Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1873-06-03
The Great Valley Of Virginia.
OLD AUGUST

|
OLD AUGUSTA.
THE scoTcH-1RIsH OF THE VALLEY,
AND THE
ssFairy Land they'd LOnged to see."
Their Lineage and Laves-Eust Set
Elements Of the Cou,aty-Fsrst House
built By Ro6t. Cunningham, Esq. stall
standing-Oryamizatiom Of the Parish
Of Augusta-Laws and Covts-z'a-
dia" Wars, &c., &c.
"a wilderness of sweets for Nature here
Wanton'd d as in her prime, and play at will
Her virgin fancies pouring forth more sweets
Wild above rule or art, enormous bliss"
Milton.
View them near
At home, where all their worth and power is
placed
And there their hospitable fires burn clear,
And there the lowest farm house hearth is graced
With manly hearts in piety sincere,
Faithful In love, IN honor stern and chaste,
In friendship warm and true, in danger brave,
Beloved in life and sainted in the grave"
In searching the record of the brave deeds
and stainless lives of the brave Scotch-Irish
settlers of the Valley of Virginia, it is hard for
"a native and to the manor born" to confne
himself to the dry details of facts and dates,
and, strive as he will, Imagination will have
play and the mind build up airy pictures of
that ''fairy land they'd loDged to see," while
hiding from merciless oppression in Irish bogss
and their life after entering it. But to keep
the main object steadily in view, and show the
hat oF hoIr
fathers lives contains matter more worthy Of
study, aud brighter examples to follow, than
those Of the mythical heroes of Greece and
Bone, we must keep to the RECORD and show
who and what these Scotch Irish were, of whom
they have heard so much aud know so little.
In as few words as possible We hope to do this,
and it will be found that the race which pro-
duced the men Washington looked to With con-
fdence, ITO lift the bleeding flag Of liberty from
the dust, )" il had trailed in, along the bloody
retreat up Long Island, had not been through
the fiery furnace of affliction" in vain; nor
did they tread the wine press of sorrow aud
humiliation, for His sake, without purpose.
The familiar term, Scotch Irish" implies
not the amalgamatiou of distinct Scotch and
Irish families, but like "Ango-Saxon," and
do-Briton," simply that the people Of one
country were traDsplanted into the other The
Scotch-Irish settlers 10 the Valley Of Virginia,
are eire3t descendants OF the Scotch who colo
nised the North of Ireland during the religious
troubles of Great Britain, from the reign of
Henry VIII, and continuously to the time OF
William Ill. The lineage is more distinctly
traced from the date o. the unsuccessful rebel
lion Of the. .Earls of TyfconDef and Tyrone, that
forfeited to the British crown the fac;ious pro-
vince Of Ulster. In the early part of the 18th
century James J. transp,aated colonies Of Eng
lish and Scotch to this province. The Rev.
Andrew Stewart a cotemporaneous writer, says
that not many of the EogIish came over, they
being more tendery bred and Used to better
fare aud quarters than ireland afforded, and
they we're unwilling to 60 anywhere except to
good lands and rich cities to trade With. Be
sides ssthe aarshiness and fogginess of Ireland
we're uuwholesome to English bodies The
King, too, had natural love to have Ireland
planted with Scots, as being, besides their 10y
atty, of middle temper between the English
tender and the Irish rgde breeding, and "a great
deal mare likely to plant Ulster Among
these oolonists are mentioned the Eliises, Less
lies, Hills, Conways Wilson's and others, gen
temen of England and worthy persons and
| the Forbeses, Grahams, Stuarts, Hamiltons,
Montgomerys, Aleyanaegs. Shaws. Moores,
Boyds, Barclays, Raileys, Prestous, Cunning
hams, Christians and others, described as
| knights aud gentlemen of Scotland, whose
| posterity hold good to this dsy'-and this
quaint encomsun still holds good among their
thany descendants in the Valley and in Western
States, who still bear those names without
fear aud without reproach.
| Throughout the succeeding Century the tide
| Of emigration Auctuatsd from Scotland to Ire
| land, swollen too long and often from the ruth
less prosecutions Of the unhinching Covenan-
| ters by the faithless King Charles and his sue
cessoTs, down to the time of the momentous
Revolution of 1888, which placed the Presby-
terian Prince of Orange on the throne OF Great
Britain.
The history OF these peoEle u.ile yet in Scot
| land, written ia the blood or their sntferlngs,
illustrates character which bore fruit for their
descendants In later years and other lands. Un-
der the extraordinary trials and intense excite
ment of the times, exhibiting devotion to their
principles Of faith and freedom, to degree
readily magniGed by the enemies, and exag-
geratea almost to Insane fanaticism. Many of
| them, men OF high estate Of the nobility of
Scotland, sacrificed everything for the common
cause, undergoing a persecution which, In the
opiniou of Bishop Burnett himself surpassed
even the merclless rigors OF The Duke OF Alva. !"
Proclamipg, in 8 loyal petition to perjured
King, that .'the only desire OF our hearts Is for
the preservation of true religion amongst US,
which We hold far dearer than our lives and
fortunes" they Eesisted to the bitter end the
canons and liturgy prepared by the impious
Charles without the sanction OF any church !;
driven from their time-honored kirk, they still
gathered in eonvonticlcs like Msybole, and Ayr,
and Remfred, and Teyiotdale renewing. ever
and anon, with heartiest zeal, their featy to
their fathers solemn LEAGUE AND Cove
NANT, that Magma Chorta Of Scottish right
and rallying under their ''brave banners, u
emblazoned at once with the ancient thistle OF
Scotland and the shlbboleth OF their own faith
in the famous golden letters, For CHRIST S
CROWN AND COVENANT, they awaited, un-
daunted, the wrath Of tyranny defed.. Over.
borne at last by the oppress6r's power, goaded
by the insolence and cruel torture of Claver-
house, and Carstairs, Sharpe, Dalzel, and
Drunmond, too many sealed their testimony
with their blood, and the survivors of the red
fields of Bothwell-moor, AiTsmoss, and Pent
land Hills, homeless and hopeless, sought a
resting place and refuge amid the fens and bogs
of Ulster.
They and their descendants, thus saved as by
fire, would scarce submit patiently to like op
} preston in their new found homes in Ireland
Under the rule of William and Mary, Queer
Anne, and the Georges, their condition here
was endurable only for its contrast with thei
> former sufferings-the equivocal consolation O
the companions of Ulysses 'tutinaus duraorG.