Am I descended from a Scottish king?

QI recently found an article on your website about a Scottish man who discovered that he was a descendant of Robert III via a DNA test ( bit.ly/ RobertIII).

I read more information about the project on other websites, and discovered that the DNA test only applies to male descendants. My family has always been told that my 4x great grandfather was a descendant of Robert III through his daughter, Princess Mary.

Is there any way my father could take the test to prove his lineage? Kathryn Hampton

ARobert III’s DNA was investigated as part of the Battle of Bannockburn Family History Project, coordinated by the Genealogy Department at the University of Strathclyde ( bit.ly/StrathGenealogy). The Battle of Bannockburn took place in 1314 and was one of the key battles in the War of Independence between Scotland and England (see battleofbannockburn.com).

The project used documentary sources to research the coats of arms of 70 of the combatants, and traced the genealogies of their families over four generations. The genetic genealogy component of the project sought to follow some of these lineages forwards through the direct male line to the present day.

The living male-line descendants were invited to take a Y-chromosome DNA test. Establishing the Y-lines of the descendants would let anyone who tested and matched their DNA signatures know that they were descended from the same combatant – even if they did not have any supporting genealogical evidence.

The Y-chromosome is passed on from a father to his sons, who in turn pass it on to their sons and so on through the generations. This all-male path of transmission usually corresponds with the inheritance of surnames.

Unfortunately, your father is potentially descended not from one of Robert III’s sons, but from his daughter Princess Mary, which means that a Y-chromosome test could not be used in this case to prove the lineage.

However, a Y-chromosome test would still be a worthwhile investment, because it would potentially give your father matches with other people who share his surname, which might help to advance your genealogical research.

You might also consider getting your father to take an autosomal DNA test, which would provide matches with genetic cousins on all his ancestral lines. However, please do bear in mind that autosomal DNA testing is best used for finding connections within the last five or six generations.