Hello everyone.
Well, after a well-deserved and long break we are back. I hope everyone had a nice summer.
Wirelect will be "live" in Warrington at the beginning of September :-) I will be visiting the old town for a few days, and I hope to do a bit of research, distribute some marketing material, and possibly meet up with anyone who is interested in discussing the dialect face to face.
I still need to iron out the details, but I will post the information on here as soon as I know for sure where and when.
In the meantime, here is a little something to think about:
If you have not had a look yet, check out the Wirral and West Lancashire Viking Research page link on the right of this post. Alternatively click here.
Professor Steve Harding of Nottingham University maintains the page and has also written extensively on the subject, as well as making various TV appearances. I can warmly recommend his book: Viking DNA: The Wirral and West Lancashire Project.
This book, among other things, got me thinking that if such a high proportion of people in the Wirral and West Lancashire area have possible genetic links to the the invading (and eventually settling) Norsemen, then what would the genetic picture of Warrington look like?
The truth is, I have no idea, but I'd love to find out!
I think there are definite clues in the dialect to the suggest that Vikings were present in the Warrington area, in fact, I would go as far as to say that Warrington got its name from the Vikings!
Watch this space!!!
Do you have any possible Viking ancestors? Post your comments.
Hiya Everyone. Its a very interesting link about the viking research. I keep going back to it and reading bits. Just read the piece about west Kirby.We go there at least once a week to visit relatives so will go to St.Bridgets to have a look at the Hogback stone soon.
ReplyDeleteI'm researching my family tree but no Viking ancestors so far Wirelector.I know a lot of Warringtonians (including me) are possibly descendants of huguenots. Not the same thing though!
Could you shed some light on something for me Wirelector or anybody who can. How did the researchers trace back to Viking ancestors through surnames? Didnt the Vikings have only one name? Ive a feeling Im going to seem "dead" stupid now.
Hi Gaynor.
DeleteFirst of all, there are no stupid questions! Our desire and ability to question our surroundings is unique and is crucial to our understanding of the world and our place in it.
To my understanding, the researchers did not trace the possible viking ancestors directly through surnames, rather the used the surnames as possible clues to people who might have scandinavian lineage.
The Vikings did have first and second names as we do, they simply formed them by giving the child a first name and then taking the father's name and adding "son". For example, a viking called "Erik" might have a son called "Sven". This boy would then be known as Sven Eriksson.
The Scandinavian nations followed this naming convention until quite recently, hence the propensity of "Ericssons", "Svenssons", "Knutssons", etc in the Scandinavian countries.
This information was used by researchers to narrow down the people with possible scandinavian DNA. If your family name on your father's side is something-"son", then you may well have an ancestor or scandinavian origin.
This is simplifying it quite a lot, but that's the basic idea.
Now I know!. Thanks.
ReplyDelete