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The extracts below have been taken from http://www.ulsterscotsagency.com/
About Us
"The aim of the Ulster-Scots Agency is to promote the study, conservation, development and use of Ulster-Scots as a living language, to encourage and develop the full range of its attendant culture; and to promote an understanding of the history of the Ulster-Scots."
The Ulster-Scots Agency, or Tha Boord o Ulstèr-Scotch as it is known in Ullans, is a relatively new but important body that aims to promote the Ulster-Scots language and culture within the island of Ireland and beyond.
The Language
Not long ago Ulster's language situation interested few but revivalists and academics. But in the past decade this has completely changed.
Rediscovery and revival of Ulster-Scots culture and language is well in progress. People are embracing the traditions of their forebears and recognising that a form of speech once used in the countryside, and unfortunately more often than not labelled "poor English" in the classroom, is a legitimate and vital part of their heritage.
While English remains the main language used by people living in Northern Ireland and in the South, the language remains as the tongue of heart and home in rural areas of County Antrim, North Down and Ards, Co. Londonderry, parts of Co. Fermanagh and Tyrone and east Donegal.
However a frequently-asked question is: is Ulster-Scots a language or a dialect? This is rather like asking whether a daisy is a flower or a weed.
Ulster-Scots is a West Germainc language, as are Dutch, Frisisan, Scots and English. Coming from the same language family as English, both Scots and Ulster-Scots share with it some vocabulary, idioms and grammar, but Ulster-Scots is now recognised as a European Regional or Minority Language.
Ulster-Scots, or Ullans is technically a variant of the lowland Scots language, or Lallans, but is now recognised separately as a European Regional Language by the UK government for the purposes of the European Charter for Regional and Minority Languages.
The move to have the Scots language recognised in Scotland began early this century. Scots has been recognised by The European Bureau for Lesser-Used Languages for several years before Ulster-Scots also became recognised in 1993, one year after the Ulster-Scots Language Society and Ulster-Scots Academy were formed.
Most important of all is the Good Friday Agreement of April 1998, the first official document to mention the Ulster-Scots, stating that it represents "part of the cultural wealth of the island of Ireland".
Culture
American Presidents
Did you know that 16 of the 41 American Presidents were Ulster-Scots or had Ulster-Scots ancestry? They are: Andrew Jackson, James Knox Polk, James Buchanan, Andrew Johnston, Ulysses S.Grant, Chester Alan Arthur, Grover Cleveland, Benjamin Harrison, William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Harry Truman, Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, George Bush and Bill Clinton! George W Bush has become the 17th American President with Ulster-Scots connections. William Jefferson Clinton is a relative of Lucas Cassidy, of Ulster Presbyterian stock, who left Co. Fermanagh for America around 1750.
And George W Bush can trace his ancestral roots back to the 18th century Scots-Irish diaspora form Ulster. Mr Bush's ancestor on his mother's side, William Gault, was a first citizen of Tennessee in 1796 and is believed to have been born somewhere in Co. Antrim.
Ulster-Scots stock
Did you know that writer Mark Twain and Hollywood film actor James Stewart are just some of the American luminaries who are descended from Ulster-Scots stock? Also included are Vice-President John C. Calhoun; poet/playwright Edgar Allen Poe; 19th century farm machine inventor Cyrus McCormick; Pittsburgh banker Andrew Mellon; frontier mountain main Kit Carson; songwriter Stephen Collins Foster, and distinguished American Civil War generals: Ulsysses S Grant, "Stonewall" Jackson: J.E.B.Stuart. Thomas Brinton McClellan, Ambrose Everett Burnside, Irvin McDowell, Daniel Smith Donelson, James Shields, Charles James Halpine and Leonidas Polk.
The Fiddle
Did you know that the fiddle was first introduced into Ireland from Scotland through its use by the Ulster-Scots?
Some more links:
http://www.ulster-scots.co.uk
http://www.ulsternation.org.uk/
http://www.scotchirish.net/
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