Hi Margaret, about 500 AD some people left Antrim and colonized Scotland. They spoke Gaelic. The folk in most of Scotland spoke Pictish. Over time the German tribes settled on the east coast, Edinburgh and south, and the Gaelic speaking Irish spread out over the western part. So Pictish became extinct. It's believe the Picts were short dark people, but we donno anything really about Picts. They disappeared. They are the subject of fantasy and a zillion websites. Around 1700 AD the dialect of Irish spoken in Scotland was different enough to be recognized as a different dialect -- Scots Gaelic. Think of Irland and Scotland as two sides of the Missippi River. People went to Scotland in a rowboat for church. I personally think they were out of their FRIGGING MINDS doing such a thing....but they did. Beside them speaking the same language, people went back and forth all the time. All the time. so any surname in Ireland is in Scotland. And any surname in Scotland is in Ireland. There was not gate at either side with a nasty official saying "If you are coming in here you GOTTA change the spelling of your name to not confuse people into thinking you actaully belong here." NO! People's surnames also assimilated into where ever they were. If you are studying a surname in Uslter, use Bell "Book of Ulster Surnames". He has a lot of local info. McFall is an Ulster surname. You don't find out outside of Ulster in Ireland. It has 3 distinct Scottish origins but it has also been used by the Irish named Mulfoyle. This was an north Connacht group O Maolfabhail, meaning 'descendent of the devotee of (St) Fabhail'. It was more commonly anglicized to Lavelle. In Donegal it became Fall, McFall, Paul, and McPaul. These McFalls were in Carrickbraghy on Inishowen. In Ulster the Norman name Melville was also an anglicization of O...dang, no way I'm spelling it again. So Irish or Scots? I bet DNA won't sort it out. Why would it? Seriously, a lot of the Highland clans descend from Irish clans. A lot, and I do mean a lot, of Scots islanders went to Ireland as gallowglass soldiers in the 14 and 1500s bringing their surnames. The DNA is the same. We're one big happy family on both sides of the Sheugh. The situation with McFall is very typical. The same surname on both sides of the Sheugh. You can guess who your ancestors were by where they were living in Ireland but the surname will rarely help you figure out alone if they were ultimately Irish or Scots or Catholic or Jewish...okay, I made that up. Your ancestors DIDN'T write it. They were illiterate. Even if they did, English spelling wasn't standardized. There was no right or wrong. Clerks spelled surnames like they sounded, phonetically. To their hearing. About every 10 miles there was a new accent -- no TV to standardize pronounciation. The single most common reason that amateurs do not bag their man is that they think spelling matters. The single most common reason. So, do a little reading on this if you think I'm full of poop, but I'm not.... God bless you, you know where yous at least got on the boat! By 1893 you should find US emigration records useful at locating them. Go to www.genealogy.com/university.html and take the courses on immigration. They'll tell you what you need to know, probably. Oh, there's a LOT of McFalls about in Ulster. The surname is most common in ANtrim and Derry, with the Derry ones more likely Irish in origin, like many of us. Even those with Scots surnames had a slew of Irish grannies. Those good looking women were impossible to pass up, esp, when you often had nothing else but a sheep to make googly eyes at. Innishowen is beautiful -- if you go there you might be adopted immediately. I got so many Irish grannies we even got a banshee, and my grandmother was the local Irish fey here in Western PA. No one messed with us. My granny's curses could kill ya. My mother once cursed a guy with 4 flat tires and he had them all on the way home that day. My grannie could teach the witches of Ireland a thing or two. I like my Irish DNA a lot! My sister once drove off a group of young men who were going to abduct her with a string of curses. They're probably all dead now too. I've done the same thing but we are no match for our mother and grandmother. Hate to meet anyone of the ancestors....actually, a couple have threatened my sister in dreams as she was about to uncover their nasty deeds. When the men died off as fast as ours did you had to learn to defend youself. A hord of hostile fairies works fine! Linda Merle -------------- Original message -------------- From: Mmmvk1@aol.com > > > Would the surname of McFall come over from Scotland. Or would the > spelling be Mac Fall if so . There are soo many different spellings i > dont really know how my ancesters wrote it . It was Mcfall on the boat > over here from Londondery Ire. in 1893. All i have is a dennis an > edward > McFall thank you margaret > > >