Most of my ancestry on both my father's and mother's sides are Scottish (almost 100% on my mother's). They came to the US from 1609-1720. While Scottish people settled in both the north and the south, they were the dominant early settlers in the south. Thus, the beginnings of the cultural differences between northerners- dominated by the English, and the southerners- settled dominately by the Scots.
The first recorded Scottish settlers were in Jamestown, Virginia. One of my ancestoral families amongst them. The Moredock family was settled into Jamestown in 1609. Virginia and slightly later- North Carolina, were the most popular places for the colonial Scottish settlers.
Religous strife began to be factor in emmigration to the Americas during the mid 1600's. Among those religious refugees were the young adult sons (and their families) of the martyred Reverend William Duncan, they came to Virginia in 1693.
The next immigration concerns the "Ulster Scots". In the map of Northern Ireland above the counties in white are the ones that were essentially a brief layover for many "Scotch-Irish"- before coming to America in the period of 1715-1735. They were members of various minority Protestant religions who wished for a chance to freely practice their religions. In the later 1600's the English promised this freedom in return for their loyality if they settled in Northern Ireland. The English wanted to lessen the strength of Catholicism in Ireland, and using the Scottish was the route they used. Many Scots found once they had settled in, those English promises amounted to nothing. However the "New World" beconned, and with a real chance at religious freedom many took the dangerous cross Atlantic trip. A couple of my ancestrial families were a part of this immigration in 1715- the Whitsett and Cardwell families.
Back in Scotland English proscution was heavy- even tacit supporters of the 1715 rebellion were being either deported unwilling to America or were pressured or fled willingly to the American colonies. In 1720 Lady Margaret Douglas and her English husband Anthony Haden were part of this immigration, arriving first in North Carolina, but moving within a few years to Virginia.
Most of the Scottish immigrants chose Virgina or North Carolina as their destination, knowing that in those colonies many other Scots had proceeded them there.
In the 1770's the English began to immigrate to the costal south in larger numbers, the Scots began to settle what would become the states Kentucky and Tennessee. They felt better moving away from the English who were still somewhat hostile to them. My ancestors were part of that pioneering group in Kentucky.
To this day Scottish is the largest ethnic background in both states. They also are dominant in most of West Virginia, the hill country of Virginia, and parts of North Carolina.
In the following pages Southern Scottish history, culture, language, and ties old and new to Scotland will be explored.
© 1997 subaruurd@bigfoot.com
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