The Sacred Art Of Keeping A Secret!

Secrecy! Every family has its secrets! They may be dark and sinister, or they might be stupid and pointless like the ones my family have. Over the years I've managed to prise some family info out of my Grandmother which she was sworn to secrecy over, probably 60 years ago or more. But, the world has moved on since then! Yes, it appears my Great Grandfather had a child by another woman before he was married. My Grandmother knows the identity of the child, but cannot reveal it. Honestly, the World could end if she were to reveal this terrible secret which has been her burden for so many years.

The other big family secret is the identity of my Grandfather. I started researching our family tree when I was about 19 and immediately questioned my father who said he had no idea. When he was away to work I went looking in his desk and found a piece of paper with a little family tree sketched out on it. It said my Grandfather's name was Eric Boon/Boone. I'd never heard the name before that day. I questioned my father further and he said I'd have to ask my Grandmother. When I broached the topic with her, to say she was reticent to talk about it would be an understatement. My Father is a product of the post-war celebrations, in my mind anyhow.

The story, as far as I could make it out, was as follows: My Grandmother was 19 and in the ATS (Auxiliary Territorial Service). The year was 1946 and she was stationed at the Bridge-of-Don barracks near Aberdeen. There she met the dashing (5 years older) Eric Boon, Tank Seargeant, who had seen service all over Europe during the War. I'm sure she said North Africa, Italy and France. Anyway, he'd sweet-talked her with marriage proposals and all that and she got pregnant. Then she found out he'd been seeing other women as well, fell out with him, he still wanted to get married, but she gave him the brush off. Besides that, all she knew was, that he came from Leeds and he was about 25 at the time.

Anyhow, several years later, when quizzed again, she tells me, his name was actually John (as is my fathers) and that Eric was just what they called him, because there was a famous boxer called Eric Boon, at that time. It was suggested that the boxer Eric Boon may have been his Uncle. There isn't much to go on there really, I don't even want to meet my Grandfather, presuming he's still alive. It's just that as a genealogist, it's tracing the line that gets my interest. The challenge of tracking back the family line, and believe me I've tried numerous avenues with no success, which suggests to me that perhaps even what little I've been told isn't entirely true, or essential details have been omitted or corrupted.

Anyway, that's just my family. My wife's is far worse when it comes to secrets, but if I start writing about those I could land in big trouble. So, if you have a dirty family secret, please feel free to leave a comment about it, so that the rest of us can know that it's not just our families that are weird!

Damn Those Eyes!

I reckon I have a pretty accurate ability when it comes to being able to judge a person's character instantaneously and on first impressions alone, and I don't think I've ever been wrong in my judgement. An individual says a lot without even talking, and I would never judge someone just on what they actually say, it's their facial expressions and body language which speak volumes. I find that the eyes in particular tell me what a person is like, especially if they're nasty, the eyes give it away so clearly. It's got to be said, I've seen total strangers in the street, caught their gaze, and been very frightened by what I've seen there. Many of you might know exactly what I mean, they have what you can only call "The eyes of a killer"! Whether they have killed, or only have the potential to kill is questionable, but certainly their eyes say that they're more than capable of doing so.

I probably lied when I said I don't judge people based on what they say, I do, but as a secondary objective. Rather than revealing what is hidden, as the face does, the voice (and what they actually say) is more indicative of how intelligent a person is, but can be deceptive, as an intelligent person can quite easily portay themselves as less intelligent than they really are on first meeting, if they think it could be advantageous in some way, later!

The reason for this waffling, in case you were wondering... well, I read in some newspaper yesterday, that some young lad had pitted his intuitive skills against several psychics (if I could find the article it would have taken up more of this post) and demonstrated more accurate results than they had. This young fella, had been teaching himself how to read body language, since he was a kid, and could infer shedloads, even from the most miniscule of signals. Apparently, the amount of information he could detect from a stranger, was phenomenal, and he made the psychics look like total frauds. I'm sure this guy will earn a lot more attention in the near future, so I may well come back to him then, whoever he is!

So You Think You're Royal?

The TV was so bad last night (have I said this before?), that I was just flicking through the channels when I found this show "So You Think You're Royal?", which of course was right up my street. A bit of genealogy, a bit of mystery, and of course the massive anti-climax when the people concerned realise that they're descended from mere peasantry after all. Such a disappointment for them, but of course they're on telly, so they have to appear to take it with good grace.

In this particular show, there were 2 cousins who thought they were descended from King Charles II and his mistress Nell Gwyn. Nell had 2 children by the King apparently, from whom are descended the Beauclair Dukes Of St.Albans. The family in this case had the unusual surname Sowerbutt and a Grandfather with a penchant for telling tall tales (proven by the fact that he managed to have 2 families on the go at the same time, without discovery).

Since the genealogical evidence was sketchy to say the least, some peerage expert suggested tracking down relatives to see if they had also heard the story of proposed royal descent, since the more of them who had been told the story, the more likely it would be that it was true. So off went the genealogist and tracked down 150 relatives (impressive researching). Sadly, apart from the 2 individuals in question, nobody else had ever heard the story, thereby proving that their Grandfather was a complete fibber.

I on the other hand, am obviously of Royal descent! Do I have proof? No, but my Grandmother's parents were Irish, so obviously I must have royal blood. At one time virtually everyone in Ireland had royal connections, and with surnames like Kane and Hagen (King Kane and King Hagen were sub-kings responsible for bearing the crown of the O'Neill High-King at his coronation) in the family, how can I fail not to be truly regal! I rest my case, no genealogy is required, and given that I've delved tentatively into the Irish records before, I would say little or no chance of finding any!

The Cult Of Celebrity!

Following on loosely from yesterday's post, I've been wondering about the danger posed to scientific progress from the Cult Of Celebrity, which seems to be gripping our once pioneering nation, formerly at the forefront of most scientific discoveries. You don't have to examine the attitudes of today's youth too closely to see what it is they aspire to. Where once exploration and adventure were the dreams of the young, unfortunately the modern child dreams of being famous for being famous, because where the term "celebrity" once referred to someone who was justifiably famous, now it has to come to signify an individual who has achieved fame merely by being thrust (entirely voluntarily) into the limelight, regardless of ability.

Once again I blame the scourge that is the reality show, in which I would include the likes of; X-Factor, Big Brother, American Idol etc. I could go on, but writing their actual names is sapping me of the will to live. The thirst for fame is unquenchable. Even when these non-entities have had their moment in the Sun, their 15 minutes of fame, it's not enough, they only want it more than ever. And, foolish TV execs give them more opprotunities to show us that they still exist. Notice how many ex-reality show contestants return to appear in Celebrity shows (thus indicating that they have indeed graduated to celebrity status), from ballroom dancing to ice-skating. These shows also provide a convenient platform on which jaded and fading stars can attempt to regain anything of their former glory.

Something clearly needs to be done to clarify the situation to the modern youth. Fame is not the be all and end all that they think it is, and for most, attempting to become famous will only end in bitter disappointment. The saddest part is that many of these people genuinely believe that they are talented, when clearly their talents lie elsewhere (if they actually have any. I'll bet there are thousands of individuals out there who have their hearts set on becoming famous when they have genuine skills that could be employed successfully elsewhere. But, their lust for adoration, the need to be noticed, blinkers them from real life. Wake up, it's a dream, get a real job, and do something worthwhile for yourself and for mankind!

The Golden Age Of Television!

Alright, you don't really need to know my age, however for the purpose of this post it's relevant. For several years now I've noticed a steady decline in the quality of television programmes. Whether TV is being deliberately dumbed-down to make us a nation of mindless morons, or it's just too much effort to make anything worth watching, I can't say for sure. Possibly, a mixture of both reasonings. The fact is, I look back on the halcyon days of televisual festing that myself and my generation enjoyed in the late 70's and early 80's, with gerat nostalgia.

Who can forget programmes like:

• Monkey
• The Saint
• Sapphire and Steel
• Tales Of the Unexpected
• The Professionals
• Duty Free
• Alas Smith & Jones

Those are but a few. Kids TV was equally fantastic, with Will O' The Wisp, Jamie and the Magic Torch, Bagpuss, Captain Pugwash and so on and so forth. However, what's truly missing from modern TV scheduling in particular is the Saturday night super line-up. When I was a kid, the whole family could sit down on Saturday night, expecting and usually getting an excellent evening's entertainment. Nowadays, it's all reality shows and fame hunting wannabe shows. It's bland, pointless, non-entertaining and frankly patronising.

So why do they get away with it? Well to be honest, I think people would sit and watch anything, so the fact that they watch reality shows should be no surprise. The latest Big Brother series is in a way ironic I reckon. They've filled a house with empty-headed imbeciles and empty-headed imbeciles quite happily sit for hours lapping up their non-sensical babble and pearls of wisdom, ie:

Liam mentions Romeo and Juliet.

Brian: "What's Romeo and Juliet? Ain't Romeo that geezer out of So Solid Crew?"

Liam: "No, Romeo and Juliet is a play by Shakespeare!"

Brian: "Who's Shakespeare?"

Liam "He's a famous playwright!"

Brian: "What? Somebody's famous for writing plays?"

Liam: "Yeah, everyone's heard of him!"

Brian: "I didn't really pay much attention at school!"

Personally, I would question whether Brian ever went to school, becaus in my recolletion, you had to do at least a couple Shakespeare plays in Secondary. That and Lord Of the Flies... unavoidable! To be fair, that conversation is slightly entertaining, but just think to yourself how amny people must have been watching that and thinking "Yeah, who the hell IS Shakespeare?" And that's the really sad part, what the hell are kids learning at school? Maybe if they showed some Shakespeare on the TV, kids would have a better idea who he was. However, I suspect that there's a much bigger can of worms to be opened, once you start probing the minds of young adults and comparing what they should know with what they actually do know. I suspect severe deficiencies in several departments! I'm 36 by the way!

The Origins Of Modern English!

Language, something most of us take for granted, it comes so easily when you're a child. Children are able to learn any language if introduced to it at a very early age. But there are so many languages in the modern world, so surely anyone who is bilingual would have a distinct advantage in the job market you would think. I've noticed as a UK national, that most other countries are way ahead of us when it comes to learning other languages. I've been abroad a few times and I've noticed that not only do a surprising amount of people talk in English as their second language, they do so surprisingly well.

So, where did this language of ours come from? Most of us will have heard that English is derived from Proto-Indo-European, but what does that mean? It's sugeested that a race of white people from the Caucus Mountains area (hence Caucasians) expanded out and reached the Indus Valley where they formed the Vedic culture. They then brought back that language to Europe.

The Celtic language was borne from Proto-Indo-European in 2 forms P-Celtic and Q-Celtic, as was Old English which was brought to the UK by Germanic tribes (Angles, Saxons and Jutes). As the Kings of England spoke English that language became widespread although probably intermingled with Celtic. The Viking incursions into Britain added many other words to our vocabulary, as did the Norman invasion. You'd be surprised at how many English words have a French origin. The final contributor was Latin, writers like Shakespeare and Marlowe found the English language prohibitive in scope so introduced many Latin words into their writing, which we still use to this day.

So modern English is really a hotch-potch of languages, but all from a common ancestor: Proto-Indo-European! The odd thing is, that English is changing. There are so many regional accents in England, that the traditional well-spoken English is becoming a rarity, with slang words continually polluting the word pool. Strangely enough, the best spoken English in the UK is in Inverness, up here in the North of Scotland, and Doric (the dialect I grew up with) is considered to be the closest thing to Old English still in existence. We use words like "nicht" and "brither", which are pronounced pretty much the same way as the Anglo-Saxons said them, betraying their Germanic origins. It's a funny old thing, language!

Rain Down On Me... From A Great Height!

Rain rain, nothing but rain, but don't worry! Only a fool wouldn't say that climate change was to blame, of course it's climate change. But is it man-made? Well that's another question isn't it. Vastly conflicting reports on that particular aspect of it. Anyhow, it's been pouring down here for several days now, and although we're OK where we're at, I suspect others (perhaps in Elgin) could be in for a bad time of it.

Over the last 10 years or so, each year has seen greater flooding here in the UK, than the previous. Of course, in a cosmic redressing of the balance, some poor sods will be suffering severe drought someplace. Nature is indeed mysterious.

Since the waether is so bad, I spent the day re-writing my CV. The most recent version was 2 years old and things have changed quite a lot for me in that time. On another note, my daughter's school sports were meant to be today. They were originally supposed to be last Friday, but demonstrating amazing foresight, they cancelled it because the grass was slightly damp. Well you could go bog snorkelling there now!

Apocalypto Now!

Last night we watched Apocalypto, and even though I knew it wasn't going be remotely historically accurate especially given Mel Gibson's track record rewriting history (possibly to suit his devout Catholic agenda), I was prepared to give it a chance. I'd like to see how he would have dealt with the Spanish conquest mind you.

All in all the story's pretty basic. The tribe belonging to the central character Jaguar Paw, get attacked (full on and brutally) by another more powerful tribe. He manges to hide his pregnant wife and kid in a deep pit then gets himself captured with the rest of them. Their captors take them off to be sacrificed in order to appease Kukulkan because there is drought, pestilence etc. By some seemingly divine intervention (you can imagine how this appealed to Gibson) Jaguar Paw manages to escape. His ex-captors badly want him dead, but he has to survive and get back to his wife and child before they die in the pit.

It's only at this point that the film really comes to life. He's being pursued relentlessly through the jungle, trying to survive and well... it's classic action. However, I doubt that this is a film you would want to watch repeatedly. My wife got a bit fed up with the subtitles, but I think that in that respect, Gibson got it right. American accents on native tribesmen just would have been awful. In other respects, it seems that every commonly known aspect of Mayan culture is rolled out to please the viewer. Probably attempting to enable us to relate to historical concepts we're already familiar with ie. blood sacrifice, their ball courts etc. The cheesiest part however was the arrival of the white man at the end, I just couldn't see the point of it. Still, worthwhile seeing, if only once!

European Constitution Or Fourth Reich?

So, Tony's done a deal on the revived European Constitution, and it only remains for Gordon Brown to ratify it ASAP (at least before anyone can examine the detail). What's more, Tony has allegedly secured agreement on Britain retaining all the powers we wanted to keep, so a referendum will no longer be necessary (he says!).

That's the official story anyway, but as a Eurosceptic, I doubt that there's much more than a thinly veiled bunch of double-dealing going on right there. Only last week it was said that the UK's desire to hold on to those key powers would potentially scupper the whole deal, if we insisted on it. Then it goes through without any complaints at all? So, what's changed? Obvious really, it's clearly been agreed that we can keep those powers, just until the signature dries. As soon as we've signed up to it, the fineprint will reveal that each right that we've retained will be slowly whittled away piece by piece, until we're powerless against the jackboots of the Eurocratic Army!

First up, Germany and France (probably Italy too) want to re-write the history books, that part about the World Wars, let's play those down for a start, or better still, remove them altogether. Genocide of the Jews, can't have that either, because let's face it, we thought we'd won the War, but no, that was just a battle, the real victors are about to emerge and take control of their empire, just as they originally intended.

The whole EU thing just stinks so badly. The only thing that will come out of bringing so many countries together is, when one of those countries realises it's getting a raw deal and wants out, the big guns will say "Too late, you signed up to it, try and get out and we'll crush you with a New Blitzkreig!" So then, every country will take their side, and you have another World War.... nice.

What's more, the Eurocrats are as corrupt as can be and refuse to allow any auditing into their financial double-dealings. Those who were caught flagrantly stealing billions of euros were pensioned off with a pat on the back... absolutely ridiculous. Believe me, the whole thing will end in tears, it can't fail to!

Wave Upon Wave Upon Wave!

I'm currently half-way through reading David Miles "The Tribes of Britain", and it's fascinating reading. I guess that it's particulalry tailored for me in the sense that I'm a keen genealogist as well as deeply intersted in history. Probably should have done a history degree, still might!

The book examines the inhabitation of the British Isles from pre-history right up until the modern day. What is truly fascinating, is just how wrong our ingrained perceptions of our own history are. For instance, the Roman invasion of Britain. It would not be uncommon for many British citizens living today, to suppose that they had some Roman ancestry, seeing how the Romans invaded Britain and ruled it for almost 400 years. Well that assumption would be mistaken, for the majority of the Roman army weren't Roman in the sense we would regard them to be. The majority of the army were legions from Northern France, Belgium, Spain and North Africa even. There were very few Italians in there.

Secondly, the Romans formed garrisons across the country, with some men undoubtedly taking local women for wives, but it's doubtful that men who were already married would have brought their families across with them. In all likelihood, recruits from British tribes would soon begin to form local garrisons, avoiding bringing more troops across from the continent where they were engaged in fierce fighting with the Germanic tribes.

The Norman invasion follows a similar pattern. While many individuals possess names of Norman origin, it is unlikely that they are descended from any of the knights who accompanied William the Conqueror to Britain. Those knights were aloof Frenchmen, the majority of whom married the daughters of their fellow knights, and kept it that way for centuries. They merely replaced the Anglo-Saxon Chieftains who ruled previously. Their input to the gene pool was minimal.

Even the Viking incursions into the British Isles, which occured sporadically over 2 centuries, but intensified towards the end left little impact genetically, even in the Scottish Isles, the DNA demonstrates only 25% of Scandinavian genes.

The fact is, that the majority of the British people are mainly descended from the original inhabitants of the British Isles, who were not even Celts as you would suppose, I'm talking about the original Neolithic and Iron Age inhabitants, who only adopted the Celtic customs and dress. Yes, even the English when tested demonstrated 80% DNA belonging to the original Brtish tribes. That other 20% has in all likelihood been brought in by foreign traders who settled in this land since the Norman invasion, particularly those from Flanders and Brabantia, who brought their much needed skills over here.

So, where does that leave us genetically? Does it really matter? Perhaps our most recent peaceful influxes from overseas will have a much greater impact than anything that's gone before. It's getting to the point, here at least in NE Scotland, where the local people may soon be a minority. You might think I'm joking, I'm not, and at the risk of sounding xenophobic, I don't think this country can handle the number of immigrants coming in if it's sustained at present levels. It will reach a tipping point! And when it does, I'll blog it!