Posted: 7:28 AM - Dec 14, 2004
Here is a link to a project involving origins of various Mackay families using DNA samples: http://www.familytreedna.com/public/MackayDNAproject/
I posted a comment regarding the results so far over at the Clan Mackay, USA website's forum which I'm copying here:
The findings are quite interesting in what they reveal about the different Mackays being tested.
The fact that there appears to be no apparent connection between the various Mackays in question is interesting in that it supports our historians' efforts (Robert Mackay Clan descendant Hunter Branson McKay in particular) at not assuming that since we are Mackays we must come from Scotland and are tied in with the great Clan Mackay.
The second conclusion to be drawn from this is in the nature of the Clan itself. Most people wrongly assume that a Clan was made up of people who were connected to each other through blood ties and all descend from a common ancestor where such wasn't always the case. Some folks simply adopted the surname "Mackay" when the custom of surnames came into being because they lived on the Clan Chief's lands and swore their allegiance to the Chief and therefore were considered part of his clan.
Remember, at one time there were probably about 10,000 or so people living in Strathnaver. Could all 10,000 of these people have the same bloodlines going back to a common Mackay progenitor? Or, could they simply have come together as a group and formed a Clan which had a royal line (chief) that they all swore allegiance to?
I'd personally like to be involved in these tests but I fear that the costs are a little steep and I'd also have to involve a few others of my Mackay family in order to make it worthwhile. I will, however, post the link to this site and it's findings on our own and mention it as a possibility that my family can become involved with.
I posted a comment regarding the results so far over at the Clan Mackay, USA website's forum which I'm copying here:
Interesting findings
by Michael McKay
by Michael McKay
The findings are quite interesting in what they reveal about the different Mackays being tested.
The fact that there appears to be no apparent connection between the various Mackays in question is interesting in that it supports our historians' efforts (Robert Mackay Clan descendant Hunter Branson McKay in particular) at not assuming that since we are Mackays we must come from Scotland and are tied in with the great Clan Mackay.
The second conclusion to be drawn from this is in the nature of the Clan itself. Most people wrongly assume that a Clan was made up of people who were connected to each other through blood ties and all descend from a common ancestor where such wasn't always the case. Some folks simply adopted the surname "Mackay" when the custom of surnames came into being because they lived on the Clan Chief's lands and swore their allegiance to the Chief and therefore were considered part of his clan.
Remember, at one time there were probably about 10,000 or so people living in Strathnaver. Could all 10,000 of these people have the same bloodlines going back to a common Mackay progenitor? Or, could they simply have come together as a group and formed a Clan which had a royal line (chief) that they all swore allegiance to?
I'd personally like to be involved in these tests but I fear that the costs are a little steep and I'd also have to involve a few others of my Mackay family in order to make it worthwhile. I will, however, post the link to this site and it's findings on our own and mention it as a possibility that my family can become involved with.