Tonight's Saint Patrick's Day poll question is do you think there is any significant difference between the Scottish and the Irish; be they born across the pond or ancestors of those who crossed it? My Scottish forefathers made the boat trip quite a long time ago so I am more Canadian than Scottish, but the blood still pumps through my veins. I can remember celebrating Saint Patrick's Day (most especially in University), and even though Patty was the patron saint of Ireland, it is a day where as a Scot you feel like honorary Irish.
I spent most of my life not ever really thinking about my Scottish genealogy, until I saw the movie Braveheart. After Braveheart, I was much more proud of my history. Too bad Mel turned out to be a nut. I also know from introducing my genealogy to people in related conversations who do not hail from the British Isles, they generally do not distinguish a difference between the Celtic peoples. If you have an opinion on this issue, what do you think is the biggest difference between Scots and Irish? Today I was out on the golf course with my friend and we had this discussion in light of the occasion. The best difference I had was that the Scottish invented economics and the Irish invented beer, though both races are well known for their alcohol consumption.
I did quote Dennis Leary today.
It is important to make distinctions among the Irish. I grew up believing that my ancestors were all Scots on one line, but it turned out that they were "Ulster-Scots", people who settled in Ireland in the 1700s, but kept some of their Scots religion and traditions for over 100 years before emigrating to North America. Some spoke Gaelic and some did not.
ReplyDeleteThe ancient and older Irish families of the medieval period were pushed out by England towards the west of Ireland in waves, first beginning with colonization of Dublin in the early 1600's.
For eons before that, people have moved back and forth across the seas between Ireland and the UK, thus genetically, the most common haplotype is a UK mix, which does not distinguish among most Irish, Scottish or British genetically. There are Viking DNA pockets in GB, though and hints of pictish roots or very ancient pre-ice-age britons, especially in Wales and western Ireland.
Cultural differences became larger when the Scots adopted protestantism and kirks in the 1700's, which for the first time supported equality and universal education. This amazing decision revolutionized both Scotland, North America and the western world at that time - the 1800's. When my (financially poor) Scottish immigrants came to Canada, they were literate, as were those from Northern Ireland.
Other Irish immigrants who were not literate were not accorded the same respect (or good jobs) in Canada, as they did not have the same traditions. Once in Canada, there were lots of intermarriages between Scots and Irish, but the census records sometimes record only the paternal line.
In the area that I studied, there were groups of people living on adjacent land according to their religious and particular Irish ancestry from certain counties, just as Richmond, B.C. was settled or Surrey from 1980.
So yes, there are LOTS of differences, but you have to know the history of your family and where they were when to figure it out.
Anyway, I was happy to find my Irish roots (even though they were migrant Scots), as they most certainly celebrated St. Pat's Day, and now I can too!!
A Scotsman is just an Irishman with no sense of humour.
ReplyDeleteI don't pay any attention to my ancestry, it's just a topic that doesn't interest me. I do know, however, that I am predominantly Scots and German.
That explains my head like a brick and personality like a wasp.
There is most certainly a difference. The Scots are far more industrius and ingenious than the Irish. Scots are some of the best engineers on the planet.
ReplyDeleteAny doubts on this just compare the following 2 Wikipedia entries:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottish_inventions_and_discoveries
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_inventions_and_discoveries
As someone who's got an engineering degree, minored in physics, and studied mathematics one thing has always stood out to me. The Scots have their fingerprints all over the greatest engineering and scientific achievements of the common era.
Scottish people wear kilts and eat haggis. Irish people wear green and their national flower is a weed. And they like potatoes.
ReplyDeleteSomeone very close to me once said that the Irish were just Scots with their brains blown out. But he could have had it backwards...?!
I asked my brown skinned friend on the golf course today to name one difference between the Scottish and Irish. He was completely quiet for five minutes and then said "gingers". That's all he could come up with.
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