View Full Version : Freckles in Caithness
helenwyler
26-Jun-07, 00:10
I have lots of freckles:cool:. I'm very happy with them; they're part of my identity! My ancestors from Caithness were 'incomers' at some point (Robertsons & McDonalds) and I also have some freckly Irish ancestors. So I don't know if my freckles are Irish or Scottish!
What I'd be interested to know is whether born and bred Caithnesians are generally freckly too?:confused Are some regions/clans more freckly than others? If you are freckly, do you like them?
Metalattakk
26-Jun-07, 02:01
No-one in Caithness is allowed to have freckles. They were banned under the 1926 Treaty Of Ephelides, which, as far as I know, has never been repealed.
It seemed to cause quite some stir in the county at the time, though, but has been hushed-up by the local press ever since.
The 'Gang Of Three' were striving to uncover the truth when they were seconded into the great Supermarket Debate by the 'Cognoscenti', and thus the truth may now never come out.
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Jings, I think I've said too much....:eek:
When I was young my father always told me that freckles were a sign of beauty!
I have lots of freckles:cool:. I'm very happy with them; they're part of my identity! My ancestors from Caithness were 'incomers' at some point (Robertsons & McDonalds) and I also have some freckly Irish ancestors. So I don't know if my freckles are Irish or Scottish!
What I'd be interested to know is whether born and bred Caithnesians are generally freckly too?:confused Are some regions/clans more freckly than others? If you are freckly, do you like them?
Do you have red, auburn or strawberry blonde hair, Helen? Most freckly-faced folk I have come across seem to have hair in one of those colours.
helenwyler
26-Jun-07, 08:03
I have very dark brown hair Sporran. My father and grandfather also had very dark hair + freckles, my mother dark + freckles too. Auburn would have been very nice though!
helenwyler
26-Jun-07, 08:12
No-one in Caithness is allowed to have freckles. They were banned under the 1926 Treaty Of Ephelides
Thanks Metalattakk[lol]! - my dad was born in 1915 so this explains his uncontrolled outbreak of freckles. The things I don't know!!
Sporran - I've got very dark brown hair, as are/were the rest of my family. Mum had auburnish hair, but I'm not sure how much of it came from a bottle;)!
Metalattakk
26-Jun-07, 10:39
Thanks Metalattakk[lol]! - my dad was born in 1915 so this explains his uncontrolled outbreak of freckles. The things I don't know!!
Well, I wouldn't have liked to have been him in 1926, then. The swingeing penalties against the guilty at the time were harsh in the extreme. Many freckly people were deported/banished from the county forever.
A swift underground movement sprang up though, and it is said that rebellious families would hide freckly kids in underground cellars and bunkers, so hoping to evade the roving squads of 'freckle-spotters' employed by the nefarious law enforcers of the time.
It is said that there are tangible links from the 1926 'anti-freckle' era to today's rather widespread mistrust of the ginger-haired, although these claims would take further examination to fully support.
helenwyler
26-Jun-07, 11:25
A swift underground movement sprang up though, and it is said that rebellious families would hide freckly kids in underground cellars and bunkers,
It is said that there are tangible links from the 1926 'anti-freckle' era to today's rather widespread mistrust of the ginger-haired, although these claims would take further examination to fully support.
I see. Could this hiding of freckled red-heads also be the true origin of the phrase 'reds under the beds'?
Perhaps you have also explained the shy, self-effacing nature of my father, who might, in that frecklist age, have thought himself a serial blot on the landscape? This is serious material for a thesis Metalattak. [lol]
The old folks in Caithness used to call freckles, "fernie tickles".
guitarzan
26-Jun-07, 11:32
is there not such a word as "fernticled" that means that you are covered in freckles? i could be wrong...
this may be where that derived from...
helenwyler
26-Jun-07, 12:58
The old folks in Caithness used to call freckles, "fernie tickles".
"Fernie tickles" - what an endearing term! Any connection with Bill & Niall?
Can't find 'fernticled', but freckle comes from Old Norse etc. Apparently it's a rude word in Australian, so apologies to Australian orgers:(. Only just found this out.
helenwyler
26-Jun-07, 13:17
fernticle
A freckle (http://cancerweb.ncl.ac.uk/cgi-bin/omd?freckle) on the skin (http://cancerweb.ncl.ac.uk/cgi-bin/omd?skin), resembling the seed (http://cancerweb.ncl.ac.uk/cgi-bin/omd?seed) of fern (http://cancerweb.ncl.ac.uk/cgi-bin/omd?fern).
Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)
You were right Guitarzan!
coppertop 1958
26-Jun-07, 15:14
What are freckles?
Freckles are flat, circular spots that typically range in the size of the head of a nail. The spots develop randomly on the skin, especially after repeated exposure to sunlight and particularly in persons of fair complexion. Freckles vary in color -- they may be red, yellow, tan, light-brown, brown, or black -- but they are always darker than the skin around them since they are due to deposits of the dark pigment called melanin.
The word "freckle" comes from the Middle English "freken," which, in turn, came from the Old Norse "freknur," meaning "freckled." (Some speakers of Old English and Old Norse must have had a tendency to developing freckles.)
:roll: What a breath of fresh air this board is lol:mad:
No-one in Caithness is allowed to have freckles. They were banned under the 1926 Treaty Of Ephelides, which, as far as I know, has never been repealed.
It seemed to cause quite some stir in the county at the time, though, but has been hushed-up by the local press ever since.
The 'Gang Of Three' were striving to uncover the truth when they were seconded into the great Supermarket Debate by the 'Cognoscenti', and thus the truth may now never come out.
.
.
.
Jings, I think I've said too much....:eek:
Ye can pit that one on the jokes page ,it'
s nice.
No-one in Caithness is allowed to have freckles. They were banned under the 1926 Treaty Of Ephelides, which, as far as I know, has never been repealed.
It seemed to cause quite some stir in the county at the time, though, but has been hushed-up by the local press ever since.
The 'Gang Of Three' were striving to uncover the truth when they were seconded into the great Supermarket Debate by the 'Cognoscenti', and thus the truth may now never come out.
.
.
.
Jings, I think I've said too much....:eek:
Ye can pit that one on the jokes page ,it'
s nice.
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