When Scotland Was Jewish

The popular image of Scotland is dominated by widely recognized elements of Celtic culture. But a significant non–Celtic influence on Scotland’s history has been largely ignored for centuries? This book argues that much of Scotland’s history and culture from 1100 forward is Jewish. The authors provide evidence that many of the national heroes, villains, rulers, nobles, traders, merchants, bishops, guild members, burgesses, and ministers of Scotland were of Jewish descent, their ancestors originating in France and Spain.
Much of the traditional historical account of Scotland, it is proposed, rests on fundamental interpretive errors, perpetuated in order to affirm Scotland’s identity as a Celtic, Christian society. A more accurate and profound understanding of Scottish history has thus been buried.
The authors’ wide-ranging research includes examination of census records, archaeological artifacts, castle carvings, cemetery inscriptions, religious seals, coinage, burgess and guild member rolls, noble genealogies, family crests, portraiture, and geographic place names.

Elizabeth Caldwell Hirschman is a professor of marketing at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey and a professor at the University of Virginia–Wise. She has written widely on genealogy and ethnic identity.
Donald N. Yates is an American genealogist, cultural historian and DNA investigator. He lives in Longmont, Colorado. For more information visit his official site at www.donaldyates.com.

Elizabeth Caldwell Hirschman and Donald N. Yates
Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 264
Bibliographic Info: 71 photos, charts, maps, appendices, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2013 [2007]
pISBN: 978-0-7864-7709-8
eISBN: 978-0-7864-5522-5
Imprint: McFarland

Preface      1

1. The Origins of Scotland      3
2. DNA and Population Studies: “But Why Do You Think They Were Jewish?”      24
3. Genealogies of the First Wave of Jewish Families, 1100–1350 C.E.      44
4. Genealogies of the Second Wave of Jewish Families, 1350–1700 C.E.      71
5. The Early Jews of France, 700–1200 C.E.      79
6. When Did Jews Arrive in Scotland?      88
7. To Scotland’s Stirling, Ayr, and Glasgow      97
8. The Knights Templar, Freemasons and Cabala in Scotland      131
9. The Judaic Colony at Aberdeen      152
10. The Religions of Scotland: Did Presbyterianism Have Crypto-Jewish Origins?      192
11. Jews in the National Consciousness of Scotland: Scott’s Ivanhoe      205

Appendix A: Raw Scores for Participants in Melungeon DNA Surname Project      215
Appendix B: Naming and Jewish Priest-Kings      218
Appendix C: Early Jewish Names in France and England      220
Appendix D: Davidic Jewish Genealogies      229
Appendix E: Border Reiver DNA      232
Chapter Notes      233
Bibliography      247
Index      253

“fascinating”—Ancestry Worship Genealogy; “‘brazen’…blatantly contradicts established notions of Scottish history; and that is precisely the intent…deliberate, serious…extensive bibliography”—Reference & Research Book News.