Keep Calm and Carry On The Name

I've been doing some more family history research, and on www.new.familysearch.org (a really great website, by the way) there is a link where you can easily trace back your family tree. I've been just seeing how far I can go back on each side of my family, and I was happy to find Scottish royalty on nearly every line. Unfortunately, my relation is quite far back, and since many of the people in my family were just borderline nobles, it's possible they "invented" some connections to the royal family. Still, take a look! It gives me a boost of self-confidence.

Here is Charlemagne. Most of the world probably is related to Charlemagne, but still, it's interesting to see just how you are connected to these people. And my Shakespeare-loving, part-Scottish heart goes all aflutter when I see names like these:

And by the way, in nearly all of my family lines I've found some connection to Ethelred "The Unready". Maybe that's where my procrastination gene comes from:

Also, I take special pride in my Bruce line:

So, originally I was just going to brag about how cool it is to find all these famous people in your family tree, but now that I've looked it all up, I've been pondering... it's really amazing how everyone is connected together. We're all brothers and sisters, children of God and literal descendants of the same people. We really all should get along, you know? Because our differences are so very slight. But, like so many siblings, we fight each other. 'Twas ever thus, since Cain. But could it be, perhaps, that learning to get along with our immediate siblings is the key to peace among nations?
I also wanted to mention how interesting it is that the fact that my ancestors have ties to royalty really means so little. I love them because they're my parents, not because they are somehow royal. Each name on this tree helped make me who I am. Just a little thought for the day.
On a completely different note, I have a professor who is convinced that the red hair gene is a royal trait because red hair is common in royalty from Ancient Egypt on down. All the gingers in that class (including me) were quite happy. But when it comes to me roots, as my best friend would say, "My roots are blonde!" ;)