On Nobility and Thrift

Today I took the children to a Civil War museum exhibit. We were so fascinated by the stories of soldiers, slaves, and ladies that we read about and heard.  My children waited patiently for an hour and a half as we slowly worked through the exhibit and spoke extensively with one of the docents.  She asked about my family because she is interested in genealogy and is in the Daughters of the American Revolution.  I told her about my great-times-10 grandfather who was one of the founders of Nantucket Island.  When I told her his name her eyebrows arched and her eyes widened.  "Oh, you absolutely predate the American Revolution," she noted.  "You could join our chapter of the D.A.R. The {family surnames} are everywhere in the historical records. In fact," she mused, "you may be a Pilgrim."  (Note: I don't think so--that ancestor did not sail on The Mayflower.) Then she sized me up again.  "Frankly, I think if you did the research, based on that family name, you would find that you are descended from royalty." 

Well, she is only affirming what I have been telling Mr. Polly for years. It explains everything.  You can't hide nobility, you know? 

(Finn told me later "Mommy, I have always said you are a queen.")

But in order to prove that I am not merely a decorative figurehead, in spite of being to the manor born, and probably some sort of long-lost European princess, today I scored a fabulous midcentury walnut desk for Finn's room redo, for $35!!  People, if that doesn't prove another sliver of my ancestry--that is, my proud descent from a long line of Scotch peasants, I don't know what does.  

Because we highlanders are known for our thrift!