People, not a Place
The term Ulster-Scots has, for over 400 years, referred to a people, not a place. These people migrated from the Lowlands of Scotland to Ulster and established Ulster-Scots communities throughout the nine counties.
It is important to recognise, however, that migrations between the two coastlines have been ongoing for thousands of years; but it is generally accepted that it was the Hamilton & Montgomery Settlement of May 1606 that saw the trickle become a flood.
Thousands of Lowland Scottish families migrated to Ulster in the years that followed, leaving a permanent cultural mark.
Ulster-Scots Origins
While the term Ulster-Scots first used in 1640 to describe the people, every aspect of what we now recognise as Ulster-Scots culture and heritage has its origin in the Settlement. The Settlement came before the Flight of the Earls and before the later Plantation of the west of Ulster.
This first large wave of permanent migrants were not soldiers or mercenaries, but ordinary Scottish families seeking a new life. They were mainly Presbyterian in faith and outlook, and overwhelmingly Scots-speaking in language.
When you glance across some of the key chapters through history – from King Robert the Bruce’s links with Ulster in the 1300s, to the organic settlements and organised plantations of the early 1600s, the period of Covenants and “Killing Times”, the great popularity of Robert Burns in Ulster, the Scottish Enlightenment of the 1700s and the role played by the Ulster-Scot Frances Hutcheson, not to mention the great industrial partnerships that linked the shipyards of Belfast and Glasgow throughout the 1800s and 1900s – it is clear that the Ulster-Scots story is hugely significant to both countries and to people on both sides of the North Channel.
Did you know?
The narrowest point between Ulster (Torr Head) and Scotland (Mull of Kintyre) is only 13 miles apart?
The first known written usage of the term Ulster-Scots was in 1640 by Sir George Radcliffe?
A blue plaque at the Alley Theatre, Strabane, commemorates William Starrat, a schoolmaster who penned the earliest known Ulster-Scots poem?
In May 2023, the Framework Convention for National Minorities recognised Ulster-Scots as a national minority of the UK?
Famous faces with Ulster-Scots connections include William Thomson (Lord Kelvin), Samuel Longhorne Clemens (Mark Twain), and even Dolly Parton!