Free Republic

A US government delegation has been invited to Scotland in a bid to overturn its 40-year ban on haggis. Rural Affairs Secretary Richard Lochhead's invitation comes two days ahead of Burns Night, when suppers are held in honour of poet Robert Burns.

LONDON: British prime minister David Cameron apologized on behalf of his country Tuesday for the 1972 slaughter of 13 Catholic demonstrators in the Northern Ireland town of Londonderry, an outrage that became known as "Bloody Sunday." In a solemn statement to the British House of Commons, Cameron said that a mammoth, 12-year investigation into the killings left no doubt that the soldiers confronting crowds of Catholic demonstrators in Londonderry's hard-line Bogside district mowed down unarmed protesters without provocation. "What happened on Bloody Sunday was both unjustified and unjustifiable. It was wrong," Cameron said, as a crowd watching him from Londonderry...

So, what happened to all of those Scotch-Irish settlers and their descendants? It doesn't seem that large numbers of Americans identify themselves as Scotch-Irish (or Ulster Scots or Scots-Irish). If they do, the Bureau of the Census surveys don't reveal them. The answer is, the descendants of the Scotch-Irish settlers are legion -- but a great many of them call themselves simply "Americans."

Whenever I post an article which mentions the Scotch-Irish, I receive a comment or an e-mail or a contact form advising that I have erred and that the real name is (usually) Scots-Irish or (sometimes) Ulster Scots. Well, no it isn't. Since the late 17th century, Scottish persons who emigrated from Ulster to America have been known as, and have called themselves, Scotch-Irish. Mistake me not: I have no objection to any of the above-noted ethnic indicators. I use the name Scotch-Irish because it is the traditional term used in the United States generally and in the Backcountry where I...

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...

"These [Scotch Irish settlers] were the right sort of people to found a commonwealth that should stand the wear and tear of a hundred ages." – Henry Ruffner, President of Washington College (1836-1848). Ruffner's "Early History of Washington College" recounts the settling and development of the Valley of Virginia. An excerpt from "Early History" was printed in Henry Howe, "Historical Collections of Virginia" (1852), which fortunately is more available than the original. Reproduced here are Howe's introduction and the engaging Ruffner excerpt.

Are yous up for a few more words on the subject of Appalachian English? The words for today being "yous" and "you'ns," along with variant spellings like "youse," "yooz," "you-uns," and "youens," and their Scotch-Irish roots. The traditional speech of the Backcountry is not a "corrupt" dialect, as is often assumed by those from "yonder" and “away,” and its roots can be traced to the places from whence the Backcountry settlers originated. "Yous" or "youse" as the plural form of "you" is of ancient origin and came to America with Scotch-Irish settlers in early colonial times.

The buildings comprising the Staunton, Virginia, Frontier Culture Museum's Irish Farm originally stood in County Tyrone, Ulster (Northern Ireland). The Ulster Plantation was an English-dominated, Protestant colony in Ireland. The Frontier Culture Museum's Irish Farm highlights the production of linen. The farm stood on leased land, of course, the fee title being held by the English planters, and rent was due every three months. To make the rent, the Ulstermen produced linen which they sold at local markets.

In an unbelievable display of racial insensitivity, the program likened these people, these "Scot-Irish" people as down to earth, hard-working, family-oriented, morally responsible people. These redneck, racist, string 'em up, tar and feather, shoot, beat to death, hang pregnant women and slice their stomachs so the unborn baby falls on the ground-ass people were glorified!

One of the most powerful cultural forces shaping America, they've produced great Presidents, soldiers, inventors, actors and writers. But, as a group, they've remained unvisible. The time has come to change that, says the author. snip ... The Scots-Irish are a fiercely independent, individualist people. It goes against their grain to think collectively. But, as America rushes forward into yet another redefinition of itself, the contributions of the Scots-Irish are too great to remain invisible. My culture needs to reclaim itself-stop letting others define, mock and even use it-and is so doing regain its power to shape the direction of...