Listers, It is my understanding the Scotch-Irish were the largest ethnic group in the American War of Independence, and they were responsible for the starting the St Patrick Day 17th March, Padres, in the Colonies, before the American War of \independence as charity fund raising exercise, Regards, Colin.

Hi Colin, I don't know how correct some of that information is. I think it may be in the immigration courses at www.genealogical.com/university.html but apparently by the 1770s there were more Africans here than anyone else. Few lived long enough to produce offspring so they are a minority today. I wouldn't even bet that the SI were second largest... From the AOH (not AOL!) research, the role of the SI in the St Patrick's Day Parade, in Boston, was that the day before, as Irish Catholics under Lafayette prepared to hold Mass, the SI, under Washington prepared to riot. Washington realized he was about to lose the war over a very old argument. So he proclaimed that everyone was Irish that day (etc, etc) and promised them if they drove the British out of Boston they'd have a big parade and lots of beer. I don't know if the SI were interested in the parade but I am sure the beer did interest them, so this particular riot was averted and Washington made a note to add freedom of religion to the Bill of Rights. I have also heard that the Irish had the parade in Boston much earlier. So while there's a lot we can take credit for, I have never heard it said St Patricks Day parades is one of them <grin>. Why would Presbyterians want to parade around on the birthday of a saint anyway? Oh...you've reminded me of Porteguese festivals in Boston where everyone partied and drank homemade wine....now those were fun.... I think that's when they blessed the fishing fleet, also not part of Scotch Irish tradition. (Eh, AOH = Ancient Order of the Hibernians, aka the Irish Orange Order. Both are fraternal organizations. ) However apparently many were of the opinion it was an Ulster Scot rebellion and certainly there was a lot of support for it amongst the Ulster Scots (Scotch Irish or whatever it is they called themselves then...). Glad this day is over.... New dog ran away (but came back after spent afternoon looking for him), computer went on the fritz . After a lot of grief got it working again....and fit in a baroque concert at Mt. Saint Peters! (Stabit Mater due to the season). Linda Merle ----- Original Message ----- From: "Colin McCallum" <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Sunday, March 7, 2010 6:55:08 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern Subject: [S-I] Scotch Irish. Listers, It is my understanding the Scotch-Irish were the largest ethnic group in the American War of Independence, and they were responsible for the starting the St Patrick Day 17th March, Padres, in the Colonies, before the American War of \independence as charity fund raising exercise, Regards, Colin. ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message