Diane Lindsay has received her ancestral DNA results and, although not revelatory, she’s quietly thrilled at what they confirm about her genetic history

THOUGHTS ON…

What makes me

Diane Lindsay

Hmm. Well, I received my DNA results from Ancestry amazingly quickly, considering they arrived on Christmas Eve. Having looked at them so many times, what originally seemed puzzlingly brief has now resolved into quite an interesting if somewhat anticipated set of likely origins. It’s nice to confirm that most of what I have on my tree back to the early 17th century is largely what I could have predicted from history alone.

I’m still pondering on how useful I shall find these results in a genealogical sense, but romantically, I’m quietly thrilled to have it confirmed that I am roughly one-third Viking, one-third North Midland British and one-third Celtic. This last had me rushing for my bodhrán drum (which I can’t play but stirs my blood so much my long suffering husband bought me one to pretend on). Then I remembered that the Celts got everywhere almost before everyone and then spread everywhere else in Europe. So a more detailed breakdown suggests my Celtish forebears include more Norsemen, a drop of Andalusian, a bunch of Gauls and a rogue Caucasian (1%).