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Scotch-Irish (Scots-Irish), they
made a major contribution to
the settlement and development
of colonial America.
This is the sixth volume
(seventh part) in a series
compiled by Mr. Dobson to
identify the Lowland Scots
who migrated to Ulster between
1575 and 1725—many
of whose progeny may have
emigrated to America. For
this volume, Mr. Dobson relied
on primary source material found in the Public
Record Office of Northern Ireland in Belfast, and in
the National Archives of Scotland in Edinburgh. He
has supplemented those findings with research into
secondary sources in the Linen Hall Library, Belfast,
and in the library of the University of St. Andrews,
Scotland. These are sources, by and large, that Mr.
Dobson has not consulted for the previous volumes
in this series.
As with previous volumes, each listing provides
the inhabitant’s name, occupation, place of residence,
a date, and the source. In some instances, Mr. Dobson
gives quite a bit more, for example:
CAMPBELL, JOHN, ordained as a Presbyterian
minister at Carncastle, Ireland, on 2 May 1677, a minister
at Loudoun, Ayrshire, from 1685 to 1689, then
he returned to Ireland as minister at Carncastle from
1690 to 1714, returned to Scotland, husband of Agnes
Cunningham. [F.3.120]
In all, Mr. Dobson has uncovered an additional
1,500 Lowland Scots who re-settled in Ulster, and
many of their progeny would cross the Atlantic.
Scotland
Scotland During the Plantation of
Ulster—The People of Ayrshire 1600-1699
By David Dobson; 2008;
5.5x8.5; 139 pp; softbound.
Order from the publisher
at: Clearfield Company, Inc.,
3600 Clipper Mill Road, Suite
260, Baltimore, MD 21211;
or www.genealogical.com;
CF9018 ISBN: 9780806353913;
$19.50 plus $4.00 p&h.
The people who moved
from Scotland to Ireland in
the 17th century overwhelmingly
originated in southwest
Scotland. This region includes Ayrshire, from whose
ports originated some of the earliest trading voyages
to the New World. The opportunities in Ulster
and Ayrshire’s close proximity to Ireland, however,
discouraged transatlantic emigration. While many
moved for good economic reasons, others fled from
religious persecution. Those who settled in Ulster
were the forefathers of the Scotch-Irish.
This book is the second volume in a series designed
to provide information on Scottish communities
that participated in the Ulster exodus and for
which parish registers are virtually non-existent. The
Old Parish Registers of the Church of Scotland are
the backbone of genealogical research in Scotland,
but in the case of Ayrshire, for example, only eight of
46 extant registers date from before 1650, the earliest
dating from 1638. This work partially fills that gap
and uses sources generally not available to American
researchers with Scottish forebears, most of them
primary sources in the National Archives of Scotland
in Edinburgh and other sources, such as the Commissary
Courts of Glasgow and Edinburgh, the High
Court of the Admiralty, burgh records, Register of
Deeds, Retours, customs records, and a handful of
published sources.
While Mr. Dobson makes no claims for comprehensiveness,
this book does identify more than 1,800
17th-century residents of Ayrshire who may have
figured in the exodus to Ulster. Each such individual
is identified by name, occupation, at least one date
(e.g., burgess of Ayr, 1607, or testament, 1662), and
the source of the information. In many cases, the
entries also identify the resident’s parents, spouse,
or offspring; vessel(s) traveled on; additional dates;
and more. Researchers with Boyd, Campbell, Cochrane,
Cunningham, Dalrymple, Ferguson, Fullarton,
Hunter, Kennedy, Montgomery, Muir, or Wallace
lines should note that these families were much in
evidence in Ayrshire in the 17th century.
The first volume in this series, The People of Dumfries
and Galloway, 1600-1699, is arranged in the same way as
this second volume. The major families in the Dumfries-
Galloway region were Gordon, Irving, Johnston, Kennedy,
Maxwell, McKie, McLellan, and McDowall, and
many others are featured in this volume.
The Clans, Septs & Regiments
of the Scottish Highlands
By Frank Adam—revised by Sir Thomas Innes of
Learney; Originally published in 1970, reprinted
2008; 5.5x8.5; 624 pp; softbound. Order from the
publisher at: Clearfield Company, Inc., 3600 Clipper
Mill Road, Suite 260, Baltimore, MD 21211; or
www.genealogical.com; CF40 ISBN: 9780806304489;
$52.50 plus $4.00 p&h.
Ja n ua ry/Fe b r u a r y 2009 Ev e r t o n’s Ge n e a l o g i c a l He l p e r © 127