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The origin of "Little Deer"

"Oisin" is roughly pronounced "Ooh-sheen." Try saying it with an Irish accent. No wonder there are so many variations in the English spellings! "Oisin" means roughly "Little Deer." For years I have puzzled over why "Little Deer," and not "Deer" or "Buck" or "Fawn." Well—I went to Ireland last week and finally found the answer! The reason "Oisin" means "Little Deer" lies deep in the folds of Irish folklore. We heard this story from two fine storytellers. I'm a storyteller, too, but the tale of Oisin is a long one, and so will let you read it rather quickly instead of rolling out a story.  The basic reason that "Oisin" means "Little Deer" is that he is the offspring of the hero Finn McCoole and a magical female shapeshifter who appeared to Finn as a beautiful white deer.   You can read about it here: https://finn-mccool.co.uk/irish-mythology/the-legend-of-finn-mccoo...
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Distant relations

Though it's been a long time since postings, I've been actively searching for connections along the Oisin ("Little Deer") family line.  Recently a handful of new, related surnames have surfaced because many people have kindly allowed me access to their DNA matches upon condition of privacy. (Yahoo!) For that reason, only initials of matches will be used here. The purpose of this blog is to collect my thoughts, not expose identities.  For the longest time I thought there were no U.S. "Oisins" other than my family. Silly me. Now that I've come across the gazillion variations, I've found that there are a gazillion Oisins out there. Basically, if the surname vaguely resembles an anglicized version of "Oisin" and the family came from Galway, we are probably related. See the first blog post for a partial list of the many variations here: https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/2458313233305814632/9123998797526571338 The new surnames somehow connec...
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Jeremiah Darby Hushen, Sr.

DNA tests and family trees say that our branch of the family is related to Jeremiah Darby Hushen, Sr. He could even be a great-great-great-grandfather, but I've yet to prove that with documentary evidence. Here's what I can prove, based on early research done by new cousins BK and BH789: • In the 1870 US Census for PA, Darby Husher (Hushen) lives in Upper Merion, Montgomer County, PA. He is 80, born 1790, retired laborer, cannot write, born Ireland, parents of foreign birth, not a citizen. Also in the household are Mary, 63, born 1807, keeping house; Martin, 18, born Ireland, at home; Thomas, 16, born Ireland; farm laborer; John, 4, born NJ. Nearby are son Darby with wife Margaret and family.  https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/7163/4278812_00586/10333390?backurl=http%3a%2f%2fsearch.ancestry.com%2fcgi-bin%2fsse.dll%3f_phsrc%3dMZe2%26_phstart%3dsuccessSource%26usePUBJs%3dtrue%26db%3d1870usfedcen%26gss%3dangs-d%26new%3d1%26rank%3d1%26msT%3d1%26MS_AdvCB%3d1%26gsln%3dhush...
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Hunting the Little Deers

Welcome to my new blog, "Hunting the Little Deers." The name comes from the Irish surname "Oisin," which translates to "little deer." It translates to English easily enough, but man, the pronunciations and spellings are a bear! Here's a YouTube video in which actress Saoirse Ronan tries to teach Stephen Colbert how to pronounce Irish words. "Oisin" comes at about 3:06. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hwstj9FJHGg Here's another one. "Oisin" appears at 2:56. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DU9w9qLynwE No wonder there are so many spelling variations! Here are some of the variations I've seen—I'm sure there are lots more: Hushen Hushan Hushin Hushon Hushion Husheon Hushing Hushong Husion Hussion Hutchins Haskings Haskins Hession Hasan Hesian Hussian Heshian Hutcheon Usher Escher Cushin Kashin Hirshon Herschen Hussan Husson Hussam Hushaw For the longest time my whole family was under ...
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