Agree with you whole heartedly. The 37 YDNA and 25 YDNA tests through Familytreedna.com will mean something, the 37 test especially. The 12 test simply gets the ball rolling and the questions started. In my own case, the 12 test gave me some insight into just how many different people came from those that I came from, but the 25 and 37 Ydna tests really narrowed it down to specific areas, names and places. I was impressed with the 37 results especially. The 12 test just generated a hunger for the more specific information that the 37 test answered. I always thought we were Scots, but my YDNA 37 test through Familytreedna.com family groups Byrne and Burns showed that I am very closely kin to the Chief of the O'Byrne Clan of Leinster in Wicklow, Ireland. It seems we were Irish before one of us went to Scotland for a few generations probably and then on to America. My guess is the 1542 Irish O'Byrne troops furnished to the English for duty in Scotland is how my ancestor got to Scotland. My earliest known Burns relative is David Burnes who was born in Scotland around 1695 and bought land in Maryland in 1721. He actually owned and farmed the land that the White House and many of the older Federal City (Washington, D.C.) government buildings now sit on. General George Washington had to personally negotiate with David Burnes' grandson, David Burnes II, for the sale of the land to the federal government in 1790 for its new capital city. Rich Burns rburns001@hotmail.com<mailto:rburns001@hotmail.com> ----- Original Message ----- From: CJMax<mailto:moments-in-time@charter.net> To: SCOT-DNA-L@rootsweb.com<mailto:SCOT-DNA-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Saturday, January 21, 2006 2:14 PM Subject: Re: [SCOT-DNA] RE: New DNA project proposal Got to agree. DNA testing will give one connections among family members - great for like-surnames and related surnames; however, it would be quite meaningless on a geographic basis which would include a multitude of various family names. Granted, it may link someone with a totally different family name connected via an intimate trist on the side that no one knew about way back when (and I've come across people who have found these - very disturbed they were about it) - shades of the stories of the milkman, etc. - but for the most part sticking with the existing family surname projects is the way to go. Any relationships within the surname will show up quickly. Then it's a much simpler matter of connecting to a more specific location, ie: Co. Fermanagh, etc.. What would be more meaningful would be for those who are interested to look at FTDNA and elsewhere for their surname project. If there isn't one, then start one. Cliff. Johnston "May the best you've ever seen, Be the worst you'll ever see;" from A Scots Toast by Allan Ramsay > ============================== > Jumpstart your genealogy with OneWorldTree. Search not only for > ancestors, but entire generations. Learn more: > http://www.ancestry.com/s13972/rd.ashx<http://www.ancestry.com/s13972/rd.ashx> ==== SCOT-DNA Mailing List ==== DNA Results are also being posted on the web site. Email to dnaclans@brigadoon.net<mailto:dnaclans@brigadoon.net> if you want to join the web site. For privacy reasons, this is a closed web site. Want to join the Project? Visit: http://www.ftdna.com/surname_det.asp?group=Scottish-Clans&projecttype=G<http://www.ftdna.com/surname_det.asp?group=Scottish-Clans&projecttype=G> ============================== Search the US Census Collection. Over 140 million records added in the last 12 months. Largest online collection in the world. Learn more: http://www.ancestry.com/s13965/rd.ashx<http://www.ancestry.com/s13965/rd.ashx>