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WHAT
IS AN ULSTER-SCOT?
Ulster Scots is a term
used primarily in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
It refers to the Scots who
migrated to the northern province of Ireland (Ulster)
beginning about 1605. Although sometimes in North
America they are referred to as ‘Scotch-Irish’ or ‘Ulster-Irish‘.
All these terms most commonly refer to those Lowland
and Border Scots who settled in the northern counties
of Ireland during the Plantation scheme. However,
there were Scots in Ireland as early as the l400s,
such as the McDonalds of County Antrim. There was
also a steady stream of Highland Scots migrating
to the north of Ireland in the early 1800s as a
result of the highland clearances in Scotland.
It can therefore be considered that anyone whose
ancestors migrated from Scotland to Ulster from
1400 onward is of Ulster-Scot descent.
THE ULSTER PLANTATION
The majority of Scots who migrated to the north
of Ireland came as part of this organized settlement
scheme of 1605-1697. Plantation settlements were
confined to the Province of Ulster, in the counties
of Antrim, Down, Armagh, Tyrone, Donegal, Cavan,
Fermanagh and Derry. As many as 200,000 Lowland
Scots crossed the North Channel to settle in Ulster
in this approximately 90 year period. The Plantation
of Ulster took place in two stages. The first stage
was confined to the eastern counties of Antrim
and Down. The initiative was taken by Scottish
fortune seekers. Although the British Crown encouraged
and co-operated with those responsible, it was
fully a private venture. The second stage of settlement
was far broader in scope. It was a project of state,
conceived, planned, and closely supervised by the
British governments of England and Ireland. The
plantations included settlers from England and
Scotland, although Scots outnumbered those from
England by a ratio of 20 to 1. The primary purpose
of the plantation scheme was to populate the northern
counties of Ireland with loyal British subjects,
to counterbalance the native Irish. Scotland was
only too willing to participate. It was seen
as a way to eradicate Scotland of the hordes of
Lowland and Border Scots, many of whom in their
desperate poverty felt compelled to turn to a life
of marauding and horse thievery, which had become
an occupation in itself in the Scottish countryside.
Many were hardscrabble, subsistence farmers barely
able to support their families. Hence in the early
years of the Plantation, the majority of the settlers
were Lowland and Border Scots seeking a better
life.
DENIZATION
Prior to l707, Scotland
was a distinct Kingdom from England, governed
by its own laws, with its
own manners and customs. To ensure that the arriving
Scots could be kept under control from rising up
in Ireland in support of their brothers in Scotland,
they were required to take an oath of loyalty to
the British Crown, as ’denizens’ in
Ireland. For Scots to become English subjects in
Ireland, it was necessary to obtain letters patent
of Denization, pay a fine and take the Oath of
allegiance.
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