Family Footsteps series on BBC Northern Ireland

Missing a certain TV genealogy show? Try this one!

FamilyFootsteps

Gavin Andrews takes the Laughlins, an Ulster-Scots family, on a personal historical journey back in time to discover what life was like for their ancestors at the turn of the 19th century. Abandoning their comfortable 21st-century lives, mum Kerry, dad Ainsley and daughters Sophie, Anya and Hope find out what it is like to run a small farm with no electricity and a kitchen made up of a table and an open fire. While they struggle with pigs, laundry and fire pots, grandfather Alan begins a genealogical detective trail which eventually leads to a celebrated historical figure.

Episode One was shown last week, and you can catch up with it (and future episodes) on the BBC iPlayer - see https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0bltvn5/family-footsteps-series-1-episode-1.

Chris

For my genealogy guide books, visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html, whilst details of my research service are at www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk. Further content is also published daily on The GENES Blog Facebook page at www.facebook.com/BritishGENES.

Scots-Irish in North America records join FindmyPast

Added to FindmyPast (www.findmypast.co.uk) this week:

Scots-Irish In North America Histories

Explore 12 fascinating publications on the Scotch-Irish in North America. Covering a variety of date ranges and regions, these publications will enable you to learn more about the history of the Ulster Scots and their descendants in the United States and Canada.The digital images in this collection are presented in PDF form and were taken from the following publications:

The Scotch-Irish in America, 1915 by Henry Jones Ford, professor of politics at Princeton University
The Scotch-Irish in Canada by the Rev. Stuart Acheson, M.A.
The Scotch-Irish in East Tennessee by Judge Oliver P. Temple
The Scotch-Irish in South-Western Pennsylvania by S. T. Wiley.
The Scotch-Irish of California by Terence Masterson
The Scotch-Irish of Kentucky by Judge William Lindsay
Officers and Members of the Scotch-Irish Society of America, 1891
Patriotism of the Scotch-Irish by Professor George MacLoskie
The Scotch-Irish of the Bench and Bar by A. E. Stevenson
The Scotch-Irish People, Their Influence in the Formation of the Government of the United States
The Scotch-Irish Race Among the Nations by Rev. Thomas Murphy
The Scotch-Irish in the General Synod of the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America by David Steele, D. D.


Surrey Baptisms

Explore a brand new collection of more than 476,000 transcripts of original parish records created by the West Surrey Family History Society. The collection covers 180 parishes across the county and spans the years 1538 to 1901.


Yorkshire Burials

Over 1,000 new additions covering the parish of St Thomas in the Brightside area of Sheffield have been added to our collection of Yorkshire Burials.


PERiodical Source Index

This month, we've added 35,148 images and 10,448 article entries to the Periodical Source Index (PERSI). The new additions have been added to the following publications:

American Monthly Magazine, covering missing issues in volumes 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 26, and 27 (1894-1905)
County Louth Archaeological Society Journal, covering volume 3 (1912)
Devon and Cornwall—Notes and Queries, covering volumes 1-12 (1900-1923)
Hawaiian Historical Society Annual Report, covering volumes 1-30 (1893-1922)
Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, covering volumes 1-31 (1890-1923)
Vermont Historical Society Proceedings (1860-1923)
Waterloo Historical Society Annual Report, covering volumes 4, 7, and 11 (1916-1923)
Women's Canadian Historical Society of Toronto Transactions, covering volume 7 (1907)


Irish Newspapers

Over 17,000 new articles and two brand new titles, the Lurgan Mail and the Irish Citizen have been added to our collection of historical Irish newspapers.


Further information and links area available at https://blog.findmypast.co.uk/findmypast-friday-2563732684.html

Chris

For my genealogy guide books, visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html, whilst details of my research service are at www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk. Further content is also published daily on The GENES Blog Facebook page at www.facebook.com/BritishGENES.

PRONI's Ulster Scots lunchtime lectures series

There's a new Ulster Scots themed lunchtime lecture series kicking off soon in Belfast at PRONI (www.proni.gov.uk)

Lunchtime Lecture Series: Ulster Scots Connections; People, Place and Practice
When: 20th May 2015 – 17th June 2015 starting at 1pm
Where: PRONI and Discover Ulster Scots Centre.

PRONI, MAG-Ulster Scots Academy, Ulster Scots Community Network and Ulster Scots Agency invite you to a series of lunchtime talks that explore Ulster Scots culture.

20th May: Cormac McSparron, Argyll to Antrim,
Venue: Discover Ulster Scots Centre

27th May: William Roulston, Edward Bruce in Ulster, 1315
Venue: PRONI

3rd June: Gary Blair, Ulster Scots Language
Venue: Discover Ulster Scots Centre

10th June: Andrew Gault, Archaeology of Dunluce
Venue: Discover Ulster Scots Centre

17th June: Laura Spence, Rhyming Weavers of Ulster
Venue: PRONI

24th June: Frank Ferguson & Kathryn White, Ulster Scots Literature
Venue: PRONI

(With thanks to the PRONI Express)

Chris

For details on my latest book Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, and my other genealogy guide books please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html. To commission me for genealogical research, please visit my research site at www.scotlandsgreateststory.co.uk.

Dictionary of the Scots Language revamp

I noticed earlier today that the Dictionary of the Scots Language (Dictionar o the Scots Leid) website has recently had a revamp at www.dsl.ac.uk.

The site is one of the real workhorses of Scottish history research, allowing you in a single database to look up Scots words from two sources - the Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue, for words from the 12th century-1700 (Older Scots), and The Scottish National Dictionary for more recent vocabulary (Modern Scots) from 1700-2005. The Scots tongue, although related to English, is a historically separate Germanic language with many regional dialects across Scotland (and closely linked historically with Northumbrian dialects in England), and which was also taken over to Ireland in the Plantations, where its local variant today is known as 'Ulster Scots' or 'Ullans' (Ulster Lallans). In the part of East Antrim where I was raised I was regularly chastised as a boy for being a wee hallion! It is a completely different language to the various tongues of Gaelic found in Scotland, Ireland and the Isle of Man.

Earlier today I had a query from a student asking what the words 'dyet' and 'compear' mean, two very common words often found in kirk session records and other documentary sources. A 'dyet' or 'diet' is a session of a court, whilst 'to compear' means 'to appear in court as a party to a cause' i.e. as a witness. The DSL is the first port of call in such situations, and is completely free to access. You'll also find a history of the language on the site, well worth a read.

One of my all time favourite finds in this dictionary was an explanation for the word 'football' which kept popping up in some 18th century weaver's incorporation records from Perth that I was transcribing. Several entries noted those wishing to join the incorporation being asked to pay both for their entry money and their 'football'. I had no idea why Perth was so apparently sport conscious, but it soon turned out that they weren't. A football was in fact 'a sum of money paid by a married entrant member of a merchant guild on behalf of his wife to allow her to share in the benefits of the common fund'.

If you're pre-1855 with your research and now heading deeper into the juicy Scottish stuff, make sure you bookmark the DSL!"

Chris

Stuck for a Christmas gift?! I have a series of genealogy books available in the UK, Australia and Canada, on Scottish, Irish and British based subject areas. Further details at http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html. Santa approves!

Ireland's forgotten English dialects

I love a good story about dialects and forgotten languages, but this one just came from nowhere! Ireland has been invaded, colonised, and done over by just about nation within boat range - but one of the things brought in by every successive invasion has been cultural change.

We often read about the Irish language, and the different dialects of Gaelic across the island. Ulster Gaelic is very different to that much further south, for example, almost Scottish Gaelic in character. One of the fave books on my shelf is Athchló Uladh which has many stories from the northern Antrim island of Rathlin reprinted within it (Sgealtan Rachreann) in both Rathlin Gaelic and a more conventional Irish - the Gaelic I've spent some time trying to understand is that from Scotland, so I find the Rathlin text much easier to read. Then there's the movement in the north that you might have heard of to promote the use of the Ulster dialect of the Scots language, which is not a variant of English, but a separate Germanic language very closely related to English, taken to Ulster during the Plantations.

But how many have you heard of Yola or Fingalian?! Yola is a medieval dialect of English taken to Wexford in the 12th century by Anglo-Normans and used there until the 19th century. Fingalian is a separate medieval dialect of English used near Dublin. Romanticism and politics have a lot to answer for - your ancestor may well not have been a Gaelic or modern English speaker at all!

Do have a look at the following article in The Journal about Ireland's forgotten medieval English dialects, and listen to the songs written in Yola and sung in the YouTube clip on the site - absolutely fascinating stuff - it's available at www.thejournal.ie/readme/column-yola-and-fingalian-%E2%80%93-the-forgotten-ancient-english-dialects-of-ireland-985649-Jul2013.

And remember, family history is about working out what your ancestors did actually do in the past, not what the broad sweep of history says they did - and if anyone can find a Yola speaking ancestor, do let me know!

By the way - about twenty years ago I remember reading a study, possibly a census report, that showed that neither Gaelic or Scots was the second most spoken language in Northern Ireland back then. It was actually one of the Chinese languages... God only knows where its speakers' politics lay though! :)

(With thanks to @IrishRootsMag)

Chris

My new book, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet, is now available from Pen and Sword. My Scottish land and church records ebooks are available at http://www.gen-ebooks.com/unlock-the-past.html, whilst my next Pharos Scottish course, Scottish Research Online, starts Sep 4th - see http://pharostutors.com/details.php?coursenumber=102. Time to smash a few brick walls...!

Ulster Scots exhibition at PRONI

News of a new exhibition at PRONI (www.proni.gov.uk) in Belfast:

EVERY TOWNLAND EARNED ITS NAME IN SONG: JOHN HEWITT’S ULSTER SCOTS TRADITION
27th June – 9th July 2013
PRONI, 2 Titanic Boulevard, Belfast

John Hewitt, the Ulster poet, author, lecturer, broadcaster and journalist – bequeathed over 7,000 documents and volumes to the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) in 1987.

This exhibition tells the story of John Hewitt's fascination with the poetry of the Rhyming Weavers, and traces the history of the Scots language in Ulster and how it became an integral part of poetry and local literature.

"...to weaver, ploughman, blacksmith, from that time before the schoolhouse tamed their lively tongue, when spinning wheel and loom were at their prime and every townland earned its name in song."
(Dedication of the ‘Rhyming Weavers’, John Hewitt)

The exhibition is open to the public and free of charge.
www.proni.gov.uk
E: proni@dcalni.gov.uk T: 028 90 543800

Chris

My new book, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet, is now available from Pen and Sword. My Scottish land and church records ebooks are available at http://www.gen-ebooks.com/unlock-the-past.html, whilst my next Pharos Scottish course, Scottish Research Online, starts Sep 4th - see http://pharostutors.com/details.php?coursenumber=102. Time to smash a few brick walls...!

Ulster-Scots could be studied to A-level

The Northern Irish executive is proposing that Ulster-Scots - also known as Ullans (Ulster Lallans) - could be studied at school to GCSE level, along with its culture and heritage. A similar strategy is also being suggested for the Irish language. The full story is at www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-18983567

COMMENT: I'd personally consider it a real breakthrough if the Northern Irish executive could come up with a single exam that looked at the merits of both traditions, instead of continuing to polarise the subjects for the next generation.

Chris

Check out my Scotland's Greatest Story research service www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk
New book: It's Perthshire 1866 - there's been a murder... www.thehistorypress.co.uk/products/The-Mount-Stewart-Murder.aspx (from June 12th 2012)

Free Ulster Scots app

The latest Ulster Historical Foundation newsletter mentions a free Ulster Scots app for iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch and Android. Here's the blurb:

The links between Scotland and Ulster have existed since time immemorial – from prehistory to present. This app includes information on 200 locations across the north of Ireland that form part of this story over the last 500 years. The sites include towns and villages, castles and churches, graveyards and monuments, and archives and industries.

So, there is no better time to download these rich, historical driving tours designed to guide you to the hidden highlights in Ulster’s fascinating past.

To access the app for Apple based devices visit iTunes at http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/ulster-scots/id508033620?mt=8, whilst for the Android equivalent visit Google Play at https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mtt.ulsterscots&hl=en.

(With thanks to the UHF)

Chris

British GENES on Facebook at www.facebook.com/BritishGENES and Twitter @chrismpaton

Scotland's Greatest Story research service www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk and www.facebook.com/ScottishGenealogyResearch