Mike:

Thanks for your very scholarly agreement...overlooking my many typos...arthritis in hands is worsening despite evening applications of good SINGLETON Single Malt Scotch!

One of our daughters (two degrees from Vanderbilt U. in Nashville) did her Vandy overseas, long 6 month semester at University of Edinburgh. She is a Shakespear Scholar but took some electives, too, in Gaelic History and Culture, which give her, more than me, an educated view of the era(s) and events in both Scotland and Ireland (one course she took at U. of Edinburth was about Gaelic Lingusitic Culture and History) long before the late 1300's migration of my ancestor, the Roman Catholic Priest named Gillis, my Mother's line.

Raw individualism and bellicosisty are in fact historic traits of the Gaelic speaking populations whereever found, including in coastal France.

One of the great tragedies of the American Civil War was the decimation of Northern and Southern Irish (Gaelic speaking) troops in major battles in Virginia, particularly. The South had very many Roman Catholic Gaelic speaking troops, as did the North.

My Great Grandfather Donal Gillis was wounded by a cannon ball to his right knee in Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg. He of course permanently lost the use of his right leg from the knee down.

His line of Gillises landed at Wilmington, North Carolina 1799, having sailed from Liverpool, England. I have the 1700's era key wound engraved silver watch his forebears had when they landed in North Carolina. These Gillises came from the Highlands of Scotland, with the oldest traceable one being from Ireland, the Gillis who was a Roman Catholic priest sent to Scotland in the late 1300s.

Some of my maternal Great Grandmother's line, Lightfoots and Brennen's, came to the US via Philadelphia, PA from England...and from Ireland.

We even have some Italian ancestors among another diminsion of my Mother's side of the family, who landed in Charleston, SC area well before the American Revolutionary War and changed their name to "Cox" from a name I can no longer remember how to spell in Italian. Likewise we had some Italian Bonsalls on Mom's side of the family, her Great Grandmother having been a Bonsall.

Melting pot we are...but in Afghanistan and Pakistan stand offish tribalism is a real problem, unable to learn how to cherish cultures while still learnign to live with and get along with others from different tribes, cultures, and backgrounds.

Have a good day.