42
THE ANCIENT NORTHMEN, RIDDELL ANCESTRY.
year (1689) by the army of King James, when he had all Ireland sub-
dued but Derry and a little place hard by. The besieged defended
themselves, being Presbyterians, till they were so pinched with hunger
that a dog's head was sold cheap enough at half a crown; and yet
God sustained them until King William sent them relief by two ships,
with men and provisions from England, at which sight, before the ships
got up to the city and landed their men, the besiegers moved their camp
and fled to the west of Ireland, where afterwards two bloody battles were
fought and the papists subdued." When every hope of enjoying the lib-
erty of worship and the unmolested possession of their lands had per-
ished, these devoted Christians turned their faces toward the American
Colonies, that they might find an asylum where they could enjoy the peace-
ful service of God undisturbed; they left the homes granted their fathers
for service in the army, and the graves of their sires, to brave the dangers
of the ocean and the wilderness of a foreign land, in search of a spot
where they could act according to the dictates of conscience and secure
a living for their families.
From the year 1680 the Scotch-Irish Presbyterians commenced to sell
their lands or forsake them, and take ship for America; as their oppres-
sions became more intolerable the ratio of emigration increased, until
thousands of families were scattered through the Carolinas, Virginia,
Maryland, and Pennsylvania; and early in the eighteenth century several
ship-loads came to New England. As soon as the first families had
settled their lands in this country they forwarded letters to their kin-
dred in Ireland, describing the fertility of the soil and the beauties of
the American forests, lakes, and streams in such glowing colors that in a
few years many townships were taken up and settled by Scotch-Irish.
Among these came many of the Riddell family, which had been very
prolific in Ireland. These early settled in the South, in the middle.
States, and some in New England. I find the name in New York, New
Jersey, and Virginia, as early as 1650; but by far the greatest number
came over between 1780 and 1800, influenced by the Irish Rebellion.
There were also families of Riddells from Scotland and England, who
settled in the southern States quite early; some of these came in their
own vessels, bringing with them their cattle, implements of husbandry,
furniture, and silver-plate, being families of abundant means. There
were one or more families that came direct to Virginia from France,
and spelled the name for two generations Riddelle. Others came from
Germany and settled in Maryland and New York.
Numbered among the Scotch-Irish who first came to New England,
were three clergymen of the Presbyterian faith, Rev. James Macgreggor,
Rev. William Boyd, and Rev. William Cornwall, who with their congre-
gations left the north of Ireland in 1718. These embarked in five ships,
and about one hundred families arrived in Boston harbor, while twenty
families with their pastor, Mr. Cornwall, landed at Portland, where they
remained through the winter and suffered extremely from cold and for
food. Some unknown poet has commemorated their arrival in the follow-
ing lines:
"In the summer, one thousand seven hundred eighteen,
Our pious ancestors embarked on the ocean;
Oppressed by the minions and dupes of their king,
They quitted sweet Erin with painful emotion.
On the wide swelling wave,
All danger they brave,
