Hi folks, many seem confused as to what this book contains. It contains two lists: 1 --Muster Roll Derry A muster roll of Derry is unlikely to contain people who lived elsewhere and were probably busy defending their homes where they lived. A muster roll of Derry contains men who were mustered locally to defend their home: Derry. Who were they defending it from? The Irish! Those people with the O's in their names. What kind of plantation was Derry? English! So your Scots are not likely to be there either. The dates for this were 1641/2 . P. vi says "These men would have been drawn from estates throughout County Londonderry and neighboring counties...." The more you understand the history of the time and place, the more you will get out of it. Take Tristram Beresford, a landlord from Coleraine and Derry. Why wasn't he out defending his estate? Much was lost in the initial attack. I believe all the settlers in Agadowey were either killed or fled. I did some research at the FHL several years ago on this area. The city of Coleraine was full of refugees who were later evacuated in great desperation as they starved to death. Beresford was off defending Defending, probably the men in his company were largely his tenants. If you study his estate you'll know where those men lived. Though if my mind doesn't fail me, all the settler names were replaced by 1650. This doesn't mean they all died. It just means they didn't want to return there. Henry Osborne was a titulado (1659 census) living in the parish of Templemore (City of Derry) Henry Finch also lived there His son lived on estates at Faughanvale at Longfield Beg and Tullybrisland John Kilner was living in Mull (later renamed Eglinton) in the parish of Faughanvale 2. Defenders of Ireland Is an index to a book, not a muster roll. It documents all those who were named in contemporary sources and accounts as playing an active or supportive role in the Williamite campaign from 1689 to 1691. (p. vii). So it is much broader. So here you will find Scots names. Other warnings: in the muster rolls of 1641/2 spelling is very irregular. I am doing lookups fast. If you are a serious family historian, you will inspect these muster rolls at some point yourself, spending a lot more time perusing them. Linda Merle

Hi Linda I think we need a closer look at the events of 1641-42. Besieging Derry (yes, besieging Derry!) were many of the Laggan army (from Inishowen and the Derry vicinity), under Col. Robert Stewart (see e.g. Symington's Survey of 1654). Isn't that why our Scottish Covenanter surnames are not featuring so prominently in the early lookups? I recall reading that Cromwell and his lads killed more Presbyterian Scots in the north-west of Ireland than they did "native" Irish (Catholics and Confederates) - showing these bloody times were more about power struggles and politics than the "irreconcilable" religious differences as so often cited. (Out walking dogs, so can't refer to a suitable source right now.) Dave Mitchell Cape Town South Africa -----Original Message----- From: lmerle@comcast.net Sender: scotch-irish-bounces@rootsweb.com Date: Thu, 10 Nov 2011 15:38:45 To: List<scotch-irish@rootsweb.com> Reply-To: scotch-irish@rootsweb.com Subject: [S-I] "Defenders of the Plantation of Ulster: 1641-91 Hi folks, many seem confused as to what this book contains. It contains two lists: 1 --Muster Roll Derry A muster roll of Derry is unlikely to contain people who lived elsewhere and were probably busy defending their homes where they lived. A muster roll of Derry contains men who were mustered locally to defend their home: Derry. Who were they defending it from? The Irish! Those people with the O's in their names. What kind of plantation was Derry? English! So your Scots are not likely to be there either. The dates for this were 1641/2 . P. vi says "These men would have been drawn from estates throughout County Londonderry and neighboring counties...." The more you understand the history of the time and place, the more you will get out of it. Take Tristram Beresford, a landlord from Coleraine and Derry. Why wasn't he out defending his estate? Much was lost in the initial attack. I believe all the settlers in Agadowey were either killed or fled. I did some research at the FHL several years ago on this area. The city of Coleraine was full of refugees who were later evacuated in great desperation as they starved to death. Beresford was off defending Defending, probably the men in his company were largely his tenants. If you study his estate you'll know where those men lived. Though if my mind doesn't fail me, all the settler names were replaced by 1650. This doesn't mean they all died. It just means they didn't want to return there. Henry Osborne was a titulado (1659 census) living in the parish of Templemore (City of Derry) Henry Finch also lived there His son lived on estates at Faughanvale at Longfield Beg and Tullybrisland John Kilner was living in Mull (later renamed Eglinton) in the parish of Faughanvale 2. Defenders of Ireland Is an index to a book, not a muster roll. It documents all those who were named in contemporary sources and accounts as playing an active or supportive role in the Williamite campaign from 1689 to 1691. (p. vii). So it is much broader. So here you will find Scots names. Other warnings: in the muster rolls of 1641/2 spelling is very irregular. I am doing lookups fast. If you are a serious family historian, you will inspect these muster rolls at some point yourself, spending a lot more time perusing them. Linda Merle ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to SCOTCH-IRISH-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message