Tracing your Ancestors in Scotland

There is a saying in Scotland that it costs you nothing to find out who your ancestors are, but it can take a fortune to keep it quiet.

Scotland is a small country with under five million people and if there are any skeletons in your closet, the likelihood is somebody already knows about them.

Did you know that genealogy is the fastest growing pastime in the western world and, according to the Scottish Tourist Board, 50 percent of visitors to Scotland make inquiries about their family connection?

It is estimated that over 27 million people in the world today can claim Scottish ancestors.

Highlanders and West Coasters were more adventurous, either by choice or demand and where would Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the U.S.A. be today without them?

The city of Dunedin in New Zealand means "Edinburgh" in Gaelic. I always chuckle when I am there—I hear more bagpipes than I do when I go home to Scotland.

A sad time in Scottish history was in the middle of the nineteenth century, when many people from the Highland glens where cleared out, and forced to emigrate.  Their homes were burnt because  the clan chief wanted the land to use for sheep.  Thousands of highlanders were evicted and forced to leave. This is why we have so many people around the world of Scottish background.  

This tragedy is called the Clearances, and a good book to read is by Alexander MacKenzie, the History of the Highland Clearances. Another good book is the Scottish Clans and Tartans by Ian Grimble.

Go online to www.ancestralscotland.com and a world of possibilities open up if you know the name of your ancestor and roughly when they were born, married or died, and information from the General Register Office for Scotland should set up on the right track. 

There are also great links to parish records, recommended reading, information sources and people who can help.   

One good thing about being born into a small village community in a rural district, you invariably married locally.  You were buried there too.  Nobody ever traveled far from home in the days before Britain acquired its Colonies .  At one time Britain governed 75% of the world – its empire was vast.    When I go home I always see people wandering among the gravestones in the village church, no doubt looking for their ancestors.

Once you have completed your family tree, you need to go to a Scotsmaster specialist  who can help you plan your visit to Scotland and trace where your family came from.    

Each clan comes from a very specific area, so its easy to know where to go.    I am from the MacDonald clan, of the Isle of Skye, and grew up hiking in a lovely part of the land.   

There are 219 different clans, and the word Mac before the name means in Gaelic, you are the son of whatever name follows.  

I have a client who is a Cameron and their eldest daughter is getting married.  They are taking the entire bridal party over to Inverness to have kilts made for the ceremony here in California. The bride will wear the clan tartan hanging from her left shoulder.    

I have also used Scotland for a destination wedding, with the actual ceremony taking place in a castle.

One importance thing if you do go to Scotland: Change Scottish currency before they leaving Scotland. The English don’t want to take it—not even the banks.

One custom I want to share with you.  The importance of a “First Footer” on New Year’s Day. I leave a basket on the porch outside the front door each New Year’s Eve.  It has a loaf of bread to wish you food all year, a piece of coal for warmth, salt to chase away bad spirits, and a silver sixpence, for wealth.  

The first person who comes over your doorstep on New Year’s Day must carry the basket into your home to bring you good luck.

Good websites to review:

www.ScotlandsPeople.com

www.VisitScotland.com

www.familytreedna.com/public/clan  For DNA information, type in the name of the clan you are interested in learning about.