Posted on 07/04/2002 5:27:12 PM PDT by blam
Sunday, 30 June, 2002, 15:31 GMT 16:31 UK
English and Welsh are races apart
Gene scientists claim to have found proof that the Welsh are the "true" Britons.
The research supports the idea that Celtic Britain underwent a form of ethnic cleansing by Anglo-Saxons invaders following the Roman withdrawal in the fifth century.
Genetic tests show clear differences between the Welsh and English
It suggests that between 50% and 100% of the indigenous population of what was to become England was wiped out, with Offa's Dyke acting as a "genetic barrier" protecting those on the Welsh side.
And the upheaval can be traced to this day through genetic differences between the English and the Welsh.
Academics at University College in London comparing a sample of men from the UK with those from an area of the Netherlands where the Anglo-Saxons are thought to have originated found the English subjects had genes that were almost identical.
But there were clear differences between the genetic make-up of Welsh people studied.
The research team studied the Y-chromosome, which is passed almost unchanged from father to son, and looked for certain genetic markers.
Ethnic links: Many races share common bonds
They chose seven market towns mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 and studied 313 male volunteers whose paternal grandfather had also lived in the area.
They then compared this with samples from Norway and with Friesland, now a northern province of the Netherlands.
The English and Frisians studied had almost identical genetic make-up but the English and Welsh were very different.
The researchers concluded the most likely explanation for this was a large-scale Anglo-Saxon invasion, which devastated the Celtic population of England, but did not reach Wales.
Dr Mark Thomas, of the Centre for Genetic Anthropology at UCL, said their findings suggested that a migration occurred within the last 2,500 years.
Genetic links
It reinforced the idea that the Welsh were the true indigenous Britons.
In April last year, research for a BBC programme on the Vikings revealed strong genetic links between the Welsh and Irish Celts and the Basques of northern Spain and south France.
It suggested a possible link between the Celts and Basques, dating back tens of thousands of years.
The UCL research into the more recent Anglo-Saxon period suggested a migration on a huge scale.
"It appears England is made up of an ethnic cleansing event from people coming across from the continent after the Romans left," he said.
Celtic Britons
Archaeologists after the Second World War rejected the traditionally held view that an Anglo-Saxon invasion pushed the indigenous Celtic Britons to the fringes of Britain.
Instead, they said the arrival of Anglo-Saxon culture could have come from trade or a small ruling elite.
But the latest research by the UCL team, "using genetics as a history book", appears to support the original view of a large-scale invasion of England.
It suggests that the Welsh border was more of a genetic barrier to the Anglo-Saxon Y chromosome gene flow than the North Sea.
Dr Thomas added: "Our findings completely overturn the modern view of the origins of the English."
Reporting in from Left Coast chapter, Welsh Reparations Committee. I'm not sure who Offa's Dyke was, LOL! but I'm glad she/it protected us Welsh persons from contamination.
Fiddlstx, let's launch a claim to get out castle back! From there, we can take back London. Tomorrow, the world!
You beat me to it, I was about to ask when they were going to test the highland Scot
LOL. Some do believe that the legend of the Irish Leprechauns derives from earlier inhabitants of Ireland, the San Bushmen. (I've read a lot about the Bushmen and their habits, mannerisms and etc. do seem to match those of the leprechauns, even pointed ears)
Also, who were the Fomorians?
Before the advent of modern "B" roads in Wales, the valley where my family resided would have been only accessible by foot or pack animal. It is still difficult to access today.
The Myth: "The tribe of the Fomorians was on the scene long before any other races came to Ireland. However, the Fomors lived mainly in the sea. The first outside race to invade Ireland was the race of the Partholon; very little is known of them. After 300 years of struggle against the Fomors, the Partholons died of an epidemic.
Next came the race of Nemed who also suffered from an epidemic. This time, though, some of them survived, only to be oppressed by the Fomors.
Later came colonizers from Spain or Greece called the Fir Bolgs. They were actually three tribes; men of Domnu, men of Gaillion, and men of Bolg. They inter-married with the Fomors and held the country until the arrival of the "Tuatha De Danann". Source: (from Ancient and Shining Ones - by DJ Conway)
Fomhóire(Ireland)
Fomhóire means 'from the sea' and is the name of the gods of night and death and cold. According to myth, the Fomhóire (or Fomorians) were mis-shapen and had now the heads of goats and bulls, and now but one leg, and one arm that came out from the middle of their breasts. They were the ancestors of the evil faeries and, according to one gaelic writer, of all misshapen persons. The giants and leprecauns are expressely mentioned as of the Fomhóire. Source: http://www.mediatel.lu/team/nmack/mmp_myth_fomhoire.html
I guess I'm stupid. I thought this was the way it worked all along. I didn't realize it was a controversy.
Me too. And what they were describing as the old theory of a small class of ruling elites is what I thought the Norman conquest was all about.
Skeletons similar to those of the modern day Bushmen have been found all around the Bay of Biscay.
Ok when do we start bombing London until that evil despot Blair and his henchmen allow free elections. ;-)
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