IIl a ll II' WHEN SCOTLAND WAS JEWISH DNA Evidence Archeology , , Analysis of Migrationsy and Public and Family Records Show Twelfth Century Semitic Roots Luzabeth Caldwell Hirschman and Donald N. Yates When Scotland Was Jewish DNA Evidence, Archeology, Analysis of Migrations, and Public and Family Records Show Twelfth Century Semitic Roots Elizabeth Caldwell Hirschman and Donald N. Yates McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers Jefferson, North Carolina, and London Library of Congress Cataloguing-in-Publication Data Hirschman, Elizabeth Caldwell, 1949- When Scotland was Jewish : DNA evidence, archeology, analysis of migrations, and public and family records show twelfth century Semitic roots / Elizabeth Caldwell Hirschman and Donald N. Yates, p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-0-7864-2800-7 illustrated case binding : 50# alkaline paper (S) Jews— Scotland — History. 2. Jews— Scotland — Genealogy. 3. Scotland — History. 4. Scots— History. 5. Scots— Genealogy. I. Title. DS135.E5H57 2007 941.1'004924-dc22 2007006397 British Library cataloguing data are available ©2007 Elizabeth Caldwell Hirschman and Donald N. Yates. All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. On the cover: Scotland Highlands ©2006 Photodisc; Thistle graphic by Mark Durr Manufactured in the United States of America McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers Box 611, Jefferson, North Carolina 28640 www. mcfarlandpub. com 1. 2. Contents 3. 4. Preface 1 . 5. 6. The Origins of Scotland 3 7. DNA and Population Studies: “But Why Do 8. You Think They Were Jewish?” 24 9. Genealogies of the First Wave of Jewish Families, 1100-1350 C.E. 44 Genealogies of the Second Wave of Jewish Families, 1350-1700 C.E. 71 The Early Jews of France, 700-1200 C.E. 79 11. When Did Jews Arrive in Scotland? 88 To Scotland’s Stirling, Ayr, and Glasgow 97 The Knights Templar, Freemasons and Cabala in Scotland 131 The Judaic Colony at Aberdeen 152 10 The Religions of Scotland: Did Presbyterianism Have Crypto-Jewish Origins? 192 Jews in the National Consciousness of Scotland: Scott’s Ivanhoe 205 Appendix A: Raw Scores for Participants in Melungeon DNA Surname Project 215 VI Contents Appendix B: Naming and Jewish Priest-Kings 218 Appendix C: Early Jewish Names in France and England 220 Appendix D: Davidic Jewish Genealogies 229 Appendix E: Border Reiver DNA 232 Chapter Notes 233 Bibliography 247 Index 253 Preface All research inquiries worthy of the name are voyages of discovery. Initial ventures set sail for terra incognito, while those which follow usually must be content to map more precisely the exact dimensions of the intellectual locale, noting minute details of mental flora, fauna, minerals and climate. Along these latter explorations exacting meas- urements are taken, objects and phenomena carefully categorized and labels affixed according to the earlier theoretical structures already in place. Gradually an imposing edifice of agreed-upon understanding is constructed; overlaying topographical interpre- tations become concretized into dogma and no one bothers to re-examine the underly- ing structure itself. Very commonly, these accreted Received Views are zealously guarded by their cre- ators, because they serve important social, political and ideological agendas. Such theo- retical edifices have become naturalized features of the cultural landscape and serve to support and perpetuate the prevailing world-view. To challenge this knowledge struc- ture, in whole or in part, is seen as a threat to the larger ideological narrative of “This is the way the world is” in which it is embedded. Received views, therefore, are defended vigorously and those challenging them do so with full awareness that they will likely be attacked by those stakeholders vested in maintaining the status quo. The present work, brazenly titled When Scotland Was Jewish, is a privateering jour- ney into heavily traveled waters. We propose that much of the traditional historical account of Scotland rests on fundamental interpretive errors. Further, we believe that these errors have been perpetuated in order to manufacture and maintain an origin story for Scotland that affirms its identity as a Celtic, Christian society. While pursuing Scot- tish nationalism is likely a noble goal, the equation of Scotland with Celtic culture in the popular (and academic) imagination has obfuscated, indeed buried, a more accurate and profound understanding of its history. As the title suggests, we believe that much of Scotland’s history and culture from the 1100s forward is Jewish. We believe that much of her population, including several national heroes, villains, rulers, nobles, traders, merchants, bishops, guild members, burgesses, and ministers were of Jewish decent. We describe how the ancestors of these persons originated 1 2 Preface in France and Spain and then made their way to Scotland’s shores, moors, burgs and cas- tles from the reign of Malcolm Canmore to the after-throes of the Spanish Inquisition. We anticipate that our claims will be vigorously disputed, especially by those who hold most dear the notion of Scotland as a Celtic heartland. We expect that anti-Semi- tes will be incensed that we have dared to co-opt one of the principal archetypes of WASP iconography and graft it to Judaism. We expect also that Jews and philo-Semites will be bemused and confused — does this mean that they should stop by to reconnoiter Edin- burgh on their next trip to Jerusalem? We hope that Muslims will be pleased to learn that we have also identified remnants of Islamic culture in Scotland. Our research proposals, as unlikely as they may seem, are founded upon documen- tation available to scholars for centuries— census records, archeological artifacts, castle carvings, cemetery inscriptions, religious seals, coinage, burgess and guild member rolls, noble genealogies, family crests, geographic place names and oil portraits. Indeed, the blatancy and bulk of the evidence was so overwhelming that we were amazed no one had presented the thesis before we did. How — or perhaps why — were surnames such as Izatt, Hyatt, Abell, Oliphant, Elphinstone, Isaac, Sharon, Lyon, Mamluke and Yuell not recognized as Judaic and Islamic by prior investigators? How could the presence of the Tetragrammaton — emblazoned on the title page of a Glasgow psalter dating from 1623 — be overlooked for almost 400 years? Why did no one question the presence of Islamic crescents and stars engraved throughout Fyvie Castle? Why was the presence of Stars of David on Scottish coins dat- ing from the 1200s not commented upon previously? Did the fact that the Marquis of Argylle’s castle is located in the village of Succoth (a major Jewish holiday) not seem odd to prior historians? Were not other onlookers puzzled by the dark, Semitic and Mediter- ranean appearances of the royal Stewart family — especially the Earl of Moray, James Stew- art — or of John Knox, Archibald Campbell or Allen Ramsey as their portraits hung in the National Portrait Gallery of Scotland? Put bluntly, why were these marked inconsis- tencies with a presumed Celtic past not interrogated forcefully, or indeed at all? Despite our drawing attention to these uncomfortable pieces of the historical record, however, we knew that advocates of the traditional story of Scotland would remain uncon- vinced. Thus, we also made use of an evidentiary source not available to prior scholars: DNA testing. Beginning in 1998 commercial testing of paternal and maternal DNA hap- lotypes became publicly available. In 2000, we availed ourselves of this new technology and began examining the lineages of some of the major “clans” in Scotland which we believed, based on historical evidence, were of Jewish descent. As is discussed in detail in the present work, all of the lines we examined do show evidence of Mediterranean origins and do have matches to present-day practicing Jews. Further, independent DNA testing conducted by other researchers on Scottish populations has confirmed the pres- ence of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern genes in Scotland’s population. It is our great hope that readers will embark on this journey with an open mind and a willingness to entertain the possibility that Scotland’s origins may indeed require revi- sion. We believe that you will find, as we did, that there is ample evidence of a strong Jewish presence in Scotland and that you will never again view Scotland — her people or her history — as you once did. Chapter 1 The Origins of Scotland Scotland today is a country smaller than the state of South Carolina, with about 5 million inhabitants, two-thirds of whom live in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee, Aberdeen, Inverness and Stirling, its Six Cities. Half the size of England, it has a higher standard of literacy and education, and as many'urban centers and universities, as its southern neigh- bor. Scotland is located on the same northern latitude as Labrador, Norway and Mos- cow; the average summer temperature registers a brisk 57 degrees. It has been said, “There are two seasons in Scotland, June and winter.” Although Scotland is home to one of the oldest continuous kingdoms and parlia- ments in existence, its political standing as a part of the United Kingdom remains ambigu- ous. “The sense of national identity seems to have emerged much earlier here than elsewhere in Europe,” according to a leading authority (Cunliffe 2001, p. 546). The national tourism board captures this distinction very delicately when it says that Scot- land’s civic culture and nationhood are “not readily defined, but readily identifiable. So the question arises of why the influence of this rather small, inclement and remote nation should loom so large. Significantly, the pursuit of its native history was long prohibited in Scotland. Elit- ist English authorities excluded Scottish history from the national curriculum as a mat- ter of educational policy.