James, I dont want to spoil your fun, purpose and effect of your research, but I suspect you would find that high arches in podiatry are more widespread across Britain, Canada and the whole world. If your paternal and maternal ancestry both lie in Argyllshire, Mull I think there may be a fair chance of finding the same characteristics. I have high arches or a high instep as it may also be known with the result that I cant wear cheap shoes, mass produced. I was born in England, first generation paternally and second generation maternally from respectively Argyllshire, Mull & Stirlingshire, and Forfarshire, Montrose and Inverness-shire, the latter maternal ancestry traceable by paper record to 1700. Of my maternal ancestors who emigrated further afield than England, there are only 3, all of them male died unmarried and from my second great grandfather and grandmother from Forfarshire & Kincardineshire they stayed in England and produced more female children than male; 50% of the male first generation children fell in the first world war. The war records I have confirm that the height in a male was quite a bit shorter than the average male might reach today. I think there are many interesting traits to be found in tracing our ancestry that are unique to each family, nevertheless, knowing about the characteristics of our immediate ancestry suggests you did talk with them. ;-) Janet ----- Original Message ----- From: "James St.Clair" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Friday, August 05, 2011 11:46 PM Subject: [SCT-ISLEOFMULL] re; medical condition > thank you to all who shared the accounts of their high arches(and other medical > conditions) which seem to have had their origin on the Isle of Mull. > Very curiously, out of the blue(almost) this very day a sixth generation descendant > from the Isle of Mull who lives in Ontario and whose name is Hugh MacFarlane walked in > through my back door here in Mull River Nova Scotia - - he too has high arches and > problems with calluses and with getting shoes to fit. Another Mull descendant with the > condition. > Will share the statistics with my neurologist but will not reveal names. > James St.Clair