We know that Aunt Bee is not Barney's aunt, because he says so in Aunt Bee's Invisible Beau. Barney says to Andy, "If Aunt Bee was my aunt ... I'd drive straight over to Mt. Pilot, I'd get that Hendricks out in the alley, and SOCKO!"
It is true that in certain areas, particularly the American South, the term "cousin" is used somewhat loosely. If we assume that Andy and Barney are FIRST cousins, then that means one of Andy's parents is a sibling of one of Barney's parents (and A and B share a common grandparent). The only combination that fits all the facts we are given in various episodes is, Barney's father was the brother of Andy's mother, but that is neither here nor there. If one of Barney's grandparents was a sibling to one of Andy's grandparents (and they shared a common great-grandparent, in other words one of A's parents was a first cousin of one of B's parents) then Andy and Barney would be second cousins. So we really don't know how closely Andy and Barney are related, but we do know they are cousins, because either Andy or Barney says so in three different episodes. (This is about to get complicated, so do try to keep up if you can, because you will need it later on). Now, if you have a cousin and that cousin has a child, that child is your cousin once removed (not your second cousin). If that child produced a child, the new child would be your cousin TWICE removed. If you have a child yourself and your first cousin has a child, then those children are second cousins to each other. If THOSE two children each produced a child, then those children would be THIRD cousins to each other, etc. So even if Andy and Barney are second cousins or third cousins or fiftieth cousins or 200th cousins, it makes no difference how distant, Opie is still Barney's cousin once removed, because he is the son of Barney's cousin Andy. Paul Mulik _______________________________________________ WBMUTBB mailing list [email protected] http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
