Hello, Marie. Your people in question were where, where, where??? That being not revealed, I can but make the broadest of explanations. While, as did Holmes, I think that "no generalization is worth a damn", and that his words surely apply to general comments about the settlements of the "Scots-Irish", it often has been written that it was the Scottish Highlands that supplied the majority of our immigrants that yet are the so-called Scots-Irish. After those folks ended up in Ireland by reason of hard times in their native land, their next emigrations were to NY or Philadelphia, from there down the Wagon Road to S. VA and NC, and thence across the Blue Ridge and the Smoky Mountains and into the Cumberlands of S. KY and TN. It also is said that they formed and were accustomed to the solitary communities of that ancient land, and so it was that they found comfort and quietude in the mountains, valleys, and small communities of Southern Appalachia - S. KY and TN.
Indeed, many are the Scottish surnames that even yet are found here in these mountains, and if one is to believe Fischer ("Albion's Seed", ISBN 0195037944) many of the customs, morals, and prejudices of those people also are yet apparent. The members of my wife's family, which has surnames McDonald, Beatty, Johnson, Garrett, Gunter, Wright, McCart, and Wilson (to name but a few, and who have been here since immediately after the Revolution) are VERY independent, frugal, a proud people of few words, clannish, hard drinking, God-fearing, and ready to fight or run a footrace any hour of any day. Then too, Robert McNeil in his well done study of our language finds many remnants of the Scots and northern English also heard daily here. The dinner table at gatherings of my in-laws is rich in such as hire - har, fire - far, tire - tar, wire -warr, yonder, you- and your-alls, fixin', ary, and nary, and on and on.
All that said, the greats Scots-Irish settled everywhere from Maine to New Orleans, and one must chase individuals to their destinations to confirm beliefs as to their direct ancestry. Paul
----- Original Message -----
From: Marie McKinney
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Tuesday, March 09, 2004 7:24 PM
Subject: Question/ Paul Drake
Paul,
I have an obituary that says my Ancestors were Scottish and I have a
biography about my Ancestors that says they came from England. I was always
told that we were Scot-Irish, but I am not sure. I think that my family
always assummed this because our surname is McKinney, which started out as
Mackenney, McKenney and finally McKinney. I would appreciate your thoughts
regarding the pattern of immigration by the "Scot/Irish".
Thank you,
Marie
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