DNA testing is fine and all but there is a much simpler way of finding your relatives. You take your surname find which Clan, Tribe, or group your associated with and guess what somewhere down the line you are all related and your all cousins. Simple. I'm a Campbell so as far as I'm concerned all the other Campbells are my cousins . Who knows I might even be related to Queen Elizabeth as she is related to the Stewards who are related to the Bruce who married his sister off to a Campbell. I kinda like the sound of His Royal Highness Prince Camac. Enough joking around. As I said DNA testing is fine and all but it has its' limits. I watched 60 mins when they did a segment on it . A black woman from NJ and a white cattle rancher from Missouri were cousins. They also tried to trace her lineage back to Africa and it ended up she was either from Sierra Leone, Gambia, or Nigeria. Most blacks in the US. can trace their origin to the bulge of Africa because that is where the slave trade was established.
It is even simpler than that, we all are descendents of one person, all cousins , all related. Heck, after the last ice age you had about 60,000 individuals living in Europe major and now you have 300 million and the vast majority are not immigrants but of the 60k already there.
DNA testing is a tool.
USN
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Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle. Plato(427-347 BC) Philosopher and Educator
Three things in human life are important: The first is to be kind. The second is to be kind. And the third is to be kind. Henry James (1843-1916) Writer
When I was young, I admired clever people. Now that I am old, I admire kind people. -Abraham Joshua Heschel (1907-1972) Theology Professor
That explains a lot, you're an "evil" Campbell! If the Ewings are really part of Clan MacEwen then....."Give us our land back"!!!
QUOTE
Swene MacEwen, 9th and last of Otter (the last Chief), granted, in 1432, lands of Otter to Duncan Campbell of Lochow in repayment for overdue loans, and resigned the Barony of Otter to James I. It was returned to him until his death with remainder to Celestine, son and heir of Duncan Campbell. In 1493, James V confirmed the barony of Otter to Colin Campbell, Second Earl of Argyll and thereafter Otter remained in possession of the Campbells.
The manner in which the Clan MacEwen lands were lost suggests that Swene MacEwen was a victim of the Campbell facility to exploit the law to their own benefit at the detriment of simpler neighbors.
Without lands, the MacEwens became a broken clan and found their way to many districts. Many settled in the lands of their cousins an neighbors - the MacLachlans. A large number are known to have settled in Lennox County while others went further afield to Lochaber, Perth, Skye and the Lowlands, including Galloway. Other MacEwens stayed where they were swearing allegiance to the Earl of Argyll, some eventually becoming hereditary bards and sennachies to the Campbell Chiefs of Glenorchy. Finally, other MacEwens settled along the shores of Loch Lomond, probably before the end of the 15th century. Records from around 1513 indicate that the MacEwens had been pretty well dispersed from their homeland. From the: The Story of Clan MacEwen
Seriously,
DNA testing is only one tool in the Genealogists (amateur or professional) toolbox. DNA testing is still really in its infancy. For instance in the Ewing DNA study I have a very distant cousin in Michigan, for which there is no possible way we are related closer than 10 generations, and yet we have identical at 37 marker DNA results (I call him my "Doppleganger").
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MacE AKA Steve Ewing
I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. Job 19:25
"Non sibi sed patriae!"
Reviresco (I grow strong again) Clan MacEwen motto
Audaciter (Audacity) My Ewing Family Motto (descendants of Baron William Ewing of Glasgow, born about 1630)
"Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt." Abraham Lincoln
"Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum." from "Epitoma Rei Militaris," by Vegetius
That explains a lot, you're an "evil" Campbell! If the Ewings are really part of Clan MacEwen then....."Give us our land back"!!!
QUOTE
Swene MacEwen, 9th and last of Otter (the last Chief), granted, in 1432, lands of Otter to Duncan Campbell of Lochow in repayment for overdue loans, and resigned the Barony of Otter to James I. It was returned to him until his death with remainder to Celestine, son and heir of Duncan Campbell. In 1493, James V confirmed the barony of Otter to Colin Campbell, Second Earl of Argyll and thereafter Otter remained in possession of the Campbells.
The manner in which the Clan MacEwen lands were lost suggests that Swene MacEwen was a victim of the Campbell facility to exploit the law to their own benefit at the detriment of simpler neighbors.
Without lands, the MacEwens became a broken clan and found their way to many districts. Many settled in the lands of their cousins an neighbors - the MacLachlans. A large number are known to have settled in Lennox County while others went further afield to Lochaber, Perth, Skye and the Lowlands, including Galloway. Other MacEwens stayed where they were swearing allegiance to the Earl of Argyll, some eventually becoming hereditary bards and sennachies to the Campbell Chiefs of Glenorchy. Finally, other MacEwens settled along the shores of Loch Lomond, probably before the end of the 15th century. Records from around 1513 indicate that the MacEwens had been pretty well dispersed from their homeland. From the: The Story of Clan MacEwen
Seriously,
DNA testing is only one tool in the Genealogists (amateur or professional) toolbox. DNA testing is still really in its infancy. For instance in the Ewing DNA study I have a very distant cousin in Michigan, for which there is no possible way we are related closer than 10 generations, and yet we have identical at 37 marker DNA results (I call him my "Doppleganger").
MacEoghainn;
Sorry Old Boy, you should have read the fine print.Campbell comes from the Gaelic Cam Buel (Crooked Mouth) emphasis on the Crooked. They didn't get to be the Largest, Wealthiest, and most Powerful Clan by being Mr. Nice. They also took lessons from the MacArthur (which I was adopted by). Steal the nickers off your grandma they would with her still in them.
My family has been doing DNA for years for the MacLeods. The clan saids that many people who came under the protection of a castle, took the name.. like smiths came to say McInnes castle and took their name out of honor cause they gave protection, and have no McIness in their blood..
there are so many people who don't even have Scottish blood in them and have the last name of a Scottish name.
Also so many people say they are a pure scott.. when it was in the blood 5 or more gen back.. that doesn't make then a pure scott and maybe even makes them no scott. I see this alot. If you live in Scotland, then you know Scotts do not call other people with a bit of scott in them, Scotsman.. I
It's interesting with all of the advances in Genealogy that no one has posted on here in a while. I recently did the ancestry.com DNA profiling and was only mildly surprised at what it said. I know my moms family is from southern Germany/Black Forest region which is the 50% listed below. I also know my grandfathers, grandfather is from Essex, England so 28% is not surprising either. The smaller amounts come from distance between me and any ancestor that could easily have immigrated to one of the more prominent DNA marker regions I carry. European Europe West 50% Great Britain 28% Ireland 6% Italy/Greece 6% Iberian Peninsula 3% European Jewish 3% Scandinavia 2% Finland/Northwest Russia < 1% West Asia Caucasus 2%
The only thing they missed in the ancestor that is Native American, but since not everyone in every family carries the same dna, one of my parents, siblings, cousins, uncles, etc might have those genes show up if they have the test done. All I have to do is convince them to spit into a little cup.
Now all I have to do is figure out who my Irish, Italian/Greek ancestors are.
Very interesting. I've wondered about the DNA testing...like how accurate is it; what do you need to do to have the testing done; is it expensive; and how long does it take to get the results.
My maternal grandfather started tracing that side of our family tree many years ago. When he passed, his son (my uncle) took up where he left off. My sister now has the accumulated information and was able to make the final connections with the help of ancestry.com. We know and have documentation that two of my ancestors came over on the Mayflower and were married by Capt. John Smith. My sister told me that she has an unbroken line all the way to Charlemagne!
She has only been able to go back a few generations for my father's side, though. She doesn't have the wealth of information available.
I was also wondering about accuracy, but it seems accurate based on what I know for general regions of my ethnic groups. As they collect more and more DNA it will probably enable more specific areas to be determined.
I wish I was able to trace any of my lines that far. I was able to connect with my paternal grandfathers male line, before I did the DNA test. It goes from Essex, England in the 1650s until 1850s. I'm glad I didn't have to go through all the records, I just have to read them for interesting facts.
The maternal lines of each branch are harder to find, since it seems like all the women in my family went by their middle names.
I recently did the DNA test through Ancestry. Some surprises, some not so surprising. I knew I had Cornish, German, and Italian, but the percentages certainly threw me for a loop. BTW, my mom always insisted I was 100% Italian. She's not going to like the results and I'm not going to tell her. So here is what I got" England, Wales, and Northwestern Europe specifically Devon and Kerrier, Cornwall-50%. France-29%, Germanic Europe-10%, Ireland and Scotland- 5% and Norway, Turkey and the Caucasus, and Italy all at 2%. Which means I'm at 55% Celtic!! So glad I did this but were in the world did the Turkish come from. I still need to do some more digging but working night shift sure prevents that for now.
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Unavoidably Detained by the World
"Irishness is not primary a question of birth or blood or language; it is the condition on being involved in the Irish situation, and usually of being mauled by it."-Conor Cruise O'Brien
It's been a while since I posted anything in this thread, so I'll do rundown of what I've been doing DNA wise since.
I do all my testing through Family Tree DNA (https://www.familytreedna.com Family Tree DNA). I've done their, in addition to my original Y-DNA (male line) testing to 37 markers, Family Finder(Similar to Ancestry's standard testing), mtDNA (female line), and I've upgraded the Y-DNA to the BigY-700 and the mtDNA to "Plus".
Here is my ethnic breakdown (compares to Robert's Ancestry results):
Scandinavia 57% (those Vikings got around) British Isles 17% East Europe 9% Southeast Europe 6% Middle Eastern 8% Asia Minor 8% Trace Results East Middle East <1% North Africa <2%
Y-DNA
The Ewing Family Association (the US part of Clan Ewing, Clan Ewing is now a recognized Scottish Clan by the Lord Lyon Court, evidence indicates the Ewings to be the core family and descendants of Ewen of Otter and of Clan MacEwen) has been conducting a DNA study and the most progress on getting a picture of the Clan's/Family's Male ancestry back to the Ulster Plantation in Northern Ireland and Scotland is with the use of the BigY-700 testing.
My Big Y results appear to prove my paper trail back to a James Ewing (born Bet. 1650–1665 in Scotland or Ireland) of Inch Island, County Donegal, Ulster, Ireland and my Gaelic male line ancestry.
My Confirmed Haplogroup is R-BY18238 (a branch of the larger R-M222 Haplogroup, a subgroup of the even larger R-M269. R-M222 is present in over 12% of the population in Ireland (and in Scotland). Some believe this high frequency is due to a connection with the Uí Néill and Connachta dynasties, or migrations such as the Plantation of Ulster.
Clan Ewing/Ewen/MacEwen founder, Ewen of Otter, according to traditional genealogies was a descendant of an Irish prince of the O'Neill dynasty named Ánrothán Ua Néill, who left Ireland for Kintyre in the 11th century.
mtDNA
mtDNA is pretty much a dead end as far as genealogical research goes. It mutates so slowly that all it really does is give you an idea of where the female line originated. My mtDNA result is L3f1b
There is a group of researchers that believe much of the European L3F population descends from the migration of the Ashkenazi Jews who coalesced in the Holy Roman Empire around the end of the first millennium.
What is interesting when looking at ethnic background is that one of your siblings will probably have test results with a completely different mix (unless it's your identical twin).