Weasley nationality WAS Re: Seamus and the Weasleys

[mochajava13]

No: HPFGUIDX 80042

Jeff:

> >    Oh, I agree that having ginger hair doesn't make a person 
full-
> > blood paddy, but people seem to expect it, don't they? I know I 
> > seem to run into that misconception myself, being redhaired and 
of 
> > Irish blood as well. :)
> >    I agree the Weasley family could be a few generations removed 
> > from Ireland. Maybe their original family name is O' Weasel? :) 
> > They would have more common Irish names, but living in England, 
> > they might want to sound more English. 
> 

Pip!Squeak
> Or they could be an old English Catholic family. That would 
explain 
> the large family, the poverty, and the sneers of the Malfoys (who 
> would never dream of placing principle over money and self 
interest).
> 
> It's not my idea; it was floated on the list about nine months 
back 
> and I can't remember who suggested it. 

> But English Roman Catholic would fit the Weasley's to a tee. A 
> family history of principle above ambition - the story of Arthur 
> Weasley's life.

> So the Weasley's are probably English. Old English. Very old 
> English, probably so old they are Celtic or British, rather than 
> Saxon. Arthurian English, which is a mixture of England, Wales and 
> part of Scotland (plus occasional visits to Ireland to nick 
> cauldrons). ;-)
> 
> Like Ollivander, and his sign showing that his family were making 
> wands before the Romans invaded, never mind the Normans.
> 
> An old, old family.
> 
> Descended from whom?


Sarah:
I completely agree with Pip!Squeak on this point.  Plus, I always 
thought that the red-hair gene is originally Scottish/Old English, 
and the red-hair in Ireland came from Scots who immigrated to 
Ireland.  My half-Irish grandmother, and ALL the Irish friends I 
have, have dark brown hair.  And freckles.  Plus, whenever I think 
of red hair and the UK or Ireland, I immediately think of the 
Duchess of York and all those weight-watcher commercials here in the 
US.  Or Queen Elizabeth I.  (She was a red-head, and very, very 
English.)  I've always assumed that red-hair or white blonde hair 
was common in England before the Normans with their French brown 
hair came and invaded.  We've got three pure-blood families that we 
know of: the Malfoys, the Blacks, and the Weasleys.  The Blacks go 
back to the Middle Ages, and their family motto is in French, so my 
guess is that they came to England along with the Normans, or 
shortly thereafter.  The Malfoys seem to be from the Anglo-Saxon 
invasion with their extremely light hair.  Well, Anglo-Saxons with 
Latin first names.  Hm, that doesn't seem to fit very well, does 
it.  And the Weasleys seem to be one of the original inhabitants of 
England, which does go along with the Arthurian names that the 
Weasley children all have.  

Kirstini-you crack me up!  "Beware of the banshee, begorrah, 
begorrah!"  Love it.

And Jeff-I had my first sip of alcohol at the tender age of about 
4.  My dad had a coke and bourbon, and I thought it was just a 
coke.  I insisted on having some, and spit it right back out.  He's 
given me alcohol whenever I wanted it since.  (Much to my  mother's 
chagrin.)  He let me have some of his beer when I was about 12, and 
my mother started shrieking "Take it away from her!"  At about 13 or 
so, I'd have some wine with the family at special occassions.  And I 
live in the US.  

Sarah