Let me start with a bit of trivia collected from the PBS series Nova. Scottish tartans were discovered in a burial mound in China! Maps used during the show seemed to reveal a path from Phoenicia through a desert to the burial mound and then up through France and England to spread out and become the Celts we all know and love. It is said that the Phoenicians as a people vanished without a trace like the Aztecs, Incans, and Mayans. I think the burial mound reveals that the blood line still exists.
Challenge Entry- trigger warning: death, abuse
I’d like to focus on my Gaelic side for this challenge, though I’m also Scottish, English, and Welsh. My French history is not one of pride, but shame and embarrassment taken to the extreme. I am a descendent of the Cagot line. According to Wikipedia, ( Cagot - Wikipedia ) my ancestors were early engineers blamed for the collapse of a cathedral they were building, possibly killing a Biblical descendent during the Grand Opening. Ever after, the Cagots were banned from churches and towns all across Europe, until they were officially forgiven a thousand years after the disaster.
Since Cagots were banned from religious places, they worked any job they could get, just to survive. Some jobs forced upon my ancestors included executioners and those who tortured others during the Inquisition.
Forgive us?
One possible bit of hope is that as the rejected people, my ancestors held onto the pre-Christian beliefs, just because there was nothing else left to them.