Burns

Yes, and while we are discussing my Scottish roots we should not neglect a mention of Margaret Matilda Burns my great-great-grandmother and the wife of William Brownlow McClellan. She traces back to a certain John B. Burns born 1681 at Alyth, Angus, Scotland. He married in 1704 in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, so obviously he made the Atlantic crossing at some time in his youth. He is rumored to be somehow connected to an uncle of Robert Burns, the famous Scottish poet, but this is not confirmed so we should never mention this. It might not be true as Robert Burns of Scotland was not even born until 1759. I don't know why people publish these unconfirmed, unsubstantiated rumors and collapse hundreds of years into one giant blurb in their genealogy books and websites but it is mostly about vanity I suppose, not so much about the historical record. Genealogy writers often take too many liberties with the facts or rather lack of facts which is why they would not qualify as true historians and we cannot take these things at face value. We have to do some real historical research to see what is true and what is elaborated fantasy. But anyway, Burns is a very common name in the lower part of Scotland.