Scottish people's DNA study could 'rewrite nation's history'

The Guardian (UK) ^ | 8-14-2012 | Charlotte Higgins

[Renfield]

Evidence of African, Arabian, south-east Asian and Siberian ancestry in Scotland, says author of book tracing genetic journey

A large scale study of Scottish people's DNA is threatening to "rewrite the nation's history", according to author Alistair Moffat.

Scotland, he told the Edinburgh international book festival, despite a long-held belief that its ethnic make-up was largely Scots, Celtic, Viking and Irish, was in fact "one of the most diverse nations on earth".

"The explanation is simple. We are a people on the edge of beyond; on the end of a massive continent. Peoples were migrating northwest; and they couldn't get any further. We have collected them."....

[Bon of Babble]

Already diverse — then no need to accept refugees from Africa or anywhere else!!

[Renfield]

You repeat yourself.

[Bon of Babble]

It needed to be said twice.

[stylin19a]

thanks. too funny!!! first time i’ve heard (read) that one.

[Albion Wilde]

There is as yet no citation you have offered regarding sexual infidelity rates by gender over time. Until you do, you are conjecturing. I am a good student of history and literature. Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales and Shakespeare’s “Merry Wives of Windsor” to name just two sources give a good account of morals across quite a span of history.

When we are talking of great-great-great-grandmothers, just so you remain on point, we are talking about women who became mothers around 1922 (using a multiple of 18 years of age per generation) or more likely, before 1912 (using a multiple of 20 years of age). Statisitics from that period regarding intimate family issues are scarce; however, it is worth noting that women from that period were regarded as chattel or property of their husbands. Women in the United States only achieved an independent right to vote in 1918; in France this right was conferred in 1944 and in Switzerland in 1971.

From Managing Infidelity: A Cross-Cultural Perspective (1)
By: Jankowiak, William; Nell, M. Diane et al. | Ethnology, Winter 2002

Anthropologists have not systematically examined extramarital affairs. Our cross-cultural study found that within every culture men and women actively resort to mate-guarding tactics to control their mate's extramarital behavior....
Conventional wisdom holds that in many societies women express relative indifference to their spouse's infidelities. Many social-science researchers ascribe this indifference to either male's propensity for psychological violence (Bourdieu 2001; MacKinnon 1988) or women's structural marginality (Freeman 1990; Harris 1993; Leacock 1993; Ressner 1987; Rosaldo and Lamphere 1974). These theories link patriarchy with male superiority to account for institutionalizing a double standard. A constant life lesson for women in these societies is their inability to forestall their spouse's infidelities. Reinforced by folk ideology, social convention, and common practices, men come to believe that it is their right to have extramarital affairs, while women become indifferent to their spouse's infidelity.

From : Premarital Sex
To my point that widespread infidelity or parity with men in infidelity by women is not an historic, but rather a contemporary phenomenon that trended sharply upward with the distribution of birth control to the unmarried legalized in the early 70s (Eisenstadt v. Baird, 1972), combined with the so-called Sexual Revolution beginning in the late 60s, "At the beginning of the century, very few women were sexually active before marriage. By the end of the century, most of them were."

From: Extramarital Sex
The following chart shows a researched disparity in rates of extramarital sex between men and women, compiled in the more recent era of statistical study:

To my point that rates of infidelity by men are higher than those by women, even as late as 1992 there was a measurable difference: "According to the 1992 National Health and Social Life Survey, the most authoritative study of American sexual practices, 'Over 90 percent of the women and over 75 percent of the men in every cohort report fidelity within their marriage, over its entirety.' ” 

Additional overview from Wikipedia about the cross-cultural issues associated with Adultery re-emphasizes the greater social penalties for women than for men of infidelity.

And finally, may I respectfully point out that both Chaucer and Shakespeare were writing entertainment literature, not social science literature; there is no way to determine how much of their story-telling was based on truth, but rather on wishful thinking. Surely you have heard that women and women's points of view were greatly underrepresented, with the rise of women in literature coming hundreds of years later with Eliot, the Brontes, etc.

The male artists and writers of Chaucer and Shakespeare's days 500+ years ago typically associated with a bawdy class of women in the cities and drinking establishments their own celebrity afforded them. But the great bulk of women in the traditional Christendom of pre-World War I Scotland, England, and the United States lived in small towns or rural communities where their actions were subject to the scrutiny and moral judgment of their neighbors. I do have to work today, so I'm not going to cite it; but I recall from previous research that the numbers of people living in cities and towns vs. rural communites, while occuring somewhat earlier in Scotland due to its leading role in the Industrial Revolution (and the Highland Clearances that pushed Scots into cities and the U.S.) only became a majority in the U.S. in 1939.

[Albion Wilde]

Everyone’s invited to my house tonight for haggis and Scotch

I wish! thanks for the thought!

[Albion Wilde]

The Anglos were ~so~ superior that they needed the Scots to fight for them. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordon_Highlanders

Great post! Thanks! Click here

[Albion Wilde]

Your thread certainly provoked a lot of interest. Thanks for posting.

[Renfield]

If you ever get the chance, buy the old book “Punch on Scotland”. You’ll fall out of your chair laughing. It’s been out of print for many years, but there are some used copies available on Amazon.

[SunkenCiv]

Wow, I just had an Arch Fisher flashback, but can’t remember the name of the song, just his stage patter.

[SunkenCiv]

SC? What’s that? ;’)

Borders Folks May Be Descended From Africans (Hadrian’s Wall)
The Telegraph (UK) | 6-11-2004 | David Derbershire
Posted on 06/13/2004 2:15:19 PM PDT by blam
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1152911/posts

Yorkshire clan linked to Africa
BBC | Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Posted on 01/24/2007 3:19:12 AM PST by Jedi Master Pikachu
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1772719/posts

Study provides first genetic evidence of long-lived African presence within Britain
Wellcome Trust via Eureka Science News | Jan 24, 2007 | Craig Brierley
Posted on 01/25/2007 4:39:21 AM PST by Pharmboy
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1773378/posts

sidebars:

Roman Legion Founded Chinese City
Ansa | 7-25-2005
Posted on 07/31/2005 12:31:23 PM PDT by blam
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1454296/posts

Experts Find Rare Romani DNA In Norwich Anglo Saxon Skeleton
24 Hour Museum | 5-12-2006 | Sarah Morley
Posted on 05/13/2006 10:43:55 AM PDT by blam
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1631707/posts

[Grimmy]

Scots also served as mercenaries in many armies all through the dark and middle ages. Many brought home wives from their campaigns.

[Bellflower]

An interesting article call “Our Scythian Ancestors” at http://www.ensignmessage.com/archives/scythian.html might be interesting to you.

[Bellflower]

If you go to the site, be careful, as it a British Israelism site, and believe in replacement theology. I only use it to glean some information about possible links to Israel we Europeans may have. I definitely do not believe in replacement theology or British Israelism. The houses of Judah and Israel will come together as one Nation. Jews are God’s chosen people, but I do think that The House of Israel (different than the House of Judah, which is the southern kingdom, the House of Israel being the northern kingdom, after Israel split into two kingdoms) has been dispersed. The House of Israel basically has disappeared from the view of history, being dispersed throughout the whole world, God knowing who are of Abraham’s seed, even when they don’t.

[aruanan]

If you go to the site, be careful, as it a British Israelism site, and believe in replacement theology.

Look no farther than the United States for the most successful of the British Israelism-type religions since the advent of Islam.

[worst-case scenario]

That was the same one for me! What was that, the summer of 1972 or 1973?

Not only was it hilarious in its juxtaposition of bizarre images, it was so utterly British! I must admit that at that time I, too, had no idea what a blanc-mange was, but gathered it was some kind of dessert when all the proper English matrons ran it onto the field and subdued it with spoons.

[worst-case scenario]

It’s genetic science. Considering how many raid the Berber pirate states made on the coasts of Europe - as fare north as Scotland - in order to seize slaves, these are exactly the genetic finding you’d expect to see.

[Albion Wilde]

If you ever get the chance, buy the old book “Punch on Scotland”. You’ll fall out of your chair laughing

Why, thank you! There is little I love to do as much as have a good larf!