The Thistledown Scottish Society of Tidewater, Inc. SUMMER 2009 VOLUME 26, ISSUE NUMBER 3 Unlock Your Genealogy Secrets: DNA Testing By Marcey Hunter, With Assistance from Robert Chisholm Scottish Clans DNA Project, where H ave you ever wondered who many of the clans participating in your Scottish ancestors were? Who the projects are listed. did you descend from? Was it a How many genetic cousins do Gaelic warrior or a Pictish tribes- you have around the world, i.e. man, a Norwegian Viking who ram- people who descended from the paged down the west coast of same ancestor prior to the era of Scotland, a Danish Viking from surnames? As a DNA test partici- Yorkshire, or an Angle settler from pant, you will have access to a the ancient kingdom of Bernicia? huge searchable database. How about a Roman soldier, left For any of the Clan DNA Projects behind on Hadrian’s Wall, or could to provide valid conclusions, it it be some dashing young Norman needs to have a wide base. The knight who established himself in object of the various clan projects the Borderlands? Perhaps none of is to have as many participants as the above but, rather, a lonesome ten years have enabled genealogy possible, thereby having a larger sailor cast ashore when the 1588 to be aided by genetics research. pool of genealogical data to com- Armada was wrecked on the In recent years, a number of Scot- pare. coasts of Britain, or a luckless tish Clan Associations like Donald Now to the details: there are two Spanish soldier left behind above Donnachaidh, Gregor, Hamilton, types of tests – Y-DNA and Kintail after an aborted Jacobite Chisholm, Maxwell, Montgomery, mtDNA. The Y-DNA Geographical uprising. Scott, Cameron and Wallace have Project verifies a possible point of If you’ve ever wondered about undertaken studies to identify pat- origin for the paternal line. For ex- any of this, or if you’ve toiled over terns of their clansmen. In fact, 66 ample, let’s say your surname/clan family records for years trying to of the 80 Highland & Border Clans is Fraser. If you are a Fraser male find the Holy Grail of genealogical have initiated DNA Surname Pro- descended from a Fraser male, evidence, then perhaps a DNA test jects at Family Tree DNA (FTDNA) you carry genetic information on will be just the ticket. of Houston, Texas. Family Tree your Y chromosome only from your Scientific advances over the past DNA even has a special section of male Fraser ancestor. Only males Continued on page 8 PAGE 2 THISTLEDOWN SUMMER 2009 About the Scottish Society of A Few Words from the President Tidewater, Inc. Greetings! Things have been fairly slow since the election but your board has not let any grass T he Scottish Society of Tidewater exists to grow under our collective feet. We have insti- promote the preservation and study of Scottish cul- tuted an additional Board meeting each quarter ture, including music, language, art, history, folk- to discuss, in further detail, any issues that may lore, dance, literature, athletics, and all other things impact the society. Thanks to Marcey for host- distinctively Scottish among interested persons in ing us. Often we just don’t have enough time at the Hampton Roads, Virginia area and to cooperate the monthly Board meetings to fully cover things with like-minded persons, groups and organizations that are on our minds. Our last meeting con- here and abroad. cerned membership retention. We had a very A meeting is held on the first Wednesday of each lively time with many ideas discussed. If you month at the Virginia Beach Central Library, 4100 have any thoughts or ideas that you want to be Va. Beach Blvd., in meeting rooms "A" and "B." considered for action, please let one of us know Social time begins at 7:00pm, and the meeting and we’ll be happy to put it on the agenda. I starts at 7:30pm. Anyone interested in Scottish cul- think that we have an excellent Board with many ture and history is invited to attend. diverse outlooks. I strongly urge everyone, Rob Lockwood Board and General members alike, to “think P.O. Box 3733, Norfolk, VA 23514-3733 outside the box” when it comes to events and other situations that may www.tidewaterscots.com arise. You may have an excellent idea that no one has considered; one that can really help the society. Thanks! SST Executive Board At our May meeting, we had the President of the Williamsburg Scottish President: Festival and the CEO of Rockahock Campgrounds, where the festival is Rob Lockwood [email protected] held, as our speakers. They presented a detailed report of upcoming Vice President: events at the festival. They also presented a Celtic Music Festival on the John McGlynn [email protected] Secretary: weekend after the May meeting, which I understand from all accounts Marcey Hunter [email protected] was a success. It still needs a bit of tweaking, but for the first one, it was Treasurer: good. The WSF will be held on Saturday October 3. We will have a tent Jeanne Rider [email protected] there, so sign up to help man the tables. For more information see either Board of Directors: the society or the festival website and page 7 of this newsletter. June Lockwood [email protected] The Meadow Highland Games and Celtic Festival (formerly Richmond Donna Looney [email protected] Highland Games and Celtic Festival) will be held on Saturday October 24 and Sunday October 25 at their new home, The Meadow Event Park, Linda Lucas [email protected] near Doswell, VA, also the new home of the Virginia State Fair (they’ve George Phillips [email protected] moved from the Richmond International Raceway). Again, see our or their website for more information. Terri Woodward [email protected] Our June speaker was society member Tina Gutshall, who works for Trish Young [email protected] the Mariner’s Museum. She gave a most interesting program on the USS Monitor and the efforts to preserve the items which were brought SST Committees up from the wreck. There’s even a Scottish connection to the Monitor. Webmaster: Scott MacGregor [email protected] There may even be a personal connection for me to one of the sailors Membership: who were trapped inside and drowned when the ship sank. I’m going to Marcey Hunter [email protected] contact Tina for more information and some possible DNA work to see if Program: there is a relationship. How exciting! The SST Board of Directors Sunshine: Instead of meetings in July and August, we’re holding Pub Nights. We June Lockwood [email protected] will meet on Wednesday, July 1, about 7:00pm, at Finn McCool’s Fish Newsletter Editor: House and Tavern in the Landstown Commons Shopping Center (corner Marcey Hunter [email protected] of Princess Anne and Dam Neck Rds, in VB). On August 5, about 7:00pm, we’ll be at Conklin’s Irish Rover on Virginia Beach Blvd. Our Society Picnic will be held on Saturday, September 26, from 1:00pm to 4:00pm, at the picnic shelter of The Church of the Ascension. More information will follow, as the time grows nearer. Thank you for the opportunity to serve as your President. Yours Aye for Scotland, Rob SUMMER 2009 THISTLEDOWN PAGE 3 Flowers of the Forest It is with great remorse and sadness What can I say, Russell was a that I learned of the passing of Rus- wonderful friend who along with Pam sell. I had sat next to him at the always brought a ray of sunshine and Tattoo and he was his usual friendly warm greetings to the Scottish society and gregarious self, kindly chiding meetings and our MacGregor Clan tent this old Yankee in the way he always at the various Highland Games around did. Russell was a great supporter Virginia. Russell will be fondly re- and help when I was president. He membered every time I see someone had a way of keeping one on their toes, wearing his original design “Scots so to speak, with his to-the-point and Rebel” t-shirts. concise questions. However, his firm Scott MacGregor and friendly handshake always reas- Russell E. Darden Past Vice President, Scottish Soci- sured you he was "on your side". ety of Tidewater My thoughts and prayers go out to the Darden Family. Russell will be greatly missed. Russell was always so happy to Lawrence McCauley greet anyone he knew and happy to Past President, Scottish Society of meet someone that was new. Tidewater Rita Hamilton Past Vice President, Scottish Society On May 5, 2009, the SST lost a of Tidewater very dear friend. Russell Darden was a wonderful man, husband and father. Our Scottish-American community Russell served on the SST Board of Directors during my term as has been greatly enriched by his dedi- President. I always appreciated his wise counsel and "can do" attitude. I cation and passion. We all loved especially remember fondly his help with one of the City of Virginia Beach's Russell and we’ll miss him so very early Heritage Day events. Russell was there to assist in promoting our much. Scottish heritage was a tremendous asset. Marcey Hunter Nancy Miller Secretary, Scottish Society of Past President, Scottish Society of Tidewater Tidewater Russell was, in every sense, a true southern gentleman. He was kind, polite, hard-working, and had that certain irresistible charm that just made people like him. During my tenure as SST president, Russell was always tremen- dously supportive.