Lowland/Scotch-Irish/American Colonists vs. Highlanders.

[davidlpope]

I stumbled across this article today while following a rabbit trail relating to Thomas Jefferson:
https://www.jstor.org/stable/2009151...n_tab_contents

It's a short but interesting article that points out that American colonists who were the descendants of Lowland Scots and the Scotch-Irish were, in most cases, supporters of the Revolution. They were often at odds with Highlanders who often supported the Crown.

This was the case with the Revolution in North Carolina. The Highland broadsword charge at Moore's Creek was met by the musket fire of backcountry militia, many of them Scotch-Irish. Similarly, in the Mecklenburg region, Scotch-Irish militia fought against Montgomery's (77th) Highlanders.

It's ironic, then, that descendants of Lowland Scots and Ulster Scots in North Carolina have adopted the trappings of Highland culture (tartan, kilts, bagpipes) as a means of celebrating their own heritage.