Is X Marks the Scot a Clan?

[Mael Coluim]

Hmm...I wouldn't put too much stock in that story. The Ulster-Scots, most Lowlanders in origin, rarely adopted anything from the "Wild Highlanders". The former viewed the latter much like they did their Native American opponents on the frontier.

The late historian Grady McWhiney proposed the same theory in his book Attack and Die: Civil War Military Tactics and the Southern Hertiage. McWhiney and others propose that the Confederate soldier was somehow the heir apparent of the Jacobite clansman at Culloden, yet fail to mention that many Scots and Ulster Scots and their descendants fought for the North.

Webb's book is more personal observation; I recommend Leyburn's The Scotch-Irish: a social history for a more reliable examination of the Scots-Irish in early America. Celeste Ray's Highland Heritage also examines the "connection" between the Scots and the Southerner, and takes a more critical look at McWhiney's theories.

Regards,

Todd

Thanks, Todd for your information. I'll definitely put Leyland's book on my to read list. That's the sad part of Civil War; brother against brother.