Well, I guess I'm all alone on this one. But, it's a small matter. I suppose as an addendum to the above, for the sake of my own interest, I will include the follow article about Pixies, which are believed to be the remnants of pre-Celtic Pictish inhabitants of northern Scotland, the small aboriginal folk who inhabited the barrows and cromlechs of the northlands of Britain. I intended on on writing something that included much of the information below, most of which comes directly from Evans-Wentz book "Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries". However, the following article serves my purposes sufficiently. Though I suppose researching this kind of ancestry won't get me free college tuition, I find the prospect of being blood-related to the people of legend that are said to have become the Pixies of the British Isles very ... comforting in a way. :-D

Most people see pixies as happy, smiling folk who spend their days sitting on toadstools, watching the world go by. In fact, if you were to ask for a description of a typical pixy, this is the answer most will give. Adding of course that they are about six inches high, dance in "Pixy Rings" and work for a bowl of milk, but will leave when offered clothes.

All of that is true up to a point. However, there is much more to the pixy than you may think

What is a pixy?

Maybe I should begin by saying what a pixy is not. Despite the insistence of Hollywood to the contrary, pixies are not tiny gossamer-winged faeries that flit around the woodlands and flower beds in the style of Tinkerbell. That particular type of fae is not a pixy, but a Pillywiggin or Flower faery. As well as appearing in Disney's "Peter Pan", they have most recently been seen in the movie "Fairytale", which purports to explain the story of the "Cottingley Fairies". However, Pillywiggins are not the reason for this essay, being mentioned here merely in order to explain that despite current trends, they are not the same as pixies.

The word "Pixie" is often used incorrectly as a generic term for all British and American faery folk, with books, movies and even computer games compounding the error - just enter the words "Pixy" or "Pixie" in an internet search engine and see what you get. Actually, the name should be spelt "Pixy", with the plural being "Pixies", although it has now become commonplace to spell it either way. In Cornwall, the word Pisky is used, which is a corruption of "Pixy". In the rest of the West Country of England, as in most of the English-speaking world, the word Pixy is used, although they are sometimes called Grigs or Dusters in East Anglia. Pixies are sometimes also known as Pisgies, Pechts, Pechs, and Pickers.

The usual description of a Pixy is similar to that seen on Cornish charms, where a little humanoid figure is depicted sitting on a toadstool, with his hands wrapped around his knees. He is usually dressed in green, although some pixies wear rags or in some instances, nothing at all. The pixy is usually envisaged as being small, although some are known to possess certain shapeshifting abilities resulting in a height range of between eighteen inches to the size of a fully-grown human adult. They are also believed to take the form of hedgehogs, in which shape they are known as Urchins.

The original pixies were the little aboriginal folk who inhabited the barrows and cromlechs, and whose cunning - their only effective weapon against the strength of the Aryan invader - earned them a reputation for magical powers. Over the years these peoples also became linked with the pagan belief in nature sprites, and the two beliefs merged, giving us the pixy we know today. Remains of ancient dwellings, half sunken in the ground give us an idea as to why the pixies were believed to live in the underworld, when you consider that when fully built, they resembled a small hill. When seeing a pixy entering and leaving from the smoke hole in the roof, it is understandable how a passing traveller could mistake them as beings from the underworld. In fact the word "Pixy" is believed to derive from "Pict" - early inhabitants of Scotland who lived in similar dwellings.

Legends say that during the Roman conquest of Britain, the Fatae, Italian faeries, accompanied the Romans and at first lived in relative peace with the pixies. However as the Romans expanded their control of the country, the pixies became concerned and war broke out. Eventually the pixies drove the Fatae out of the West Country (Cornwall, Devon and Somerset) and everything west of the river Parret became Pixyland. I believe that part of this legend is a retelling of the Roman invasion itself, with the Romans unable to progress through Scotland due to the attacks of the Picts. Eventually the invaders were forced to build artificial borders in the forms of the Hadrian and Antonine walls and the area they were unable to conquer received the name "Pictland". Of course, given that the West Country of England is as far away from the Highlands of Scotland as you can get, it is also possible that a similar defensive posture was made by the denizens of that area.

The character of Peter Pan, companion of the aforementioned Tinkerbell, is a pixy, as is Puck of Pook's Hill, and in fact Kipling's Puck is described as "a small, brown, broad-shouldered, pointy-eared person with a snub nose, slanting blue eyes, and a grin that ran right across his freckled face". This certainly sounds like a pixy to me. He also speaks of himself as "the oldest Old Thing in England", and explains his uniqueness in that he is not affected by "Salt, or Horse-shoes over a door, or Mountain-ash berries, or Running Water, or Cold Iron, or the sound of Church Bells". All of which are supposed to dissuade pixies from their mischievous antics, although I know of many who enjoy the sound of bells and swimming in the river.

No discussion on the pixy would be complete without mention of their mischievous activities. They regularly make nocturnal visits to fields where horses are kept and race the animals around until dawn. These Pixy Ridden horses are discovered the next day, to be tired and drawn as if they have been racing around all night. Which of course they have. And at night the pixies revel in causing people to become Pixy-led, in which, taken unaware by mist which makes even familiar objects distorted and unrecognisable, people lose all sense of direction and wander around in circles.

Of course the pixies can be helpful as well as mischievous, and many a farmer has woken in the morning to discover work he planned for the next day has been done by the pixies in gratitude for food and milk left for them earlier in the evening. However, if a pixy is rewarded by a gift of clothes, he is likely to happily skip away wearing his new suit, and never be seen again. In fact the inclusion of "Dobby the House Elf" in the Harry Potter series of novels, is based on this very legend.

There are many stories of the pixies, some of which have been collected in anthologies such as Enys Tregarthen's "Piskey Folk" and Henry Jenner's "Piskies : a Folk-lore Study". Many have been transcribed and uploaded onto the internet, and I include some here.

In these pages, you will meet the true pixies, not the sanitised and sickly-sweet little elves of Hollywood. You will discover their origins, see the places where they are reputed to live and read the folk stories passed down through the years.

You will learn of the pixy who worked each night to help a hardworking farmer, and the pixies who so loved an old woman that each day they would appear in her room to dance and sing and keep her amused. You will hear what happens to those who betray the trust of the pixies, and those who contrive to steal from them. And woe betide those who cause pain to anyone beloved of the pixies, for they will certainly regret their hurtful actions once the pixies set out to teach their lessons.

www.angelfire.com/folk/pixy...ntro2.html

Here is the section from the Book of Leinster 1150 AD about the coming of the Celts to Ireland via the sons of Mil.

Stories, Myths and Legends
The Story of the Tuatha De Danann from the Book of Leinster 1150 A.D.
www.shee-eire.com/Magic&Myt.../Page1.htm

63. Delbaeth after The Dagda, ten years in the kingship of Ireland, till he
fell, with his son Ollom, at the hands of Caicher s. Nama, frater of
Nechtan. Fiacha s. Delbaeth took the kingship of Ireland after his
father, another ten years, till he fell, along with Ai s. Ollom, at the hands
of Eogan Inbir. Twenty-nine years had the grandsons of The Dagda in
the kingship of Ireland, to wit Mac Cuill, Mac Cecht, and Mac Gréine:
they divided Ireland into three parts. To them came the Gaedil to
Ireland, so that they fell by the hands of three sons of Mil, avenging
Ith, Cuailnge, and Fust, of the three sons of Breogan.

Here also is an article about the Book of Leinster detailing the taking of Ireland by the heirs of Mil. What is most interesting are the notes at the end.

The Book of the Taking of Ireland
Book of Leinster 1150 A.D.
members.aol.com/lochlan2/legends.htm

According to the traditions of the Lebor Gabala Erren (Book of the Taking of Ireland), the Irish originated in Scythia and were descendants of a King Feinius Farsaid, a King of Scythia. This Feinius Farsaid and his son, Nel, went into Asia to work on the Tower of Nimrod (Tower of Babel in biblical history) and were present at the subsequent dispersal of the races after the destruction of the tower. Feinius and his son, both learned in the new languages which resulted from the dispersal, returned to Scythia where Feinius opened a great school of languages on the Scythian plain.

In time his son Nel became such an expert in languages that pharoa of Egypt invited him into his country to teach his people the new languages of the world. So Nel went to Egypt and there he married Scota, pharoa's daughter. After pharoa was drowned in the Red Sea in pursuit of Moses and his band of Hebrews, Nel's great-grandson, Sru, fled from Egypt for fear of persecution by the Egyptians and with his son, Heber Scot, returned to Scythia. There Heber Scot won the kingship of Scythia. After a few generations, a descendant of Heber Scot, named Agnomain, killed a rival for the kingship of Scythia (a kingsman) and in revenge was driven from the country.

With a small band of followers, Agnomain obtained ships and sailed to the Macotic Marshes on the Black Sea, where the Scots (as they had come to be known, from Scota, the wife of Nel) remained for nearly three hundred years. On this journey they received a prophecy from Caicher, their druid, that their descendants would one day reach Ireland. Finally a descendant named Brath led the Scots from the marshes. Again they took to ships and after a long, arduous sea voyage across the Mediterranean Sea, eventually landed on the coast of Spain. On a high mountain on the coast Brath's son, Breogain, built a city named Brigantia famed for its tall tower.

Some years later, Ith, the uncle of King Milesius, saw Ireland from the top of the tower on a cold winter's night.

Ith collected a small fleet and sailed to the island he had glimpsed from the tower in Brigantia. Landing in the north of the island, he immediately encountered the chieftains of the Tuatha de Danann, who were in control of Ireland at the time, having conquered the Fir Bolg, its previous rulers. A battle was fought between them and Ith was slain on the plain of Ith (Magh Ith). His men carried his body back to their ships and the fleet returned to Ireland.

King Milesius was outraged at the death of his uncle and sent his sons, nine in number, to Ireland with a great fleet to avenge his death. On landing in Ireland the sons of King Milesius went inland and there met the kings of the Tuatha de Danann, demananding of them either kingship or battle. The kings of the Tuatha de Danann stalled for time, asking for a week alone on the island before making a decision. To this the sons of King Milesius agreed. They then returned to their ships and sailed a short distance off the coast of Ireland. The treacherous Tuatha de Danann then raised a great druidical storm against the Milesian fleet, which drove them far to the west. They circled the island three times until the storm blew itself out, finally landing in the south of the island. Here they divided their fleet and men, Heber, the oldest son still living (most of the sons of Milesius had been killed in the landing or the storm), remained in the south of Ireland. Heremon, his brother, and the rest of the fleet sailed to the north, where they landed their ships. Coming inland the sons of King Milesius again joined their forces and engaged the Tuatha de Danann in battle, completely routing them and slaying all their leaders.

All of the sons of King Milesius were slain in the conquest of Ireland except for Heber and Heremon. Heber Finn, the son of Ir, survived, as did Lugaidh, the son of Ith. From the three sons of King Milesius to have issue, namely Heber, Ir and Heremon, and from Ith, King Milesius' uncle, are said to descend the great clans and families of Ireland, known as "Milesians," in honor of their great ancestor, King Milesius of Spain.

After conquering the island Heber and Heremon divided Ireland between them. To Heremon went the northern half of the island and there his descendants are mainly to be found to this day, including the northern and southern Ui Neill, King of Meath and Ulster, the Ulaid, the Dal Riada (who later founded the kingdom of Scotland) and the Kings of Leinster. From Heber are said to descend the tribes and kings of the south of Ireland. Heremon gave a part of his kingdom to Heber Finn, the son of his slain brother, Ir, and from him are said to descend the Knights of the Red Branch in Ulster, Clanna Rory. From Ith, King MIlesius' uncle, are said to descend some of the tribes living in the province of Connacht.

Notes:

1. Three variants of the Milesian legend are extant in Irish manuscript; The version presented in the preceding pages is a summary of the R1 redaction from the Book of Leinster (Lebor Gabala Erren); published by the Irish Texts Society, 1939. This is actually the less often quoted of the three variants, but is demonstrably the oldest version.

2. The texts which accompany the following Milesian genealogies were taken from Roger O'Ferrall's "Linea Antiqua," circa 1710 (Sir William Betham translation). John O'Hart in his "Irish Pedigrees" also depended heavily on the "Linea Antiqua," but often edited out some of the more racy legends. His genealogy of the McLaughlins of Tirconnell was based on O'Clery's genealogies.

3. The first names in the following pedigree were taken directly from the Old Testament (Book of Genesis), i.e., Adam to Japhet, the son of Noah. The entire pedigree from Japhet to King Milesius of Spain is fictional. King Milesius did not
exist, nor did his sons.

4. According to O'Rahilly (Irish history and Mythology) the true ancestor figure of the northern Gaedil (i.e., line of Heremon) was Tuathal Teachtmar (81). The earliest figure
in the pedigrees most historians and genealogists agree was strictly historical, however, was Nial Naoighiallach (of the Nine Hostages-91).

What appears next on the above site is the very lengthy genealogy of Mil from the first man Adam (The Red Man) cited from Roger O'Ferrall's "Linea Antiqua" ca. 1710 (As it appeared in Sir William Betham's transcription).

So it appears that the "King Melisius" of legend may be just that, a legend. However, it this does not negate the fact that Mil could have been a real person descended from King Tuach of the Tuatha De.

As it stands from some further research, the Book of Leinster, or the Book of Invasions, is basically a creation story of sorts. Though much of it is very pagan, it was written along with other books of legend, such as The Book of the Dun Cow and The Yellow Book of Lecan, by Irish Christian monks between the 12th and 14th centuries, and it is very reasonable to think there was some contamination. From an article at www.lyberty.com/encyc/arti...shmyth.html :

"The oldest of these stories were composed in the pagan Celtic iron age of Ireland, possibly as early as 300 BC, and passed on in the druidic oral tradition until the coming of Christianity and the decay of the druidic priesthood in the 5th century AD. The stories were then passed on by wandering bards, added to and bits lost, until the first scraps were first written down in a highly confused order with odd legal and historical notes on cow-hides by early Irish Christian monks in the 7th century. The oral tradition continued to grow and mutate, monks kept writing them down, and manuscripts were copied and then lost.

"These myths are scattered about in several still extant ancient Irish manuscripts written by Christian monks between the 12th and 14th centuries AD, such as The Book of the Dun Cow (LU), The Book of Leinster (LL) and The Yellow Book of Lecan (YBL). Some were written as late as the 18th century. The original pagan myths therefore suffer from varying degrees of Christian contamination."

"They were first translated into English at the beginning of the twentieth century by Lady Gregory and Miss Eleanor Hull, and their texts have been re-written ever since, until Thomas Kinsella's splendid new translation in 1969."

Though I realize that anything this far back is based on legend and myth, this only peaks my interest all the more. I suppose I find it incredibly fascinating that the memory of Irish ancestry goes so far back as to be inmeshed with the mythological, with legends of people and races far greater and nobler than today. I suppose it is the 18th century romantic in me!

As a final note to this post, to whom it may concern, I do realize that at this point I am largely talking to myself (and Becca). However, until I post this elsewhere on a website of my own making, I suppose it's just as well that it be posted here. I hope someone besides me (and Becca) find it of use. :-D

Upon further research, I have found an interesting connection between the Picts and the Tuatha De. Legend has it that following the invasion of Ireland by the "Milesian" Celts, the Picts came to Ireland desiring to settle. They were turned down and sent back to what was to become Scotland. However, they did not leave empty handed. As it were, the Celtic invaders sent with the Picts the widows of the Tuatha De slain in battle as wives. It stands to reason then that there is an evident intermingling of the heredity of the Picts and the Tuatha De, which may come to bear interestingly in the future of the Pictish race and their mysterious fading into history as the Wee People of Scotland. I find this interesting particularly since the Picts determined kingship matrilinearly rather than patrilinearly. I shall continue looking into this.

"Heremon, seventh son of Milesius, youngest but the third son who left any issue, after the conquest and division of Ireland, as before is set forth, became the first king or monarch then and reigned jointly with his eldest brother, Heber, for one year, at the end whereof a quarrell happening between them occasioned by their ambitious wives, as aforesaid, Heber was slain at the battle of Geishill, after whose death Heremon reigned alone 14 years, in which time a certain colony called by the Irish Cruithin, in English Picts, arrived in Ireland and desired of Heremon to assign them a part of the country to settle in, which he refused; but as regards they had no women along with them, Heremon gave them for wifes the widows of those that were slain in the wars between them and the Tuatha de Danann and sent them with a strong party of his own forces to conquer the country then called Albion (now Scotland)."

members.aol.com/lochlan2/legends.htm

I find your theory very interesting, it would explain alot.

I have scottish/celtic ancenstry, though I cant trace it as specifically as your due to poor record keeping, and also jewish ancestry.

It does seem that I have access to this other realme, the faery realme and it IS in my blood and has been there since being a young child.

Wow - I am also from clan Donnachaidh. I did not know the connection with the Picts. For the past few years I have been studying stone carvings by the Picts. My favorite is the “The Maid of Meigle Pictish Stone" a carving in stone of a mermaid. It is in the Meigle Museum in Perthshire, Scotland. Another good place is the Groam House Museum in Ross-shire, Scotland

that's really cool, I'm a Robertson, but nobody ever mentioned all this to me!

This one is from almost a year ago. So I hope ur still out there. I myself just recently traced my roots to find out I also descend from the Picts. In short. My mother's maiden name is McNaughton. Which translates to "sons" of Nechtan. Nechtan was also King of Picts @8th century. Here's where my confusion started. My research broke of into Nechtan the Druid/Celtic God aka The Dadga. Which I'm sure doesn't need explaining...was the leader of the Tuatha De Danann. This blow my mind and maybe I looked at all of this the wrong way so maybe someone can enlighten me other wise. I've done some more searching and found that Pixies are believed to be the Picts. I quess my confusion revolves around weither or not King Nechtan and Nechtan/Dagda are the same. I know how things get twisted in time. But following the story of Nechtan you can see how the two could be the same just told to fit those who tell it. It makes alot of sense to me, at least explaining some of my traits and abilities. My passions in life..are explained simply by being in my blood. My Pictish heritage. If anyone has any insite on this subject please do let me know. I proud of my heritage either way...I just want to be correct in my knowledge.

Thank you..Bright blessings all

ryan,
An absolutely fantastic site....I am tracing my heritage and have got to Uchtredus flius Scott (means son of Scot). Born approx. 1100.
I have found reference saying he is related to mil and scota.
Can you advise me where I can go to confirm this etc.
Regards Jo