In the Hebrew scriptures, the swan is mentioned as being unclean, not suitable for human consumption. (Lev. 11:18; Deut. 14:16) In Christian lore, the swan is sacred to the Virgin Mary. Its swan song represents the resignation of the martyrs. The constellation Cygnus was called the Northern Cross at least from the time of Bede,…
Author: Justin Durand
Frame mtDNA
Limits of Paper Genealogy From doing paper genealogy, I know that my female line (mother to daughter) goes back to Margaret, wife of John Frame. Margaret’s maiden name is unknown. She was probably born about 1725, but there is no record of her until 1742, when she and her husband were living in Augusta County,…
Gunn
The Gunns claimed descent from Olaf the Black, King of Man but the line has been discredited as an early mistake. The later Gunns claimed descent from Sweyn Asleifarson, a pirate who lived in the Orkney islands, but that line is also now known to be a fake. The Gunns have been called the “MacGregors…
Astronomical Lore
The constellation we call Cygnus (the Swan) was identified as a separate constellation from ancient times. It was often identified as a bird, generally a duck or hen. It was probably Urakhga to the Sumerians. Certainly that constellation was a stellar bird of some kind. The Babylonians called it the Bird of the Forest. In…
Wilson
John Wilson (c1700-1783) and his wife Jean (c1705-?) came from Ireland to Berkeley County, Virginia. Rev. Jeremiah Wilson (c1735-c1813) moved first to New Jersey, and later to Bath County, Kentucky. He was the progenitor of a large family. Uriah Wilson (c1755-1825), served as a private in the Washington County, Pennsylvania militia in 1781, during the…