R-Y61244 is a newly discovered haplogroup which currently has four members (with surnames Henderson, Old, Rosie, and Ross (ancestral name Rosie) confirmed by BigY700, and other potential members including people with the surnames Auld and Begg.

Origin Theories

These male lineages had various "origin tales" or theories. For the Olds, it was believed by some, including the late Dr David Cossar Old, that they were related to the Olds from Devon, while the late Mr Geoffrey Old, of the British Museum thought that they were descended from the Danish King Gorm the Old. More recently, Dr Iain Graeme Old believed that the Caithness Oals, Olds and Aulds might be Vikings or descendants of survivors of the wreck of El Gran Grifón during the flight of Spanish Armada. 

The Hendersons believed that they descended from a younger son of one of the Henderson Barons of Fordell in Fife who had emigrated to America.

Meanwhile, the Rosies had carried out extensive research into medieval charters and heraldic grants and believed that they had come to England with William the Conqueror and that they were descended from the Rose Barons of Holme and of Kilravoc in Nairnshire. 

Although these various origin theories can not be completely discarded, most have not stood up to detailed genetic investigation. 

Our Hendersons do not group with other Hendersons (who have at least 13 ancestral groupings). 

Our Olds do not group with other (mainly Devon) Olds or (mainly Irish) Aulds.

Our Rosies and Rosses are not closely related to the Roses of Kilravoc (haplogroup FGC32620) and these families have an MRCA of circa 2800 BCE (haplogroup P312). 

Rather than sharing a common ancestry with others of the same surname, our R-Y61244 group members appear to share an independent common origin in Caithness, the ancient and most northerly county in the Kingdom of Scotland, which has ancient links to the Kingdom of Norway.

The Road to R-Y61244

Our current detailed haplogroup path is:

R-M207>R-M173(R1)>R-M343(R1b)>R-L754>R-L761>R-L389>R-P297>R-M269>R-L23>R-L51>R-P310>R-L151>R-P312>R-Z46516>R-ZZ11>R-DF27>R-Z195>R-Z198>R-CTS4188>R-S14445>R-Z29704>R-S11121>R-PH3239>R-FT103345>R-FT100094>R-Y62074>R-Y60581>R-Y61244

This new Haplogroup was the meeting point for the Hendersons, the Olds and the Rosies/Rosses, who had each set out on their own Y-DNA journeys.

23andMe

For the Olds, in January 2022, 23andMe included Y-DNA analysis for Iain Old (IGO) as part of their Ancestry analysis. They determined the paternal Haplogroup to be R-CTS4188, which, as we can see from the pathway above, is nine steps up from the current haplotype of R-Y61244 as determined by BigY700 analysis at FTDNA.

ScotlandsDNA

However, ten years before, in 2012, ScotlandsDNA had carried out detailed SNP analysis using the then new Chromo2 chip and determined the parental haplogroups of Iain Old (IGO) and Allan Old (AO) to be R-S11121, three steps closer to our current R-Y61244. ScotlandsDNA described R-S11121 as "Beaker Folk" and suggested:

"Your S11121 subtype was recently discovered using Chromo2, so its distribution is not yet understood. It belongs to the larger S355 cluster, which has been seen in Spain, France, Britain and Germany. A related type originated in Spain and it is likely yours did as well."

Family Tree DNA

In 2000, FamilyTreeDNA sent out their first kit, and in 2003 they launched their 37 marker STR test. In 2013, FamilyTreeDNA released their advanced Big Y test, which was updated to BigY700 in 2019.

1. The late Mr. Robert Bruce Begg (RBB) was the first to test, in 2010 (67 STRs), followed by;
   
2. The late Mr. Aeneas Murdoch Rosie (AMR) in 2014 (67 STRs, upgraded to BigY500 in 2016 and BigY700 in 2023);
   
3. The late Mr. Alfred John Ross (AJR) in 2015 (37 STRs, upgraded to 67 STRs in 2017 and BigY700 in 2023);
   
4. Dr. Iain Graeme Old (IGO) in 2017 (37 STRs, upgraded to BigY700 in 2023), and;
   
5. Mr. William Daniel Henderson (WDH) in 2020 (37 STRs, upgraded to 111 STRs and then BigY700 that same year.)

R-Y61244 was defined in 2020, with there currently being four members of the group, WDH, IGO, AJR and AMR. 

The subgroup, R-FTD90752 was defined in May 2023, with there currently being two members of the group, AJR and AMR. 

Other Groups on FTDNA

Where other haplogroup and geographical groups exist, eg R-DF27, Caithness & Sutherland, it is highly recommended that members also join them as there are both advantages and disadvantages in belonging to a small or a large group. We also recommend that confirmed R-Y61244 members join the Auld, Henderson, Old, Rose and Ross surname projects. See the Links section for groups that may be of interest. 

Badges

FTDNA assigns badges for different tests such as haplogroup tests for Y-DNA and Mt-DNA and also if your DNA matches a well-known genetic lineage. 

Confirmed Y-DNA Haplogroup Badges

Currently, four members have the R-Y61244 badge (WDH, IGO, AJR and AMR) while RBB is confirmed as R-Z195.

Niall of the Nine Hostages Badge

Niall Noígíallach, or Niall of the Nine Hostages, was a legendary, semi-historical Irish king who was the ancestor of the Uí Néill dynasties that dominated Ireland from the 6th to the 10th centuries. He was himself the grandson of King Conn of the Hundred Battles. Historical Irish annalistic and chronicle sources place his reign in the late 4th and early 5th centuries, although modern scholars date him about half a century later.

23andMe states that we share a common (R-M269) ancestry with the semi-mythical Niall of the Nine Hostages. However, on FTDNA we do not have the Niall of the Nine Hostages Badge. This is because FamilyTreeDNA uses their Y-12 marker set and allows for just a single mutation, i.e., a genetic distance of 1, which means that in the FTDNA database, Niall's signature represents from 0.6% to 1.0% of their  male customers. For more details see Niall of the Nine Hostages badge.

For more information

https://craigengelt.wordpress.com/caithness-roots-and-the-r-y61244-dna-project/

Acknowledgements

This group is dedicated the the memory of the late Mr Robert Bruce Begg, the late Mr Allan Old, the late Mr Aeneas Murdoch Rosie and the late Mr Alfred John Ross, without whose inspiration, foresight and legacy this project would not exist. We are also indebted to the generosity of Mr William Daniel Henderson who sponsored the update of the kits of AMR and AJR to BigY700 and to Mrs Jane Harris, Mr Rod Patten and Mrs Evelyn Andrews for funding the initial STR testing for AJR and AMR and the BigY500 for AMR. The expert advice of volunteer FTDNA group administrators Mr Wayne Townsend, Mr John Templer Harper, Mr Alasdair MacDonald, Mr Gareth Henson, and Ms Lucy Nelson has been invaluable and is gratefully acknowledged.