Quote:
Originally posted by dtb
I'm not sure which version you're talking about -- there's a National Geographic set -- which sucks. Then there's another series, it's either Discovery or BBC, which is very good.(yadda yadda yadda)
|
Discovery/BBC.
Random, uninvited, untimely addition to the "black Irish" discussion: I've always heard this applied to the dark hair/eyed Irish (not famine immigrants), and while I know the "Armada" explanation is the sentimental favorite, my understanding of the coloring differences is what an old prof of mine termed the "Iberian" explanation: the black haired Irish are descended from the original immigrants to the British isles, who predate the (central asian/eastern european red-haired) Celts by a good long while, and who are believed to have arrived in Britain from northern Africa via the Iiberian penninsula without the usual detour through the rest of continental Europe. These are the original Britons (also called the Bretons when they later wended their way over to Gaul). Or: the black Irish are basically, well, Welsh.
