAF View Post
Dram, thank you for those answers to my questions! I'm thinking I might have DNA testing done just to see if anything of interest comes up. While my Scot ancestry is through my paternal grandmother, I'm curious to see how much further I could go and/or what may be proved or disproved. Also would like to see if I can glean any information on my paternal grandfather's line, which is where I've hit a wall. All I know is that he's German.
Any suggestions for agencies and/or specific tests? From what I see here, the more markers, the more accurate (and I imagine the more expensive.)
Fascinating stuff - DNA! Wish me luck. Thanks again.
My pleasure RAF. As far as the standard Y-DNA test is concerned it will only tell you the origins of your fathers, fathers, father and so on. So, if I understand you correctly a Y-DNA test should show a link to Germanic lines if that is your paternal male ancestry. What's nice about this test is it will match you with others that have a common grandfather and may even point to a specific geographic location of your male ancestors.

The Family Finder test will link you with cousins on ALL of your lines but will not tell you the origin of your DNA other than European, Asian, etc... It will put you in touch with people that are genetically simialr to you; and you could then make a connection with someone for example that shares the same Scottish line you have along your paternal grandmothers side. You might get lucky and find that person you match has a wealth of info on that particular line. It is a very useful genealogical tool.

As far as recommending a company, I'd go with Family Tree DNA. They are currently running a very nice sale until the end of December. If you decide you'd like a Y-DNA test, I strongly recommend you do minimally the Y-37 test. Family Finder would probably benefit you if you are doing significant genealogical research, you may want to read a little more on it and decide as it is one of the more expensive tests. Both of these tests however, are being offered at pretty reasonable rates right now.