THE SCOT IN ULSTER
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ried the Countess of Chesterfield, and died at the English Court in 1663, wealthy and honoured. [1]
It must be noted that the idea of planting colonies in Ireland from the neighbouring island was not a new one. Again and again, during Elizabeth's reign, schemes of colonisation had been drawn up, but these had as a rule failed because the men chosen to carry them out were of the wrong stamp. This was not even the first attempt to "plant" the southern shore of Belfast Lough, for it had been granted thirty years before to Sir Thomas Smith, but he had been driven out by the O'Neills. The grant to Smith in 1579, like those given thirty years later by James I., aimed at a thorough colonisation of the country, for he was bound "to enter in with a power of natural Englishmen," and "to divide the lands with such as hazard themselves, or aid with men and money." [2] The Earl of Essex next tried his fortune, and failed. The settlement succeeded now for two reasons: first, because King James's Government was so strong that it could keep the peace even in Ireland; and secondly, because Scotsmen had been for nearly a generation deprived of their wonted occupation of civil war, and therefore had taken the "itch" for emigration. As soon as County Down was opened up, colonists flocked across, until the district became Scottish....continue reading »
[1] Benn's History of Belfast, p. 77.
[2] History of the County of Down, by Alexander Knox, M. D. Dublin, 1875.
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Page 12
The Scot in Ulster:
Sketch of the History of the Scottish Population of Ulster
by John Harrison
1888