Hell may freeze over......

[iris lilies]

Well, IL, Charles Stuart the 6th Earl of Moray is my 10th great-grandfather and you are welcome to hang out with me, if you want!

That is excellent!

We stayed in Stuart Castle near Inverness, built by the 3rd Earl Moray,
James Stewart. Your Earl is undoubtedly a relative if not a direct descendant.

that castle stay was one of the top ten experiences of my life. DH and I went once, and several years later brought relatives to stay in the castle. Google it! It is so charming!

Edited to add:I looked ip the Earls of Moray (and I know they were very powerful) and see that 6th Earl is, indeed, g-grandson of the Castle builder.

edited to add more: ooooooo, I see they/you have Cawdor Campbells in their/your bloodline. That is so very exciting! I love Cawdor Castle! Is it also near
Inverness and is currently open to the public with great gardens.
There is a fascinating book by Lisa Campbell about her life growing up in that castle,with a crazy father.

[Ultralight]

But isn’t geneology just history in the service of vanity? Being bored by history but fascinated by your own pedigree is like being uninterested in art but interested in your own picture.

Well said.

[Tybee]

yeah, the 6th Earl was great-grandson of the 3rd Earl who built the castle. How very cool you got to stay there!!!

[JaneV2.0]

But isn’t geneology just history in the service of vanity? Being bored by history but fascinated by your own pedigree is like being uninterested in art but interested in your own picture.

I don't think so. My background isn't terribly interesting, but it's a lot more immediate-seeming than a list of dates and wars. Genealogy is a peg we can hang our history on; from there we can widen the view to see a bigger picture. I find everyone's genealogy interesting--from programs like Who Do You Think You Are? and Finding Your Roots (Henry Louis Gates' slave-era family story is particularly compelling), to books like The Wandering Gene and the Indian Princess, about Jewish genes recently discovered among Mexican populations. I don't know why we should be apologetic about taking an interest in our own family history, but genealogy opens a door to so much more than that.

[iris lilies]

yeah, the 6th Earl was great-grandson of the 3rd Earl who built the castle. How very cool you got to stay there!!!

I added more to my post, additionas about your Cawdor
Campbell relatives. One of the Moray Earls married a Cawdor Campbell. They say “Cawdor” to distinguish that branch of Campbell from the fifty other branches of Campbells in Scotland.

[Ultralight]

I found out my ancestry. It was amusing. I mostly forgot about it 20 minutes later.

[Tybee]

I added more to my post about your Cawdor
Campbell,relatives. One of the Moray Earls married a Cawdor Campbell. They say “Cawdor” to distinguish that branch of Campbell from the fifty other branches of Campbells in Scotland.

I will need to learn more about this--I did not know there was a Campbell connection. I will look into the Lisa Campbell book; I love learning about castle gardens and of course eccentric families. But the gardens!!!!

[iris lilies]

I found out my ancestry. It was amusing. I mostly forgot about it 20 minutes later.

We havent been able to crack the genealogy code on our Scottish i,migrant, and I think we have pretty much given up.Maddening. And it wasnt even that long ago, he came to the U.S. around 1880’s. For decades a couple of my competent relatives have worked on it, but no luck. Makes me crazy.

[iris lilies]

I will need to learn more about this--I did not know there was a Campbell connection. I will look into the Lisa Campbell book; I love learning about castle gardens and of course eccentric families. But the gardens!!!!

Ok, sorry, maybe you arent a direct descendent of Cawdor
campbells, but 3rd Earl of
Moray’s daughter married Hugh Campbell, Earl of Cawdor. So I guess that Cawdor connection is in your cousins.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jame..._Earl_of_Moray

[ToomuchStuff]

But isn’t geneology just history in the service of vanity? Being bored by history but fascinated by your own pedigree is like being uninterested in art but interested in your own picture.

Not if your genetics includes a marker that is known for some disease or such. There is a lot about genetics we know, but I suspect there is still a lot we don't.

For the most part, I know more then I would want to know about my history, but still fear that some day we may find genetic markers that make someone more susceptible to certain kinds of behaviors that may have a biological basis.