This is why the history of the UK and the British Isles is so fascinating because there are so many layers to each nationality as we describe them today and we can't unpick that: this differs slightly to many indigenous cultures and tribes across the world whose ancestors reached distant lands through incredible and unimaginable migration routes that in many cases couldn't be repeated due to geological changes that transformed the earth. Humans left Africa several times but each settlement died out until one group finally made it, travelling at a time when by chance the global water levels made it possible to travel and reach distant shores, and the climate allowed them to eventually settle. Without that luck, homosapiens would not have spread through Asia, Europe, across the Pacific and its islands, up to the Arctic and from there to the Americas. Britain was easier to reach time and time again, except when it was buried under colossal ice sheets, so different races could and did leave their own footprints and then genetic markers on the population as it grew and mixed. The outlying lands beyond the oceans had to wait for Europeans to rediscover sailing and navigation to start redistributing different genes across the globe.

Even going from the time of the Romans, we carry blood from the Picts, the Scots (who were originally Irish who migrated across the Irish Sea), the numerous Celtic Kingdoms and tribes, the Romans from across the Empire who had families with Britons and their descendants stayed when the Legions left; then came the Angles, Saxons and Jutes, distinct tribes from western Europe who eventually united against the Celtic British, then the Danes, then the Normans... And these are just the ruling classes, not counting William of Orange, the Hanovers, the Gothenburg-Mountbattens etc. Throw in every group that has been invited to come and trade or set up shop or lend their services and we're a mixed bag of absolutely everything. And our regional differences are gloriously diverse too, even amongst the nations. Compare Cornwall and Cumbria, Surrey and Sunderland, Pembrokeshire and Powys, Dumfries and Dundee, and I'm not going down the road of naming towns and areas in NI but compared and contrast as you wish.

I've lived all over England and Wales and don't really fit on anywhere as I've moved so often - but I wouldn't want to live anywhere else and I'll never get bored of exploring our rich and unique history.