AS Scottish fans gear-up for Taylor Swift’s run of concerts in Edinburgh, family tree experts have revealed the singer’s familial connection to the country.
In 2015, while the singer was on-stage at the OVO Hydro in Glasgow, she read out an e-mail from her father revealing her Scottish heritage.
“In the subject line it said ‘Tell Scotland this’ and in the email he said our whole family is from Scotland and you have to tell them that,” she said.
“So I am one of you, and I’m proud because this crowd is amazing.”
After performing her hit Blank Space, she added: “I happen to love Scottish people, personally.”
She later told the Daily Record that her father “is super proud of our Scottish heritage”.
“[He] told me that pretty much most of our family can be traced back to Scotland so it’s obviously very cool for me to get to perform there as part of the tour”.
Experts at genealogy service Findmypast have now revealed the specificities of Swift’s Scottish ancestry on her mother’s side.
Unearthed documents show that her great-grandfather Lance G. Findlay was born in England but was of Scottish and South African ancestry.
Paperwork from 1927 shows that he married his wife in Scotland.
Findlay’s WWI draft registration card from 1918 also shows that he was a citizen of Scotland.
Meanwhile on her father’s side the singer’s roots can also be traced all the way back to William the Lion, a former King of Scotland.
Lion of the House of Dunkeld ruled Scotland from 1165 to 1214 and is thought to be the 26th great-grandfather of Swift.
Swift also had a 15-month relationship with Scots DJ Calvin Harris, although the pair split up in June 2016.
The pop star was also once rumoured to be buying the Tower of Lethendy castle in Perthshire, although later shot down the rumours by referencing her own lyrics on X/Twitter.
Quoting the song New Romantics, she said: “‘Cause baby I could build a castle out of all the bricks they threw at me’ – a line from New Romantics.
“But I’m not actually buying a castle."
