Redneck
and Hillbilly Surprises.....
The history surrounding Ulster-Scots also
known as Scots-Irish in the US begins as far as
this post is concerned when in 1638 and 1641, in Scotland;
the Presbyterians there signed a Covenant. This
stated that they desired the Presbyterian form of church
government and would not accept, under any circumstances, the Church of
England as its official state church as ordered by the then monarch
and government.
Many signed in their own blood
and wore red pieces of cloth around their necks as a sign
of their religious beliefs. They became known as ‘Rednecks’. As
late as 1940, at least one Scottish Presbyterian minister
insisted on wearing a red clerical collar.
In Scotland they were banned from
all public office because of their refusal to become part of the ‘new’
Church of England and swear allegiance to Elizabeth the First, the then
Queen of England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland in her capacity as ‘Protector
of the Faith’.
Things became so hard for them
tens of thousands moved to Ulster in Northern Ireland.
Others, though few at this early stage, sailed to the new world and took up
residence in the United States.
In Ulster, the Scots continued to
be harassed not only by the English but also by the nationalist Irish
whose lands had been dispossessed. The Royalist Ulster
landowners also hated them. Their Presbyterian churches were
regularly burned down by both their enemies and many were forced to travel by
boat on Sundays back to the Scottish mainland to attend
services. Thousands were killed by the cruel sea…….
When The
Test Act of 1704 was
passed into law by the English it caused particular hardship to the
Presbyterians, as marriages conducted by their ministers were now deemed by the
government to be void and invalid. They were also further barred from
worshipping in their churches, running schools or holding public
office.
At that time, they became known
as 'Blackmouths' due to the fact that in the summer
they would be eating blackberries during services in the hedgerows
and fields. They were a hardy set of people through necessity…..
Many were involved in weaving in the Linen
trade and when the English placed additional tariffs on the Ulster
industry, they found the situation totally untenable.
An earlier trickle of emigrants
to America now became a flood……………….
The first small group of families
had begun sailing to America in the 1690’s but by 1740 over a
quarter of a million men, women and children had left. Their Presbyterian
ministers sailed with them and as they had the basis of a
well-organised church with them, Presbyterianism began
to spread rapidly throughout America.
Many moved to the South and
mountainous regions. They wore red or orange neckerchiefs to signify their
origins and became known as Rednecks. The later arrivals, after
the Battle of the Boyne in 1690, when King William of
Orange (King Billy) beat the Irish/Jacobites,
the men from the mountain regions became known as the ‘Billies from the
Hills’, later changed to ‘Hillbillies’.
It is likely that even before the film Deliverance and
the portrayal of the supposed Hillbillies in it, they have
always been ridiculed. However, their true origin is truly
magnificent and present-day America owes so much to those who
carved their way across the continent during the Frontier years.
A few lines before I name
names..................
Their hatred of the English because
of the religious bigotry against them back home in Scotland first, then Ulster
made them ideal candidates to take the rebel side in the War of
Independence. As one learned gentleman (Professor James G.
Leyburn) said of them "They provided some of the best
fighters in the American army. Indeed there were those who held the
Scots-Irish responsible for the war itself".
George Washington himself
once said "If defeated everywhere else, I will make my last stand
for liberty among the Scots-Irish of my native Virginia".
The Scots-Irish provided
25 Generals and about one third of the rebel army. The Pennsylvania
Line was made up entirely of Scots-Irish emigrants and their sons. At
the battle of Kings Mountain, a militia of mainly Scots-Irish
Presbyterians defeated an English army twice its
size.
President Theodore Roosevelt once
said of the Scots-Irish "In the Revolutionary war, the fiercest
and most ardent Americans of all were the Presbyterian Irish settlers and their
descendants".
Probably my greatest shock of all during my
research was yet to come.
The Declaration of Independence was
printed by an Ulster-Scot, John Dunlop and it was first read
in public by a first generation Scots-Irish American, Colonel John
Nixon. The first, and largest, signature on the document came from
another Scots-Irish Presbyterian, John Hancock.
Over the coming decades, the Scots-Irish
gradually lost their identity and embraced America. The name fell out of use
for almost a century until the arrival of the Catholic Irish during
the Great Famine in the 1840’s. Those refugees were known
as Catholic Gaelic Irish and the Presbyterians reintroduced
the name Scots-Irish.
The ‘new’ arrivals, the
Catholics tended to congregate in Catholic Irish communities in New
York, Chicago and Boston whilst the Scots-Irish population
spread throughout America in particular the Mid-West and Southern
States.
Nine of the men who died at the Alamo were
actually born in Ulster, whilst Davy Crockett, William
Travis and Jim Bowie were all first, second or third
generation Scots-Irish as were many others.
Famous Scots-Irish Americans include Andrew
Jackson, Davy Crockett, Sam Houston, Stonewall Jackson, Woodrow Wilson and
others. John Wayne, Willie Nelson and Elvis
Presley are among many, many other equally famous American stars of
film, stage and music.
Today there are about 27 Million Scots-Irish
Presbyterian Americans and 17 Million Catholic Irish Americans–
although many from a Protestant background regard themselves as Irish-Americans.
As I always thought that ‘the Irish in
America’ were those who had sailed there during the Great Famine in the 1840’s,
I feel that I must apologise. They too may well have produced
some ‘great Americans’ but without a shadow of doubt the ‘true greatness’ was
provided by the Presbyterian Scots-Irish or Ulster-Scots - whichever is
preferred.
I do however take a little pride in the fact
that I can claim just a little connection.....
-------------Mike--------------
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