Understanding our Y-DNA Journey: From Africa to Scotland

As we all know, everyone’s ancestors lived at one time in Africa. What separates us thereafter is based on when the group that we associate with (using ancient skeletons and their DNA discovered across the globe) and the timeline that they departed Africa as well as the route that they took to modern day. 

Using our y-chromosome DNA markers, when our ancestors left Africa, they immediately took a north-westerly route after arriving into present day Saudi Arabia. From Saudi Arabia they went into present day Turkey, Bulgaria, Serbia, and Czechia – all within the Paleolithic timeframe (c. 2,500,000–200,000 years ago). 

 

In what appears to be the Stone Age or Mesolithic timeframe (approximately from 10,000 BCE to 8,000 BCE) they continued into Germany and the Netherlands into England around the area of present day London. By this timeframe they were hunters and gathers, so they were probably following the migration of the animal they hunted. 

 

It’s important to note that at about 7,000 BC the first humans cross into Ireland from England using the land bridge that connected Cornwall and southeast Ireland and existed before the rising glacier water cut it off forming the Irish Sea. Before this period, much of Ireland was unoccupied and was covered in ice. Our timeline places our ancestors in Ireland during the Neolithic period, or the latter period of the Stone Age. This would seem to indicate that our ancestors may have been members of the first humans into Ireland. The population in Ireland numbered about 8,000 at that time. They remained in Ireland through the Stone Age and for about 4,000+ years before traveling east sometime before the Bronze Age. 

 

During the Bronze Age (3300 BC to 1200 BC), the climate of Ireland deteriorated and extensive deforestation took place. The population of Ireland at the end of the Bronze Age was probably in excess of 100,000, and may have been as high as 200,000. We find that our ancestors (via y-DNA) had crossed over into Scotland immediately before or around the period of the Bronze Age. Our ancestors remained in Scotland through the Bronze Age and Iron Age up until some period of modern day. This means approximately 6,000+ years before the Roman and Viking invaders came into Ireland, Scotland and Great Britain. 

 

The photo to the left is the journey of our y-chromosome DNA out of Africa up to about 1400 AD. By comparing you or your loved ones y-DNA Haplogroup results who has tested with Family Tree DNA (I-FTA52805, William Gowin b. 1728 kits), you can see where your results place you or your loved one and their match to an ancient ancestor, depending upon the amount of markers tested. For example, those who have not tested beyond 37-markers are probably showing I-M223 as their terminal haplogroup or “SNP”. Looking on the map, this means that the ancient ancestor who is known to all males who descend from I-M223 was residing in present day Czechia during the Paleolithic timeframe. If you tested up to 111 markers, the Family Tree DNA results as I-L126 and the ancestor timeline would place that match within the Bronze Age. Results of I-Y4751 are probably for those who took additional SNP tests and would place that ancestor within Scotland, including those who have tested BigY-700.

The men who are known as “I-M223”, “I-M284”, “I-L126”, “I-Y4751” and others were all well before surnames and were likely very prominent men who bore many offspring. You can see the migration from Germany through the Netherlands into England, Ireland, and Scotland clearer using the photo on the right, which takes us to modern day. Those who have tested BigY-700 are allowing us the ability to learn more about the men who lived within the last 800 years.

 

I hope this all helps you understand the journey of our Y-chromosome DNA and how we left Africa, traveled across Europe, into Ireland, and then 5,000 years ago finally traveled into Scotland! It hopefully helps explain why those who tested at 111-markers and below are indicating different haplogroups or SNPs from one another (based on markers tested).

Scotland: How Y-Chromosome DNA is Providing Our History

 

For many years, y-chromosome DNA has been used to shed information on a male's direct paternal ancestral history. This is because y-chromosomes are passed from father-to-son with little to no change over all generations and these genetic signatures are the best way to determine the time to most recent common ancestor (TMRCA) between two males who share the same surname. Y-DNA can also shed light on the approximate timeline with males who don't share the same surname. 

When two males don't share a common surname, the period at which they match may be before the use of surnames or it could be due to a non-paternal event (NPE). It is not uncommon to find that two males match one another at a period after surnames due to a NPE, when there is a misattributed paternity, or because children (and some adults) were embraced as a family member and therefore assumed that family surname as their own. At times, it may be difficult to know whether there was an NPE when documenting the family tree, but participating in y-chromosome DNA testing will begin to shed light on the true story.

We have collected the y-chromosome DNA from over sixteen (16) males who descend from four documented sons of William Gowin, b. ~1728 in unknown and d. ~1806 in Madison County, KY, many of whom have tested at the McGowan DNA Project at Family Tree DNA. These results confirm the relation of these four sons to one another and infer to William Gowin who was first recorded in 1752 in that portion of Lunenburg County, VA that became Bedford County two years later. 

The results of our Y-DNA strongly indicates that our ancestral home is within or very close to Argyll. This is based on the matches using results from the Big Y-700 test from several of William Gowin's male descendants. Our current single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) result is I-FTA52805 and at this time we have reasons to believe this is the Y-DNA signature of William Gowin. 

Using the "Block Tree" tool within Family Tree DNA under the Big Y results, SNP I-FTA52805 is currently considered a "brother" of I-FT343071 and both are currently considered "sons" of SNP I-FT343893. Mr. Macdonald's last known ancestor was born c.1781 in Lismore, Argyleshire, Scotland. What these matching results with Macdonald does confirm with little argument, is that the ancestors of William Gowin were also within Scotland, and more likely to have lived in the area of Argyll, Scotland. 

Also within I-FT343071 is a Smith. Mr. Smith's last known ancestor is believed to have been born c.1821 in Ireland or Scotland. He doesn't know much about his ancestor, so this isn't confirmed. Mr. Smith does know that his family immigrated to Nova Scotia Canada in the mid-1800s and have lived there since. Nova Scotia is considered "Scotland West" in many genealogical circles because of how many Scots over the last 300 years have migrated to this location. Mr. Smith joined YFull and we were able to obtain a timeframe to last known common ancestor. The results were ~550 years ago, or around 1472. This would seem to indicate a long history of the "son of the smith" occupational surname for both our family and his. 

A letter written in the early 1900s between two cousins who were 2nd great-granddaughters of William Gowin, stated that they were told the GOWIN line came to America from Glasgow. The city of Glasgow was a major shipping port for tobacco from America, and primarily Virginia, during the colonial period, and it served as a port for those departing Scotland for America. The distance from Argyleshire to Glasgow is as little as 10-15 miles away, and 118 miles away from Lismore Scotland. Glasgow was a major shipping port for tobacco to the colonies during this timeframe and it had slowed enough at times where tobacco was replaced with Scots who were banished or chose (sometimes forced into) indentured servitude.  

Because we match Smith and Macdonald at approximately 550 years ago, we know that our y-chromosome DNA is of a haplogroup believed to be indigenous to Scotland, having been there for 7,000+ years, and the history of Mr. Macdonald and his last known ancestor, I will make the following statements: The common ancestor we share with Mr. Smith and Mr. Macdonald was most likely within Scotland in the 15th Century, living on the western side, and possibly from a family who at times lived off the coast on the Hebrides. Macdonald would seem to connect our family to Clan Donald. It is very possible that our family remained within Scotland until our last known ancestor migrated to the colonies. Between 1696 and 1700 there was a famine in Scotland, followed by hard economic times, and then the war of 1745 which created the Act of Proscription and many clan chiefs decided to raise sheep instead of allowing people to live on their lands. The migration of single Scotsman to the colonies continued up until around 1770. 

Before this recent Y-DNA Big Y matching, there was always a strong connection to Scotland based on matches at all matching marker levels, and the Y-DNA results have shown that our family was on the British Isles as many as 7,000 years ago (I-M284/L1195).