64
T
HE
A
NCESTRAL
L
INE OF
L
ILLIE
G
LASS
T
HOMSON
One hundred years before the potato famine a
large number of immigrants from Ireland to the
American British Colonies were Protestants from
Ulster. Most of these, in turn, were descendants of
settlers from Scotland.
In 1609 the spread of a British form of land
tenure, called the feu, had the effect of dispossessing
many farmers of their traditional lands in Scotland.
These farmers were attracted to the lands visible
across the channel from the shores of southwestern
Scotland. Any Scot who had the inclination might now
take the short journey across to Ulster and there,
acquire land more fertile and productive than any in
Scotland. Only 30 miles separated the lower coast of
Scotland from the coastline of Ulster. By 1612 ships
were traveling back and forth with the frequency of a
ferry.
The Scots brought their personalities and
religious
convictions
with
them.
They
were
Presbyterians, stubbornly independent and much