Scotch-Irish: A Social History

Rating:
Summary: Who is Black?
Review: "Outdated and built entirely off of the 1840s American scene, March 3, 2002" - this the the first of your reader reviews does not make any sense. The reviewer keeps mentioning Black (as author?). Author is Leyburn.

Some of the comments are relevent to Scotch-Irish history but number 4 makes no sense at all. The Leyburn book makes no mention of Irish (Northern) history after the start of the American Revolution. Immigration from Northern Ireland essentially had ended as a factor in Scotch-Irish history.

The Leyburn book very is probably the best overview of Scotch-Irish history. Coming from New Hampshire, I found his section on the New Hampshire community rather scanty. Because this community brought its pastor with it, strong Presbyterian churches were established, several of which continue to this day.

This contrasts to the inability to supply pastors to the settlers in Virginia and the Carolinas. This caused many of these settlers to turn to the Baptists and Methodists.

In those New Hampshire communities where there were substantial Scotch-Irish settlers but no Presbyterian church, their descendents often turned to Methodism after the Presybterian Church abandoned New England early in the nineteenth century.

Rating:
Summary: Who is Black?
Review: "Outdated and built entirely off of the 1840s American scene, March 3, 2002" - this the the first of your reader reviews does not make any sense. The reviewer keeps mentioning Black (as author?). Author is Leyburn.

Some of the comments are relevent to Scotch-Irish history but number 4 makes no sense at all. The Leyburn book makes no mention of Irish (Northern) history after the start of the American Revolution. Immigration from Northern Ireland essentially had ended as a factor in Scotch-Irish history.

The Leyburn book very is probably the best overview of Scotch-Irish history. Coming from New Hampshire, I found his section on the New Hampshire community rather scanty. Because this community brought its pastor with it, strong Presbyterian churches were established, several of which continue to this day.

This contrasts to the inability to supply pastors to the settlers in Virginia and the Carolinas. This caused many of these settlers to turn to the Baptists and Methodists.

In those New Hampshire communities where there were substantial Scotch-Irish settlers but no Presbyterian church, their descendents often turned to Methodism after the Presybterian Church abandoned New England early in the nineteenth century.

Rating:
Summary: Incredible book on the Ulster-Scots
Review: A wonderful enlightening book, informative, even funny at times! In Mr. Leyburn's descriptions, I could see numerous members of my own family! At least five stars! Buy two copies, and give one to your local genealogy society!....... Lisa

Rating:
Summary: thorough but readable
Review: An excellent treatment of the migration of the Scotch Irish to America, their essential role in the American Revolution and the history of their changing religion from Presbyterian and Methodist to Baptist.

Rating:
Summary: Leyburn the man
Review: It may be of interest to readers of this book that James Leyburn was dean of the college at Washington & Lee University in the 1950s, then taught classical literature and sociology for many years thereafter. A tall, dignified, erudite man, he attracted large numbers of students to his classes and provided real gravitas to the classroom atmosphere. He was especially gifted at timing the conclusion of his lectures with the sounding of the bell in Washington Hall. His talents were manifold: he played the piano well and was an expert on baseball. They don't make them like Leyburn any longer.

Rating:
Summary: Thoroughly Documented & Well Written
Review: Professor Leyburn left a valuable legacy in this volume. A niche of American history is covered that sadly, frequently goes overlooked. The Scotch-Irish are a substantial part of the U.S. population. Thankfully Dr. Leyburn told some of the story and it wasn't lost. He tells us in the foreword, "Histories of Scotland rarely devote more than a paragraph to the departure of thousands of Lowland Scots to Ireland in the seventeenth century." It is significant to Americans because "they came, two hundred thousand strong, to the American colonies in the eighteenth century."

They enthusiastically supported the American Revolution (as in significantly caused it to happen) and thought of themselves as "Americans" rather than Scotch-Irish.

This book covers their migrations, their lifestyles, the dominant element of the Christian religion in their society. It is informative, and to me, inspirational.

Rating:
Summary: A must read for Presbyterians & Scotch Irish Pennsylvanians
Review: This book is a classic. I'm thankful it has been reprinted! The author's observations are even handed and well documented. He presents a comprehensive overview of a people, their geography and their faith - spanning centuries. Sheds light on the Scotch Irish role in the Revolutionary War, settling the American frontier, the spread of the Presbyterian Church in America and much much more. This is a fair, good humored account, written warts and all. The author is not unsympathetic nor uncharitable toward these people, and does an excellent job of communicating their humanity, and showing some of the factors for why they did what they did. I am indebted to the author's dedication and scholarship and enjoyed his footnotes immensely. Having puzzled through why my earliest Scots ancestor was recorded as coming from Ireland, I was greatful to have the fog lifted. He picks up many nuances in this account, down to pet phrases I heard from the lips of my own grandfather 40 years ago. As someone with Scotch Irish ancestors who were devout Presbyterians and who settled in western Pennsylvania, my life has been enriched by this account. My only regret is that it is not hardbound. I am amazed that I had never heard of this book. I found this book quite by accident, but highly commend it to you.

J.Campbell Martin

Rating:
Summary: A must read for Presbyterians & Scotch Irish Pennsylvanians
Review: This book is a classic. I'm thankful it has been reprinted! The author's observations are even handed and well documented. He presents a comprehensive overview of a people, their geography and their faith - spanning centuries. Sheds light on the Scotch Irish role in the Revolutionary War, settling the American frontier, the spread of the Presbyterian Church in America and much much more. This is a fair, good humored account, written warts and all. The author is not unsympathetic nor uncharitable toward these people, and does an excellent job of communicating their humanity, and showing some of the factors for why they did what they did. I am indebted to the author's dedication and scholarship and enjoyed his footnotes immensely. Having puzzled through why my earliest Scots ancestor was recorded as coming from Ireland, I was greatful to have the fog lifted. He picks up many nuances in this account, down to pet phrases I heard from the lips of my own grandfather 40 years ago. As someone with Scotch Irish ancestors who were devout Presbyterians and who settled in western Pennsylvania, my life has been enriched by this account. My only regret is that it is not hardbound. I am amazed that I had never heard of this book. I found this book quite by accident, but highly commend it to you.

J.Campbell Martin

Rating:
Summary: Outdated and built entirely off of the 1840s American scene
Review: This book is, without a doubt, simply the best, most comprehensive, well researched, readable history I have ever come across. I have learned so much from Mr Leyburn's book. He not only covers the origins of the Scots/Irish who helped build colonial America, he also gave me a thorough education in the foundation of the "troubles" that still consume Northern Ireland. Whether you're a scholar, or just researching the world of your ancestors, this book is a must read!

Rating:
Summary: "For They Desired a Better Country"-Hebrews 11:16
Review: This is the first book I've read about the Scotch Irish and seems to be the accepted standard on the subject.

Professor Leyburn explains in his introduction that his book is "a social history of the Scotch-Irish. In this day of specialization, a social historian who undertakes to recount the life of people through three centuries and in three countries knowingly risks his scholarly head. Experts in Scottish, Irish, and American colonial history can only regard him as...ignorant of the finer points within their special fields. Scottish history is full of old controversies...Irish history has been so turbulent...few of its events is agreed upon." And Leyburn accomplishes this in only 330 pages. He divides his book into three parts:the Scot in 1600, the Scots in Ireland, the Scotch-Irish in America.

Being a southerner with Scotch-Irish roots in Tennessee, I was upset early on when Leyburn stated that Teddy Roosevelt's and others' claims that the Scotch-Irish were hardy, honorable folk was overblown. (Teddy's mother, Eleanor's grandmother, was a native Georgian, hardened, undoubtedly, by the Civil War's trials, Sherman's fiery footprints, amongst other things). Some of the trials of the Ulster scots in war and life and the deprivations they had to endure reminded me of the 40 day siege of Vicksburg, MS and the resiliency demonstrated by its citizens during the civil war. However, later on in the book, Leyburn's careful reasoning convinced me that he was more realistic. What stirred my thinking was Leyburn's comments in Chapter 16 when he states "political opinion and activity among the Scotch-Irish varied enormously from place to place. The whole mythology concerning this people rests upon a false assumption:that all Scotch-Irish thought alike. Why should they? They had come from different social classes back home; they entered America during six decades of remarkable fluctuation in ideas; they lived in colonies whose policies, attitudes, Indian problems, and progress toward stable institutions diverged widely." One can validate that statement easily by simply surfing the web and looking at the politics of numerous U.S. presidents with Scotch-Irish roots and see the "divergence" Leyburn speaks of.

I do believe, however, that Teddy Roosevelt's assertion that some Ulster Scots, Scotch-Irish, did play a pivotal role in early American history has many proofs. In Pennsylvania, as Leyburn recounts, in 1764, Ulster Scots pushed for equal representation within the state which was dominated by the minority quaker population concentrated around Philadelphia. That issue was one which the Scot felt most keenly following the Union of the crowns in 1707 accomplished during Queen Anne's reign; in parliament, Scots nobles were unfairly outnumbered by their English counterparts, see Paterson's History of Ayrshire.

I do believe some of these simple, biblically literate peoples, did desire a better country, and considered it their God-given task to try to make it a reality. The Baptists in Virginia, James Madison's state, were a significant force behind the freedom of religion/separation of church and state movement; ONE I FIRMLY BELIEVE MUST BE MAINTAINED! Just look at the bloody history of Christian Great Britain 300 years before the Revolutionary War; events that brought persecuted immigrants to the U.S. in the first place. The stuff seminarians don't study!

If you are an American doing geneaological research on your Scotch-Irish roots this is the resource book to get. I must add, too, if you have French Huguenot roots, they might have resided in Northern Ireland, in Ulster, before coming to America. I thought Leyburn was mistaken when he referred to Alexander Hamilton as an Ulster Scot. I know for a fact (court records) that his Hamilton ancestors were Scots from Ayrshire on the western coast of Scotland. That portion of Ayr, however, is extremely close to Northern Ireland, just a hop, skip, and a jump away! Alexander Hamilton's mother was French Huguenot, possibly her ancestors left Ulster to settle in Nevis, West Indies. Leyburn's statement is therefore correct again. Chapters 12 and 13 cover the conditions prompting immigration and the actual areas of settlement in colonial America of Scotch-Irish. Many people have been researching my Hamilton ancestors for years and can't get past 1780. Many of Leyburn's analyses are correct I believe.

A New Ireland by John Hume is on my books to read list about the 1998 Good Friday peace accord. Another book highly recommended to me is The Triumph of the Laity: Scots-Irish Piety and the Great Awakening, 1625-1760 by Marilyn J. Westerkamp. Hopefully, that book will give me a better understanding of my ancestors' background.

I gave the 5 star rating because I believe the subject matter warrants further study and is relevant for today. Truly understanding Ulster's history, (I believe), the conflicts, the circumstances and the social make-up of Northern Ireland itself, at distinct times in its history, is essential to the peace process there.