My family is “Scotch-Irish” according to my grandfather, on my mother’s side, that meant that we were Irish, but left Ireland after being accused of “sheep rustling” then left for America. So the ancestors spent time in Scotland (a place I have yet to visit) and Bruce is a Family Name… but weirdly only with middle names. The only one my family not to go by our middle name (never do this to a kid- it confuses the system & causes them untold pain) was my uncle, “Robert Bruce,” who went by “Bob.” I’ve tracked the family to the first or second census in Indiana. Which means at least part of me is a hoosier sin before statehood. The amusing thing is the red hair- It actually comes from my grandmother’s side which was very German. I had a chance to visit Baden-Baden and can’t really understand why they would leave. Unless it had something about locals not allowed in the casino. One regret I have is that my parents (after meeting a long lost family member in Scotland, sent me a wonderful scarf with the family tartan… I wore it every cold day and even brought it on a trip to New York. I was inexperienced in wearing scarves, it blew off me- and lost it… i remember the tartan differently, but sadly I’ve slept since then.
