Thanks for sending those comments from someone in N. Ireland as I would imagine there are many of us who have concluded that Scotland records are indeed hard to come by, and I'm sure that person in Ireland would be in better position than many of us in making that comment. You've been very helpful to many of us on this List, Gordon, with the info you have so kindly and generously shared, and I would like to thank you again and wish you all the best in the New Year. Don Houk in Tokyo -----Original Message----- From: mdcecil-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:mdcecil-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of gordon crooks Sent: Tuesday, December 26, 2006 10:48 PM To: mdcecil@rootsweb.com Subject: [MDCECIL] Fw: Traceing ancestors ----- Original Message ----- From: gordon crooks To: PAFRANKL-L@rootsweb.com Sent: Tuesday, December 26, 2006 8:47 AM Subject: Traceing ancestors I have been in contact with a friend in Antrim, N, Ireland on the subject of how hard it is to trace of ancestors. This is part of his answer: "About the only folk that I know of who have successfully traced their roots back to Scotland and Ireland are the "great and the good" of here. I mean those who held more than a tenant farmers plot of land, they would have left wills and records of land deals, They also would have fine grave monuments of basalt or granite as opposed to sandstone which weathers within 50 years. Most of those of the sub-tenant farmer class would have had no grave headstones. In addition to which almost all townland and parish records from 1400-1700 do not exist." So unlike here in the USA wills and such were not generally written. This friend has been able to trace about 50% of his early ancestors in Ireland and have been totally unable to trace them back to Scotland. Gordon Crooks ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to MDCECIL-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message