This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/an/0hG.2ACEB/17.21.1.1.1.1 Message Board Post: Hi Adrian, I read one of your post from 2004 and you mentioned a place in France called La Burel. "Burel" in French relates to a coarse woolen cloth from the middle ages and may denote the trade of one who weaves such a cloth. "Burel' in an old, unabridged English dictionary I looked at Northfield, MA, means "a course vulgar man", also. This could have been due to the nature of the coarse cloth becoming a metaphor, I suppose. I believe that Burel in French could be a name like the English Carpenter, Copper, Smith, etc., names that denote trades and occupations. La Burel in France may have been a center of the trade at one time or maybe it was named after the a successful trader in the coarse cloth. Who knows. You will find a reference to this in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. I think the story is "The Miller's Tale. Also, as you research the history of the French don't forget 1066 AD and William the Conqueror. I recommend that you read Eleanor of Aquitaine and The Four Kings by Kelly, (I think?) Other info. Burel may have it's origins in the Alsace-Lorraine region of France with later migrations to the the Cote d'Azur region. Questions here. Here's a tip about family resemblances: Sometimes you can't figure who looks like who until they have run up many years. Good luck. I hope you make the trip and if you do take lots of pictures! Butch