I always had a desire to visit the alluring Scottish Highlands, so when I had an opportunity to travel to London for business recently, I decided to stay in the UK for another week and visit Scotland to explore my family’ s roots.
This is something everyone who gets the chance should do.
Courtesy of Micheal H. Cottman
The trip to London came up suddenly so I didn’ t have an opportunity to turn this side trip to Scotland into a long ancestral research probe. It was more of an exciting scouting trip for the future and a chance to explore many of Scotland’ s mesmerizing natural wonders.
But my ancestry is an important part of who I am, and I’ ve always had a passion for history. To look at me, it’ s clear that my family is multiracial and anyone familiar with race in America, would know of the“ one drop rule,” that defined the Jim Crow era following Reconstruction. This rule provided that anyone with just one drop of Black blood was considered Black.
In my case, genetic testing has revealed that I am approximately 60 percent Northern European, with that line of my ancestors hailing from Scotland and Ireland. The remainder of my family tree is rooted in West Africa and among Native Americans.
My family name is“ Waddell” – also spelled“ Waddill” – on my mother’ s side and it has history in Scotland, with its origins tracing back centuries. According to my family’ s research, our ancestry is likely traced back to the small village of Stow, which is located about an hour from Edinburgh, Scotland’ s capital.
Alison Lavigne and a Scottish actor outside Edinburgh Castle, Scotland.
Urquhart Castle, Scotland.
Stow dates to the 7th century and now has a population of just 700 people.
For me, Scotland was a good place to begin a search of my
Location: Isle of Skye, Scotland. 33