Sara; Were you aware of this portion of my forthcoming book in the next millenium, "Meanwhile Back at the Ranch?" Anton's classical dictionary defines the term Pylae as a word used in ancient Greece to describe a narrow passage or gate. Thermopylae or "Warm Gates" is a pass between Greece and Persia known for its hot springs. In the year 480 BC. a great battle occurred between the Persians and 300 Spartans and their allies at Thermopylae. The leader Leonidas sent the allies away when he found that a local Greek betrayed him and the battle was doomed. The Persians massacred the Spartans and the allies that went home named themselves Pylae in honor of their friends. Julius Caesar and his Roman armies later invaded Briton and among those armies were descendants of the allies from the battle at Thermopylae. When the Romans left Britain, a number of those who changed their name to Pyle remained in England. The names Pyle/Pile are first found in the 'Domesday Book' by William the Conqueror. William was a Norman King who defeated the Saxons at the battle of Hastings in 1066 and occupied "Old Sarum" or Salisbury until the year 1087. Coming from the North, the North Men or Norman's were actually Vikings that originally settled in Scotland and then in Normandy on the coast of France. They sailed to Britain to engage the Saxon's in 1066 at Hastings. The name Pyle was also found in the "Hundred Roll," a recap of the Battle of Hastings. Ron ---------- : From: pyle@airmail.net : To: PYLE-L@rootsweb.com : Subject: Genealogical confusion : Date: Saturday, October 25, 1997 5:13 PM : : Hi cousins, : : The other evening I was at a funeral service for a Greek lady who was my : neighbor. My husband and I were talking to another couple at the : service who we had not met before. Imagine our surprise when they said : their name is PYLE!! But, they were Greek. It seems the name had been : Pyllopolis or something like that and had been changed when their : ancestors came to this country. Mrs. Pyle said that she sometimes gets : calls from people working on Pyle genealogy. <G> : : The daughter and son-in-law (also Greek) of the deceased lady are also : my neighbors (22+ years) and their name is ANDERSON (Andropolous). : : Sara :