I’ve been called both a “Redneck” and a “Neanderthal”. Neither name offends me.
Good science is something I always appreciate. However, it amazes me how many words some scientific journals can use to say utterly nothing.
It is also amazing to read “old” scientific treatises with current knowledge and see how often their theories were totally wrong.
My ancestors claimed to be “Scotch/Irish”, whatever that meant.
Scientific tools are politically and culturally neutral, but humans are not.
“A Good Year for Grant Money”....
That meant; One parent was from Scotland. The other from Ireland.
;-)
It means you are a cheap drunk.
Scotch/Irish = No. Ireland.
Good book on the Scotts-Irish is “Born Fighting” by James Webb. Many of America’s generals and politicians had Scotts-Irish roots.
My Scotts-Irish kin came from Antrim County, Ireland in the early 1800s during the time when there were labor riots at the linen mills.
http://www.greencastlemuseum.org/Local_History/scotch-irish.htm
Who were the Scot-Irish?
The Scot-Irish settled Greencastle-Antrim, as well as the rest of the Cumberland Valley. Who were the Scot-Irish? They were protestant Presbyterian, Lowland Scots. The Scot-Irish were not Irish and were not Catholics. The term Scot-Irish is strictly an American nomenclature. In England and Ireland the same people are called Ulster Scots, which is much less confusing.
In the early seventeenth century when James I ascended to the English throne in 1603, one of his main objectives was to civilize the uncontrolable, autonomous Irish - the majority of whom were Catholic.
James I’s chosen action plan to accomplish this objective was to begin an extensive colonization plan which emigrated English protestants, Presbyterian Scots, and even French and German protestants from their homelands into Ireland during the early 1600’s. He especially concentrated on the Ulster region which, at that time, included the nine present-day counties of Donegal, Fermanagh, Cavan, Monaghan, Armagh, Down, Tyrone, Coleraine (later Londonderry), and Antrim. The Ulster region is located in the northeastern part of the island of Ireland and lies closest, geographically, to England and Scotland compared to the rest of Ireland. Archie Reid, president of the Ballyclare Historical Society in County Antrim, Northern Ireland wrote the following about County Donegal. “When partition was set up, Donegal was not included in the new Northern Ireland. We still feel an affinity and my Historical Society has close links with the Donegal one and we exchange visits.”
The lands that were confiscated had belonged to Irish Earls who had left Ireland seeking help from Spain and Rome to fight the English crown. The Irish Earls never again returned to their homeland. The land was first given to the new immigrants and then to servitors of the King. The native Irish were the last to receive any leftover land. In the process of settling the Ulster Plantation, the English displaced masses of Irish peasants, often refusing them the right to settle on certain lands.
During this time of colonization, the Scot-Irish built towns and villages, commerce and industry increased, and new farming methods were introduced. More importantly, the Presbyterian Church was established in a country very strongly rooted in the Catholic faith which caused great religious turmoil and conflict. This conflict was exacerbated when, through the years, the English monarchs wavered back and forth on their religious policies.
The Presbyterian Scots lived in Northern Ireland for a little over a century before immigrating to the American colonies. The English landlords found the Scot settlers too similar to the Irish natives and resented them. The immigration was precipitated by the English Monarchy who tried to exert its own political and religious authority over the citizens of Ireland, including the Presbyterian Scots, causing constant struggles for religious tolerance, civil liberties, and political rights such as holding office or having representation in government. Economic factors also affected their decisions to immigrate to the colonies. Anglican ministers made the majority of their income by imposing tithes on the Irish - Catholic and Presbyterian alike. The Irish tenants were charged high rents for their land adding additional economic burdens on their families. Consecutive potato crop failures in 1724 1725, and 1726 compounded all the preceding problems and forced many Ulster Scots to seek a new life in America.