In a message dated 9/1/03 4:55:05 PM !!!First Boot!!!, jkt54@ktc.com writes: > Just a guess, but they could be of Jewish, Gypsy, or Melungeon extraction. > Dark hair and dark eyes and very dark skin is also the "pre" viking celts, think Black Irish or Black Welsh <G> also the Huns were dark and are still heavily represented in Europe. Eliz

The term "Black Irish" etal has been recently discussed on several rootsweb lists as it means many things to many people, all related generally to genealogy. This may stray a bit from Civil-War, but it does directly relate to many who served in the war so I will elaborate. This topic is still controversial and needs further research, but according to researchers on the Black-Irish list, the term cannot be found anywhere in Europe and goes back only as far as colonial America. In terms of Irish migration to the new world, many couldn't pay for the passage so they became indentured servants and were basically "sold" into slavery to pay it off. Most went to the Caribbean and worked in the plantations, but many also ended up on southern plantations serving their English masters. Inevitably, these white Irish interbred with the blacks and produced a fair skinned mulatto which became highly prized and thus valuable as domestic slaves. Some where so fair they could easily pass as white. It is these "white" Irish-Africans that coined the term 'Black-Irish" to mask their African ancestry like many hispanics do/have done in claiming to be "Spanish", i.e. European, and thus stating that they have no "Indian" blood. There are other theories to the origin of the term, but there is evidence of its African connection and a few books have been written about the "Irish slaves" sent to the New World as well as lists of those to be "transported" from the UK to places like Barbados for "crimes against the state" much like the convicts to Australia, etc. Dan Hogan On Monday, September 1, 2003, at 11:06 AM, Sistwstd@aol.com wrote: > In a message dated 9/1/03 4:55:05 PM !!!First Boot!!!, jkt54@ktc.com > writes: > >> Just a guess, but they could be of Jewish, Gypsy, or Melungeon >> extraction. >> > > Dark hair and dark eyes and very dark skin is also the "pre" viking > celts, > think Black Irish or Black Welsh <G> also the Huns were dark and are > still > heavily represented in Europe. > Eliz >