Where did red hair originate from? Was it the Scots?

Question

I've noticed theres more red heads in scotland than anywhere else

Answer 1

Some of the European tribes can be tribes can be traced through to Middle Eastern and Asian sources. It is not uncommon to see the flaming red hair in people from this heritage. It is also seen amongst Jewish people whose tribes originate in the same area.
The first wave of the Celtic invasion, circa 600BC, occurred in the area we now call Ireland.
These people were from Iberia (Southern Spain) and were generally dark haired, like the present natives of that area.These people settled in the western extremity of the Atlantic Archipelago.
The second wave of the Celtic invasion came around 400BC, these tribes came from further North, France and Belgium, and they settled in mainland Britain. From the accounts of Romans at the time, these people were fairer in appearance.
Apart from trading etc. the tribes seemed to stick
to their own areas.
When the Romans invade Britain many of these people are pushed to the extremities of the mainland giving us what we think of as the Celtic territories now.
The red hair seems to be strongest from the darker haired tribes and these were settled in Ireland the Western Isles and later the West Coast of Scotland. About 1500-1000 years ago an Irish tribe called the Scots dominated the North Western extermity the mainland this then became called Scotland.
The people of the first invasion spoke the Gallic tongue, the people of the second wave spoke Brythonic. These then give us the Gaelic, Welsh,etc. tongues. The Scottish language did an about turn from the Brythonic, when the Irish tribes dominated in later years.
This is why the red haired gene was most prevelant in these areas of the British Isles and Ireland.

Answer 2

Red Hair Origin

Answer 3

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RE:
Where did red hair originate from? Was it the Scots?
I've noticed theres more red heads in scotland than anywhere else

Answer 4

That is hard to say. Red hair is common among the Scots and Irish but was also found among the Vikings (that's how Erik the Red got his name)

It is a trait not normally found in non-white people, but whether it originated specifically among the Gaels rather than the Celts is one of those questions whose answer is speculative at best.

Answer 5

Red hair is a typically Celtic feature, so you get a lot of red headed Scots, Irish, Welsh and northern Europeans. My hair is brown/blond, but I have a red beard, so there must have been a Celt in the woodpile somewhere back.

Answer 6

The pigment phenomenal gives red hair its distinctive color. Red hair has far more of the pigment phenomenal than it has of the dark pigment melanin. red hair is most commonly found at the northern and western fringes of Europe; it is associated particularly with the people located in the British Islands.Red hair occurs naturally on approximately 1–2% of the human population

Answer 7

Who knows where red hair originated. We have the Bible story of Esau who was alledged to be Red Headed so red hair must have been in the Holy Land area 4000 years ago.

Answer 8

Both my children are redheads. I am dark haired and dark eyed, but my husband is a redhead. I think that the gene for red hair has to be on both the mother and father's family. surprisingly, when both parents have the ginger gene, the red head gene becomes dominant. I just knew ONE of my children would resemble me, but no luck!

Answer 9

Well, Phoenicians in the Mediterranean were noted for the their fiery red hair. It was such a status symbol that women began using henna to imitate them. The Phoenicians were sea going people so it is possible that they reached the northern isles.
Even today women use henna as a way of coloring their hair.

Answer 10

I would agree with an overall Northern European Heritage. Ireland and Scotland of course, but there are a lot of Redheads that have come from Russia and the Baltics also.