Scots-Irish

[ForresterModern]

My understanding is similar to David's above, in that after the English took over what we now know as Northern Ireland, those granted land were required to populate them with non-Irish citizens of the then UK, generally lowland scots, displaced highland scots, and northern english, the most readily available and interested potential immigrants, with the intention of driving out the native Irish population from these lands. They were generally grant land leases of thirty years, land not available to them in Scotland, and they flourished in their new environs for generally one plus generations. Problems came when those leases lapsed, and many landowners, seeing more profits from newer opportunities for use of their land, displaced these "ulster-scots" yet again, some who stayed on in other capacities, and others who then left for America well before the major "irish-irish" immigration waves, to become subsequently known as "scots-Irish" in later America. Not being entirely welcomed by the newly landed English gentry along the coasts in the mid-Atlantic colonies they were welcomed to settle the "frontiers" of the western mountains, the Appalachians and Alleghenies, where they finally gained landownership generally for the first time in their family memories. That landownership came at the price of acting as a buffer between the rapidly becoming intolerant and belligerent native american tribes and the coastal landed English gentry, but brought with it the isolationism(from historic English strict rule) and independence of lifestyle and religion long sought after by these now habitually displaced people. Settling the mountains from southern Pennsylvania through western Maryland, central and western Virginia (now West Virginia), western North and South Carolina, well down into northern Georgia, and then subsequently western into what became West Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee. Although by no means exclusively, most of what subsequently became the "hill-billy" populace and culture derives from this scots-irish seeding, mixed with later immigrant waves. Although these peoples were only a couple generations from their Scottish heritage, and with no real long term adoption of Irish heritage, and generally "undesirable" in proper coastal English society of the pre-Revolutionary, they were a people with profound newly discovered independence and absence of immediate allegiances except to one another, hence the isolated hillbilly culture that has developed since both in reality and in popular cultural impressions. The use of the term scots-irish is really one that has become popularized in the 20th century and since as a way of describing these original immigrants, and subsequent waves of holdover ulster-scots that arrived over more than a hundred years before, during, and after the US Revolutionary War, and to separate them from the later massive and temporally compacted immigrations of Irish-Irish in the early to mid 1800s. Many historians credit the scots-irish and their offspring as accounting for as much as 75% of the enlisted ranks in the US revolutionary army (compared to 80-90% English or Scottish in the officer corps). Their descendants also likely made up a large majority of enlisted ranks of the confederacy during the later American Civil War (War Between the States, or War of Northern Aggression to many old school southerners) while the union army had a far greater melange of english descendants with all the other ethnic immigrations endemic to those states (Irish-Irish, Germans, swedes and Norwegians, etc...). Statistically the scots and scots Irish make up probably the largest cultural immigrant group ever in America, aside from the original founding English, although not as easily or often recognized as their immigrations occurred over 150 years in multiple early and small disorganized waves, compared to the more recent temporally compacted ethnic immigrations of the other European and Asian cultures that came later, even to current day.

[Blackrose87]

Thanks for all the replies! It's very interesting history that I knew next to nothing about.

It seems that the Ulster-Scots flourished on immigrating to America. I don't have an accurate number for the population of Ireland describing themselves as Ulster-Scots, but at a guess it would be no more than 750,000 to 1m.
(given that the population of n Ireland is ~1.5m, with around 55% Protestant. Then the other 3 counties of Ulster have a small population of Ulster-Scots added to this.)

With so many having Ulster-Scots heritage, are there many speakers of the Ulstér-Scotch language?
From what I'm aware, it's a dying language here maybe it could have more speakers in America than in Ireland?

[davidlpope]

The best general history, and a good jumping-off point, is James Leyburn's The Scotch-Irish.

Many Americans, particularly in the South, have Scotch-Irish ancestry, although it may be very remote and a relatively small part of their ethnic make-up. Because this group emigrated early, were Protestants or non-religious in practice, and were not phenotypically dissimiliar to other English, Welsh, German, and Swiss settlers, they intermarried readily with others in the Southern colonies. Although vestiges of their culture remain in Southern culture, as Jim has pointed out, their culture is no longer distinct. The same is true of the early Welsh, German, Swiss, and Highland Scot populations.

Because "being Scottish" is considered "cool" over here, folks tend to overreport their Scotch-Irish ancestry and underreport other ethnic origins that make up a greater part of their heritage- witness the many St. Andrew's Societies, but very few St. George Societies here in the South, despite the area being settled mainly by English emigrants.

[Blackrose87]

The best general history, and a good jumping-off point, is James Leyburn's The Scotch-Irish.

Thanks, I'll try to get a hold of this book.
I've been looking into my family history recently, and came across the term on a few ancestry websites (mostly by Americans), and I wasn't really sure what it meant, so thanks for the help.

Until recently I've always downplayed the Ulster-Scots side of my family, due to it's political connections in Ireland, but it's a rich culture of proud people who have held on to many traditions.
It's a huge shame that I never got to experience any of this growing up, due to my religion, but I am getting more interested in it as I get older.

[Bugbear]

I need to find that book, as well: Todd suggested it a time back.

davidlpope, not sure the phenotypic differences were always an issue in passing on genetics, and even marriage with other Scots immigrants. Is there much information on Scots-Irish marrying people from Native tribes etc?

Sorry if my question is off topic.

[davidlpope]

My comment concerning phenotypic differences was perhaps an over-nuanced attempt to say that the Scotch-Irish, German, Swiss, Welsh, and English all intermarried and formed a, more or less, homogenous white population. Although there were progeny from Scotch-Irish/African and Scotch-Irish/Native American unions, these children often were considered part of the non-white population.

Regarding Native-American / Scottish/ Scotch-Irish unions, the Cherokee tribe had many members who were of mized ethnicity. John Ross, a principal chief at the time of the Removal, was 7/8 Scot.

I believe the STM has a current exhibit on this blending of ethnic groups...

[starbkjrus]

Daid Pope has done an excellent job in explaing much of this.

There is a very large Scotch-Irish population in the US. There were something like 250,000 who immigrated in colonial times, and they seem to have been quite prolific in producing offspring. :-) My great-grandmother was--I think--a third generation Scotch-Irish, and was quite proud to claim the title. Either her father or grandfather was the original Ulster immigrant to North Carolina--where a whole bunch of 'em landed--and you can trace their influence and spread westward pretty easily.

For one thing, the Scottish influence is still observed in the speech patterns of the mountain folk in the use of "a- (uh)-" such as "I'm a-goin' down there." They even tell Jack tales which are identical with those from Scotland. There is also an almost rabid protestant nature among many of these folks and their offspring. Although they thought of themselves as Irish, they did know their heretage and recited it, recorded it, and expanded it over the years.

Blackrose87, I'm pretty sure that the term Scoth-Irish is exclusively American which would explain your not having encountered it before. I have a friend in Arkansas who still proclaims himself a "Scoth-Irish Presbyterian" quite frequently. And one of the greatest history professors I ever had blamed much of the bellicosity of Southerners on their Scotch-Irish roots, roots which he shared.

Jim, you must know my family.

My father's family arrived in western South Carolina in the first half of the 18th. century and are described above to a tee. And yes, they were VERY prolific.

[EagleJCS]

Thanks for all the replies! It's very interesting history that I knew next to nothing about.

With so many having Ulster-Scots heritage, are there many speakers of the Ulstér-Scotch language?
From what I'm aware, it's a dying language here maybe it could have more speakers in America than in Ireland?

I have read (unfortunately I don't recall where) that there are/were lingusitic scholars that identified certain speech patterns and phrases that are similar between the Scots/Lallans speakers and the rural Appalachian settlers and their descendants. Given the separation in time and distance and the isolation of the rural environs, it is to be expected that the two groups diverged (much like Irish and Scots Gaelic has diverged).

There are also similar studies being done now on the musical traditions in those same groups, comparing/contrasting the original tunes found in Scotland/England/Ireland and the variations found in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia and Applachia. Bluegrass music (once known as 'mountain music'), in particular, is thought to have evolved from some of the folk tunes brought over by the Scots-Irish in the various waves of emigration.

[Bugbear]

Thanks, davidlpope. I just couldn't think of an example off the top of my head related to the Scots-Irish; I should have remembered at least the Ross example.

[chrisupyonder]

I have visited Ulster several times. First time was when I was 7 and we visited my Uncles farm near Belfast. I never heard anyone refering to themselves as Ulster anything. Maybe once or twice Northern Irish in that my Uncle was Northern Irish and my Aunt (my mothers sister) was English. I have many cousins over there of mixed religion so denomination never came into conversations.
I never saw any kilts over there.

My Uncle Fred Stitt outside their farmhouse 1932


Chris.