To Jim St. Clair I have high arches! My mother - Danish descent - did not..... I have problems shopping for shoes and boots especially. While I don't have any mental deficit (I think), there is dyslexia in the family. My great aunt had almost all her shoes hand made because of her high arches and she could afford the cost. A note - my paternal grandmother was descended from England stock who arrived in the colonies before the tea party in Boston Harbor. My Beatons are from Mull & Skye. Did you ask your doctor what prompted a study on a linkage of high arches & mental deficit? Heather Beaton NYC ORIGINAL LIST MESSAGE DATED 3 AUGUST. Re: high arches(pes cavus condition) - recently consulted a neurologist who was much interested in the number of people in my family who have the high arch(technically pes cavus) without any neurological deficit - quite rare. He finds this condition without deficits more frequently in people of Scottish ancestry- can trace my inheritance to my great grandfather Hugh MacFarlane born in 1826 with parents both born on Mull - one Anne Campbell and one Parlan MacFarlane- am uncertain which of them may have had this condition. can identify ten people both living and of previous generations who are descended from Hugh MacFarlane who have this malformation of feet. Does anybody else of Isle of Mull ancestry have this physiological condition? The phenomenon may be of interest to specialists. Jim St.Clair, MacFarlane Farm, Mull River, Nova Scotia