Scotch, Scottish and Scots-Irish.... Know the Difference?

 

This wonderful bit comes from the Family Tree Magazine blog for 

10 September 2021. This blog always contains “good stuff.”

A question posted to the above blog: "A 1755 Virginia militia Muster roll has "Scotch," "Scottish," "Irish," and "English" as places of origin. Is "Scotch" always short for Scotch-Irish or might Scotch and Scottish be used interchangeably?"

Answer: Although the Oxford English Dictionary states that "Scotch-Irish" was first used in 1744, nearly the time of your militia roll, earlier examples abound. The first known colonial reference appears in Maryland in 1689. From 1717 until the American Revolution, more than a quarter-million "Scotch-Irish" immigrated to North America...but keep in mind they came from Ireland, not Scotland.

They descended from about 200,000 Scottish Lowland Presbyterians who relocated to Ulster, in northern Ireland, with the encouragement of the Protestant British government. Britain hopes the Scottish "plantations" would tighten its grip on mostly Catholic Ireland.

When they migrated again across the Atlantic, these ethnic Scots from Ulster were typically referred to as Irish, given their most recent home for as much as a century. It was only after large-scale Irish migration began that these Protestants widely adopted the "Scotch" (or "Scots") qualifier, to distinguish themselves from the new Catholic arrivals. Eventually, nearly two million "Scotch-Irish" left Ulster for North America.

The term Scotch-Irish, though common in the U.S., is all but unknown in England, Scotland and Ireland. Today, the people of Scotland prefer the terms Scottish and Scots, using Scotch exclusively to refer to whiskey. We can only guess what the recorders of your 1755 muster roll might have been thinking, but it's certainly possibly that both Scotch and Irish referred to what we not call "Scotch-Irish." Indeed, given the era and these immigrants' recent history, Irish was probably the preferred term; only a few Irish from outside Ulster had arrived by 1755.

 

ScotlandsPeople Has a Revamp as Part of New Contract Deal

Press release from ScotlandsPeople:

A NEW LOOK FOR SCOTTISH GENEALOGY SITE

ScotlandsPeople has a revamp as part of new contract deal

Scotland's new-look genealogy website ScotlandsPeople.gov.uk, has been officially launched today (Tuesday Sep 7) by the Scottish Government’s tourism minister Jim Mather.

The revamped ScotlandsPeople service is up and running and includes new search features designed to make it easier and quicker for people to discover their family roots.

This includes plotting search results on maps, helping those unfamiliar with Scottish geography - such as users overseas - understand more about Scotland and their ancestors.

Following the first revamp of the site since its launch in 2002, it now contains records dating back to when national records of births, deaths and marriages in Scotland first began in 1855. It also includes parish records, dating back as far as 1538, and other data, including wills and testaments and heraldry.  The new site offers advanced search functions, providing quicker results, as well as additional information from Catholic Parish Registers.

Chris van der Kuyl, chief executive of service provider brightsolid, said: "ScotlandsPeople now has nearly 80 million records and will continue to add new exciting data sets to what is, without doubt, a world-leading website.

“brightsolid is enormously proud of the fact that it has established a strong track record in publishing sites such as ScotlandsPeople, and has built a centre of excellence in this growing and popular genealogy market sector.

“We understand the community and we know how to innovate and develop online products for family history enthusiasts."



Mr Mather said: "Once again Scotland has proved that it can make available the key records for those who wish to trace their Scottish family history.  It is estimated that over 50 million people across the world claim Scottish ancestry, with ancestral tourism estimated to contribute £64 million annually to Scotland's economy.

“Following the success of the year of Homecoming, the improved ScotlandsPeople will help connect people to their ancestors and cement links between Scots overseas and their home country - encouraging them to come and walk in the footsteps of their ancestors and boost revenues in the Scottish economy."



Duncan Macniven, Registrar General for Scotland, said: "This is a great step forward in the ongoing improvement of the ScotlandsPeople website, which has over one million registered users. We are proud to have one of the most comprehensive sets of family history records. These changes will continue to make us one of the world leading websites for family history.  This creates a platform for the launch of the 1911 census in April 2011."

New Genealogy Guides for England and Scotland

News Release from FamilySearch:

SALT LAKE CITY-FamilySearch announced today the release of two new free research tools that will help those with British and Scottish roots to find their ancestors. The research guides, Finding Records of Your Ancestors, England, and Finding Records of Your Ancestors, Scotland feature easy-to-follow instructions, colorful graphics, and removable worksheets. Free copies can be viewed, downloaded, or printed online at FamilySearch.org.

The guides will help take the guesswork out of British and Scottish genealogical research by simplifying the process and giving users a specific, proven strategy to use. In an inviting workbook style, the guides show users which records to search, what to look for, and what tools to use. The steps and tools needed to navigate British and Scottish historical records to find ancestors are colorfully outlined.

Finding Records of Your Ancestors, England and Finding Records of Your Ancestors, Scotland, are the latest additions to the popular series of free online publications. The guides are designed for those who have already gathered some family history information about their British or Scottish ancestors and are ready to search public and private records-they are must-have reference tools for researchers of British or Scottish genealogy.

The guides explain different types of records in England and Scotland and instruct the user when and how to use specific records. Real-life case studies allow readers to see for themselves how the research process works. Expert search tips, including tips on how to use the Family History Library Catalog, are included. Also included are maps, key dates in British and Scottish histories, and guides for reading respective genealogical records.

Other guides in the Finding Records of Your Ancestors series include African American, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Italy, Jewish, Mexico, Norway, and Sweden.

FamilySearch is a nonprofit organization that maintains the world's largest repository of genealogical resources. Patrons may access resources online at FamilySearch.org or through the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah, and over 4,500 family history centers in 70 countries. FamilySearch is a trademark of Intellectual Reserve, Inc. and is registered in the United States of America and other countries.

Calling All Descendants of the Battle of Culloden

Are you a descendant of the famous Battle of Culloden which took place in Scotland in 1746? If so, you'll want to read this post by Tim Agazio at his genealogy blog, Genealogy Reviews Online. Seems that the National Trust for Scotland wants children throughout the world to study their family trees in hopes of finding descendants from both sides of the battle to help with the grand opening of a new visitor's center. Doesn't that sound like an interesting way to get your children and grandchildren involved in genealogy?

Images of Scotland

Rampart Scotland has a color supplement each week with online photographs taken in Scotland to show the current season and its flora and fauna. See each week's color supplement here.

Each year, a calendar illustrated with pictures taken from around Scotland is added to the Rampant Scotland site. The calendar gives a choice of graphics for each user to select to print for his/her calendar. The calendar is available throughout the year but clearly it is accessed more to view the pictures of Scotland, rather than printing pages for the remaining months of the year. So to make viewing easier, there is a slide show of all 48 of the pictures used for the 2008 calendar. The graphics are copyrighted by Rampant Scotland - but you can feel free to use them for personal, non-commercial use. To view a slide show of the photographs, go to Calendar. You can also print the 2008 calendar from this web page.

Scotavia Images provides a quality aerial photography service for Scotland. A large number of their excellent photographs, largely of the north of Scotland and the Highlands, have been included in their site. They give a unique view of castles, golf courses, glens, Highland scenery, towns and villages, stately homes, events, archaeology, events - and oil platforms. If you have ancestors with a Scottish Highland origin, they can provide an aerial view of the area they came from! See Scotavia Images here.