Posted on 10/03/2004 10:04:28 AM PDT by LNewman
Both sides of the family trace to: Ireland - Counties...Donegal, Mayo, Longford...and the Scottish Highlands.
Scot-Irish-German here! (Plus a bit if the Welsh for drama.)
I don't have any knowledge to prove such claims, though. Ulster estimates are that the great mass of those who came from Ireland to America from 1717 to 1800 were Scots-Irish Presbyterians, but at least 20,000 of 250,000 were Gaelic Catholics (and 20,000 Anglican Anglo-Irish). Whatever the actual numbers were it's long been said that throughout the colonial period there were Irish Catholics who became deracinated and assimilated into Protestant America.
No Nesmith, nor Scott, nor Witherspoon, nor Gregg of the "straitest sect," would tell the foregoing tales of royal lines and loyal service, save to their own sons, when a look would seal the story within the family circle. ---History of Williamsburg, SC.
My ancesters (on my father's side) - the Presbyterian Scots-Irish - were the ones spoken of here: "Go West, young man."
The genealogy records show that many, many Scots-Irishmen, Germans and Englishmen settled in Pennsylvania - my home state.
The Germans and English stayed put right there. For the most part, it was the Scots-Irish that ventured beyond there and settled the west.
I'm almost everyone's cousin, -but mostly Scotss-Irish... Both sides of revolution (tory and patriot)and civil war north and south)were represented in my family.
Very interesting article.
Scots-Irish, German, Hugenot.
I once researched this, because I have this in my ancestory as well.
I don't want to state a falsehood; is a Scotch Irish a person who is Scottish who settled in Ireland?
I am reading all of the posts now, sorry if this is mentioned already.
My Scottish ancestors set foot on American soil in 1666 Essex, Co Virginia. I couldn't be prouder. Just pre-ordered a copy at Amazon for myself as well as and my short tempered, stubborn as hell siblings.
More than 27 million Americans today can trace their lineage to the Scots, whose bloodline was stained by centuries of continuous warfare along the border between England and Scotland, and later in the bitter settlements of England’s Ulster Plantation in Northern Ireland. Between 250,000 and 400,000 Scots-Irish migrated to America in the eighteenth century, traveling in groups of families and bringing with them not only long experience as rebels and outcasts but also unparalleled skills as frontiersmen and guerrilla fighters. Their cultural identity reflected acute individualism, dislike of aristocracy and a military tradition, and, over time, the Scots-Irish defined the attitudes and values of the military, of working class America, and even of the peculiarly populist form of American democracy itself.
Born Fighting is the first book to chronicle the full journey of this remarkable cultural group, and the profound, but unrecognized, role it has played in the shaping of America. Written with the storytelling verve that has earned his works such acclaim as “captivating . . . unforgettable” (the Wall Street Journal on Lost Soliders), Scots-Irishman James Webb, Vietnam combat veteran and former Naval Secretary, traces the history of his people, beginning nearly two thousand years ago at Hadrian’s Wall, when the nation of Scotland was formed north of the Wall through armed conflict in contrast to England’s formation to the south through commerce and trade. Webb recounts the Scots’ odyssey—their clashes with the English in Scotland and then in Ulster, their retreat from one war-ravaged land to another. Through engrossing chronicles of the challenges the Scots-Irish faced, Webb vividly portrays how they developed the qualities that helped settle the American frontier and define the American character.
Born Fighting shows that the Scots-Irish were 40 percent of the Revolutionary War army; they included the pioneers Daniel Boone, Lewis and Clark, Davy Crockett, and Sam Houston; they were the writers Edgar Allan Poe and Mark Twain; and they have given America numerous great military leaders, including Stonewall Jackson, Ulysses S. Grant, Audie Murphy, and George S. Patton, as well as most of the soldiers of the Confederacy (only 5 percent of whom owned slaves, and who fought against what they viewed as an invading army). It illustrates how the Scots-Irish redefined American politics, creating the populist movement and giving the country a dozen presidents, including Andrew Jackson, Teddy Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Ronald Reagan, and Bill Clinton. And it explores how the Scots-Irish culture of isolation, hard luck, stubbornness, and mistrust of the nation’s elite formed and still dominates blue-collar America, the military services, the Bible Belt, and country music.
Both a distinguished work of cultural history and a human drama that speaks straight to the heart of contemporary America, Born Fighting reintroduces America to its most powerful, patriotic, and individualistic cultural group—one too often ignored or taken for granted.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
JAMES WEBB is the author of six novels, including Fields of Fire, Lost Soldiers, and The Emperor’s General. He is also a filmmaker (Rules of Engagement), a world-traveled, Emmy Award–winning journalist, and has taught literature at the university level.
Other books of interest:
The Mark of the Scots, Duncan A. Bruce
The Steel Bonnets, George MacDonald Fraser
A Social History of Scotch Irish, Carlton Jackson
Outside of Scotland (i.e. here in the U.S.), speakers use 'Scotch' to describe the people of Scotland, but those inside Scotland use the term 'Scots' instead. To them, 'Scotch' is applied only to food items: 'Scotch Whiskey is good for you and contains many essential vitamins and minerals.'
In the North, the Scots-Irish (Scotch-Irish) were instrumental during the Revolutionary War -- as they had few left-leaning British sympathies.
Also, the Scots/Scotch were brutal to the American Indians -- regardless of how the movie Dancing with Wolves portrayed the Scots-Irish (Scotch/Irish) character portrayed by Kevin Costener. The Indians competed for the same scarce resources as the Scots-Irish who pioneered the wild Indian lands.
The Scots who lived near the southern border with England were sent to colonize Northern Ireland, as they were toughened from years of wars tracing back and forth across their homes, between the northern Scots and the southern Britons. The Scots living on the border with England became known as 'border Scots' and included such names as: Nixon, Johnson, Armstrong, whose descendants appeared together on a newspaper's front page after one of them had appeared suddenly from outer space.
Hoppy
Scot....German.. and who knows what else, am thrilled to read your post.
I think another woodpile need be checked before this title is given to "Bill Clinton".
I saw the cover of Parade Magazine this weekend and I swear, Andrew Jackson looked exactly like a really aged Kerry!
Wasn't this the only President to be impeached?
Take a look and let me know if I am hallucinating!
Yes. In the 1600's and early 1700's many Scots (mostly lowland and border area folks) were encouraged by the Crown to settle in Northern Ireland. Those folks are variously known as Ulster Scots, Scotch-Irish, or Orangemen, and are mostly Presbyterian with a smattering of other Protestant denominations, in contrast to the native Irish who are almost exclusively Catholic.
When you hear of "Protestants" versus "Catholics" fighting in Northern Ireland, it's actually Scotch-Irish "Orangemen" versus Native Irish, whose symbolic color is Green. However, in America they are friendlier -- I count 2 Green/Orange intermarriages in my family tree.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0767916883//qid=1096828469/sr=2-1/ref=pd_ka_2_1/102-6995674-6582537?v=glance&s=books&vi=reviews
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Former navy secretary Webb (Fields of Fire; etc.) wants not only to offer a history of the Scots-Irish but to redeem them from their redneck, hillbilly stereotype and place them at the center of American history and culture. As Webb relates, the Scots-Irish first emigrated to the U.S., 200,000 to 400,000 strong, in four waves during the 18th century, settling primarily in Appalachia before spreading west and south. Webb's thesis is that the Scots-Irish, with their rugged individualism, warrior culture built on extended familial groups (the "kind of people who would die in place rather than retreat") and an instinctive mistrust of authority, created an American culture that mirrors these traits. Webb has a genuine flair for describing the battles the Scots-Irish fought during their history, but his analysis of their role in America's social and political history is, ironically for someone trying to crush stereotypes, fixated on what he sees, in almost Manichaean terms, as a class conflict between the Scots-Irish and America's "paternalistic Ivy League-centered, media-connected, politically correct power centers." He even excuses resistance to the "Northern-dominated" Civil Rights movement. Another glaring weakness is the virtual absence of women from the sociological narrative. Webb interweaves his own Scots-Irish family history throughout the book with some success, but by and large his writing and analysis are overwhelmed by romanticism.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From the Inside Flap
In his first work of nonfiction, bestselling novelist James Webb tells the epic story of the Scots-Irish, a people whose lives and worldview were dictated by resistance, conflict, and struggle, and who, in turn, profoundly influenced the social, political, and cultural landscape of America from its beginnings through the present day.
More than 27 million Americans today can trace their lineage to the Scots, whose bloodline was stained by centuries of continuous warfare along the border between England and Scotland, and later in the bitter settlements of England’s Ulster Plantation in Northern Ireland. Between 250,000 and 400,000 Scots-Irish migrated to America in the eighteenth century, traveling in groups of families and bringing with them not only long experience as rebels and outcasts but also unparalleled skills as frontiersmen and guerrilla fighters. Their cultural identity reflected acute individualism, dislike of aristocracy and a military tradition, and, over time, the Scots-Irish defined the attitudes and values of the military, of working class America, and even of the peculiarly populist form of American democracy itself.
Born Fighting is the first book to chronicle the full journey of this remarkable cultural group, and the profound, but unrecognized, role it has played in the shaping of America. Written with the storytelling verve that has earned his works such acclaim as "captivating... unforgettable" (the Wall Street Journal on Lost Soliders), Scots-Irishman James Webb, Vietnam combat veteran and former Naval Secretary, traces the history of his people, beginning nearly two thousand years ago at Hadrian’s Wall, when the nation of Scotland was formed north of the Wall through armed conflict in contrast to England’s formation to the south through commerce and trade. Webb recounts the Scots’ odyssey—their clashes with the English in Scotland and then in Ulster, their retreat from one war-ravaged land to another. Through engrossing chronicles of the challenges the Scots-Irish faced, Webb vividly portrays how they developed the qualities that helped settle the American frontier and define the American character.
Born Fighting shows that the Scots-Irish were 40 percent of the Revolutionary War army; they included the pioneers Daniel Boone, Lewis and Clark, Davy Crockett, and Sam Houston; they were the writers Edgar Allan Poe and Mark Twain; and they have given America numerous great military leaders, including Stonewall Jackson, Ulysses S. Grant, Audie Murphy, and George S. Patton, as well as most of the soldiers of the Confederacy (only 5 percent of whom owned slaves, and who fought against what they viewed as an invading army). It illustrates how the Scots-Irish redefined American politics, creating the populist movement and giving the country a dozen presidents, including Andrew Jackson, Teddy Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Ronald Reagan, and Bill Clinton. And it explores how the Scots-Irish culture of isolation, hard luck, stubbornness, and mistrust of the nation’s elite formed and still dominates blue-collar America, the military services, the Bible Belt, and country music.
Both a distinguished work of cultural history and a human drama that speaks straight to the heart of contemporary America, Born Fighting reintroduces America to its most powerful, patriotic, and individualistic cultural group—one too often ignored or taken for granted.
About the Author
JAMES WEBB is the author of six novels, including Fields of Fire, Lost Soldiers, and The Emperor’s General. He is also a filmmaker (Rules of Engagement), a world-traveled, Emmy Award–winning journalist, and has taught literature at the university level. One of the most highly decorated Marines of the Vietnam War, he served as Assistant Secretary of Defense and Secretary of the Navy during the Reagan Administration. A native of St. Joseph, Missouri, he lives in Arlington, Virginia.
"You might be redneck....."
"You might be redneck....."
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