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A lot of those names are in Ulster. Irvine is well known here and fits in with the town of Irvine in Scotland. Not sure, but is the Adams name usually spelt without the s at the end. Charlie Adam the footballer comes to mind.
Among the first Presbyterian emigrants to the colonies had been a number of seige veterans, including the Rev James McGegor and the Rev Matthew Clark, founders of the township of Londonderry in New Hampshire. Along with their political and religious principles, the linen industry and the potato, these settlers brought with them their historical memories.
During the war for American Independence, the Presbyterian clergy of Philadelphia cast George III in the role of James II, reminding their congregations of their ancestors' struggle for liberty at Londonderry and Enniskillen. In the first half of the nineteenth century there was an upsurge of interest among Ulster-Americans in their ' Scotch-Irish ' heritage, stimulated by the centenary celebrations of a number of New Hampshire towns and by the popularity of both Scottish philosophy and Sir Walter Scott. Above all, the Ulster-Americans were eager to dissociate themselves from the new tide of immigrants from Catholic Ireland. The first historians of Ulster emigration therefore stressed the Scottish origins of their ancestors, largely ignoring the Irish dimension. Typical was Edward Parker's History of Londonderry ( 1851 ) which used the siege to demonstrate their resolute, determined, unyielding spirit.
For the historians of American Presbyterianism the rugged individualism of the Ulster pioneers had been forged in the fires of 1689, preparing them for the historic task of taming the American wilderness. The seige had become the definitive moment in the Scotch-Irish experience, the locus classicus of all those virtues which distinguished the old Ulster-American communities from the recent immigrant Irish. Isaac Barnes of Bedford New Hampshire made the point succinctly: ' The Scotch are zealous Protestants, and Presbyterians. The Irish as zealous Roman Catholics. The Scotch were the besieged, and the Irish the besiegers at Londonderry.
American historians drew on Ulster history to bolster their ethnic identity. The close cultural links between the two countries were demonstrated when Thomas Witherow dedicated his Derry and Enniskillen in the Year 1689 ( 1873 ) to the Rev. William McClure, an honorary member of the Historical Society of New Hampshire. Whiterow, had been taught the story of the seige at his grandmother's knee.
I've only met one person who confused the two, and that was on this forum (she just kept insisting the Irish didn't come to America until the 19th century and couldn't get her head around the fact that Scots-Irish wasn't the same as Irish). In real life, I've never met anyone who didn't know what Scots-Irish was.
I think she is right when she said the Irish didn't come to America until the 19th century. Its a bit confusing when the term Scotch-Irish is used. Many people think it is a mixture of Scots and Irish eg a Scots father and an Irish mother or vice-versa. I know I did when I first heard 'Scotch-Irish'.
The Ulster-Scots ( or Scotch-Irish in America ) came in the 1700s and on arrival objected to being called Irish and so gradually they became known as the Scotch-Irish. They didn't like this either but in the end accepted it.
The Ulster-Scots Agency is delighted to have had the opportunity to attend last night’s book launch in Freeport Maine.
The publication has been made possible through partnership between the Ulster-Scots Agency and the Maine Ulster Scots Project. The Agency commissioned the work and had it designed and printed in Northern Ireland.
This book brings together work of a range of Ulster and American based authors and provides an enduring legacy of the Ulster -Scots conference held in Bowdoin College in 2018.
It is the first of it’s kind and provides an important reference work for anyone interested in finding out about historic and cultural links between Ulster and Maine.
A huge effort was required to make the publication a reality and the Ulster-Scots Agency acknowledges the work of the authors and the editorial team.
A special thanks to Rebecca Graham, Chair of the Maine Ulster Scots Project for her commitment and dedication to this work.
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20 things you may not know about the Ulster Scots
