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Posted on 03/29/2010 7:47:25 AM PDT by jay1949
The Scotch-Irish. A poem by Mrs. Kate Brownlee Sherwood, of Canton, O.
From Scot and Celt and Pict and Dane, And Norman, Jute, and Frisian, Our brave Scotch-Irish come; With tongues of silver, hearts of gold, And hands to smite when wrongs are bold, At call of pipe or drum.
By king and priest and prelate racked, By pike and spear and halberd hacked, By foes ten thousand flayed; They flung Drumclog and Bothwell Brig An answer to the gown and wig, And freedom's ransom paid.
They fell, alas! on marsh and moor; They signed their covenants firm and sure With letters writ in blood; With sword and Bible on their knee They taught their sons of liberty, And felt the foeman's thud.
Upon the sodden heath they lay, Hard harried like the beast of prey, In hunger and in pain; Their goods and gear were scattered sore, The exile ship its traffic bore; But Scotia lived again.
The Cameronian cry arose Above the jeers of friends and foes: "Scotland forever free! No priestly yoke, no tyrant's chain, Christ's crown and covenant again Upon our banners see!"
And some set sail across the sea To lift the flag of liberty, At Derry and at Boyne; The slopes of Ulster and of Down To people with the bold renown Of Cleland and Lochgoin.
Heaven speed the Caledonian Scot! The land is lean that knows him not, His banners bright unfurled; For hark! the Bruce and Wallace cry: "For liberty we dare or die! " He echoes through the world.
So Patrick Henry sped the word That thoughts of revolution stirred In forum and in school; And Carolina's Irish-Scot His burning declaration brought, Defying kingly rule.
Heaven speed the Caledonian Scot! He bears free speech, he bears free thought, He manumits the soul; Beneath his feet let error die, Above his head God's guidons fly, The while the seasons roll!
Canton, O., May 30, 1890.
..CC
Btw, the more acceptable term is Scots-Irish
Slainte!
Slainte Nah Vah.
I wonder how many know how that’s pronounced.
Aye, and NEVER bend a knee
Slainte Mor' (as the scottish render it)
CC
How many times you been over there? I’ve been over about 8 times. Got lots of kin there.
Scot-Irish ancestors here, although I kind of resent the Irish part:). We were never Irish, we only hid out there for a while to escape the frickin’ redcoats. The over mountain men fought the hardest during the revolution and we still carry that tradition with us(ever heard of Kings Mountain? and up yours Ferguson).
Music is one of our traditions, some of the oldest and best folk songs came from the Scot-Irish hill billys(odious term), in fact a movie was made about that very thing but I forget the name of it.
“In Scarlet town where I was born
There lived a fair maid dwellin’
and every youth cried well aday,
for her name was Barbara Allen”
Just one of the many folk songs brought over to the US by the Scot-Irish, intelligent people with an innate sense of freedom for the individual embedded deep inside them, and it resides there still.
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