Who are the Sotch-Irish?

Factual Questions
1

I used to hear of them as a distinct group, but not so much anymore, even though other people seem more aware of their Scottish, Armenian, Basque, etc. heritage than they were a few years ago.

Please correct any errors in what I think I know about them, and add to what I’m sure I don’t understand.

What I think I know is that the Scots originated in Ireland, migrated to Scotland and merged with the Picts in the early Dark Ages, and in the 16th century were thrown off their farms when the landlords replaced small farms with large sheep enclosures. This coincided with England’s consolidation of Cromwell’s invasion of Ireland, when they replaced Irish farmers with Scots settlers in Ulster. But, until the Industrial Revolution arrived, there wasn’t much to support people in Ulster, so after a few generations the Scotch-Irish moved again, to America. Since the Tidewater and Piedmont were already settled by Englishmen, the Scotch-Irish moved into Appalachia and beyond. Or maybe I’d just dreamed all that after eating Welsh rarebit.

Among my vast storehouse of non-knowledge are questions as to why the predominant religions of the American South were Methodism and Baptism, but not traditional Scots Presbyterianism. John Wesley’s revolution would account for many conversions to Methodism, but didn’t the Baptists originate in Germany? And were there large migration destinations for the Scotch-Irish besides the American South, like Canada, Australia & New Zealand? Is being Scotch-Irish a lost identity; in that plenty of them identify themselves as Southerners, but how they originally got down south is immaterial? And finally, why have I always read it as Scotch-Irish? We’ve been told that Scotch is a drink, but the Scots are a people.

2

The term Scotch-Irish is not found in British History, only in US history. In British history thr group would probably be referred to as Scots Planters or just Scots at the time. I believe that they became known as the Scotch-Irish only in US history when, as you say, the populated the back country in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth century.

It is a matter of some amusement to those with a knowledge of the history of this group, that many US revellers claiming the green on Paddy’s day are actually the kith and kin of the current Ulster Protestants who are probably vilified by them as the oppressors of ther Irish, and that they may in fact not have any Irish roots of a ‘nationalist’ type themselves.

3

Well, you’re basically right. The Scots-Irish did come to Ulster in the 1600s as part of a series of land grants and encouraged colonial settlement by the government. In the 1700s a lot of Scots-Irish came to America (but most stayed in Ulster, of course.)

The Baptists originated in England, actually, although there was an earlier, German group, called the Anabaptists you’re probably thinking of (the Anabaptists are the spiritual ancestors of the Amish, the Mennonites, and the Hutterite Brotherhood), and came to America with the settlement of the US. The Baptists were originally strongest in New England, but extensive missionary work by the Baptists spread the faith into the souther colonies/states.

The reason you don’t find many people identifying themselves as Scots-Irish today, is firstly, that the immigration happened so long ago, and secondly, that the settlers were the ones that shaped American culture…there wasn’t a general desire, or need, to keep themselves a distinct group, because there wasn’t opposition by the rest of American culture to their culture. Just as a side note, if you look at folk, bluegrass, and country music, it’s pretty easy to see Celtic roots.

There is an alternate theory, btw, that Scots-Irish immigration to the American South in the 18th century wasn’t as large as sometimes supposed, but a lot of the immigrants who were later described as “Scots-Irish” were actually Irish Catholics, who, not finding an organized Catholic church in the frontier colonies, and not being particularly religious, for the most part, themselves, adopted the Protestant religions of the New World.

4

In Britain, the group has been referred to as “Ulser Scots”, Pjen

5

My understanding of the Scots-Irish is that they made up the second wave of immigration from the British Isles to North America. For the most part they were the decedents of Lowland Scots who had been “planted” in Ulster during the 1600s in the Elizabethan and Cromwellian ethnic cleansings. In the early 1700s hard times in Northern Ireland sent a big bunch off to the North American colonies where they opened the wilderness beyond the initial costal and river side settlements. They settled in Central and Western Pennsylvania, and along the east slope of the Blue Ridge and the river valleys above the fall line. Andrew Jackson and Daniel Boone were first generation Scotch-Irish. Abraham Lincoln, US Grant and Jeff Davis certainly all came from Scots-Irish lines.

In Canada they settled the plain north of Lake Ontario and are called Ulster Scots (as CPT Amazing says).

For the most part they were small farmers and nominal Church of Scotland adherents but they were fertile ground for Wesleyanism and for Baptist missionaries.

Do not confuse the Scots-Irish and the Highland Scots who came to North America following the 1745 Rebellion and with the Highland Clearances beginning in the mid-1700. They are a different bunch altogether.

6

There’s an Ulster Scots language of sorts called Ullans, although many would say it’s more of a dialect. It sounds a bit like the language of Robbie Burns poems. There has been a greater focus on Ulster Scots culture in Northern Ireland in recent years, much of which is a direct reaction to the long-standing cultural and linguistic movement amongst northern Catholics.

7

Do you know which of Lincoln’s ancestors were Scots-Irish? I was pretty sure they were all English.

8

Recommended reading: The Scotch-Irish: A Social History, by James G. Leyburn.

9

There were also smaller waves of colonization directly from Scotland, which periodically had its own political or economic troubles. One branch of my family settled in Virginia in the 1600s directly from Scotland, then migrated through the Carolinas and Georgia.

10

That amusement may be misplaced. Until St. Paddy’s (drinking) Day became a generalized, secular holiday in the U.S. a bit fewer than 40 years ago, the Scotch-Irish would probably not have paid much attention to either March 17 or The Troubles. The majority of people who were paying attention to either or both of those events were typically immigrants to the Northern states, settling in the Rust Belt cities and maintaining a cultural identity with Ireland, proper.

There has now been enough movement within the U.S. to find people of most backgrounds pretty much anywhere, and certainly Irish settled in the South and in Appalachia. However, it is unlikely that many “Scotch-Irish” aside from the odd romantic had (or now have) any strong affinity to Ireland.

The closest you might come to a group with mis-applied identities would be among the people who migrated from West Virginia and Kentucky to Cleveland and Detroit during the Depression and WWII and whose children tried to re-establish “roots” by associating with the already established Irish culture. I am not sure how large a group that would be.

11

Ya learn something new everyday!

My mother comes from Scotch-Irish ancestry. The first ones came over in the beginning of the 1800s and settled in Pittsburgh and my mother grew up around Huntingdon and Alexandria per Spavined Gelding’s profile. I didn’t know of their history, though. Nobody really knew where they came from either. I didn’t think to look in N. Ireland.

What’s even more interesting is the mention of French Huguenots in a criticism of the book spoke posted the link to. They’re also in our ancestry according to my Grandmother who saw fit to write this stuff down.

Exciting!

12

They came as part of the Plantation of Ulster, 1603- 1660.
http://www.rte.ie/millennia/history/1000.html

Not one of Englands finest points in Irelands history :wink:

13

Depends who you ask. :wink:

14

Daniel Boone’s father came to the Southeast Pennsylvania from Devonshire England. Squire Boone, (Daniel’s father, Note: “Squire” was his given name, not a title) was born and baptised in Devonshire England (copies of the church records are on file *see below.) While there may indeed have been some Scotch/Irish blood somewhere in their family, they self-identified as English. The Boones are frequently identified as English Quakers in period documents (including the records of the Exeter Friends Meeting, which they were members of until shortly before they left Pennsylvania). Possible Scotch/Irish genetic heritage aside, it is definately an error to identify Daniel Boone as a First Generation Scotch/Irish American. As for Abrahm Lincoln, the Lincoln (note: Abraham Lincoln does decend from this branch of the Lincoln family) and Boone families were closed related this part of PA in the early and mid 18th century. The Lincolns are also identified in documents as being English. I have not done much research on the Lincoln family, but most English settlers in Exeter Twp. in the 18th century were from southern England. So again, if Abraham Lincoln was a “Scotch/Irish american” he didn’t get it through the Lincoln line.

-Sarai
Living History Volunteer
Daniel Boone Homestead Historical Site
(birthplace of Daniel Boone)
Exeter, Pennsylvania

*All of the information presented here is based on 18th century documentation, and research done by the staff and volunteers at the Daniel Boone Homestead. Unfortunately, as far as I am aware, the 18th century sources used are not available online. The website for the Daniel Boone Homestead does contain much of the information I’ve used here, in it’s biography section. I don’t know how to make the linky things work, but the website can be found at www.berksweb.com/boone.html

15

Tom wrote:

Indeed. Most of the folks I know who pay any attention at all to their “Scotch-Irish” heritage tend to identify more with Scotland than with Ireland.

16

Some notes.

Not all “Scotch-Irish” in the US actually came via Ireland. Many came directly from Scotland. (Apparently the term was thought to be an “and” as in “Scotch and Irish”.) While “Scots” is the prefered UK form, “Scotch” is acceptable in the US.

An estimate 250,000 came from Ulster in the half century before the Revolution.

The British viewed the Revolution as being largely manned by the Presbyterian Scotch-Irish. (So dispacing the Irish with displaced Scots just served to really annoy two groups.)

“There is no use crying about it. Cousin America has run off with a Presbyterian parson, and that is the end of that.”
Horace Walpole to Parliament.

Source: James Leyburn, “The Scotch-Irish: The Ethnic Group that Blended” American Heritage Magazine 22, Dec. 1970.