In the introduction to his memoir Hillbilly Elegy, J.D. Vance notes that he grew up in Eastern Kentucky and that his ancestors were Scots-Irish. He writes:
“The Scots-Irish are one of the most distinctive subgroups in America. As one observer noted:
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| http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/gnxp/2012/07/the-scots-irish-as-indigenous-people/#.WsIxdExFzIU |
(I found the source of Vance’s quote and included the above link to it. The entire article containing the quote is worth checking out as the author goes on to describe how the Scots-Irish came to the U.S. and helped to expand and settle it.)
Following the above quote, Vance continued writing in Hillbilly Elegy as follows:)
“This distinctive embrace of cultural tradition comes along with many good traits – an intense sense of loyalty, a fierce dedication to family and country – but also many bad ones. We do not like outsiders or people who are different from us, whether the difference lies in how they look, how they act, or, most important, how they talk. To understand me you must understand that I am Scots-Irish hillbilly at heart.”
If any of that description sounds a little too familiar with regards to some folks that you know today, there is a good reason. Many of our County folks migrated to Kentucky. This is from the Enterprise:
As discussed in a series of Enterprise articles (click here), many settlers from the County relocated to Bardstown, Kentucky in the late 1700’s (click here.) I recall Buzzy telling me that he located a couple of Ridgells in the phone book during one of his visits to his Aunt Sister Agnes in Kentucky.
However, it doesn’t sound like all of the Kentucky settlers were completely happy with their decision to move from Southern Maryland. Check this account out:
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| http://stmalib.archivalweb.com/imageViewer.php?r=1327&in=109&d=1&s=q%3Dbardstown%26p%3D32%26r%3D1327 |