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Re: the presence of FGC23343 in the Scottish islands, there is one well documented historic incident that probably bears mention, although in context, it seems doubtful that it constitutes some type of origin story: The wreck of El Gran Grifon on Fair Isle in 1588.
Captained by Juan Gomez de Medina, El Gran Grifon, part of the famous Spanish Armada, wrecked off Fair Isle in late September, 5 months after their defeat off the southern coast of England and in a desperate condition. Fair Isle is the island immediately south of the Dunrossness district of the southern Shetland mainland where FGC23343 has been noted.
Although the crew of El Gran Grifon is supposed to have been composed primarily of German mariners from the Baltic port where the ship was built, at least 4 of the military officers commanding the troops intended for a mainland invasion of England were from the Basque country of Spain. Presumably many of those troops were also Basque, which, at least superficially, seems like it could be significant given the deep Basque origins of FGC23343, although they lay much further north, on the edge of the old duchy of Gascony, in France.
A detailed contemporary account of the subsequent fate of Gomez de Medina and crew survives, and it seem very unlikely that they mixed easily with the natives. Although there was a lengthy, 2 month delay between El Gran Grifon's wreck and their eventual transportation to Fife for judicial repatriation, they were objects of intense suspicion and monitored very carefully, as one would expect in the context. Upon their wreck, the survivors numbered about 300 armed and desperate men, and the inhabitants of Fair Isle probably numbered no more than 17 families. Military discipline seems to have been maintained throughout, for despite their strained condition--about 50 men are supposed to have died from starvation, illness--no incidents of violence against the natives were noted.
Interesting, even if only as an example of the wide range of historical incidents which theoretically could give rise to such an anomalous geographic distribution for this SNP, although I don't think this specific event explains it.
Captained by Juan Gomez de Medina, El Gran Grifon, part of the famous Spanish Armada, wrecked off Fair Isle in late September, 5 months after their defeat off the southern coast of England and in a desperate condition. Fair Isle is the island immediately south of the Dunrossness district of the southern Shetland mainland where FGC23343 has been noted.
Although the crew of El Gran Grifon is supposed to have been composed primarily of German mariners from the Baltic port where the ship was built, at least 4 of the military officers commanding the troops intended for a mainland invasion of England were from the Basque country of Spain. Presumably many of those troops were also Basque, which, at least superficially, seems like it could be significant given the deep Basque origins of FGC23343, although they lay much further north, on the edge of the old duchy of Gascony, in France.
A detailed contemporary account of the subsequent fate of Gomez de Medina and crew survives, and it seem very unlikely that they mixed easily with the natives. Although there was a lengthy, 2 month delay between El Gran Grifon's wreck and their eventual transportation to Fife for judicial repatriation, they were objects of intense suspicion and monitored very carefully, as one would expect in the context. Upon their wreck, the survivors numbered about 300 armed and desperate men, and the inhabitants of Fair Isle probably numbered no more than 17 families. Military discipline seems to have been maintained throughout, for despite their strained condition--about 50 men are supposed to have died from starvation, illness--no incidents of violence against the natives were noted.
Interesting, even if only as an example of the wide range of historical incidents which theoretically could give rise to such an anomalous geographic distribution for this SNP, although I don't think this specific event explains it.
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