Aurelia Posted May 3, 2009 Report Share Posted May 3, 2009 Any volunteers? http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/n...est/8007969.stm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northern Neil Posted May 3, 2009 Report Share Posted May 3, 2009 Any volunteers? http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/n...est/8007969.stm 'Despite the evidence still being traceable it is unlikely that the population in north west Wales will look Mediterranean however.' ' Hmmmm... The mediterranean appearance of many Welsh, Irish and Breton individuals is well attested - I even have two work colleagues who come from Wales, and and have a distinctly Spanish 'look'. Oppenheimer (Origins of the Brtitish) comments on this and even provides photographs. I could also give as examples 'The Edge' from U2, and the actor Stanley Baker (Zulu). Spanish looking? You bet, boyo! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caldrail Posted May 3, 2009 Report Share Posted May 3, 2009 According to Stephen Fry on QI (always a source of astonishing ephemera) the bulk of Britons today have genetic roots in Basques from Northern Spain, who crossed into Britain during the Ice Age when the English Channel was only a river valley. His words, not mine, but I also note Tacitus speculated on a spanish origin for the Silures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aurelia Posted May 3, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 3, 2009 Hmmmm... The mediterranean appearance of many Welsh, Irish and Breton individuals is well attested - I even have two work colleagues who come from Wales, and and have a distinctly Spanish 'look'. Oppenheimer (Origins of the Brtitish) comments on this and even provides photographs. I could also give as examples 'The Edge' from U2, and the actor Stanley Baker (Zulu).Spanish looking? You bet, boyo! Let's not forget the Scots - lots of swarthy types up there too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Formosus Viriustus Posted May 3, 2009 Report Share Posted May 3, 2009 Salvete ! According to John Morris ( again ) the Irish folkore relates that they originally came from Spain. That tale had been long discarded as pure fantasy. However, Morris claims that 'recent' (his book was published in 1973, I believe) genetic research had proven that to be the case. More extra ordinary. The Irish would have originated somewhere in the neighbourhood of the Danube Delta. Migrated upstream that river and then downstream the Rhine to end up in the present day Netherlands. This over a very long period of time. From the Netherlands they migrated by boat to Spain. ( I have even heard it mentioned from someone who is not Irish, but very familiar with them that they claim to come from North Africa !) I have no idea if there is anything true about that at all. I have read Morris' book several months ago. (Can't seem to get much reading going these days. I wonder why.) I don't have it at hand and I am in no position to say anything sensible about it. It seemed rather well reseached to me but wiki says he is not a trusthworthy historian. (John Morris' The Age of Arthur Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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