Re: Tartan Question

[Pegasys]

My paternal Ferguson surname paper trail hit the brick wall of the british burning much of upper new england during the revolutionary war where my 2nd great grandfathers history started and his parents and their lives disappeared . I was able to paper trail all ancestors to their country of origin EXCEPT the most important to me , IE my fathers fathers fathers father ad nauseum My grandfather wore the kilt and was decidedly self professed scot , my mother who was decidedly irish/german scolded him every time he wore his kilt so I HAD to find out the answer . I turned to genetics to solve the question that that drove me to discover where ultimately I came from . Long story short I came to be placed squarely in the relatively new M222 (2006) subclade . I did some further downstream snp testing and ended up as M222 / S659 / Y2843 . You and I COULD be forgiven if we thought that this settled the question of Scot vs Irish with the certainty of science . The downstream S659 snp confirmed to me or rather my want it to be Scot origin . According to the Milligan/Milliken DNA Project http://regarde-bien.com/scottish-m222.html my conclusion is a tad less than rock solid So untill a descendant of a theoretical sibling of my 2nd great grandfather decides to do as I did I may never know for sure . What I do know for sure is that by nature AND nurture , temperament and personal proclivities I fit into The Clan Fergusson and have been embraced by them even if I do find out someday that there was an irishmen under the lein croich that resulted in moi . After all everyone who's in the know knows that the MacFhearghaus decendants are the true heirs of the first king of Scotland and Ireland , and we accept those who stayed on the south side of the Celtic Sea as family even if they got lost and couldn't find thier way back home !!!

[Pat Stephens]

Good day and thank you all for the replies as they are greatly appreciated!

I am in agreement with you all and do find the exercise fascinating and challenging. To reconstruct history is always fraught, yet to now add in science on top of (paleo)anthropology might be more so. I will always be a scientist and okay with both change and science's fallibility, but I do not feel science is the be-all-end-all (nothing is). Regretfully as I am more specifically looking into my mother's side, single nucleotide polymorphism results will not be shown as it's for patrilineal lineage. Maybe as the science grows so shall this.

I do feel bad that I may not be able to give my family a more concrete answer yet I will just remind them that this is the nature of these types of investigations. Along that line, I do indeed like the idea of a non-clan, more regional tartan such as for the Angus area and may suggest that to them.

Thank you all. Your experience and kindness have been very welcomed and heartily appreciated!

[Father Bill]

The whole "Clan" thing is about family, and ultimately we have two families. Nor is the Venn diagramme ever a 100% overlap.

One family is the one with whom we share DNA. The other is the people who accept us, love us, and care about us. With which family do you want to spend your time, your energies, your life?

Pax et gaudium!

[Pat Stephens]

The whole "Clan" thing is about family, and ultimately we have two families. Nor is the Venn diagramme ever a 100% overlap.

One family is the one with whom we share DNA. The other is the people who accept us, love us, and care about us. With which family do you want to spend your time, your energies, your life?

Pax et gaudium!

I would like to choose both families as there is always a good reason to show everyone we know and meet compassion, kindness, and love.

Peace and truth!

[ScotSniper]

If it has not already been said, Collins Kith and Kin is a great resource if you are looking through names and helps with linking Septs and Clans. If you think you have found a link, it is recommended to reach out to the nearest Clan that bears a link and query them.