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[4qd-bannvalley] East Donegal Ulster Scots 2007 Programme



Hi Boyd and all - I got the following information. Cheers. Des

The Hamilton & Montgomery Settlement of 1606: The Dawn of the Ulster-Scots

Not plantation, not conquest, not invasion. Settlement.

In terms of Irish history, the period from 1603 â?? 1610 is perhaps the most
influential, as it includes the Union of the Crowns in 1603, the Flight of
the Earls in 1607 and the Plantation of (the west of) Ulster in 1610. Many
claim that this era has defined Irelandâ??s history right up to the present
day.

However the story of the Hamilton & Montgomery Settlement of 1606 is largely
overlooked. Most histories of Ireland and Scotland donâ??t mention it at all,
and in most histories of Ulster it is only given a few sentences. Yet it was
the foundational event of the era, and the single most important event in
Ulster-Scots history. Everything that followed was built on the achievements
of Hamilton and Montgomery.

Royal-approved settlements in Ireland had been attempted a number of times
during the 1500s, and had failed. The same was the case in Scotland. So when
James Hamilton and Hugh Montgomery made their proposal for a private,
self-financed settlement of County Antrim and County Down to the
recently-crowned King James I, perhaps the King expected their scheme to
fail too. Yet it was an amazing success, and arguably provided the King with
the encouragement to proceed with the Plantation of Virginia at Jamestown in
1607, the blueprint for the Plantation of (the rest of) Ulster in 1610 and
the Plantation of Nova Scotia in 1621.

Why 1606?
1606 was not the first contact between Scotland and Ireland - GM Trevelyan
has described the shared history of the two regions as â??a constant factor in
historyâ??.  However, May 1606 was the beginning of the first large-scale
migration, a migration which would leave a permanent Scottish imprint on the
province of Ulster, an imprint which can be felt to this day.  1606 was when
the trickle became a flood.

As ATQ Stewart says in The Narrow Ground, â??â?¦Hamilton and Montgomery
succeeded where Sir Thomas Smith had failed. They created the bridgehead
through which the Scots were to come into Ulster for the rest of the
century...â?? James Hamilton and Hugh Montgomery can rightly be called â??The
Founding Fathers of the Ulster-Scotsâ??.

About this site
With the resurgence of interest in Ulster-Scots history and culture, much of
our story is being rediscovered. This web site will therefore be a growing
resource, and, as the Hamilton & Montgomery Settlement story is researched
and better understood, the content here will be added to and refined.

We hope that this web site will inform, educate and inspire you to find out
more about the Hamilton & Montgomery Settlement of 1606 â?? the foundational
story of the Ulster-Scots.

"...The Scots who made the move to Ulster seem to have been a relatively
balanced cross-section of the national population. At the upper end of the
scale were small landowners and substantial tenants who saw the venture as
an unprecedented opportunity for economic advancement... below this élite
class was a broad social spread which included artisans and labourers as
well as farm servants and cottars. Significantly for every four men, three
women moved to Ulster... this was an important influence which helped to
maintain the distinctive identity of the Ulster Scots..."
T.M Devine
Scotland's Empire 1600 - 1815
(London, 2003)