The ‘Scots-Irish’ in America
Professor Brian Walker from the School of Politics at Queen’s University Belfast has a piece published in the Irish Times today about the Scots-Irish in America.
He points out that over half of some 40 million people who gave their country of origin as Ireland are actually of Protestant descent. He also points out that many were Ulster Presbyterians, descending from Scotland in the 17th-century:
“To explain this situation attention now focused on the Scots Irish. The first waves of emigrants from Ireland to America in the eighteenth century consisted largely of Ulster Presbyterians, numbering about a quarter of a million people, who were descendants of 17th-century Scottish immigrants to Ireland. Due to their early arrival and thanks to a multiplier factor, it was argued, their descendants made up a major part of those in America with an Irish background.”
The article offers interesting reading and shines a light on the extent of immigration by Protestants, of Scotish origin, from Ireland to America. I recalled when reading the article the story from the Ulster-Scots musical ‘On Eagles Wings’.
I thought the single combat thing was on the cards after yesterday’s haka….
malcolm redfellow ,
‘The number who took up farming as a means of livelihood always remained low.’
Not in any small measure due to the ‘famine experience’ I should think . Land either ownership of or access to had been seen as the only wealth and means of survival in early to mid 19th century Ireland . Many of those who fled to the USA had seen this survival means collapse with disastrous consequences for themselves and their families . Thus most opted for the cities. Not a few were co-opted into the Union Army in the Civil War and found themselves elsewhere when said war ended .
Marshall County ? I can’t recall the name of the county I was in . All I can remember is that it was close to the West Virginia and Virginia State line in Virginia.
On a personal note, family folklore has it that David Crawford, my great-great-grandfather was a Protestant from County Tyrone in Ulster.
Strange phenomenon is that the Orange business never really took of in US whereas in Canada was a real political factor in living memory. My sister has a wonderful theory that the current religosity of the body politic in the US is a direct consequence of religious non-conformism of the largest body of the European migration pre 1900 odd…
Exile you are wrong americans do not change their religion like their underwear instead they wear it like their finest suit.
Religion is something they cover themselves with for public consumption, sort of like orangemen and bowler hats
USA @ 05:24 PM:
As I’m sure you are well aware, it’s easy to scan the 1880 US Census. For example, familysearch.org immediately throws up no fewer than 17 Irish-born “David Crawfords”, starting with:
They were registered at Philadelphia.
Severe health warning: that family tree lark can seriously damage one’s leisure time.
‘Severe health warning: that family tree lark can seriously damage one’s leisure time.’
Here’s a list of some names from US Civil War Records which should may raise some interesting questions as to the ‘dispersal’ of the Irish and Scotch Irish throughout the new Republic . I picked the names as somewhat’representative ‘ of those of Scotch Irish and Irish derivation with some in betweens and English and Welsh . U is for Union and C for Confederates .
Campbell U -6,602 C-4,016
Murphy U -6,601 C-2,519
Sullivan U -4,093 C-1,145
Crawford U- 2,701 C-2,119
Adams U -6,632 C-4,363
Murray U -3,529 C 1,489
Paisley U -44 C-2
Trimble U- 214 C-131
Reynolds U- 3,951 C-2,231
Cowan U -633 C-509
Empey U -11 C-0
Allister U- 3 C-1
Molyneaux U-13 C-0
Durkan U-2 C-2
Doherty U-529 C-139
Blair U-1,249 C-675
O’Brien U- 3,132 C -621
Taggart U- 310 C -47
Fitzgerald U -1,617 C -708
Delaney U – 725 C- 154
Robinson U – 8,453 C- 4,447
Donaldson U – 602 C -275
Carroll U- 2,414 C-1,430
Vance U-472 C- 472
As the Civil War began in 1861 with the famine emigration in the mid 1840′s then presumably many of the Irish immigrants would have enlisted . The fact that so many with ‘irish ‘ names ended up fighting for the South indicates that they did not all stay in the Northern States but must have been on the move since well before the famine .
I included some of the more prominent ‘political names ‘ within Unionism and nationalism to show participation rates
. It seems the Empey’s are/were very pro Union regardless of which side of the pond they inhabit -likewise the Molyneauxs . The Cowans are just barely pro Union with a strong rebel streak in the Paisley’s and most of the others . McGuinness /Magennis has so many spelling variants that you can add them all if you are interested . One name only gives a higher figure for the Confederates than the Unionists and that’s Vance . No idea where that name is from except there was/is a cobbler’s shop by the name in Bray Co Wicklow 
You can have more fun at http://www.ancestry.com . You don’t have to subscribe . It states English surnames but it appears to take all comers including Irish , Scots , Welsh and others . Also gives distribution maps for USA , England ,and Scotland , Wales but alas not Ireland .
You can have fun with the site but do remember Malcolm’s admonition
Bear in mind also that the Union States outpopulated the Confederates by 3 to 1 IIRC so if there was even distribution of names which there isn’t there would be a 3 to 1 inbuilt bias for the Union.
Do remember also that 600,000 died in the American Civil War as the Scotch Irish killed each other and Irish also on opposing sides . I guess we’ll never learn eh
One of Washington’s closest friends and advisors was an Irish Catholic from Wexford by the name of John Barry who rose from cabin boy to Commodore in the United States Navy. In fact, he is considered the father of the American Navy.
On February 22, 1797, President Washington called Barry to the President’s Mansion at 190 High (Market) Street, to receive Commission Number One in the Navy which was dated June 4, 1794, the date of his original selection. The formal ceremony took place on Washington’s birthday.
USA…..I’m certainly not bitter, but like many Ulstermen, I get rather annoyed with those 9th / 10th generation Americans calling themselves ‘Irish-American’ who have never set foot in British Ulster or the Repubic of Ireland, yet interfere [e.g. KieranJ] with anti-Unionist, anti-Protestant, anti-British remarks.
To call such people ‘Plastic Paddys’ is in no way racist and indeed is not an original name of mine for these headcases….if I recall correctly it was on a Nationalist blog that I first saw the term used.
What we Protestants / Unionists of Ulster have been called by those people and by their counterparts here in this part of the UK and in the Republic of Ireland is hundreds of times worse than this friendly term for folk whose knowledge of Irish history is suspect.
Your views are typical of your type: You can’t answer the argument, so you seek to shoot the messenger. Well mate, you missed by a mile !!!!
Greenflag –
I think that the surname Vance is actually Norman in origin.
Edward.
I live in the USA and I don’t believe people wear their religion on their sleeves for public consumption any more than people do in other countries I have been to.
William,
You are bitter and you are a loser.
@ Greagoir
“Oh indeed Harry Flashman, but such surnames are found throughout all of Britain as well as all of Ireland. It aint just an NI Ulster thing all the time!”
I do realise that Greg but those names seem more redolent of the border counties of England, Lowland Scotland and Ulster rather than generic “British Isles” names; there’s no Poselthwaites or Beauchamp-Smythes or Trefgarnes or even O’Sullivans or MacGregors for that matter. It’s not a major point but I think we can assume that country music is not a product of generalised emigration from all over these islands when we look at where it orginated from and among whom it is still most popular.
@USA
“These folks are the foot soldiers of the Christian Right, anti abortion, anti evolution, want to preach Christian beliefs in school etc.”
And in doing so they are continuing on the long tradition of what they first stood for. Hollywood and a liberal education system have created a myth that the men who fought King George were some sort of proto-liberals, they weren’t. They were precisely the same type of people fighting for precisely the same issues then as they are today, the United States may have changed but they haven’t.
The men who fought for US independence were fighting for the basic right to be left the hell alone, they fought against big unaccountable government, they fought for the right to say what they bloody well thought and if you didn’t like it tough. They fought for the right to organise their own lives according to what was best for them and their neighbours and not according to the dictates of some elites in a distant capital many hundreds of miles away.
To them the most important parts of the constitution were the First and Second Amendments, (just for the record nowhere does it say in the US Constitution that there is a “seperation” of religion and government, merely that there should be no Congress sponsored religion). It is those two amendments which they most strictly adhere to today and which they see being undermined by what they would see as the same damnable fancy pants elites who have been trying to interfere in their affairs and telling them how to run their lives for over three hundred years.
We might not like such people today, we might find them rather uncouth and out of touch with our current ways of running government and we may feel the need to pass more laws or maybe send down more soldiers to impose the “proper” way of thinking upon them, King George certainly felt that way, but just remember it was those guys who created the freedoms which everyone now so applauds.
Furthermore they uphold the Second Amendment not because they are dumb hicks who “cling” to their guns out of “desperation” or even farmers and hunters who need to control vermin, nor for that matter vulnerable people who need a gun for protection from criminals. No, they uphold the Second Amendment for the precise reasons for which it was written in the first place; to enable free born citizens to shoot government officials who try to get too big for their boots.
There’s something about that which makes me smile.
Im a Dubliner with a load of scottish ancertry in my family tree…. does that make me Scots Irish ? How about the fact that I have a Viking surname as do many other Irish people does that make me Scandanavian-Irish?
This one has to be the mother and father of all “na-na-nan-an-a my tribe pissed higher up the wall than your tribe which therefore proves how much we’re better and smarter than you” blogs. Catch a grip.
Modernist,
“Viking surname”
The Vikings did not have surnames, indeed people in Iceland still dont.
Others and none,
Surnames can only tell you so much, for example 1/4 of the DUP MLA’s have Gaelic surnames and not one of them would describe themselve as a Gael in any way.
http://gaelgannaire.blogspot.com/2008/11/dup-forghaeil.html
I’ve just had a moment of fantasy:
A wormhole in the space/time continuum whirls ggn @ 09:45 AM back to the Irish-Norse kingdom of Jorvik. A brief dialogue ensues:
Saw a colour-coded map of the British Isles recently, indicating where different genres of music generated highest album sales … thought it was very telling that it was the northern coastlines of Ireland and Scotland where country music sales were at their peak.
People from Iceland have surnames but they are based on yopur fathers or mothers name
for instance my icelandic-canadian friend was Thor Ericson, he was literaly eric’s son, if he followed through with icelandic tradition then his son might be Jon Thorson
“First names that have not been previously used in Iceland must be approved by the Icelandic Naming Committee before being used”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icelandic_name
From wiki….and Bjork is her real name…..
“I do realise that Greg but those names seem more redolent of the border counties of England, Lowland Scotland and Ulster rather than generic “British Isles” names; there’s no Poselthwaites or Beauchamp-Smythes or Trefgarnes or even O’Sullivans or MacGregors for that matter. It’s not a major point but I think we can assume that country music is not a product of generalised emigration from all over these
islands when we look at where it orginated from and among whom it is still most popular.”
– True Harry Flashman, (and for you did write…”I’m not saying they’re all descended from our wee province but it seems compulsory to at least sound like you did if you want to make a go of it.”) and Malcolm Redfellow as well.
I didn’t mean to sound somewhat dismissive of such a significant input by the good Scots-Irish/Ulster-Scots brethren and pioneers. Their enormous contribution to the folk culture/music and general society of the USA is exceptional.
– So credit where credits due, to the Scots-Irish/Ulster-Scots who made such an overall definitive mark on the formative years of the USA. Their contribution has been outstanding!
William ,
‘I’m certainly not bitter, but like many Ulstermen, I get rather annoyed with those 9th / 10th generation Americans calling themselves ‘Irish-American’ who have never set foot in British Ulster or the Repubic of Ireland’
It’s all in the response . Learn not to be annoyed . I recall being somewhat startled by a Kentuckian who on discovering I was Irish promptly replied that he was Irish too . His last name sounded English to me but hey whatever people want to call themselves it’s okay by me . What does it matter to me ? Who am/was I to tell the man he was’nt ? It would be worse than telling a Unionist he/she’s not British even though that person is 12 generations removed from an ancestor actually born in Britain ..
‘ with anti-Unionist, anti-Protestant, anti-British remarks.
I’m anti Unionist too but I hope that does’nt annoy you because its a very common condition on this island/islands though it’s political and not personal . Likewise I’m sure many Unionists confess to being anti Republican without being ‘bad ‘ people .
As for the 9th /10th generation stuff ? If you did a bit of research you would probably find that most of the strongly anti Unionist/British American Irish are the 2nd or 3rd generation descendants of the ‘Irregulars ‘ the anti Treaty forces who left Ireland after their defeat in 1922 .These people have no particular high political regard for the Irish Free State or Republic either and a lot less for Northern Ireland Many would still have some direct family connections with Ireland unlike the vast majority of Irish Americans be they of Scotch Irish or Irish origin .
Harry Flashman,
‘they uphold the Second Amendment for the precise reasons for which it was written in the first place; to enable free born citizens to shoot government officials who try to get too big for their boots.’
So you mean just like the IRA in Northern Ireland . IIRC they were never too keen on the local government officials in that part of the world either Which of course explains why said Government made it illegal for IRA people to have weapons. ?
‘There’s something about that which makes me smile.’
It’s just confirmation of your worst fears Harry i.e Government is bad for people and we should all try to be like Somalia where there has been no government of any sort for the past 20 years and the people are the happiest on earth . I even read reports that tsaid Somalisa are now not only allowed to have as many guns as they want but they are even allowed to play ‘Pirates of the Indian and other Oceans ‘ as a means of generating much needed revenue
Not much diffeent I suppose from all those subcontractors coining it off the backs of SS Oil Tanker Iraq .
charlie ,
‘thought it was very telling that it was the northern coastlines of Ireland and Scotland where country music sales were at their peak. ‘
Who’d have guessed it
. I’d put it all down to Jeffrey Donaldson’s alter ego a certain Daniel O’Donnell the singer who’s vocal tract should have been ripped out at birth 
Greagoir O’Frainclin ,
‘I think that the surname Vance is actually Norman in origin.’
Think again GOF . According to the above source it’s origin is said to be
‘English and Irish: topographic name for someone who lived by a fen or marsh, Old English fenn.’
Think ‘swampie’ There used to be one of them i.e ‘swampies’ on slugger a while back . Wrote a book or something and then must have returned to the fens or marshes or swamps from whence he came
Dewi ,
‘Strange phenomenon is that the Orange business never really took of in US whereas in Canada was a real political factor in living memory.’
Nothing strange bout it Dewi . The British Loyalists came out of the American Revolution on the wrong side i.e losing side for a start and as if that was not enough the War of 1812 in which the British burnt Washington to the ground did not endear the Americans to things ‘british ‘ and in particular to people poncing about the street waving Union Jacks and wearing funny hats while singing God save the Queen/King for three months of every year .
Americans are a notoriously impatient people unlike us Irish who have to put up with the eejits (OO) for most of every summer . Ye would’nt mind the once or twice a year but not the entire feckin summer
. I mean St Patrick’s Day is all well and good but I somehow don’t imagine there are too many of us who would want to endure it from say March to July every year ?
Are you overly incommoded by Orange marches where you live, Greenflag?
Harry
‘They fought for the right to organise their own lives according to what was best for them and their neighbours and not according to the dictates of some elites in a distant capital many hundreds of miles away.’
Eh ? Do ye think they may picked up that attitude during their stay in Ireland after all it’s what the Irish have been trying to say and do for centuries i.e telling London to mind their own business ?
Define ‘distant’ capital .
London to Dublin is 288 miles
London to Belfast is 323 miles.
So would this mean that the cousins of the formerly heroic and brave Scotch Irish of the USA now resident in NI should be even more independent of London than Dublin ?. The exact reverse is the case with the ‘trouserless’ of NI forever begging Messrs fancy pants in London to send over some more dosh to keep the bairns from freezing their butts off in winter
Sic transit gloria .
paddyreilly ,
‘Are you overly incommoded by Orange marches where you live, Greenflag?’
Good jaysuz paddy come on now ‘incommoded ‘ I ask you what sort of a word is that . What’s wrong with annoyed ?
I’m not as I’m ‘insulated ‘ from the din by a large stretch of land mass
I would however like to think that even being anti unionist I could tolerate the noise for one or two days a year . But I regret that three months of such torment would have me like Harry’s fiercely independent Scotch Irish of yore fame going for my ‘guns ‘;)
I trust that answer does not discommode ye oul son
Posted by 6 county prod
“An American friend who lives in Pgh, Pa, and whose ancestors came from Co. Down (McFerran), wears an orange tie to his school to show that Patrick was a protestant. He doesn’t consider himself to be a hyphenated America, but is proud of his Scots-Irish heritage.”
I know it’s way back at the start of this discussion but I’m pretty sure St Patrick would have found it difficult to be a protestant. What with having been dead for quite a while before Protestantism came about…
Don’t forget that ‘country music’ also means bluegrass, Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard etc rather than keek like Shania Twain & Garth Brooks!
Hi USA,
You make some interesting points. Remember it’s a 2 way street tho. Afterall, George Washington fought for the British against the French earlier in his career. Before deciding against it after marrying into a loada real estate. He did very well out of independence. On the Irish Nationalist side republicanism appears to be the flavour of the day. Yet Cromwell is despised by so called republicans. Even tho’ he is the most famous Republican ever to have set foot in Ireland.
So, to sum up, just because your forbears did something or believed in something doesn’t mean you should do the same. Otherwise we’d all still be in Africa playing tig with the lions…
‘but I’m pretty sure St Patrick would have found it difficult to be a protestant.’
Divil a bit . The fecker was ‘protestin ‘ from the time he was grabbed and dragged aboard a boat and sold to Milchu the swineherder somewhere over in Mayo -god help us . Never stopped bitchin from day one did the fecker . Then he goes off and escapes and comes back telling us that there ar three gods in the one god by demonstrating this fact with a shamrock . You know when you you really think about it shure the man had to be a ‘protestant ‘ . Shure were’nt they the lads who went all around the world giving out books and religion to millions of people in return for their countries and then telling them they should worship the great white mother Vicky as she was the Queen of Heaven or something
?
And we fell for it too
Next time around I hope we’re better at the mathematics . Three things in the one thing I ask ye . That oul King at Slane Hill must have been langers to fall for that one 
@Greenflag
“So you mean just like the IRA in Northern Ireland . IIRC they were never too keen on the local government officials in that part of the world either Which of course explains why said Government made it illegal for IRA people to have weapons. ?”
I’ve made this point before, if the same rights that American citizens currently have applied to the citizens of Northern Ireland the Troubles would never have lasted so long or been so brutal.
There would have been no Burntollet, no Battle of the Bogside, no Bombay Street, no internment, no Kingsmills, no Darkley, no Sean Grahams, no Greysteel and most certainly no Bloody Sunday if it had been accepted as a fact beforehand that every law abiding adult citizen was entitled to have a weapon for his own self defence.
As it was only the bandits and the forces of “Law and Order” were allowed to have guns so we had three decades of internecine strife where the biggest victims were unarmed helpless civilians.
Having seen the “benefits” of a society where the only unarmed people were the honest citizens I prefer the rather more robust and self respecting idea of American liberty where the citizen is free, indeed is almost duty bound by the constitution, to defend himself, his property and his family. The Troubles would have been over in 1970 in such a situation.
You trust government always, you instinctively distrust your fellow citizens, you prefer a situation where only the “government” is allowed to be armed, you believe that is the best way.
Fair enough, try telling that to the people of Rossville Street in January 30 1972.
Given the laws in the British colonies in what became the USA it is hardly surprising that Irish Catholics provided only a tiny percentage of the population at the time of independence. Most colonies had an established religion (Congregationalist or Anglican) and while some were tolerant of other Christian groups this did not extend to Catholics; there were both legal and less formal restrictions on non-Protestant settlement. Only in Pennsylvania was there religious toleration throughout the colonial period although Rhode Island and Maryland exercised tolerance for certain periods. Catholic communities consisted primarily of German Catholics in Pennsylvania and English Catholics in Maryland. The latter formed, as in England itself, a cultural and economic elite because of rather than despite the penal laws. Such Irish Catholics as there were (something less than 1% of the population) were scattered among the wider population and cannot be described as communities at all.
harry flashman ,
‘I’ve made this point before, if the same rights that American citizens currently have applied to the citizens of Northern Ireland the Troubles would never have lasted so long or been so brutal.’
True enough HF . On the other hand and there’s always another hand .
‘ if the same rights that American citizens currently have applied to all of the people of Ireland from the ‘final conquest ‘ i.e 1690 then there probably would not have been an ‘independent ‘ Irish Republic today or a Northern Ireland statelet. But then William of Orange just like William the Bastard back in 1066 had to pay off his supporters did’nt he ? No point in ‘conquering ‘ a country unless you can take the spoils eh ? in return of course for ‘civilisation ‘ the ‘right religion’ and some ‘baubles’ .
‘You trust government always’
News to me Harry . I’d omit the ‘always’ . I believe in changing the government when it becomes necessary as the Americans did a couple of weeks back .
‘you prefer a situation where only the “government” is allowed to be armed, you believe that is the best way’
As long as it’s a legitimate government based on a state which has been founded on true democratic principles I do . That situation did not apply to NI 1920 through to the recent past .
‘try telling that to the people of Rossville Street in January 30 1972.’
Not I HF . Not in 1972 anyway .
Patrick was a what?
Ay indeed, and if he were alive today, he would probably be a Free P!
6 county prod .
Free P ?? . There is a public restroom in Dublin’s O’Connell St where a free pee is possible but as you have strayed into ‘religious ‘ territory I’d remind you that there is nothing ‘free ‘ in the Free P church
It is not known as the Church of the Silent Collection for nothing ?
‘The doctrines of our Church,(Free P) the government of our Church are based upon the Word of God and the eejits who keep giving us more money. It can be traced back to the days of Patrick and his evangelism, back to the days of the Apostles, back to the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ, the only Head and King of the Church.’
What’s this about JC being only Head of the Church ? What about Queenie then ? Is’nt she head of the Church as well ? Has she lost her Head ?
‘As we remain faithful to these truths we can expect to see the great blessings poured out in the past poured out upon us today.’
And ye have . God personnally sent St Patrick to intervene with Gordon Brown and persuade the tight fisted PM to dish out another 900 million pounds sterling for the ‘non fancy pants ‘ people of NI, to add to the 6 billion they already get from that other munificent God -i.e the English taxpayer . Sometimes prayer works eh ?
“We have heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us, what work thou didst in their days, in the times of old.” Psalm 44:1.
And the Lord God replied :
Have I not been telling yiz eejits that it’s the 21st century and I’m now retired from this work business . Have yiz no idea what it takes out of a body to summon up a few earthquakes and natural disasters and kill thousands of people but somehow being seen to ‘miraculously ‘ save one or two ! Go find somebody else to bother
“Wilt Thou not revive us again: that Thy people may rejoice in Thee.” Psalm 85:6.
And the Lord God replied :
No, No a thousand times No !! I’m pissed off being forever begged at by you whinging gits to keep bailing yiz out of the shit yiz keep jumping into . I’ve had it . Youse are not the chosen people anyway and never were . The only chosen people are those who don’t celebrate my birthday but choose to make lots of money from youse lot over the holidays ! They are the people of no foreskin and they look forward to being worshipped by millions of youse lot every year as you throw billions at them in the annual ritual of shopping before and after my birthday .
GF – u have now gone mad, Cool Head Mun !!!
Dewi ,
I was waitin to hear back from William the Silent and Harry Flashheart so I thought I’d give 6 county prod something to exercise his mind with ? I’d have said nowt if the latter had’nt started proselytising for the Church of the Silent Collection
As I understand it this site is a religion free zone unless it has something to do with politics .
But you do have a point – on a re read it’s a bit rough I’ll admit
. I’ll have to do one of those typealyser tests and see if they’ll help me to become less Scotch Irish and not be so aggressive with the ‘natives ‘ or should that be the other way around 
?
But the Welsh are quiet people Dewi right
?
Guide me o though great Jehovah…yeah we are quiet!
Here I was trying to keep things light and old GF takes it as an insult to his intelligence.
At least he got one thing straight. Jesus Christ is the only king and head of the true church, not the Pope or Paisley, or some monarch in Buckingham Palace. As the Good Book says: At the feet of Jesus every knee shall bow and every tougue shall confess that He is Lord.
6cprod – what if there is no God – or if the religion of the Zuni Indians is the true one? Isn’t our behaviour on earth what we get judged by?
Yes, well allright, but getting back to Eric Bloodaxe. Can anyone expound the following conundrum for me?
I am a student of the Irish language. At Irish language weekends, etc which I attend everyone is free to use the Irish version of their name (Bill becomes Liam, Anne becomes Áine, etc). I have to sit there shamefacedly with no Irish equivalent for Eric (my forename). When Dublin was founded by the Vikings about 1,000 years ago the feckin place must have been knee-deep in Erics, so why has the name not been “Irished”?
Headtheball – why isn’t America New Ireland?
Headtheball – why isn’t America New Ireland?
HeadTheBall @ 10:18 PM:
Hmm: another case of the Philip Larkins:
You have two obvious options here:
1. Adopt the alternative Norse spelling “Aeric” (which looks pretty convincing to me) and hope nobody notices.
2. Follow Edmund Spenser, from his A view of the present state of Ireland, published in 1596. He gives us a good Irish word for “pay-back” or “blood-money”:
You can’t beat this:
Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Flash,
The problem with your suggestion is that there was a system of bearing arms in the North but it tended to be somewhat onesided and restricted by HMG to just any old Billy, Dick or Harry (who of course then marched with aforesaid licenses up hill and down dale in the dark of night to scare the natives)and was a right not equally enjoyed by da kaflics
Fully agree with you on the second ammendment as does my brand new Russki saiga 12 guage