McCain Deep Ancestry

There are several DNA projects researching the deep ancestry of the Mid Argyll Kinship Group to which the McCains belong.  This kinship group share paternal ancestry and is indigenous to central Scotland and includes several families from mid Argyll; some of the surnames in the group are, Mac Ailpín (McAlpin), Mac Artair (McArthur), Mac Eanruig (Henry), Mac Eain (McCain), Mac Donaill (McDonald), Mac Donnchaidh (Duncan), Mac an Leagha (McLea), Mag Aoidh (Gay) along with several names that are harder to discern their original Gaelic form, Machlan (possibly Mac Lachlainn), Gray (probably from the nickname Glas, meaning "grey."  Most of these surnames are not clan surnames, but rather surnames taken in the 1400s through the 1500s, from traditional Gaelic patronymics.

The group shows no deep ancestry in Ireland and outside of Scotland it has more DNA matches in Wales, which suggests a Cumbric origin for the kinship group.  Cumbric is a term for the indigenous Celtic people that were native to much of Scotland and historically spoke the Cymreag language.  The Cumbric population of Scotland became Gaelic speaking in the early medieval period. Cymreag is a P-Celtic language, whereas Gaelic is a Q-Celtic language. As Scotland was formed into a country as we know it in the modern sense, the Cumbric population, became Gaelic speaking.

Cumbric ancestry in Argyll is not unusual. Several Gaelic clans in Argyll have lore that claim Cumbric ancestry.  Three prominent ones are Clann Chaimbeul (the Campbells), Clann Eanruig (the Henrys), and Clann Neachtáin (the MacNaughtons).  

The group has a unique Y chromosome DNA haplogroup designated as R-S1051.  They are also called the 9919 A-1 group, so called because of loci, 459 = 9-9, the YCA II = 19-19, and 640 = 12.  Their 485 locus is also unusual and runs from 485 = 13, or 485 = 16 (the norm for R-L21 is 15).

The Y-Chromosome projects researching this group are:

Mid Argyll Group

http://www.familytreedna.com/public/MidArgyllKinshipGroup/

9919andMultiRecLOH	http://www.familytreedna.com/public/RecLOH/
R-S1051	http://www.familytreedna.com/public/R-S1051/

Mid Argyll Group Research

Kilmichael Glassary parish in Mid Argyll

 

The Mid Argyll DNA Project is now up and running.  It's goal is to research the McCains circa 1300 to late 1500s, or when they were still living in Scotland.   Many of you have noticed matches to other Scottish surnames.  Most of these are from mid Argyll, specifically, the parish of Kilmichael Glassary and nearby areas, such a the island of Bute. 
 
We share paternal ancestry with these non surname matches.  The reason we have so many surnames showing up in our match group is because surnames were not fixed in Argyll in the 1500s.  Gaelic families often followed traditional patronymic customs of mid Argyll.  This generated several surnames within the same family during that century.  This is why we have McAlpin, Henry, Duncan, McDonald, etc., showing up in our match lists.
 
There was a historical McCain family native to Kilmichael Glassary, the precise area where we are turning up so many DNA matches.  For this reason believe that this historical McCain family is in fact our McCain family.  In addition to the DNA matches there are primary sources from Argyll in the 1500s that also support that we are 'the'  Kilmichael Glassary McCains in origin.  Even the move to Ulster in the late 1500s of families from Kilmichael Glassary is well documented.
 
Those are the facts, now for the speculation;  the historical McCain family in Kilmichael Glassary is also known as the Mac Lachlainn 'clan'  of Dunadd.  Branches of that clan did use the surname McCain.  Some of the other surnames on our match list were surnames used by other branches of the Mac Lachlainn of Dunadd clan.  We speculate we have located this Scottish clan in other words. 

So, I need every McCain in the 01McCain group to go to your 'Join Projects' part of your Family Tree page, click on it.  You will see the Mid Argyll Group in the list of DNA project, tick it, then when that opens the page, tick 'Join.'  You can be in several projects at once so this will not effect your participation in the McCain project.
 
This is the end game of the McCain research, it will take us back to the very origins of our family.  The first man to use McCain as a surname was Donnchadh Mór Mac Eáin, aka Donnchadh Rua Mac Eáin.  He lived circa 1445 to 1515. It is his burial slab that you see on the McCain family blog.  Many of McCains have already travelled to Scotland to see it.  Our Scottish branch in Glasgow, i.e. Joe McKane, has also visited the burial slab.
 
This project will have Dr Kyle MacLea as an administrator, he is a geneticist by profession and teaches at a university.   I will be a co-administrator helping out with the primary source research and Gaelic language elements. 
Please Join as soon as possible.


The Mid Argyll Kinship Group

above, DNA results link the McCains to Kilmichael Glassary in mid Argyll

As most of our clan now, especially those who are participants in our DNA project, the McCains are part of the paternally related Mid Argyll Kinship group.  The families in the group are Duncan (Mac Donnchaidh), Henry (Mac Eanruig), McAlpin (Mac Ailpín), McCain (Mac Eáin), McDonald (Mac Dónaill), and MacLea (Mac an Leagha).  There has been considerable progress made in located primary sources records on this family circa anno domini 1430 to 1600.  The surnames in the group are not 'clan' surname, but rather are surnames taken from the normal patronymic customs in Argyll during this time. During the important 16th Century surnames were not fixed and clan surname were not in common use.

I have set up a blog to post news about the kinship group.  Link is here:

Mid Argyll Kinship Group 

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