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Title: Hillbillies
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Date: 2021-09-01
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Tags: Appalachia, Hillbillies, Ulster, Scots-Irish, King William III
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Category: Etymology
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*[Hillbillies](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillbilly){target="_blank"}*
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are so called because their
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*[Ulster-Scots](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulster_Scots_people){target="_blank"}*
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Ancestors supported King William III during the Williamite War.
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## Ulster
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You may be familiar with current events in Northern Ireland. This history goes back to
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a time when Scots from Southern Scotland and Northern England colonized
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*[Ulster](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulster){target="_blank"}*
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which is Northern Ireland.
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### Scottish Marches
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But why did the Ulster-Scots migrate from the
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*[Scottish Marches](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottish_Marches){target="_blank"}*
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to Northern Ireland?
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There is an oft-repeated scenario in Medievel Europe involving something called a
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[March](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_(territory)){target="_blank"}.
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Please click through to the Wikipedia Article to see the long list of Marches
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all over Europe!
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To summarize, a March is a border region or frontier
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region where the Presiding Lord, often titled a
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[Marquise](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marquess){target="_blank"}
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was allowed additional fortifications and military capability above and
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beyond that allowed ordinary Nobility.
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And so this oft-repeated scenario was that in a border region or March,
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the local Nobility would have the means to enrich themselves with repeated
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cross-border raids. But this unfortunately always came at the expense of
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the local population, thus the motivation to flee to Ulster.
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### King William III
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So let's circle back.
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Hillbillies were so called because their
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Ulster-Scots Ancestors supported
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[King Billy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_III_of_England){target="_blank"}
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during the
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[Williamite War](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Williamite_War_in_Ireland){target="_blank"}.
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Also known as *William of Orange*, he was installed
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as King of England during a coup known as the
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[Glorious Revolution](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glorious_Revolution){target="_blank"}
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in 1688, in which
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[King James II](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glorious_Revolution){target="_blank"} was deposed.
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### King James II (and VII)
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So what was King James' problem?
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King James II was thown out of office because he
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was Catholic, because his second wife
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[Mary of Modena](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_of_Modena){target="_blank"}
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was also Catholic, and because together they parented
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[James Francis Edward](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Francis_Edward_Stuart){target="_blank"}
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and raised him as a Catholic.
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### Williamite War
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Ok, let's circle back to the Williamite War in 1689.
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It turns out that while King James II was deposed as King of England, Ireland, and Scotland,
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he still had an armed force in Ireland with which he fought a war against, and
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was defeated by, King William III in Northern Ireland. This is when the Ulster-Scots
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became known as supporters of King Billy.
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### Anglo-Dutch Wars
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But why was William of Orange installed as King?
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I am not going to answer this question.
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But it should be noted that William of Orange was also the ruler
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of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and the Dutch Republic.
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And the context for this is that throughout the 17th Century,
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England and the Netherlands had been fighting a series of
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disastrous and expensive wars against
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each other known collectively as the
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[Anglo-Dutch Wars](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Dutch_Wars){target="_blank"}.
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Indeed it was just prior to the Second Anglo-Dutch War
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that New Amsterdam became New York.
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The purpose of the Anglo-Dutch Wars was to establish control
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of International Colonial Trade, but it was believed that
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having a single King and Ruler of both England and several
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countries in the Lowlands would create peace.
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### Principality of Orange
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As an interesting aside, let's just point out that the
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[Principality of Orange](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principality_of_Orange){target="_blank"}
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came into existence in 1163 per Holy Roman Emperor
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[Frederick Barbarossa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_I,_Holy_Roman_Emperor){target="_blank"}
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in order to serve as a March in the context of his
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conflict with the Papacy.
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### Recommended
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[Born Fighting](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Born_Fighting){target="_blank"} is a
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[Book](https://www.amazon.com/Born-Fighting-Scots-Irish-Shaped-America/dp/0767916891){target="_blank"}
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written by [Senator James Webb](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Webb){target="_blank"}.
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While I have not read the book, the Television Series Born Fighting
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from the Smithsonian Channel is also narrated by Senator James Webb
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and is very fun and interesting to watch.
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