Hirschman Elizabeth Caldwell - When Scotland was Jewish: DNA evidence, archeology, analysis of migrations, and public and family records show twelfth century Semitic roots

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ISBN-13: 978-0-7864-2800-7

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On the cover: Scotland Highlands 2006 Photodisc; Thistle graphic by Mark Durr

All research inquiries worthy of the name are voyages of discovery. Initial ventures set sail for terra incognito, while those which follow usually must be content to map more precisely the exact dimensions of the intellectual locale, noting minute details of mental flora, fauna, minerals and climate. Along these latter explorations exacting measurements are taken, objects and phenomena carefully categorized and labels affixed according to the earlier theoretical structures already in place. Gradually an imposing edifice of agreed-upon understanding is constructed; overlaying topographical interpretations become concretized into dogma and no one bothers to re-examine the underlying structure itself.

Very commonly, these accreted Received Views are zealously guarded by their creators, because they serve important social, political and ideological agendas. Such theoretical edifices have become naturalized features of the cultural landscape and serve to support and perpetuate the prevailing world-view. To challenge this knowledge structure, in whole or in part, is seen as a threat to the larger ideological narrative of This is the way the world is in which it is embedded. Received views, therefore, are defended vigorously and those challenging them do so with full awareness that they will likely be attacked by those stakeholders vested in maintaining the status quo.

The present work, brazenly titled When Scotland Was Jewish, is a privateering journey into heavily traveled waters. We propose that much of the traditional historical account of Scotland rests on fundamental interpretive errors. Further, we believe that these errors have been perpetuated in order to manufacture and maintain an origin story for Scotland that affirms its identity as a Celtic, Christian society. While pursuing Scottish nationalism is likely a noble goal, the equation of Scotland with Celtic culture in the popular (and academic) imagination has obfuscated, indeed buried, a more accurate and profound understanding of its history.

As the title suggests, we believe that much of Scotlands history and culture from the 1100s forward is Jewish. We believe that much of her population, including several national heroes, villains, rulers, nobles, traders, merchants, bishops, guild members, burgesses, and ministers were of Jewish decent. We describe how the ancestors of these persons originated in France and Spain and then made their way to Scotlands shores, moors, burgs and castles from the reign of Malcolm Canmore to the after-throes of the Spanish Inquisition.

We anticipate that our claims will be vigorously disputed, especially by those who hold most dear the notion of Scotland as a Celtic heartland. We expect that antiSemites will be incensed that we have dared to co-opt one of the principal archetypes of WASP iconography and graft it to Judaism. We expect also that Jews and philoSemites will be bemused and confuseddoes this mean that they should stop by to reconnoiter Edinburgh on their next trip to Jerusalem? We hope that Muslims will be pleased to learn that we have also identified remnants of Islamic culture in Scotland.

Our research proposals, as unlikely as they may seem, are founded upon documentation available to scholars for centuriescensus records, archeological artifacts, castle carvings, cemetery inscriptions, religious seals, coinage, burgess and guild member rolls, noble genealogies, family crests, geographic place names and oil portraits. Indeed, the blatancy and bulk of the evidence was so overwhelming that we were amazed no one had presented the thesis before we did.

Howor perhaps whywere surnames such as Izatt, Hyatt, Abell, Oliphant, Elphinstone, Isaac, Sharon, Lyon, Mamluke and Yuell not recognized as Judaic and Islamic by prior investigators? How could the presence of the Tetragrammatonemblazoned on the title page of a Glasgow psalter dating from 1623be overlooked for almost 400 years? Why did no one question the presence of Islamic crescents and stars engraved throughout Fyvie Castle? Why was the presence of Stars of David on Scottish coins dating from the 1200s not commented upon previously? Did the fact that the Marquis of Argylles castle is located in the village of Succoth (a major Jewish holiday) not seem odd to prior historians? Were not other onlookers puzzled by the dark, Semitic and Mediterranean appearances of the royal Stewart familyespecially the Earl of Moray, James Stewartor of John Knox, Archibald Campbell or Allen Ramsey as their portraits hung in the National Portrait Gallery of Scotland? Put bluntly, why were these marked inconsistencies with a presumed Celtic past not interrogated forcefully, or indeed at all?

Despite our drawing attention to these uncomfortable pieces of the historical record, however, we knew that advocates of the traditional story of Scotland would remain unconvinced. Thus, we also made use of an evidentiary source not available to prior scholars: DNA testing. Beginning in 1998 commercial testing of paternal and maternal DNA haplotypes became publicly available. In 2000, we availed ourselves of this new technology and began examining the lineages of some of the major clans in Scotland which we believed, based on historical evidence, were of Jewish descent. As is discussed in detail in the present work, all of the lines we examined do show evidence of Mediterranean origins and do have matches to present-day practicing Jews. Further, independent DNA testing conducted by other researchers on Scottish populations has confirmed the presence of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern genes in Scotlands population.

It is our great hope that readers will embark on this journey with an open mind and a willingness to entertain the possibility that Scotlands origins may indeed require revision. We believe that you will find, as we did, that there is ample evidence of a strong Jewish presence in Scotland and that you will never again view Scotlandher people or her historyas you once did.

Scotland today is a country smaller than the state of South Carolina, with about 5 million inhabitants, two-thirds of whom live in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee, Aberdeen, Inverness and Stirling, its Six Cities. Half the size of England, it has a higher standard of literacy and education, and as many urban centers and universities, as its southern neighbor. Scotland is located on the same northern latitude as Labrador, Norway and Moscow; the average summer temperature registers a brisk 57 degrees. It has been said, There are two seasons in Scotland, June and winter.