Volume 13 , Issue 10

Scotch-Irish of Highland

Are there any Scotch-Irish emigrants in your ancestral family?

During the colonial era the Scotch-Irish were spoken of as Irish because they arrived from Ireland. Yet they were quite distinct from the Celtic Irish. They were fundamentally Scotch, especially the Scotch of the Highlands. There was also a considerable admixture from the north of England and a slight sprinkling of Huguenots. They were thus a composite people, and such a stock is usually forceful.

In consequence of rebellion and famine at the close of the sixteenth century, the north of Ireland had become almost depopulated. The few native inhabitants were in a most wretched condition. The English government confiscated a great amount of the land, and took measures to repeople this province of Ulster, the natives being treated with slight consideration.

Already a wild and lawless class of people from the Scottish Highlands had begun to flock into Ireland. But the later comers, who crossed over to secure allotments of land, were of a more promising sort.

At first, according to Waddell, "A great many of them were openly profane and immoral. But in the course of time, pious and zealous ministers came over from Scotland and England, and through their efforts a great religious reformation occurred. The intelligence, industry, and thrift of the Scotch soon transformed the face of the country."

The new settlers did not mingle with the native element. Between the Presbyterian immigrants and the Irish Catholics lay an antagonism too deep for intermarriage. In fact, the natives, who had taken to the forest, committed depredation whenever they could. In 1641, they rose in rebellion, and the war which followed was one of dreadful ferocity.

Although the English government had invited these immigrants to Ireland, it scarcely ceased, between 1625 and 1782 to make life a burden to them. This oppression was both religious and industrial.

The Church of England was made the established church in Ireland, and as Presbyterians were included among the Non-conformists, they were made to feel the displeasure of the government. The Scotch-Irish ministers were deposed, imprisoned, or made to flee the country. Many of the people had to cross to Scotland to enjoy the ordinance of communion.

In 1639, all the Protestants of Ulster above the age of sixteen were required to take an oath binding them to an explicit obedience to all royal commands. The penalties were so severe that multitudes, both of men and women, fled to Scotland or hid themselves in the woods, leaving their homes to go to ruin.

During the civil war in England and the rule of Cromwell, there was a respite from persecution. In 1660 the 80 Presbyterian congregations included a population of 100,000. But in that year the infamous Charles II became King and trouble returned.

The ministers of Ulster were liable to fine or imprisonment. At times their meetinghouses were closed and they had to preach by night in barns. According to the bishops of the Established Church, the marriages solemnized by the Presbyterian ministers were illegal and the children resulting from them were pronounced illegitimate.

Even under the milder rule following the English Revolution of 1688, there were times when no Presbyterian could hold civil or military office or teach anything above a primary school. Religious books could not legally be sold by them. Liberty of worship was conceded to the Ulster people, but there were grievances which still remained unredressed.

Not until 1782, and then only because of the American Revolution, did the British government acknowledge the validity of marriages sanctioned by dissenting preachers.

During the war of 1689, following the expulsion of the detestable Stuart kings, the Irish rose in behalf of the deposed monarch, Ulster was invaded by a large army, and Londonderry and Enniskillen were besieged. Both places were defended with a desperation unsurpassed in history. Without help from the English, without trained officers, without sufficient food or ammunition, and in the face of fever and cholera, the Ulster men beat off the besiegers with great loss.

This staunch support of the English cause would seem to have entitled the Scotch-Irish to much consideration. Yet with blind obstinacy, the British Parliament enforced its anti-property laws against the Presbyterians as well as the Catholics.

The persecution of these people was industrial as well as religious. Their thrift and diligence had created an important trade in woolen and linen fabrics. The jealousy of the English merchants was aroused, and grievously repressive laws were enacted, one result of which was the destruction of the woolen industry in 1698.

After enduring oppression almost a century, the Scotch-Irish began flocking to America in 1718. The movement was at first slow, but in 1729, 6,000 arrived at Philadelphia. In some of the years following the number rose to 12,000, and by 1775, 200,000 -- A full half of the Ulster people had crossed the Atlantic.

The stand-patters of the British government finally got their eyes open, but not until it was too late. The emigrants from Ulster were among the hottest foes of King George during the crisis of the American Revolution. By throwing their heavy weight into the scale against him, it is scarcely too much to say that the loss of the American colonies was the round price which England had to pay for her persistent hostility toward the Scotch-Irish.

In general, and as a matter of course, the emigrants to America in the colonial period represented the pick of the European nations. In intelligence, progressiveness, and industry, they were well above the mass of the people they left behind. Often times, they brought some degree of wealth.

But with a certain large class of immigrants these remarks are only partially true. In part this class was indigent, and in part it was criminal. Much of it, however, was of good quality, yet poor with respect to worldly substance. These immigrants were of two-sub-classes: the redemptorists and the convicts. The one was voluntary and the other was involuntary.

The Redemptorists were people more than willing to come to America, yet unable to pay their passage. They were given this name because they could redeem the cost of fare by a term of labor. Many were from Germany, where wages were low and a living scanty.

Traveling agents wearing jewelry and fine clothes toured the country in the interest of the shipmasters. They made the uninformed people believe the day laborer could soon become a rich farmer, and the servant girl a fashionable lady attired in silks and satins. They almost made them believe America was a land where it rained gold dollars and where roasted pigeons would flow into their mouths. Thus the stimulated immigration from the south and east of Europe in our own day had its parallel in the eighteenth century.

The agent promised to advance the cost of passage, which was usually $80 to the adult and $40 to the half-grown child. To small children no charge was made. But in the long run there was a heavy profit to the ship owners in these transactions. Articles of agreement were signed before leaving Europe.

The ships were crowded, the hard bread was often moldy and the water bad. In one year 2,000 of these redemptorists died at sea or soon after landing at Philadelphia. There the surviving people were advertised to be sold for a term of years, and purchasers flocked to the port much as people now congregate at a county fair.

The young and the single were soon disposed of, but widows and elderly or infirm people were dull of sale. But if such persons had children, their own passage was charged to the children's account, and thus the children had to serve extra time.

Until the children were sold, the parents could not leave the ship. Trunks were taken on another vessel, and were often broken into during the voyage. When the term of servitude was over, the newcomer was a free man. But if in the meantime he ran away and was caught and returned, his term was extended. Yet in the long run these people usually fared better in America because of its broader opportunities.

The other, or involuntary immigrants, were not wholly made up of British jailbirds. Some had been kidnapped from the British seaports. Some were married consorts, whom the other party, whether husband or wife, contrived to have sent out of the country. Some were homeless children. Still others were "ne'er-do-wells" and other derelicts, sent here by their relations in order to be "out of sight if not out of mind."

The actual cost of transportation was about $25 to each person, and the average price paid by the planter ... usually in Virginia was about $150. After serving their time, yet perhaps still carrying on the hand the mark of a branding iron, some of these people became good citizens.

But there were others who did not acquire any relish for steady work and orderly life. Such persons drifted into the coves of the Blue Ridge, so as to get away from the plantation owners. They remained shiftless, and their mode of life was little better than that of the savage. In 60 years 10,000 convicts were sent here from the famous "Old Bailey" prison of London. With the Revolution this practice had to come to an end, and England then proceeded to unload her trash upon Australia.

Though familiar with white servitude, the colonists had seen nothing of negroes in Europe and were slow to take up with African slavery. Although "twenty negars" were brought to Jamestown in 1619, the number of such in the colony had in forty years grown to only 300. Yet by 1745, the negroes were almost one-fifth of the colonial population.

With respect to religious faith, practically all the colonials were Protestant, excepting the English Catholics in Maryland. As to opinions on society and government, their differences were largely on the surface. Having so very much in common, it was quite inevitable that in the course of time all the white elements we have sketched should blend into an American nation very distinct from any of the mother nations of Europe.   |  View or Add Comments (1 Comments)   |   Receive updates ( subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

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