THE ANCIENT NORTHMEN, RIDDELL ANCESTRY.
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While fleeing from shackles prepar'd for the slave,
In quest of a region where genius might roam,
And yield an asylum as dear as their home.
Undaunted they press'd to their prime destination,
Allured by the prospects that Freedom display'd,
And such was the warmth of their fond expectation.
That dangers unnumbered ne'er made them afraid.
How serene was that day,
And how cheerful and gay
Were those pilgrims when anchored in old Casco Bay;
Their prayers then like incense ascended on high,
And fond acclamations then burst to the sky."
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In the spring of 1719 these families sailed to Portsmouth, solicited
grants of land, and had leave from the Massachusetts Assembly to look
out a tract six miles square in any of the unoccupied territory along the
coast, between the Piscataqua River and Casco Bay. They did not all
settle in one township, as might have been desired,-probably in conse-
quence of finding the land taken up by others, but scattered along the
sea-shore, in what is now the towns of Kittery, Wells, York, Saco, Scar-
borough, and Falmouth; sixteen families not finding a place for settle-
ment to please them, went to Nutfield, in New Hampshire, and sat down
there. Belknap says, "These were men principally in middle life, robust,
persevering, and adventuresome; such as were well suited to encounter
the toils and endure the hardships and self-denials of commencing a new
settlement. Being industrious and frugal in their habits of life, and being
highly favored with the Gospel, they soon became a thriving, wealthy, and
respectable settlement." They had sufficient property to enable them to
build comfortable houses and profitably cultivate the soil. They intro-
duced the manufacture of linen into the New England Colonies, having
taken their "little wheels" with them from Ireland. These were the
celebrated Scotch-Irish, not semi-Irish, or mixed Scotch people, but
real, clean-blooded Caledonians; who themselves, or their immediate an-
cestors, had first come from the "bonnie braes or the "heather hills" of
Scotland, to dwell in the north of Ireland, but who had now removed to
America. Nothing was more offensive to these emigrants than to be called
Irish. Macgreggor writes in 1820, "We are surprised to hear ourselves
called Irish people, when we so frequently ventured our all for the British
Crown and liberties against the Irish papists, and gave all tests of our
loyalty which the government of England required, and are always ready
to do the same when demanded." The Rev. David H. Riddle once said in
an address, "We glory in our Scotch-Irish descent. Why? I can point
you to the very spot on the map of old Ireland, - parish of Ray, Donegal
County, whence my grandfather emigrated to the ancient County of
York, Pa., and just alongside where the grandfathers and mothers of
some now separated, lived and worshipped, wept and prayed together!"
These words represent the universal spirit of the Scotch-Irish in every part
of the world, they were never ashamed to own their origin or their re-
ligious principles.
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Inheriting the characteristics of their ancient Norman ancestors, the
Scottish and Scotch-Irish people have laid the foundation for civil and
religious prosperity everywhere they have settled. Bold, adventuresome,
and persevering; of tenacious, unyielding disposition; blunt, direct, and
outspoken; active-spirited, sound in judgment, and far-seeing in their
plans; they have been successful in every avocation of life. They have
