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2007
Gather
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This was our 29th Clan Trust gathering and it was one of the most successful ever. Not only were we joined by members from across the globe, we were honoured with a visit from across the Irish Sea.
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Friday evening started off with its normal friendly atmosphere; meeting old friends and getting to know new ones over a few drinks in Langholm. Particularly welcomed were our oversea’s visitors who had come from far and wide, among them the Armstrong Clan Society of America’s president Joe Wigginton and his lovely wife Tania. On the Saturday, the day dawned bright and we held our AGM in the new Buccleuch halls in the town. These are amazing – and it was the local community who pulled together to produce a top-class arts/music/meeting venue which can rival anything in a big city. |
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After the meeting we repaired to the Scott Hay Art Gallery where we were expecting some rather important visitors. Over a splendid buffet lunch, we welcomed members of the Ulster Scots Heritage Council. Such was the importance of the day that Dumfries and Galloway Council leader Patsy Gilroy came to present a plaque. She spoke of the ties between the two places. Ulster Scots Heritage Council Director William Humphrey replied by saying: 'A huge number of people settled in Northern Ireland—in places like County Down. They were Border Reivers... people like the Grahams and Mahargs, the Armstrongs and the Hannas. The names we see in Ulster are the same names we see in Scotland. Hard lives breed hardy men and women and both are determined, even stubborn, yet hard working and loyal. They are chips from the same block, so it was interesting to meet them. As we see it, Ulster Scots were mined in Scotland, forged in Ulster and sent all over the world’. Yes, the links between here and Northern Ireland are indelible. Our towns have the same feel – and the characters of our people, I am told, is also similar. |
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Just a short distance - nineteen miles of narrow water - separate the coast of south-west Scotland and Northern Ireland, so ours is very much a shared past. Belfast is known as the Scotch Town – and many Ulster families trace their roots back to the Scottish Borderlands. Four hundred years ago King James 6th of Scotland went to London to become King James 1st of England and Scotland - and one of his first tasks was to pacify or subdue the border reivers, those lawless families that plagued the middle of his new kingdom. Many of the outlaws and troublemakers were hanged; others were forced into the army and sent to fight in the wars in Europe; but another effective way of dealing with the problem was to ship the rebels across the sea to Northern Ireland. The Armstrongs were among the first to be sent to the new plantation; Bells, Johnstones and Littles followed – as did Grahams; in one notorious story, a hundred Grahams, men, women and children, were forcibly marched from Carlisle Castle to the coast and put on ships. Some of these, fearing persecution when they arrived in in Northern Ireland, changed their names to Maharg which, of course, is Graham spelled backwards. Look in the Ulster phone book today and you will see that Maharg is one of the most popular names. They might have gone reluctantly but once there, most set to making a new life in their new country - and with determination and hard work, they started turning the wastelands of Antrim and Down into flourishing farms.
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The Ulster-Scots Heritage Council was set up twelve years ago to promote awareness and understanding of the Ulster-Scots tradition in language, literature, music and dance. We were delighted when they arrived with musicians and dancers which performed for us in the evening; there was the band, Risin’ Stour and a fearsome instrument – the traditional Northern Ireland Lambeg Drum, which is beaten with bamboo canes. What a noise – what a theatre! But there was also a great deal of grace in the form of a dancing display by the Bright Lights Highland Dancers and the Belfast branch of the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society. |
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As the Clan Armstrong Trust Chairman, Micheil Armstrong, said: 'It's great to have them, as they were originally from this part of this world. They are coming back to their roots. We hope at some stage to reciprocate - to take our Armstrongs across the Irish Sea - and Grahams, Littles, Bells, Burns and all the other reiving names, are welcome to join us!'
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On the Sunday we went by bus to the annual Border Gathering in Dumfries, where we had a hospitality tent with drinks and a never ending supply of bannock cakes supplied by Eve Amstrong, plus of course lots of nibbles. The Ulster Scots where our good neighbours in the adjoining tent.
Altogether a memorable weekend, much enjoyed by all.
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Jennifer with Diane Hoy of the Ulster Scots Heritage Council
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