Did anyone see Face of Britain on Channel 4 (UK) ?
EDS Skin Care Forums Forum Index » EDS Lounge

free skin care · Tue Apr 24, 2007 1:35 am

It's fascinating.

If you didn't it's based on a project using DNA to trace the ancestry of the different regions of the UK along with analysing the main facial features of each tribe.

So far I've defo got an anglo-saxon nose and chin, but alas not the high cheek bones, nor the small rounded chin.

I've got some colouring from the Celts and maybe their wider jaw and forehead. That characteristic red gene runs through our family and sometimes comes out fully-fledged.

So far, until I factor in the normans, I reckon I'm a 50/50 mix of celt and anglo-saxon.

I'm dying to see what the Normans effect is. Apparantly there's quite a bit of that in the family tree and I'm quite often mistaken for French when I'm abroad, but maybe that's the lack of a bottom.

Anyway, like most English we're a real hodge potch; a bit of celt from Ireland and Scotland, more of the same from the west country, and all the rest.

What do you think you come out as?

free skin care · Tue Apr 24, 2007 6:43 am

I'm so disappointed that I missed this, as it's a big interest of mine. However, there are some video clips you can watch on the C4 website.

Having viewed them, I'm unsurprised at my conclusions.

I have very high Angle cheekbones and an Angle chin (without the cleft) and forehead. This would tally in with my Northumbrian heritage - traditionally, a geographically isolated region, allowing the genes and culture to remain relatively constant for long periods of time. Those descended from old Northumbrian (Angle) families, like myself, tend to be of no taller than average height, fairly slim, with blue eyes and fair/very light brown hair.

My skin colour is very Celtic, having been passed down from a grandmother's Irish birth.

However, my slender nose, eyes (pale blue - apart from quite a lot of brown in one of them), hair and the rest of my facial structure are very Nordic. My other grandma's blood was pure Norwegian, and there is, of course, a violent Viking history in Northumberland.

Also, whereas Molly is often mistaken for French whilst abroad, I am often mistaken for a Dane. One Danish lady even told me that I was the exact doppelganger of her friend since childhood - in looks, character and mannerisms. I remember, too, an extraordinary moment on a bus in Copenhagen, when I was convinced I saw my mother! It wasn't her, of course, but looked almost exactly like her.

It seemed to me that Danish people are generally shorter than their other, often very tall, Scandinavian neighbours. I wonder if this is actually so? It might explain why I'm mistaken for Danish, rather than any other Nordic nationality, as I am short in stature.

Bizarrely, despite my love of France and the fact that I feel more at home there than anywhere else in the world, I don't appear to have any Norman features. Again, this is to be expected because of my ancestry.

free skin care · Tue Apr 24, 2007 10:02 am

This sounds like a very cool show. I for one am jealous. Sometimes it sucks to be an American. Lol we are such hodgepodges that there is no way to look at us and decipher what we might possible.

free skin care · Tue Apr 24, 2007 10:07 am

what's the link to the website?

I'm half Welsh and would be interested to see what this is about....

free skin care · Tue Apr 24, 2007 2:10 pm

world~of~mirth wrote:

This sounds like a very cool show. I for one am jealous. Sometimes it sucks to be an American. Lol we are such hodgepodges that there is no way to look at us and decipher what we might possible.

If you are American, or from another part of the New World, then you almost definitely have a very interesting heritage indeed. From those originally native to the country, to the pioneers or immigrants who moved there for a better life, there are fascinating stories, roots and culture.

I always get cross with American friends when they tell me how much they envy our history. You have your very own stories, and they are of no less value or interest than ours in the Old World.

Aw, man, listen to me on me soapbox again! Rolling Eyes

free skin care · Tue Apr 24, 2007 2:22 pm

rosyface wrote:

what's the link to the website?

I'm half Welsh and would be interested to see what this is about....

Half-Welsh, eh? From what I've seen on my visits to Wales (especially in North Wales), the people show a tendency towards being slightly shorter than average. They often seem to have dark hair, white skin and dark eyes - a striking contrast.

Characterwise, I've also noticed that many have a bent towards lyricism (they remind me of the French in this respect). All of the Welsh people I know have a good sense of humour, but also a distinct melancholic side and can be very sentimental. From my happy experience, they make good and loyal friends.

Here's the link to the programme details. They don't appear to have covered Wales yet, but perhaps if you keep checking back there: http://www.channel4.com/history/microsites/H/history/e-h/face.html?intcmp=docpage_box5

free skin care · Tue Apr 24, 2007 11:46 pm

They did cover Wales; the western part and the West country (Devon & Cornwall) that's where the Celts were pushed back to by the Anglo-saxons so it's quite likely you'd have a good degree of celtic blood Roseyface.

The bit about Vikings was interesting. They went to Newcastle and gathered blood from people who could trace their ancestry back through a few generations and they were all very proud to think of themselves as Viking and quite distinct from Anglo-Saxon, but it turns out the second wave of vikings were from exactly the same location as the anglo-saxons and with only 200 years between them there's no difference in DNA at all so really they're anglo-saxon too.

Funny how unfashionable it is to be anglo-saxon. Everyone interviewed wants to be something else. I suppose there's more romance in it.

free skin care · Wed Apr 25, 2007 1:17 am

Now that's very interesting. I'm not British but absolutely anglophile, with a deep interest in the time of Henry VIII., and of her daughter Elisabeth I. (who IMO was one of the very first emancipated women in the history - my next favourite is then Vita Sackville West, but that's the 20th century already...). My humble theory is that because of living on islands the British have a good chance to stay "clean" - while the rest of Europe is so mixed through that there is difficult to find the "tribal" features anymore.
I'm regularly on the Vienna airport to pick up my husband from his journeys and I love to watch the arriving people, guessing where they come from. I have to say, the British are relatively easy to guess. And during my journeys in the UK I definitely found the differences between Scots, English and Welsh. And while I’m scared of the binge-drinking Saturday-night-hordes, in general I like the folk on the “British Islands” (“God bless the queen”…), and especially appreciate the Scottish and English humour (and I agree that the Welsh are warmhearted and somewhat sentimental).
I’m Hungarian – and still quite typical, with just a touch of Asia (the ancient home of Hungarians was a triangle on the present boarder of Tibet/China/Mongolia). We’re short(ish) (unfortunately) with rather short legs&arms and middle/strong bone structure, dark&streight hair and dark eyes. Well, a warrior folk on horses… mixed through with Romans, Germans, Turks, Jewish (and whatever else came around…). We’re very sentimental, pessimistic – I find it typical that the biggest Hungarian National Holiday is about a lost battle…

free skin care · Wed Apr 25, 2007 1:23 am

Thanks Majorb for the link. It is really interesting. I'm thinking of doing the DNA test. Being Canadian, I'm a mix of everything.But would like to know where the "mix" originated! Thanks Molly for posting this.

free skin care · Wed Apr 25, 2007 2:00 am

Molly wrote:

They did cover Wales; the western part and the West country (Devon & Cornwall) that's where the Celts were pushed back to by the Anglo-saxons so it's quite likely you'd have a good degree of celtic blood Roseyface.

The bit about Vikings was interesting. They went to Newcastle and gathered blood from people who could trace their ancestry back through a few generations and they were all very proud to think of themselves as Viking and quite distinct from Anglo-Saxon, but it turns out the second wave of vikings were from exactly the same location as the anglo-saxons and with only 200 years between them there's no difference in DNA at all so really they're anglo-saxon too.

Funny how unfashionable it is to be anglo-saxon. Everyone interviewed wants to be something else. I suppose there's more romance in it.

Sadly, I couldn't see the Welsh or Newcastle bits amongst the short clips they posted on the site. That's a bit rotten for them to have missed them out, but I suppose there's only so much they have room to show on there. Wish I'd seen the entire programme. It sounds as though I've missed loads more interesting bits.

As for the Newcastle Viking heritage claims people originally made, if you look at most people from Northumberland, you can see that the programme was correct. It just doesn't hold true - the features are often very typically Angle. Heck, if you look at the behaviour, that's typically Angle too! Embarassed

Yep, a bit of drinking and fighting still goes down well, and there's a lot of pressure to be tough-minded and not succumb to weakness of any kind. Walk into any Northumbrian pub late at night and you might as well have travelled back many hundreds of years in time. Wink

Thankfully, there are good Angle traits too - the people tend to be very genuine, straightforward, born storytellers, generous, hospitable and loyal. It's just best not to get into a fight with them, though. Laughing

I really love the way that it's not only physical features that get passed down, but character too. And this doesn't just hold with Angles to modern-day Northumbrians either. It can be found elsewhere too.

free skin care · Wed Apr 25, 2007 2:46 am

I agree Lin, you can spot the English abroad much too easily, but I think a lot of that is down to how can I put it rather unsightly 'cultural' habits on holiday. I'm afraid I too have inherited the binge drinking gene so even though I hardly ever drink when I do.....look out there's viking about.

I wouldn't say this tribal history is anything like as straightforward in the big cities, especially London. The gene pool there would be much more mixed with all the waves of immigrants over the centuries.

It's timely they're doing it now because if you look at the regional surnames they all had distinct clusters until the industrial revolution. That's why they're using rural DNA from people who can trace their roots back some time.

Really the UK is extremely multi-cultural these days, particularly London, moreso than New York apparantly.

free skin care · Thu Apr 26, 2007 5:19 am

Quote:

Half-Welsh, eh? From what I've seen on my visits to Wales (especially in North Wales), the people show a tendency towards being slightly shorter than average. They often seem to have dark hair, white skin and dark eyes - a striking contrast.

Characterwise, I've also noticed that many have a bent towards lyricism (they remind me of the French in this respect). All of the Welsh people I know have a good sense of humour, but also a distinct melancholic side and can be very sentimental. From my happy experience, they make good and loyal friends.

that's extremely interesting....does anyone who's done more research into their cultural history know any good sites that i could access to find out a little bit more?

free skin care · Thu Apr 26, 2007 5:51 am

This is interesting; I will have to read up on it since my mother is Scottish and Welsh (I don't think these are represented much from what you said) and my father is full Czech. I can see both sides of my parents in my makeup but my features/skin tone are definitely mostly from the Czech side and my hair/nose is from my mother. My sense of humor is absolutely from the maternal side as I love British humor (well, mostly) - my best buddy is from Birmingham and I cannot wait to go see him in July for 2 weeks. You will likely hear us laughing from all over England so beware.

free skin care · Thu Apr 26, 2007 8:53 am

rosyface wrote:

Quote:

Half-Welsh, eh? From what I've seen on my visits to Wales (especially in North Wales), the people show a tendency towards being slightly shorter than average. They often seem to have dark hair, white skin and dark eyes - a striking contrast.

Characterwise, I've also noticed that many have a bent towards lyricism (they remind me of the French in this respect). All of the Welsh people I know have a good sense of humour, but also a distinct melancholic side and can be very sentimental. From my happy experience, they make good and loyal friends.

that's extremely interesting....does anyone who's done more research into their cultural history know any good sites that i could access to find out a little bit more?

If you haven't been able to tell already, I LOVE Wales and the Welsh!

You might be interested in some of these:

http://www.mabinogion.info (scroll down to the bottom for the link to the actual text from the Mabinogion itself - gives you some idea of the richness of the culture and literature, plus they're fabulous stories)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/history/sites/familyhistory - this might be useful in trying to research your family and there are some interesting Welsh historical links on the left hand side

http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/northwest/sites/beddgelert - one of my most favourite Welsh places, so beautiful; although it's suspected that the hound Gelert's grave was made up in the early 19th century to increase tourism!

http://www.eisteddfod.org.uk/index.php?lang=EN - The most famous Welsh festival, where poets and musicians compete for a celebrated chair

free skin care · Thu Apr 26, 2007 10:02 am

thanks so much Exclamation

I can't wait to get onto those sites and nose around....

free skin care · Fri Apr 27, 2007 4:16 am

majorb wrote:

rosyface wrote:

Quote:

Half-Welsh, eh? From what I've seen on my visits to Wales (especially in North Wales), the people show a tendency towards being slightly shorter than average. They often seem to have dark hair, white skin and dark eyes - a striking contrast.

Characterwise, I've also noticed that many have a bent towards lyricism (they remind me of the French in this respect). All of the Welsh people I know have a good sense of humour, but also a distinct melancholic side and can be very sentimental. From my happy experience, they make good and loyal friends.

that's extremely interesting....does anyone who's done more research into their cultural history know any good sites that i could access to find out a little bit more?

If you haven't been able to tell already, I LOVE Wales and the Welsh!

You might be interested in some of these:

http://www.mabinogion.info (scroll down to the bottom for the link to the actual text from the Mabinogion itself - gives you some idea of the richness of the culture and literature, plus they're fabulous stories)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/history/sites/familyhistory - this might be useful in trying to research your family and there are some interesting Welsh historical links on the left hand side

http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/northwest/sites/beddgelert - one of my most favourite Welsh places, so beautiful; although it's suspected that the hound Gelert's grave was made up in the early 19th century to increase tourism!

http://www.eisteddfod.org.uk/index.php?lang=EN - The most famous Welsh festival, where poets and musicians compete for a celebrated chair

Fascinating! I've noticed that the few Welsh people I've been fortunate enough to meet are strikingly attractive, with remarkable light eyes of unusual color and sparkle.

Must plan a holiday there someday!

P.S. Was enjoying the links you posted, and stumbled upon a delightful online latin tutorial!

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/latin/beginners/default.htm

free skin care · Fri Apr 27, 2007 7:28 am

heathercolorado wrote:

Fascinating! I've noticed that the few Welsh people I've been fortunate enough to meet are strikingly attractive, with remarkable light eyes of unusual color and sparkle.

Must plan a holiday there someday!

P.S. Was enjoying the links you posted, and stumbled upon a delightful online latin tutorial!

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/latin/beginners/default.htm

I must remember to save that link so I can brush up on my school Latin!

free skin care · Tue May 01, 2007 1:37 am

A little update........

I reckon I'm still 50/50 (Celt/Anglo-Saxon) - don't know where my French flair comes from Wink

but it's not from the Norman invasion. Maybe my London side of the family (Islington slums, as they were then) because that's always been more mixed.

They checked the DNA of people living in Sussex and Kent (I've more ancestors from there) and just like with the second wave of viking invaders in East Anglia there is nothing to distinguish the Normans DNA from the Anglo-saxons' as they came from the same area originally too.

So the map of the UK looks very much from the right (East coast) a bit more Anglo-saxon than Celt, middle England (Oxford) 51%/49% and left (West country/parts of Wales) a bit more Celt than Anglo-saxon.

The very northern part of the Norse invasion seems to have left more Pict (Scottish Celtic) than Norse though they have a smattering of it in them.

Did you catch it Majorb?

free skin care · Tue May 01, 2007 5:46 am

Dammit, no! I wish I'd have remembered. I could kick myself. Crying or Very sad

Automatic Message

If this is your first visit to the EDS Forums please take the time to register. Registration is required for you to post on the forums. Registration will also give you the ability to track messages of interest, send private messages to other users, participate in Gift Certificates draws and enjoy automatic discounts for shopping at our online store. Registration is free and takes just a few seconds to complete.

Click Here to join our community.

If you are already a registered member on the forums, please login to gain full access to the site.