Just Finished Reading: The Scots – A Genetic Journey by Alistair Moffat (FP: 2011/2017) [243pp] 

My regular (and returning – THANKS!) readership will be aware that I recently took an Ancestry DNA test which kind of surprised me, and that was BEFORE I started digging into my family tree. The surprise was that by DNA I’m 36% Scottish. Now my father's family are from the East coast of Ireland and my mother's side mostly come from the English Midlands and (generally) points South. I’ve only gone back into the early 19th Century on my Dad’s side so some Scots might show up there, but I’ve managed to go back a LOT further (mid-15th century) on my Mum’s side and.... not a single Scot to be had. So.... Mystery....  

I had read that Scotland and the East coast of Ireland had a long and convoluted history together. That’s one thing that this book confirmed. Certainly, for many centuries there was a lot of commerce and emigration from Ireland to Scotland and, no doubt, the flow went both ways from the very earliest times – although mostly, it seems, From Ireland and TO Scotland. So, at least from that perspective this book didn’t really help me much to start to understand that particular quirk of my double-helix. But there’s So much else of interest here! 

Starting from cradle of humanity, the author follows the slow movement of people (moving at around 1Km per year) from Africa and into Europe, the meeting – and occasional mating – with our close human relatives the Neanderthals, the brief occupation of southern Britain (back in those wonderous days when you could WALK there from ‘France’) and then the reoccupation of what would become the British Isles after the last Ice Age. Obviously, Scotland could only be occupied once the Northern Ice Cap retreated and this happened as humans followed herds North. Over the centuries more people settled in the far North of Britain with occasional immigrants from Ireland and Scandanavia – plus of course a few very brave Roman’s, either sent North to combat the ‘unruly tribes’ there or stationed around Hadrian's Wall and settling down with local wives (staying behind after the Roman’s left). Starting with this core population, the author follows Scottish history with diaspora across the world to Canada, the US and Australia as well as hints of comingling with French settlers and the slow drip feed of European refugee’s seeking shelter across the centuries.  

This is a very informative and often fascinating read. I was generally aware of Scottish history when it impacted on my much wider reading of English history (Scotland and England having an often-troubled relationship!) so it was really interesting to hear about much earlier events. Like in his other book on British DNA he talked about the land-bridge and comparatively long-term settlement of areas that are now under the North Sea. This whole concept completely blows my mind and I really need to read more about it. Although this didn’t really help me much with my DNA search, I found it most enjoyable. Definitely of interest to anyone with Scottish ancestry or just a general interest in that region.