The Scots didn't have much better relations with the English than the Irish did. They were also persecuted and many came to Ireland where they could practice their Presbyterian religion, at least for a period of time. When the conditions in Ireland oppressed them, they emigrated to the colonies. Wm Penn solicited many to settle his new colony, PA, offering good farm land and religious freedom. He needed to populate his colony. Many came. They often came into the harbors on the PA/DE borders. Many started in Chester, PA. Eventually, as land became scarcer in PA, they moved into the Great Valley of VA, coming through VA via Winchester, Harrisonburg, Staunton, and settled in Southwest VA, including Pittsylvania, Augusta, & Fincastle Cos. Many of these people eventually came to TN and then went onward to KY. These people were accustomed to always being on the move and never seemed to settle too long anywhere. They were always moving on to a "better" plot of land. Some of the Scot-Irish (not Scotch-Irish, which they find offensive) also continued south through Virginia to the Carolinas. The colonists wanted protection from the Indians on the frontier and liked the Scot-Irish settling there. They were excellent fighters and offered a good buffer from the Indians. Many of them figure significantly in the Indian engagements of the French-Indian War, and in the Revolutionary War, War of 1812, Seminole and other Indian wars. As a result of their military participation they often got land bounties which encouraged their further movement to new lands. An earlier group of Scot-Irish had been encouraged to go to New England from their Irish oppression, but that venture failed when the ship encountered problems and they returned to Ireland. Ev