Red
Paranormal Adept
I already told Irishseekers about this one, but I though I should post it here.
I came across this article that suggested that the Berbers of Northern Africa were related linguistically to the Scottish.
Scottish Genealogy Society - Our cousins the Berbers
"Sometime at the end of the fourteenth, or it may have been in the early fifteenth century, a ship was wrecked on a spit of sand jutting out from the Moroccan Atlantic coast. The sole survivor scrambled ashore and fell into the hands of the Berbers whose clan name was the Beni M'Touga, and who inhabited that part of the country. The Berbers spared his life, which was unusual clemency on their part as they had a hatred for all strangers. The shipwrecked man who was a Scot, and whose name was either MacDougal or MacDowall (most likely the latter), was an expert in metalwork, settled down among the natives and taught them many useful arts, including working in metals. He lived for many years with this tribe, who venerated his superior knowledge to such an extent that on his death they raised a monument over his tomb, which is known and worshipped to this day as the shrine of "Sidi Magdool".
During the course of the years, a seaport was built on the spit of sand where the shipwreck occurred, and this was named after him, but the name was gradually corrupted by Europeans into "Mogador".
What was the reason for the unusual friendliness of these wild Berber tribesmen towards a shipwrecked sailor? One of the first steps towards amity between strangers is a knowledge of each other's languages and that is what most probably saved MacDowall. You may wonder how he knew the Berber tongue! As he was an expert in metalwork, he was most likely a passenger on the shipwrecked vessel and not one of the crew, as his calling was not of very much use for employment in a wooden ship; therefore it was unlikely that he gained a knowledge of their language by previous contact with them as a sailor. Besides, the language of the sea-ports in that part of the world was Arabic, which is entirely different to the native Berber tongue known as "Shluh" . The explanation may lie in the following extraordinary statement which was made by Colonel W.G. Macpherson of the Army Medical Corps. ........ "When I was in Morocco City in 1891. I met a Gaelic-speaking missionary doctor who had come out there and went into the interior, where Shluh is the language spoken in the Sous country, just as it is the language of the Cis-Atlas country. He told me that the words seemed familiar to him, and after listening to the natives speaking among themselves found they were speaking a Gaelic dialect, much of which he could follow. The medical missionary told me he recognized the Shluh language as Celtic. Although he had no previous knowledge of it, and had no conception of its being allied to Gaelic, he found himself able to understand much of what was being said the first time he went among the tribes, solely on account of the resemblance of they language to his own Gaelic. This confirmed my own observations regarding the names of the Berber tribes, I myself, had come across, namely, the Beni M'Tir, the Beni M'Touga and the Beni M'Ghill is simply the Arabic for 'children of' and is tacked on by the Arabs to the M' of the Berbers which means 'sons of', and is exactly the same as the Gaelic Mac or Mc. Hence the M'Tir, M'Touga and M'Ghill become in our country MacTiers, MacDougalls and MacGills." "
In Oppenheimer's book The Real Eve, apparently he posits that the Berbers are related to the Saami tribe from the Nordic Regions. Even among the modern Berbers there can be found blond hair, fair skin and light eyes. If I understand the comments about the book, he also posits that they made their way up the western Mediterranean and into Ireland about 7,600 B.C.
There are also reputed to be ancient kings of Egypt who came from the Berbers. They are also related to the Guanche who settled the Canary Islands.
I have put the book on my list, so I will follow with additional details or corrections once I have had the chance to read.
I came across this article that suggested that the Berbers of Northern Africa were related linguistically to the Scottish.
Scottish Genealogy Society - Our cousins the Berbers
"Sometime at the end of the fourteenth, or it may have been in the early fifteenth century, a ship was wrecked on a spit of sand jutting out from the Moroccan Atlantic coast. The sole survivor scrambled ashore and fell into the hands of the Berbers whose clan name was the Beni M'Touga, and who inhabited that part of the country. The Berbers spared his life, which was unusual clemency on their part as they had a hatred for all strangers. The shipwrecked man who was a Scot, and whose name was either MacDougal or MacDowall (most likely the latter), was an expert in metalwork, settled down among the natives and taught them many useful arts, including working in metals. He lived for many years with this tribe, who venerated his superior knowledge to such an extent that on his death they raised a monument over his tomb, which is known and worshipped to this day as the shrine of "Sidi Magdool".
During the course of the years, a seaport was built on the spit of sand where the shipwreck occurred, and this was named after him, but the name was gradually corrupted by Europeans into "Mogador".
What was the reason for the unusual friendliness of these wild Berber tribesmen towards a shipwrecked sailor? One of the first steps towards amity between strangers is a knowledge of each other's languages and that is what most probably saved MacDowall. You may wonder how he knew the Berber tongue! As he was an expert in metalwork, he was most likely a passenger on the shipwrecked vessel and not one of the crew, as his calling was not of very much use for employment in a wooden ship; therefore it was unlikely that he gained a knowledge of their language by previous contact with them as a sailor. Besides, the language of the sea-ports in that part of the world was Arabic, which is entirely different to the native Berber tongue known as "Shluh" . The explanation may lie in the following extraordinary statement which was made by Colonel W.G. Macpherson of the Army Medical Corps. ........ "When I was in Morocco City in 1891. I met a Gaelic-speaking missionary doctor who had come out there and went into the interior, where Shluh is the language spoken in the Sous country, just as it is the language of the Cis-Atlas country. He told me that the words seemed familiar to him, and after listening to the natives speaking among themselves found they were speaking a Gaelic dialect, much of which he could follow. The medical missionary told me he recognized the Shluh language as Celtic. Although he had no previous knowledge of it, and had no conception of its being allied to Gaelic, he found himself able to understand much of what was being said the first time he went among the tribes, solely on account of the resemblance of they language to his own Gaelic. This confirmed my own observations regarding the names of the Berber tribes, I myself, had come across, namely, the Beni M'Tir, the Beni M'Touga and the Beni M'Ghill is simply the Arabic for 'children of' and is tacked on by the Arabs to the M' of the Berbers which means 'sons of', and is exactly the same as the Gaelic Mac or Mc. Hence the M'Tir, M'Touga and M'Ghill become in our country MacTiers, MacDougalls and MacGills." "
In Oppenheimer's book The Real Eve, apparently he posits that the Berbers are related to the Saami tribe from the Nordic Regions. Even among the modern Berbers there can be found blond hair, fair skin and light eyes. If I understand the comments about the book, he also posits that they made their way up the western Mediterranean and into Ireland about 7,600 B.C.
There are also reputed to be ancient kings of Egypt who came from the Berbers. They are also related to the Guanche who settled the Canary Islands.
I have put the book on my list, so I will follow with additional details or corrections once I have had the chance to read.