Wednesday, September 16, 2020

Ancestry's at it again!




Back in 2014, I did one of those Ancestry DNA tests.

Based on family stories, I expected the results would be Scottish and Irish being close, with Scottish probably have a slight edge, but with a chance Irish would come out on top, and some Dutch or German.

The results that came back were:

Ireland - 56 %
Scandinavia - 16 %
Great Britain - 10 %
Iberian Peninsula - 8 %
Western Europe - 5 %
A few odd traces - 3 %

The Irish was not a complete surprise. The Great Britain seemed to have Scotland in it, and I was surprised it was so low. 

I was pleased and surprised at the Scandinavian (which I described as "Viking") and the Iberian (Hispanic). It was kind of neat being a Viking and partly Hispanic.

I put away my flag of Scotland, and began researching Donegal (which is the region in Ireland the results indicated) and learning some Irish songs.

But the good folks at Ancestry are constantly updating as they get more results from people to include.  So two years ago they sent a new DNA profile.

Ireland was now Ireland/Scotland/Wales, and that increased slightly to 58 %.
Scandinavia was now Sweden, and dropped to just 4 %.
Great Britain suddenly jumped from 10 % to 36 %.
Iberian Peninsula went from 8 % to 0.
Western Europe was now Germanic Europe, and dropped from 5 % to 2 %.
The odd traces were no longer  there.

No longer Hispanic. Ratas! And Viking was still there, but at a much reduced level. I guessed the Great Britain included some Scottish, and that went up. 

In the last couple of days I received yet another update.

Scotland - 54%
Ireland (with strong links to Donegal) - 29%
England and Northwestern Europe - 13%
Wales - 3% 
Norway - 1%

Okay, in estimate 2, Ireland/Scotland/Wales were lumped together totaling 58%. I took that as mostly Irish, as the Scottish blood would seem to be more in the Great Britain section. Now, the three areas are broken out, and total a combined 86% - with Scotland clearly predominant. 

So now I'm back to what I thought before taking the test, more Scottish than Irish. I do like oatmeal.

But Norway instead of Sweden? And a drop? Less Viking! Still, enough I can enjoy mead.

Back up on the Northwestern Europe figure - from 2% to 13% That Dutch/German connection returns.

I can't wait for the next version. Will Polish mysteriously appear? Finnish? Prussian?

At least I can go back to promoting an independent Scotland. I just dug out that flag.


Freedom! 

Pax et bonum

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