Why so much Scottish DNA?

[Elwyn Soutter]

Ethnicity testing is about as reliable as a horoscope.

There has been so much internal migration around the British Isles over the past 2000 years, the idea of clear separate identities for the various groups (Scots, English, Welsh etc) is just silly. To which I would add that ethnicity has little scientific basis. It's a modern cultural invention. Most scientists avoid it like the plague.

Stick to specific DNA matches.

[Nifty1]

A recent consultation by my with a top consultant revealed poly myalgia is x 20 as prevalent in the UK as it is in France.  The reason for this is because the Vikings did not make much of an impression in France whereas they were quite successful at establishing themselves in the north of Britain.
Not so in the south west where hundreds of the remains of Viking raiders in mass graves have been discovered.

For the record. I think  highly unlikely that DNA sampling will ever tell anything specific to those at the  level of ameuter family researcher. It is a nice not so little earner for the likes of Ancestry.

‘Dam lies and statistics.’

[coombs]

My gran was born in County Durham but her mother was from London with some Norfolk, Dorset and French Huguenot further back. But my gran's father's ancestors were mainly NE England as far as I can trace apart from one of his great great grandfathers John Stewart who was born in Selkirk, Scotland in 1738. Those Barrington transcripts for his children's baptisms in 1803 and 1805 say he was a "skinner and native of Selkirk, Scotland". Another ancestor of his was from Dent in far NW Yorkshire.

I guess if I had lots of "Scottish DNA" the NE England ancestry could explain why.

[Andrew Tarr]

According to Ancestry, I am 30 % Scottish, and this can only be through my English mother, whose ancestry was mostly NE England and North Yorkshire based.

My wife's ancestry is mainly from Tyneside or northern Ireland, but the Tyneside members had strains (McKay) who moved from southern Scotland in the mid-19th century.  Her DNA analysis from Ancestry claims 65% 'Scottish and NE England'.  I suspect that movement from the Edinburgh area to Tyneside was not unusual ?

[brigidmac]

I'm a great believer in ethnicities as shown on ancestry
My mother has exactly 8 percent Scots
Which didn't fit with her 4 other ethnicities from different great grandparents but then she discovered that she did indeed have a Scottish great great grandmother who somehow found herself in Northampton
DNA matches with high Scottish ethnicity are often linked thru this ancestor

As for the other ENGLISH  grandparents they were based in Birkenhead across the way from Wales and 6 great grandparents were from Wales
English Welsh ethnicity sometimes merge but I'm impressed that ancestry can now pinpoint regional connections to Cheshire for example

[Old Bristolian]

Ethnicity testing is about as reliable as a horoscope.

There has been so much internal migration around the British Isles over the past 2000 years, the idea of clear separate identities for the various groups (Scots, English, Welsh etc) is just silly. To which I would add that ethnicity has little scientific basis. It's a modern cultural invention. Most scientists avoid it like the plague.


Stick to specific DNA matches.

Whilst I agree that most ethnicity estimates should be taken with a large pinch of salt, my experience suggests there are some benefits. One of my grandfather's identities was unknown and having extensively researched all my other lines I only found forbears from southern (and mostly south-west) England. When I carried out my Ancestry DNA test the ethnicity result indicated I had 33% Scottish ancestry (later modified to 25%). Diligent research since and some very lucky connections have now identified my Perthshire ancestral family, confirmed by others' DNA results and matches. I now know my great grandparents although which of their sons was my grandfather is still a mystery!

[Wexflyer]

My dads DNA has come back as 29% Scottish,but the only line i can find that goes North of the Border is a single 7xgreat grandfather born in Kelso in 1659.Would that be enough to provide that level of Scottish DNA,or is it likely ive got something wrong,or things are not as they seem from the records.
Any thoughts appreciated.

TIA.

Not everyone can be a winner in the lottery of life...

[phil57]

My dads DNA has come back as 29% Scottish,but the only line i can find that goes North of the Border is a single 7xgreat grandfather born in Kelso in 1659.Would that be enough to provide that level of Scottish DNA,or is it likely ive got something wrong,or things are not as they seem from the records.
Any thoughts appreciated.

TIA.

There is a link named "Confused by your Scottish results?" or similar on the Ancestry page showing your father's Scottish ethnicity results. Have you read the page it links to?

Additionally, all a particular ethnicity allocation indicates is that regions have been found in the tester's DNA which are similar to regions generally found in populations in that area (i.e. the regions that Ancestry refer to as Scottish in your father's case, which does not solely relate to Scotland). It can indicate that some of your father's ancestors came from the same region as other migrants who are now most commonly found in the regions Ancestry labels as Scotland, which is not identical to the geographic area. But his ancestors may not have ever actually set foot in the geographic country of Scotland.

I think if you read the link I refer to above, it states that a high proportion of English people have at least some percentage of "Scottish" ethnicity in their DNA, irrespective of having no identifiable connection to that region.

Nevertheless, a 29% indication is not insubstantial, but again it is important to realise that the 29% figure stated is an estimate derived from a range. If you drill down through the ethnicity estimates given by Ancestry on the relevant web pages, you can view the range from which the 29% ESTIMATE is derived. Sometimes those ranges encompass a variation from zero to a higher figure. In such cases, Ancestry are saying that they estimate 29% Scottish ethnicity, but that the actual percentage could be higher or lower, within the stated range. And if the range encompasses zero, then there may not actually be any connection at all.

[nelwild]

Thanks for all the contributions.
My dads 3xgreat grandmother was Jane Orm(i)ston,born 4th Nov 1798 Beadnell,Northumberland.Its back through her lines that ive found Scottish ancestry.She married John Tilly on 1st August 1820 Boughton under Blean.Ive no idea what brought her South.She died in the same area where she married.
My dads paternal line(my grandad),his paternal ancestors,according to my research,were Huguenots who worked in the Faversham Gunpowder Industry.They married into local East Kent families of many generations standing.Grandads maternal line was also very old Kent families,brickfield workers and farm labourers.
My dads mums lines(my nan),her paternal side Surrey/Sussex,then rural Somerset to long before 1800.Her maternal line,all rural Kent and Sussex,going way back.
This is why i cant understand 29% Scottish,unless my research is wrong.There do seem to be quite a lot of DNA matches who only go back to Scotland.

Lee,