Scotch-Irish Appalachian Vocabulary Quiz

Backcountry Notes ^ | March 29, 2010 | Jay Henderson

[jay1949]

Here's the challenge: certain words and phrases characteristic of Appalachian English in Eastern Tennessee and elsewhere can be traced back to Scottish English imported to this country by Scotch-Irish settlers. Some of these are disappearing; others have spread throughout the South; a few seem to be making it into widespread usage. How many do you know? 1. piece; 2. beal, bealing; 3. mend; 4. airish; 5. chancy; 6. muley; 7. bottom; 8. discomfit; 9. singlings; 10. fireboard . . . .

[bert]

I’m pretty sure they migrated west and had a big hand in the establishment of Texas

The list of troops has lots of Scots-Irish warriors

[Moose4]

Lynchburg was named for John Lynch, who set up a ferry across the James River in 1757. The actual town was founded in, I think, 1786. John Lynch was apparently the brother of Charles Lynch, a Virginia judge and politician, who coined the term “lynch law.”

}:-)4

[jay1949]

I didn’t but now I do. http://encarta.msn.com/dictionary_1861689613/eaves_trough.html

eaves trough (plural eaves troughs)
noun
Definition:

U.S. regional — gutter: a gutter on a building

Regional History

The Northern terms eaves trough and eaves spout extend from New England through the Midwest. In the earlier part of the 20th century, the eaves trough form was general currency in New England and New York State, from Albany westward. At that time, eaves spout prevailed in the Western Reserve of Ohio. Indeed, that term was recorded for “rain gutter” as early as 1846 in Randolph County, North Carolina. Both terms have currency across the Western states to the Pacific coast, from Washington to California, where they survive as less common alternatives. Today they have been challenged or overtaken by the general currency terms rain gutter or gutter and downspout. In the Southern states, with the exception of the occasional occurrence of trough, the terms have been generally replaced by gutter.

[Hoodat]

Yeah, I already knew about John Lynch. I just like to stir up trouble. ;-P
I come from a long line of Virginians who emigrated from Scotland in the early 1600s.

[OB1kNOb]

[jay1949]

Both are excellent books, and Albion’s Seed is more scholarly and overall better written. Fischer has a good treatment of the “Borderers,” the folk who lived on the Scottish=English border, above Hadrian’s Wall (the ancient border). Those below the border and above Hadrian’s Wall were counted as “English” and often had English spellings of their surnames but they were ethnically very closely related to the Scots on the other side of the border. All of the Borderers had a relationship to an ancient tribe called the Picts. There are genetic markers for Picts — a very high proportion of individuals with blue eyes and dark brown hair, and a dislike for the taste of finfish (the latter characteristic had been noted by a Roman official who visited the area centuries ago). My wife’s paternal family calls itself English but they are Borderers with Pict blood — my wife has the blue eyes, the dark brown hair, and the distaste for finfish.

[Nuocmam]

My understanding is that what is presently Scotland was inhabited by the Picts. At some point a Irish tribe/clan crossed over to western England and moved north and integrated with the Picts thru both peaceful and non-peaceful means and became the dominate group. This tribe/clan was the Scoti hence Scotland.

[jay1949]

The Picts inhabited the southern lowlands, the Celts the northern areas, along with Danes, Vikings, Jutes, Frisians, and who knows who else — the Scotti came over from Ireland and came to dominate the whole area north of Hadrian’s Wall; Scotti, from which came Scottish, was eventually shortened to Scot. A mixed bag. My own Scottish lineage includes, supposedly, a touch of Viking blood, from Clan Gunn. Could be legend, however, to makes us seem more menacing than we really are.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks!