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...!