[MR] BBC: 6th C. Scots From Cramond

[Garth Groff and Sally Sanford]

Noble Friends, Especially Fellow Scots,

I've been sitting on this story long enough, and since there hasn't been
much to comment upon from the History Blog or Wikipedia, it's time has come.

Back in 1975 an excavation of a Roman bath house at Cramond (near
Edinburgh) unearthed 14 skeletons, nine adults and five infants. These
people were assumed to have been related. Further research showed they
weren't Romans at all, but were 6th Century Scots, or what eventually
became Scots. Now further research on tooth enamel isotopes has shed more
light on these individuals' lives.

Most apparently were native to the Cramond/Edinburgh area. One female
member of the group spent her childhood on Scotland's west coast before
settling in Cramond. One of the males came from the Southern Uplands,
possibly from around Loch Lomond. I find this very exciting, as my real
ancestors are from that area, once the northern marches of the independent
Welsh-speaking kingdom of Strathclyde.

The story includes a reconstructed image of one of these men, so you can
come face-to-face with an ancient Scot at
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-60861932 .

Yours Aye,


Lord Mungo Napier, Laird of Mallard Lodge  🦆