Scots and Scots/Irish in Poland

[Polak]

Some sources extimate that more than 100,000 British migrated to Poland between 1550 and 1850. Most of these people were Scots and Scots/Irish. I was prompted to start this thread by new info that some people in Poland have found they carry Y-chromosome markers with close matches in Scotland.

... by the 1640s it was reckoned that there were approximately 30,000 Scots
resident in Poland - one of the greatest concentrations of Scots on
continental Europe ... During the 17th century there was hardly a locality
in Poland that did not contain some Scots ... Religious liberty in Poland
for much of the period also attracted immigrants who were subject to
persecution in their homelands ... Some Scots returned to Scotland in due course but many settled and integrated into Polish and other societies along
the Baltic ... Most Scots surnames became unrecognizable though a few
retained their original forms ...

From "Scots in
Poland, Russia, and the Baltic States 1550-1850" by David Dobson.


It's entirely feasible that several million people in Poland now have some Scottish descent. Names like Napierski are of Scottish origin, for example (from Napier).

More info here...
http://www.speakeasy.invisionzone.co...7&#entry107127

[Polak]

More interesting stuff...

http://www.answers.com/topic/wymysojer

The inhabitants of Wilamowice are thought to be descendants of Dutch, German and Scottish settlers who arrived in Poland in the 13th century. The inhabitants of Wilamowice always refused any connections with Germany and proclaimed their Dutch origins. Wymysojer was the vernacular language of Wilamowice until 1945–1949. After World War II, local communist authorities forbade the use of the language. Despite the fact that the ban was lifted after 1956, Wymysojer has been gradually replaced by Polish, especially amongst the younger generations. At present, there are about 100 native users of Wymysojer, the majority of them elderly people; Wymysojer is therefore an endangered language.

[Lisowczyk]

hahaha thats pretty funny about the Y-chromosome thing.
"In the 1960s research into the linkage between violent crime and biology became more sophisticated, drawing upon the burgeoning discipline of genetics. Researcher Patricia Jacobs reported that a disproportionately large percentage of violent men in Scottish prisons had an extra Y chromosome- a genetic anomaly that affects about one in a thousand men in the general population[...] they described these XYY chromosome males as "double" males or "super" males and suggested that such men were taller than average and more inclined to criminal behavior"

[svin]

Our famous poet and writer Lermontov was of Scottish origin.

His family traced descent from the Scottish Learmounts, one of whom settled in Russia in the early 17th century, during the reign of Michael Fedorovich Romanov.

[Franze]

It´s very interesting like the japanese who emigrated to Spain in XVII Century, they live in a spanish town in Sevilla Province and they have a unique surname: Japon.

[Crvena zvezda]

Montenegro's Eurovision representative, Stevan Faddy, is apparently trying to use a centuries old connection to scottland to get scotts to vote him at eurovision. Taken from the B-92 website.

Montenegrin Eurovision hopeful counts on Scottish votes10 April 2007 | 10:26 | Source: Scotsman PODGORICA -- Scotland may have a representative at the Eurovision Song Contest in Helsinki next month.

Singer Stevan Faddy, 21, who is of Scottish descent, has won the Montenegrin nomination and goes into the semi-finals in the Finnish capital on 10 May - the contest itself is two days later.

Although votes from Montenegro won't help him win the event, as countries cannot vote for their own entries, Stevan is hopeful his Scottish roots will give him an advantage.

He said: "Everyone in my family always talks about our famous ancestor, William Faddy, who came through here on the Crusades and fell in love with a local girl and decided to stay."

Stevan was speaking on his way to Bosnia, where he is to promote his song in the capital, Sarajevo. He will then head on to other countries in the area in the hope of drumming up more votes by raising awareness of his music.

Speaking about his Scottish roots, he said: "We still have the family coat of arms and other memorabilia, even though it was hundreds of years ago. We also have a Scottish flag at home.

"We don't know much about our original ancestor other than his name, although we know the family goes back more than 1,000 years. My ancestor that settled here was supposed to have been on his way home after the Crusades with King Richard and seems to have fallen in love with the land, and a local woman. It is a lot more sunny than Scotland, I am told."

[Vasconcelos]

Interesting. What other names are believed to be of Scottish origin?

My cousin in Canada married a Polish girl whose maiden name was Herlichka (or some variation - I'm not really sure of the spelling) who was, apparently, told that the name can be traced back to Scottish mercenaries.

[Delbáeth]

Originally Posted by Vasconcelos

Interesting. What other names are believed to be of Scottish origin?

My cousin in Canada married a Polish girl whose maiden name was Herlichka (or some variation - I'm not really sure of the spelling) who was, apparently, told that the name can be traced back to Scottish mercenaries.

I doubt it is of Scottish origin.. I can't think of anything it can be related too. Alot of Scottish Surnames actually come from Flemish origin, as surnames weren't exactly used in Scotland untill Flemish and Norman settlment. (The Surnames weren't spread through mixing, rather the Scots adaption of their lords names). Like prior to Flemish arrival in Scotland, the people would bear the name of their father. Mac - (Son) and Nic (Daughter). MacLeòid for the boy, and NicLeoòid for the daughter.

Anyways, that name doesn't sound like any other Scottish name I know iof