Sheila, With so little to go on, and a VERY common name, you don't have much hope. But here's a co-incidence. I have a direct ancestor called William Duncan, parents unknown and can't get any further, and both my little fingers are bent. A relative in Canada, who has the same ancestor, has the same affliction. Never heard of it being a specific family trait, but you never know!!! Doreen Cuthbert Fife

Doreen - pretty hard to tell from that description, but that sounds a lot like a condition called Dupuytrens Contracture. I have it as well. It was typically found (say 1000 years ago) in Scandinavian peoples, and has been used as a genetic marker to indicate the origin of people. Given the cross-breeding (or shall we call it co-dependent mutual raping, pillaging and plundering?) between northern Scotland and the western parts of what is now Denmark and Norway, that genetic marker is now found in a number of northern UK people as well, surely including Perthshire. For your interest, do a Google for "dupuytrens viking" (without the quotes). I heard of this on a series on the History channel called the "Blood of the Vikings": http://www.historytelevision.ca/archives/vikings/programs/ Regards - Glen C. Bodie Web http://www.glenbodie.com Home mailto:glen@glenbodie.com -----Original Message----- From: DoreenGen@aol.com [mailto:DoreenGen@aol.com] Sent: Thursday, April 22, 2004 4:06 PM To: PERTHSHIRE-L@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [PERTH] Duncan/Robertson Sheila, With so little to go on, and a VERY common name, you don't have much hope. But here's a co-incidence. I have a direct ancestor called William Duncan, parents unknown and can't get any further, and both my little fingers are bent. A relative in Canada, who has the same ancestor, has the same affliction. Never heard of it being a specific family trait, but you never know!!! Doreen Cuthbert Fife ______________________________

I have been looking into this also as I was DX'd with DC last year. My Perth families are McGREGOR-JENKIN(E) still checking DRUMMOND and McCOWAN lines. Rob down under in New Zealand -----Original Message----- From: Glen Bodie [mailto:glen@glenbodie.com] Sent: Saturday, 24 April 2004 11:12 To: PERTHSHIRE-L@rootsweb.com Subject: RE: [PERTH] Duncan/Robertson Doreen - pretty hard to tell from that description, but that sounds a lot like a condition called Dupuytrens Contracture. I have it as well. It was typically found (say 1000 years ago) in Scandinavian peoples, and has been used as a genetic marker to indicate the origin of people. Given the cross-breeding (or shall we call it co-dependent mutual raping, pillaging and plundering?) between northern Scotland and the western parts of what is now Denmark and Norway, that genetic marker is now found in a number of northern UK people as well, surely including Perthshire. For your interest, do a Google for "dupuytrens viking" (without the quotes). I heard of this on a series on the History channel called the "Blood of the Vikings": http://www.historytelevision.ca/archives/vikings/programs/ Regards - Glen C. Bodie Web http://www.glenbodie.com Home mailto:glen@glenbodie.com