.htmbrp {color: #333333; text-decoration: none; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helv, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size : 11px;}.htmbrp:link {color: #0000ff; text-decoration: none; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helv, Helvetica, sans-serif}.htmbrp:visited {color: #800080;}.htmbrp:hover, .htmbrp:active {text-decoration: underline; }.htdirp { font-size : 12px; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helv, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #333333;}.htdira:link { color: #3333CC; }.htdira:visited { color: #990099; }.htdira:hover { color: #0066FF; }.htdirh1 { font-size : 20px; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helv, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #333333; font-weight: bold}/* CSS for aol hat - to hide nav use header_nonav.css or use header_nohat.css to hide completely */div#aol_hat {min-width: 728px; font-size:11px; font-weight:bold; z-index:200; height:30px; margin-bottom:8px; background-color:#CFD9E3;}div#aol_hat form {margin:0; }div#aol_hat ul {float:left; padding:4px 0 0 2px; height:16px; margin:0;}div#aol_hat ul li {padding:0 5px 0 0 !important; border-right:solid 1px #2864B4; line-height:11px; display:inline;}div#aol_hat ul li a {height:12px; display:inline; padding-left:5px; }div#aol_hat_form {padding-top:7px; _padding-top:3px; font-weight:normal; font-size:10px;}div#aol_hat_form input.aol_hat_button {font-size:11px; margin-top:-2px; _margin-top:0px;}div#aol_hat_form input.aol_hat_search {margin-top:-2px; _margin-top:0px; }div#aol_hat ul {padding-top:9px;}#aol_hat ul li.aol_hat_last {border:none;}#aol_hat a {color:#2864B4; background-image:none; text-decoration:none;}#aol_hat a:hover {text-decoration: underline;}#aol_hat div div {height:20px; }#aol_hat_sns div {display:inline;}#aol_hat_sns {width:auto; float:right; height:16px; text-align:right; margin:0 8px 0 0; padding:8px 0 0 0; _padding:7px 0 0 0;}#aol_hat_sns a {text-decoration:none;}#aol_hat_form {width: 300px; float:left; padding:0 0 0 12px; color:#666666;}#aol_hat input.aol_hat_search {width: 118px; height:21px; border:solid 1px #56ba24; vertical-align: middle; margin-right: 2px;}#aol_hat input.aol_hat_button {-moz-border-radius:2.5px; border-radius:2.5px; cursor:pointer; width:59px; height:21px; border:solid 1px #58B926; background-color: #D4F4C5; filter:progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.Gradient(gradientType=0,startColorStr=#FBFEF9,endColorStr=#BDEEA6); vertical-align: middle; font: 1.0em Tahoma,Arial,Sans-Serif;}#aol_hat input.aol_hat_button:hover {background-color:#83E839; filter:progid:filter:progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.Gradient(gradientType=0,startColorStr=#F9FEF7,endColorStr=#7BED46);}#aol_hat input.aol_hat_button:active {background-color:#C6FFA9; filter:progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.Gradient(gradientType=0,startColorStr=#99E576,endColorStr=#F5FCF1);}#content {width:auto;}Our Scotch/Irish Heritage if (navigator.userAgent.indexOf("AOL") == -1) { var sitedomain="hometown"; var siteState = "OrigUrl=" + location.href; var _sns_hostname_="my.screenname.aol.com"; // var _sns_hostname_ = "tweb33.web.aol.com"; // var _sns_hostport_ = "8000"; // var _sns_hostport_ssl_="8443"; document.write(''); _109778(); document.write('');} htmlAdWH('93212816', '728', '90');  Main _10423(); _11385();
Our Scotch/Irish Heritage
| Home | Heritage
| Fam Histories | Trees
| Surnames | Other
Stuff| What's New | E
Mail |
Our Scotch-Irish Heritage
The Term: Scotch-Irish
A Chronology - Timeline of
the Scotch-Irish History
Scotch-Irish Links
Read More About It
The Term: Scotch-Irish
Who are the Scotch-Irish, and what does the term mean?
"The term "Scotch-Irish" is an Americanism, generally unknown in
Scotland and Ireland, and rarely used by British historians. In American
usage, it refers to people of Scottish descent who, having lived for a
time in the north of Ireland, migrated in considerable numbers to the American
colonies in the eighteenth century." The Scotch-Irish, A Social History,
pg. i - James G. Leyburn.
The "plantation" of Ulster, in northern Ireland, with Scottish
immigrants, took place from roughly 1606 through 1700. The "Great Migration"
of Scotch-Irish to America took place from 1717 through 1776. An estimated
200-250,000 Scotch-Irish migrated to America during this period. The period
of the "Great Migration" of Scotch-Irish took place at approximately the
same time as the German Palatine migration.
It is believed that, at the time of the Revolution, they comprised
10-15% of the population of the United States. Their negative feelings
toward England played no small part in the emotion of the "stew" that led
to the American Revolution.
Although there is evidence of the use of this term, or others, (Ulster
Irish, Northern Irish, Irish Presbyterians) to differentiate the Scotch/Irish
immigrants from other citizens of America, it is believed to have generally
fallen into non-use by the 1840's, wherever it had been used. The use of
the term "Irish" in the United States up to that time usually meant Scotch-Irish,
as the Catholic Irish simply had not been a major immigrating force until
that time.
All that changed, however, with the potato famine and the resulting
crunch of the greatest immigration America has ever experienced, from the
southern regions of Ireland. An estimated 2 million Irishmen, mostly Catholic,
and mostly from the southern parts of Ireland, immigrated to America during
the period 1846-1856. They were poor. They congregated in the cities in
which they landed in ghetto clusters. They were Catholic. They would work
for next to nothing while native born American workers saw jobs threatened
and the decline of value in their own labor. The Irish, as many new classes
of immigrants are in a new country, were not looked on favorably by the
general population.
This caused a renewal in the resident population of Scotch-Irish
Americans to identify themselves in such a manner that they would not be
thrown in the same "class" of citizenry as the new, Catholic, Irish immigrants.
Thus, a renewal in the use of the term Scotch-Irish.
It is a useful term to the family historian as the Scotch-Irish people
are definitely a different class of immigrant than the southern, Catholic
Irish; nor, can they be thrown in the same pot as their Scottish brethren.
"..the Scots who lived in Ulster before they came to America simply were
not, in background, religion, and many other aspects of culture, identical
with the Irish of the southern provinces of Leinster, Munster, and Connaught;
neither were they, after many decades, any longer identical with the people
of Scotland." The Scotch-Irish, A Social History, pg. 333 - James G. Leyburn.
Return to the Top of the Page
Chronology -
Time-Line of the Scotch-Irish History
Before 1603 - - Background:
For centuries, England had tried repeatedly and constantly to subdue the
island of Ireland and the Irish had stubbornly resisted. There had been
attempts over the years to transplant English settlers to Ireland in an
attempt to "infiltrate" and/or "control" the Irish people and their society,
but these had failed. By 1603, the problem was even more acute:
From a financial standpoint, Ireland was a drain on the treasury of
England.
Ireland was one of the areas in Europe where the Catholic faith held
steady while Protestantism had spread across much of the continent and
even into England and Scotland. Aside from the missionary goal of converting
the Irish was the real consideration of not having a neighbor that might
hold a religion in common with its enemies.
In the closing years of the 1500's, England had sent a 20,000 man army
to Ireland to quell an uprising. After an initial failure, the commander
was replaced by a man named Lord Mountjoy, who was particularly ruthless.
He destroyed all the food, houses, and cattle he could find. Starvation
in their bellies and defeats on the battlefields finally made the Irish
submit to England, again, just as Queen Elizabeth lay dieing in 1603.
An area that had been hit hard during this destruction was the north,
the "kingdom" of Ireland called Ulster, consisting of nine counties.
In the meantime, in Scotland, times were never all that good, but
the turn of the century saw the typical Scottish farmer in dire straits.
The western coast of Scotland is only 20-30 miles from the Ulster coast.
Thus, the scene was set for a series of developments leading to:
Ireland being carved into two pieces causing disharmony and discord
to this day.
A "double emigration" from Scotland: to Ireland and then to the United
States of hundreds of thousands of immigrants we have come to know as the
Scotch-Irish.
1603.. Elizabeth I dies and James
VI, King of Scotland, becomes King James I of England
1606.. The first Ulster colonies
are settled. Ironically, by private entrepreneurs, and Scottish at that.
Some Scottish entrepreneurs had come up with the idea of acquiring some
land and transplanting their own countrymen to farm them. These beginning
colonies were successful and word quickly spread back to Scotland.
1607.. King James I declared that
the land held by the defeated Irish rebel leaders, who had fled to the
continent, was reverted to the Crown. This legal action was over-reaching,
but when you're the King, what the heck. King James I took control of 3,000,000
acres of Ulster land.
1609.. James I inform the
Privy Council of Scotland: "the King.. out of his unspeakable love and
tender affection for his Scottish subjects, has decided that they will
be allowed to participate in this great adventure". Remember, James I,
becoming King of England in 1603, had already been King of Scotland for
35 years before that (he was crowned the King of Scotland when he was one
year old.)
1620.. An estimated 50,000 Scottish
(and some English) settlers are now in northern Ireland (Ulster).
1625.. King James I died and his
son Charles I was crowned King. King James I was a definitely pro-Anglican
and anti-Presbyterian, but at least he was somewhat of a politician about
trying to convert the Scots to the more traditional Church of England.
Charles I, however, had no tact, he tried to force the Anglican church
down the throats of the Scottish people and deprive them of their Presbyterianism.
(This is the same climate that led to the first flight of Puritans to found
the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1630.)
1637.. King Charles required changes
in the churches of Scotland to more closely resemble the Church of England.
The Scottish people arise and overthrow the episcopacy that Charles I has
tried to implement. Presbyterianism in Scotland survived.
1640.. An estimated 100,000 Scottish
(and some English) settlers are now in northern Ireland (Ulster).
1642.. England is now in a Civil
War, principally over the religious issues of the day: Puritanism versus
the Church of England. The Scots are on the fringes of this war. They favor
the more like-minded Puritans, but, after all, Charles I is still a Scot.
1642.. The Catholics in Ireland
rebel against the north. Estimates of the deaths in this uprising vary,
but many thousands die. The emigration of Scots to Ireland drops off.
1650.. The English Civil War ends
with Oliver Cromwell responsible for the beheading of King Charles I. Then,
he invaded Scotland , conquering the Scots at Dunbar. He then set out to
crush the Scottish spirit.
1650.. Meanwhile, back in Ireland,
the Irish rebellion went on for ten long years, until Cromwell came from
England in 1650 and crushed the rebellion. He took neither side,
however. He killed both Catholics and Presbyterians alike to let them know
that England was in charge and wouldn't take disobedience from either side.
He was particlularly cruel and viscious during his campaigns.
Whether the ends justify the means or not, at least peace did follow
Cromwell's "policing action". The immigration of Scots Ireland now resume
in 1650.
1653.. Cromwell ordered venerated
leaders of their church driven from their places of meeting by English
soldiers and led like criminals through the streets of Edinburgh.
1660.. The Puritan Cromwell dies
and Charles II resumes the crown. Here we go again, a pro-Anglican as head
of the country. As bad as times were for the Scots under Cromwell, worse
times were ahead. During the 1660's, the Scottish suffered through what
is called the "killing times", as the English tried again to force the
Church of England down the throats of the Scots. This was the time of the
rise of the term "covenanter", those Scots that, in effect, were guerillas
fighting against the English landlords.
We have an example of the "killing times" that has been passed down
in our family. A fourteen year old girl was arrested because of her failure
to give allegiance to the English King in a way that connoted his being
head of the church. This fourteen year old girl was ordered to DEATH BY
DROWNING for refusing. This is how cruel things were getting over there
at that time.
Emigration from Scotland to Ireland increased with the killing times.
1679.. The Covenanters (protestant
rebels) are decisively defeated at the Battle of Bothwell Bridge in Scotland.
1690.. The King of England, William
of Orange soundly defeats James II at the Battle of Boyne in Ireland. William
is staunchly protestant, James is Catholic. This assures the continuation
of the protestant Irish of the north, most Scottish descendants, to continue
their protestant faith.
A result of of the English victory at the Battle of Boyne is reponsible
for the last wave of immigrants from Scotland to England in the last decade
of the 1600's. An estimated 50,000 Scots leave Scotland for northern Ireland.
1717.. The Exodus of the Scotch-Irish
from Ulster to America now begins in earnest. Five thousand Ulstermen leave
for America that year. Between 1717 and the American Revolution, approximately
a quarter of a million Scotch-Irish will leave Ireland for America. Approximately
100 years after the original Ulster plantations have been planted they
have succeeded... and they have also failed. In 100 years, Ulster had been
transformed from a totally obliterated landscape to a respectable area
with an economy that produced goods. Plagued by high rents, four years
of drought, English import/export policies, and the religious factor thrown
in (although religion wasn't a prime motivating factor in the Scotch/Irish
migration as it was, say, with the Puritans.), many Scots look for a better
life in America.
It is interesting to note that even though the Catholic Irish endured
many of the same hardships as their Northern counterparts, the Catholic
Irish did not participate in this Exodus. The emigration was 99% Protestant,
Ulster-Scots leaving for the America's. Although there were Catholic Irish
who fled to other Catholic countries, principally France and Spain.
1776.. The American Revolution
marks the end of this immigration era. Approximately 200-250,000 thousand
Scotch-Irish have immigrated to America since 1717. There are more than
that by 1776. If one is to assume the doubling of a population every 30
years, and a ratable rate of immigration, one could expect the Scotch-Irish
numbered perhaps 10-25% of the 2 1/4 million Americans in 1776. At the
time of the Revolution, the Scotch-Irish comprised the second largest ethnic
group in America after the English, and ahead of the Germans.
(PS. As you do your census work, you may see the results of a study
done by the census bureau by categorizing names based on where the name
"might" have come from in estimating the ethnic make-up of the 1790 census.
That study is a joke. Pay no attention to it. (How can one look at a Scottish
name and tell if it is Scottish or Scotch-Irish? Or look at Smith or Taylor
and tell what nationality it is?).
One parting word. All of the above history speaks in terms of generalities.
As we family historians try to discover and unlock the secrets of the past
of our individual ancestors, there are always individual exceptions to
account for. There were English settlers in northern Ireland. There were
French Huguenots (the French protestant rebels, "roughly" equivalent to
the Puritans in England and the Covenanters in Scotland) in northern Ireland.
There were German Palatine refugees in northern Ireland. There were refugees
from other parts of the world to Ireland, as well, at various times.
My recommendation is to not worry about the actual blood line of
your ancestry, but to appreciate the historical significance of the above
events that your ancestor lived through, no matter how he or she got there.
(e.g. your ancestor passing through Scotland for a generation or two, or
three, or four, was simply one more stop on the genealogical chain of your
past, just as significant as two or three generations of your ancestors
living in Ohio in the 1800's.)
You also certainly cannot rely on a name to guarantee any source
of your ancestry. French, English, and German names could all be "Irish'd"
on coming to Ireland, as they might have been again been "anglicized' in
coming to America. In fact, Scotch names were "Irish'd", as well as the
other way around, on coming to America, ie O'Neill switched to MacNeil
or vice versa. I even have one line of Scotch-Irish relatives that changed
their name from Campbell to McCampbell on coming to America. There is no
equivalent for McCampbell in either Ireland or Scotland - it is an all-American
original made-up name!
Return to the Top of the Page
Scotch-Irish
links:
Scotch-Irish history and/or migration:
The Seawright Clan
Page - interesting Scotch-Irish material
Scotch-Irish Heritage / Genealogy Topics (leading to more
links)
Northern
Ireland and the US Presidency, lists US Presidents with ties to Northern
Ireland
Many Scotch/Irish settled in Pennsylvania. Here is a history
of early Pennsylvania that you might find interesting that discusses
the different immigrant classes, including the Scotch/Irish to Pennsylvania.
A Chronicle
to the Scotch-Irish in Virginia. A specific, surname indexed, listing
of Scotch-Irish settlers tied to events.
See the
Canada Ulster Scots Page for an interesting perspective of our Scotch-Irish
heritage.
A family that married into the first generation of descendants from
the Edwin Taylor's were the McBrides, Scotch / Irish immigrants. Read their
story, passed through the generations, of their McBride and McKee ancestors'
story in coming to America: A Miracle
Finding of Lost Love.
Family Histories of our ancestors, who were most likely Scotch/Irish,
include: Beaty, McCart,
Pollock,
Taylor
Our Scottish Heritage and, also
Our
Irish Heritage
Island Ireland
The Huguenots were the French equivalent of the Puritan movement
- Protestant reformation in the 16th and 17th centuries. Here is a list
of Huguenot resources.
The Current Situation in Northern Ireland
The Cothrom
Page presents a fairly comprehensive overview of the current conflict
in Ireland and points of view of folks with the differing interests.
The Ulster
Cyber Community FAQ presents a summary of the differences between Gaelic-Irish
and Scotch-Irish. This is their Home
page.
Read More
About It:
The Scotch-Irish - A Social History, James G. Leyburn, Chapel
Hill, The University of North Carolina Press, 1962. (Available in paperback
at many bookstores.)
The Romancing
the Web On-Line Bookstore has an on-line collection of Scottish Books.
(I am not connected with this commercial site. I only list it here for
your information.)
Return to the Top of the Page
Top of the Page | Home
| Heritage | Stories
| Trees | Surnames
| Other Stuff| What's
New | E Mail |
|
|
