The Ulster-Scots: Forming Western Culture From the 1600's Onward

 I have been studying about the Ulster-Scots in America, to find the roots of the settlement of this land.  I heard about these people when I was younger, and being  of Ulster-Scot heritage myself,  (McGaughey ) I thought it would be interesting to find out more about the people who came to America in what was called The Great Migration of the 1600's and 1700's.  I found that everything our great-great grandparents told us about their Ulster ancestors, has been accurately recorded in various forms. I will relate some of it here.

County Antrim, Ulster, Northern Ireland

   These hardy, enthusiastic,  do-it-your-self-ers; the "can-do" people who were told not to go beyond a certain boundary in America, helped form the language and culture of America. Forbidden by government to go further west, they did it anyway.  Many of them went to Nova Scotia and parts of Canada during this same time period, as well as New Zealand and Australia.  Among the Ulster-Scots were men like Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone. In the beginning, a large amount of them went to Pennsylvania.  Many of them went to the Southern states, where  their kin still live today.  The Ulster-Scots wrote our Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution.  George Washington said of the Ulster-Scots, "If the cause is lost elsewhere,  I will take my stand among the Scots-Irish in my native Virginia."

Country Antrim,  Ulster, Northern Ireland

  The Ulster-Scots were referred to as "Scots-Irish" in America. They came from Ulster, in Northern Ireland, having formerly come a mere 17 or so miles across the sea from Scotland, to the Ulster Plantation, which began at the same time as Jamestown, in America.  These people often had no formal learning other than their knowledge of the Bible, and no particular trade, but they "took a wilderness and made a garden," both in Ulster and in America. While most Americans are familiar with the Jamestown Plantation, very few are aware of the sister-plantation in Ulster.

Ulster

It was said of them that they taught their children the Bible, and not to depend on others for their success; that the world would be against them. They also did not put their faith in the hierarchy of religion or government. Being self-sufficient, and teaching their children to build their houses and find a way to make a living on their own, was extremely important to them.  They were able to settle in the forests, the mountains and the valleys, the plains and prairies, and on the shores of lakes and oceans. They were extremely adaptable and innovative people, who built log cabins and houses, planted crops, and took time off on the Lord's Day to worship Him and partake of the Lord's Supper. They did not seem to be dependent upon groups or approval of others to motivate them. They were extremely creative people. 

Cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains,  in the Appalachians, North Carolina, where many of the original Ulster Scot migrants settled. 

Today, the descendants of the Ulsters, or "Scots-Irish"  still live in the Appalachians, and across America and Canada.  Their music, accent and basic Bible beliefs, are similar to those of their ancestors of Ulster. The Scots-Irish were not actually Irish, but Scots, living in the northern part of Ireland, which was given to them as a settlement by the English King James the 1st, the same James the 6th of England. (I hope I got this complicated but fascinating historical detail right!) Part of the reason for the Ulster's loyalty to England, is that so many of the kings and queens of England actually came from Scotland or had some roots in Scotland.

John Knox Admonishing Mary, Queen of Scots, by Sir William Allan (President of the Royal Scottish Academy of Painting, 1782)

 You can read more about the fascinating history of Ulster, here.

Quote by James Buchanan, 15th U.S. President, 1857-61.

Province of Ulster, top

 A very nice site explaining more about the Ulster Plantation and the Great Migration to America can be read here.  The Ulster-Scots, or Scots-Irish, as they were known in America, are not to be confused with the Irish. Their ancestors lived in Northern Ireland, but kept their Scottish culture and often sent their children to Scotland to be educated.  They tended to be presbyterian in religion,, which is a term from the New Testament reference to presbyters (elders, shepherds, bishops), the rulers of churches. In America, the early settlers from Ulster still relied upon the Bible for their authority in religion. When a fervent return to the church of the Bible, known as the Restoration Movement, derived somewhat from a meeting at Cain Ridge in Kentucky, the Ulster-Scot pioneers were there. It was in that place during a long gospel meeting, that many denominations decided to get rid of all denominational names and man-made creeds, and worship only according to the example and teaching of the New Testament church.

These vibrant pioneers also believed that Americans needed limited government and limited interference in their lives and business. In regards to government, these settlers believed: "[W]henever any Form of Government becomes destructive [to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness] it is the Right of the People to alter or abolish it, and to institute such a new Government...As to them that shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and happiness....[W]hen a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object eninces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government and to provide new Guards for their future security."

County Antrim, Ulster

A Highland Cottage, by Miles Burkett Foster

Dunluce Castle, County Antrim

Read more of the history of these two plantations, one in America and one in Ulster, Northern Ireland, and the people who formed them, here:

You may know about, Carrickfergus, also in Ulster, where Carrickfergus Castle is located. 

There are a number of books recently written by Billy Kennedy, whom I believe is also an Ulster-Scot, about the Scots-Irish (Ulsters) in America, a ten-book series published by Ambassador-International:

 Women of the Frontier,


The Scots-Irish in the Carolinas,
The Scots-Irish in Pennsylvania and Kentucky,
Faith and Freedom: The Scots-Irish in America,
Heroes of the Scots-Irish in America,
The Making of America: How the Scots-Irish Shaped a Nation.
Our Most Priceless Heritage: The Lasting Legacy of the Scots-Irish,
Three Men of Destiny Sam Houston, David Crockett & Andrew Jackson

If you are Scots-Irish, or Ulster-Scot, you may be interested in these books, because they list the names of many of the immigrants from Ulster, and your ancestor/family name may be included. You can also go to the sites I listed and find more information on your own family. This site will help you look up your name. The sample, shows the origin of the McGee family in Ulster and America, but you can look up other names there.

Reading of the Ulster-Scots who gave us much of our culture, is inspiring. It makes you realize you can do just about anything you want to do, even without money or privilege.  In a book about the pioneers of North America, is the following quote, which shows the independence and creativity of these people who came in waves across America to settle it:

"Many of the Western  immigrants seemed to inherit their pioneering spirit from their own fathers and mothers...they seemed to possess a spirit which rose above perils." - Thumbpapers - Sketches of Pioneer Days, by Lenore Gale Barette.

These words, from the preface of "The Dangerous Book for Boys," sum up the character of the Ulster Scots who settled vast portions of this land. I have lived among their descendants, who have these same qualities.

"Don't worry about genius and don't worry about not being clever," wrote Sir Frederick Thomas, on the 25th anniversary of  "Boys Own Paper, September 2, 1903. "Trust rather to hard work, perseverance, and determination. The best motto for a long march is, 'Don't grumble. Plug on...be honest, be kind, be loyal. Remember that the hardest thing to acquire is the faculty of being unselfish. As a quality, it is one of the finest attributes of manliness."

Ulsters claim as their poet, Robert Burns, who wrote:

"but come, ye sons of Liberty,
Columbia's offspring, brave as free,
In danger's hour still flaming in the van:
Ye know, and dare maintain, The Royalty of Man."

Robert Burns , To George Washington on his birthday, 1794

****

Even if your relatives were not from County Antrim in Ulster, as mine were,  it is highly possible that the culture these people formed has influenced you. If you like to use what you have and be creative; if you are a lifter, not a leaner, and if you like to exercise your faith, you have some of the qualities that it took to be a pioneer on the North American Continent before it became a nation.

61% of American Presidents had Scottish Ethnic Background: Jefferson, B.Harrison, Madison, McKinley, Monroe, T. Roosevelt, Taft, W. Harrison, Wilson, Polk, Harding, Taylor, Coolidge, Buchanan, Truman, A. Johnson, Grant, Nixon, Hayes, Reagan, Arthur, Carter, Cleveland.

"Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan "press on" has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race” - Calvin Coolidge, Ulster Scot descendent, 30th president of the United States, born 1872. 

Dunluce Castle in County Antrim, Ulster

For great sites about the Ulster and Jamestown plantations, and the history of the Ulster Scots in America, go 1.here,
2.and here
3.and this is a good one, too,
4.as well as this one

Friends, please take the time to go through the links here and read a little bit about how these people affected the American and Canadian culture. I think you will find it worked for the good of our self-rule and our lack of dependence on the government for our sustenance.  We need to keep this in mind and return to those principles.

Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was born in northern Ireland of Scottish stock, the son of Thomas Campbell, a minister in the Seceder Presbyterian Church of Scotland. He was educated privately by his father. In 1807 his father emigrated to western Pennsylvania in America, and in 1809 Alexander followed him. The Campbells eventually settled in a frontier area, just east of the Ohio River, in the village now known as Bethany in West Virginia. The Campbells, Stones, and other preachers were responsible for the historic old camp meeting that took place at Cain Ridge, where many people dropped all denominational names and creeds, and began to worship only as the Bible directed, calling themselves Christians only, and naming the church only after Christ.

The Ulster-Scots today still celebrate the memory of the two plantations begun in the 1600's: one at Ulster and one in Jamestown. Many of them show a keen interest in America and have a deep love and respect for this country, because of their connection to the pioneers and statesmen when the country was first formed.

On this 4th of July anniversary, I would like to send the Macedonian call to the Ulsters: If there are any of you that are like the ones that came in waves before, at the dawn of this nation, and if there are any of you who still understand  the determination and faith of these people, our forefathers and yours,  please, come over to America and help us.