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Archiver > FERMANAGH-GOLD > 2009-12 > 1262187698


From: "Cliff. Johnston" <>
Subject: Re: FER-GOLD Reiver cousins
Date: Wed, 30 Dec 2009 09:41:38 -0600
References: <1588585544.5951511262130366519.JavaMail.root@sz0046a.westchester.pa.mail.comcast.net>


Ditto, but much closer - my wife and I. She got me to celebrate St. Paddy's
Day years ago by finding "Kiss me I'm Irish" buttons that had both green and
orange colors in it ;-) Wise woman!

Cliff. Johnston
"May the best you've ever seen,
Be the worst you'll ever see;"
from A Scots Toast by Allan Ramsay
----- Original Message -----
From: <>
To: <>
Sent: Tuesday, December 29, 2009 5:46 PM
Subject: Re: FER-GOLD Reiver cousins


>
>
> This is very interesting!!
>
>
>
> Me Mother she was Orange and me Dad was Green. I believe in their families
> there were words spoken that were not nice. I heard some. But they met in
> New York and it was the Depression and it was a different world. They
> loved each other dearly and were devoted to each other. But in my ancestry
> I am from Papists and Orangemen.
>
>
>
> A generation can change a lot.
>
>
>
> JoAnne
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "karen mcvitty" <>
> To:
> Sent: Monday, December 28, 2009 8:11:28 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern
> Subject: Re: FER-GOLD Reiver cousins
>
> Now Don, I'm confused as in all my research I've read the British hated
> the Irish most of all esp. if they were Catholic!! The British looked on
> the Irish as lazy,drunken and poorly educated...they tried pushing them
> out of Ireland and giving their land to the Scots who were better educated
> and thrifty as well as leaning by majority to the Church of England. They
> coned the Scots into settling Northern Ireland by promising them free land
> as well as transporting them for religious reasons and stragglers of
> wars(promising the reward of Irish land for their loyalty to the King). In
> Steel Bonnets we are given a great overview of the struggle the Border
> Clans incurred just to stay alive...having recently been there I can tell
> you it is a ruggedly beautiful area but to go back even 300yrs. you can
> visualize how difficult life was and how politically imbalanced it was to
> have lived then. "Peals" are still scattered through out the Border lands
> even today...they
> were towers made of rock where a clan could stay for weeks if necessary to
> ward off invaders from England...they were stocked with provisions...no
> windows...nothing but an outcropping at the top for a lookout post and a
> few men!! A tough lot our Scots-Irish cousins!!
>
> --- On Mon, 12/28/09, donkelly <> wrote:
>
> From: donkelly <>
> Subject: Re: FER-GOLD Reiver cousins
> To:
> Date: Monday, December 28, 2009, 3:28 PM
>
> Yes Sue, it is your right to be proud.
>
> But where Scots and Irish settled in early America was dictated somewhat
> by the English.
>
> Remember that the English looked down with disdain on both people, but
> hated the Scots most of all.
>
> And England wanted security buffers between the Indians of the west, whom
> were not too far west in those days, and their Torys whom were plantation
> owners and farmers....as well as traders and merchants.
>
> So to some degree they settled English on the coast, Irish at the base of
> the nearest mountains, and the Scots on the western side of the mountain
> range.
>
> The English knew too well that the Irish and Scots would viciously fight
> indians at every opportunity, leaving the British settled lands relatively
> secure.
>
> more about this, but don't wind me up any tighter.<G>
>
> donkelly
> ----- Original Message -----
> From:
> To:
> Sent: Mon, 28 Dec 2009 19:53:10 +0000 (UTC)
> Subject: FER-GOLD Reiver cousins
>
> Hi All
> I noticed this post....you got my attention lol
>
> First because I read "Steel Bonnets" and loved it. It helped me to
> understand WHY my border riever Armstrongs were the way they were.
> YES...it is
> only one point of view but it still gave me an insight to realize...back
> then..the "LARGE" picture was SURVIVAL....whether right or wrong...people
> did
> what they did many times because of tradition (or it was all they knew how
> to
> do for years) and Survival!
>
> Second...amazingly awhile back my son did a report on "Scot-Irish" for his
> American History class. I won't go into details now...but one thing I
> learned from his report (taken from a few sources) was....that many
> Scot-Irish
> came to the US from the early to late 1700s.....they tended to settle in
> isolated areas (mountains etc). When war hit....they were the FIRST to
> defend,
> the first to declare themselves Americans and not just residents of the
> states they lived in, and the first to fight intensely. They were some of
> the
> first to risk their lives and travel into the new territories of America.
> I also learned that though much of America was basically influenced by
> "British" and many History books concentrated on their influence on
> America...it was the Scot-Irish who had an even bigger effect on who we
> became and who
> we are today. For instance......in 1738 they were the ones who pushed
> religious freedom in Virginia. They also helped bring a "commitment to
> general
> education" to America. And there was more...but I'll cut this short for
> now.
>
> I thought you all might find this interesting. I did.
>
> Another fact was....when they first came here they were persecuted or
> looked "down on" by a majority British population but that changed after
> ALL
> they did and their patriotism for their new country. They gained extreme
> respect. And many became great Generals and leaders of this country.
> So...after
> reading Steel Bonnets I may have found understanding "with" pride.... BUT
> I was never more proud then when I read and talked with my son about his
> report.
>
> Again...only "one" mans view! lol
>
>
> Sue in NY
> Please post messages in plain text.
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