From 9637ece1612fea467760ae298d8e1ea80409ce14 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Trent Palmer Date: Wed, 1 Sep 2021 15:59:19 -0700 Subject: [PATCH] add content/hillbillies.md --- content/hillbillies.md | 106 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 106 insertions(+) create mode 100644 content/hillbillies.md diff --git a/content/hillbillies.md b/content/hillbillies.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9f27137 --- /dev/null +++ b/content/hillbillies.md @@ -0,0 +1,106 @@ +Title: Hillbillies +Date: 2021-09-01 +Tags: Appalachia, Hillbillies, Ulster, Scots-Irish, King William III +Category: Etymology + +*[Hillbillies](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillbilly){target="_blank"}* +are so called because their +*[Ulster-Scots](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulster_Scots_people){target="_blank"}* +Ancestors supported King William III during the Williamite War. + +## Ulster +You may be familiar with current events in Northern Ireland. This history goes back to +a time when Scots from Southern Scotland and Northern England colonized +*[Ulster](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulster){target="_blank"}* +which is Northern Ireland. + +### Scottish Marches +But why did the Ulster-Scots migrate from the +*[Scottish Marches](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottish_Marches){target="_blank"}* +to Northern Ireland? + +There is an oft-repeated scenario in Medievel Europe involving something called a +[March](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_(territory)){target="_blank"}. +Please click through to the Wikipedia Article to see the long list of Marches +all over Europe! + +To summarize, a March is a border region or frontier +region where the Presiding Lord, often titled a +[Marquise](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marquess){target="_blank"} +was allowed additional fortifications and military capability above and +beyond that allowed ordinary Nobility. + +And so this oft-repeated scenario was that in a border region or March, +the local Nobility would have the means to enrich themselves with repeated +cross-border raids. But this unfortunately always came at the expense of +the local population, thus the motivation to flee to Ulster. + +### King William III +So let's circle back. + +Hillbillies were so called because their +Ulster-Scots Ancestors supported +[King Billy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_III_of_England){target="_blank"} +during the +[Williamite War](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Williamite_War_in_Ireland){target="_blank"}. + +Also known as *William of Orange*, he was installed +as King of England during a coup known as the +[Glorious Revolution](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glorious_Revolution){target="_blank"} +in 1688, in which +[King James II](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glorious_Revolution){target="_blank"} was deposed. + +### King James II (and VII) +So what was King James' problem? + +King James II was thown out of office because he +was Catholic, because his second wife +[Mary of Modena](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_of_Modena){target="_blank"} +was also Catholic, and because together they parented +[James Francis Edward](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Francis_Edward_Stuart){target="_blank"} +and raised him as a Catholic. + +### Williamite War +Ok, let's circle back to the Williamite War in 1689. + +It turns out that while King James II was deposed as King of England, Ireland, and Scotland, +he still had an armed force in Ireland with which he fought a war against, and +was defeated by, King William III in Northern Ireland. This is when the Ulster-Scots +became known as supporters of King Billy. + +### Anglo-Dutch Wars +But why was William of Orange installed as King? +I am not going to answer this question. + +But it should be noted that William of Orange was also the ruler +of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and the Dutch Republic. +And the context for this is that throughout the 17th Century, +England and the Netherlands had been fighting a series of +disastrous and expensive wars against +each other known collectively as the +[Anglo-Dutch Wars](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Dutch_Wars){target="_blank"}. + +Indeed it was just prior to the Second Anglo-Dutch War +that New Amsterdam became New York. + +The purpose of the Anglo-Dutch Wars was to establish control +of International Colonial Trade, but it was believed that +having a single King and Ruler of both England and several +countries in the Lowlands would create peace. + +### Principality of Orange +As an interesting aside, let's just point out that the +[Principality of Orange](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principality_of_Orange){target="_blank"} +came into existence in 1163 per Holy Roman Emperor +[Frederick Barbarossa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_I,_Holy_Roman_Emperor){target="_blank"} +in order to serve as a March in the context of his +conflict with the Papacy. + +### Recommended +[Born Fighting](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Born_Fighting){target="_blank"} is a +[Book](https://www.amazon.com/Born-Fighting-Scots-Irish-Shaped-America/dp/0767916891){target="_blank"} +written by [Senator James Webb](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Webb){target="_blank"}. + +While I have not read the book, the Television Series Born Fighting +from the Smithsonian Channel is also narrated by Senator James Webb +and is very fun and interesting to watch.