Elvis Scottish Heritage

 

Elvis' mother Gladys Love Smith was born on April 25, 1912 in Pontotoc County, Mississippi.   Gladys' parents were Robert Lee Smith and Octavia Luvenia "Doll" Mansell. Octavia was said to have received her nickname "Doll" because she was a very beautiful and fragile woman.  She gave birth to nine children and was bedridden most of her life, dying at the age of 59 from tuberculosis.  Gladys' father Robert was a handsome man with black hair. He was a cotton farmer and an occasional moonshiner. He would often pick up extra jobs to help support his large family.  In his fifties, he died suddenly of pneumonia, leaving the then 19-year-old Gladys to find work in Tupelo as a seamstress to help support the family.

Gladys had black hair and dark eyes. As a youth she liked to play basketball. She played the position of forward and was very good at it. She also loved music and dancing. Vernon was tall and fair haired. He, too, liked music and had a good singing voice. He also enjoyed working on cars. In Tupelo, Mississippi they met and fell in love. They eloped on June 17, 1933 and married in Ponotoc County. Their son Elvis, destined for fame, and his stillborn twin Jessie were born January 8, 1935 at home in Tupelo.  Analysis of the Elvis Name

Various authors have researched Elvis' genealogy to varying degrees of accuracy. Although an official genealogy has not yet been completed by Graceland Archives, there is evidence that Elvis' ancestry is from several countries. His heritage includes Welsh, English, Scottish, Irish, French, Dutch, German & Cherokee ancestry
 

Elvis Presley's Scottish Ancestry

They say from small acorns grown great oak trees and so it was with the story about Elvis's ancestry being traced to Lonmay, Scotland. What started out as a simple PR idea by the Aberdeen and Grampian Tourist Board became a worldwide story...such is the power of the name "Elvis Presley". Allan Morrison had met Bill Burk in America, actually in Florida and not Memphis. He read his book "Early Elvis, the Tupelo Years" and was intrigued by Bill's mention of Elvis' Scottish ancestry. Being a Scotsman and an eye for a good story Allan started to do his own research. The mythology was that Elvis' family had derived from Paisley in Scotland and that somehow Paisley became Presley over time. It was common for emigrants to the USA to adopt the name of their home town. 

Allan spent six years researching the Scottish ancestry of Elvis Presley and traced the family to an Andrew Presley who married Elsbeth Leg August 27th 1713 at the Lonmay Church in  Aberdeenshire. It was Andrew's son, also called Andrew, who was forced to flee Scotland in 1745 at the time of the Jacobite Rebellion and went to the Americas to settle in South Carolina. It is Andrew Presley who was Elvis Presley's long lost relative. Public records prior to 1700 are very had to find so it was not possible to trace the Presley's back any further. Allan has speculated that going way back in time Elvis original ancestors were probably Vikings, particularly in that area of Scotland where there were many Viking raids and settlements established.

The "Presley Prophecy" I asked Allan why he had gone for publicity now when his book, the "Presley Prophecy" was not yet published. He said he got an early morning call from an Ian Hainey in the Aberdeen Tourist Office when some information had leaked about Elvis' Scottish ancestry. Ian had rented a jumpsuit, picked up Allan and drove to Lonmay where he invited a few press. This simple idea was picked up on TV, Radio and Press all over the world, even by a twit called "Todd Morgan" at Graceland, who according to newspaper reports threatened little Lonmay that they can't use the name "ELVIS". Perhaps the twit forgot I defeated EPE Inc in the UK Courts and anyone can now use the name Elvis Presley in this country. Allan's book should come out in August and is fiction but based on the facts surrounding Elvis' ancestry. Look out for details about the book in the near future on www.elvisly-yours.com and we will be publishing the research papers that Allan kindly loaned Elvisly Yours. 

UPDATE: A new tartan, Presley of Lonmay, has been designed to honor Elvis's connection with Scotland, discovered in 2004. The blue to represent the nearby town of Peterhead. The grey for the skies. The green for countryside grass and yellow for local cornfields. Lisa Marie wears her Scottish tartan on stage

The King of Rock 'n' Roll's distant roots were traced back to the village of Lonmay in Aberdeenshire Scotland. Allan Morrison, the author who traced Elvis's ancestors back almost 300 years to the Parish of Lonmay for his book, The Presley Prophesy, discovered that Andrew Presley married Elspeth Leg at Lonmay on 27 August 1713, their son, Andrew, having arrived in North Carolina in 1745.

The pure wool kilt, in shades of blue, grey, green and yellow, comes complete with gold accessories, including a sporran engraved with thistles and a bald eagle to highlight the Scottish/American link. Launched by an Elvis lookalike, the tartan is also to be used in the refurbishment of Lonmay's only hotel, the Ban-car. Designer Mike King, Elvis fan and director of Philip King, the Aberdeen-based menswear and tartan hire company, hopes the tartan will win favor throughout the world. Anyone interested in obtaining the tartan to contact the shop: www.philip-king.com