What I do on my weekends, these days…

I saw this picture of the Writers Museum in Edinburgh, Scotland, on Facebook, and I wrote, “I wonder if any of my grandfathers were ever at the Writers Museum, Edinburgh, Scotland?”

Lately, on weekends, I’m researching and developing a personal story, since I need to now step away from “wine” for a wee bit.  After nine years of wine blogging, I’ve begun to wonder, “What else can I write about?” For me, it’s now what stories can I leave my grandchildren, which will enrich their lives. As it turns out, it’s going to be their genealogy.

Once I discovered that I’m a direct descendant to the Reverend William Blaxton (Blackstone), originally from Northern Great Brittan (credited with settling Boston), I found that to be pretty amazing history. For the rest of the people who follow me, and might not know this, I know that it’s worth sharing with my family. Digging deeper into his history, I’ve uncovered that Blaxton (English version of his name, Blackstone being the Boston spelling) was himself descended from the Kings of Scot, Alexander the Great, and Charlemagne. Going even further, the line is of one king after the other, ending 12 generations earlier with the following:

1.      CHLODIO I LONG-HAIR KING OF THE FRANKS  circa 395
a.       http://www.geni.com/people/Chlodio-I-Long-Hair-King-of-the-Franks/6000000002143053627
b.      Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
c.       Died 448 in Cambrai, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France. Son of Unknown father of Chlodio and Unknown mother of Chlodio

When I put this picture onto Facebook, I was thinking out loud… seriously wondering if any of my great grandfathers had been into this building. My friend Jan Chiri asked the following:

Jan Chiri: So, what’s your Clan, man? Mine’s Fife (down through the ages from the MacBeths), but was consolidated with the much larger Clan Chatten (sp?), no doubt for purposes of strength (e.g., protection from other large clans). Merely interesting …

I wrote: MacQuary on my mother’s side, the Kings of Scotland on my father’s side…

Jan Chiri: Ah. A wee bit o’ MacBeth in ya, perhaps, lassie!

Jo: I wonder if any of my grandfathers were ever at this building? My great grandfather – also descended from the kings (who were earlier descended from Charlemagne, an illuminating figure of the Dark Ages) – was the Reverend William Blackstone, who founded Boston… Blackstone (Blaxton) was sent over by King James to Preach that version of his Bible, to the Pilgrims (1623). Yeah… that didn’t work, because Blackstone – trained as a Catholic priest – didn’t agree with the religion on points. As a result, Blackstone is credited with starting the Episcopalian Church in the US… MacBeth?… not out of the question. I picked up the writer side, which was why I was wondering about the Writers Museum…

As I just learned, I am related to a Macbeth, but not Shakespear’s Macbeth.

I now have to connect the dots between Alexander the Great and how he’s related to Charlemagne, then how Blaxton is related to the Kings of Scot. I will get to the bottom of it, and publish a family book. Meanwhile, I also have to concentrate on wine from Monday to Friday, but you know know what I’ll be doing this weekend… the continual digging.

There might be some wine involved, but I won’t be writing about it. It will be enjoying it, maybe even some from France. Cheers!