The State of the Ozarks, Essays and Photos of the Ozark Mountain Region, by Joshua Heston
In The State of the Ozarks, Joshua Heston is following the footsteps
of Ozark folklorist icon Vance Randolph. With a keen eye and ear,
Joshua records the people and cultures of the Ozarks in a collection
of enjoyable and very readable essays. In the Ozarks many aspects of
life have changed, but the basic character and roots of the Ozarkers
remain and we are fortunate to have Joshua documenting Ozark society
here in the twenty-first century.
To purchase: The State of the Ozarks
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Finding the McCains
---Rankin Sherling, author of The Invisible Irish: Finding Protestants in the Nineteenth-Century Migrations to America (McGill-Queen’s University Press, Fall 2015).
Finding the McCains, is an account of a man’s 40 year odyssey to find the McCain family in Ireland. Senator John McCain and his cousin, novelist Elizabeth Spencer, both include a short history of the McCain family in their respective memoirs Faith of our Fathers and Landscapes of the Heart. Their history is a romantic tale of Highland Scots who supported Mary Queen of Scots and who fled to Ireland after her downfall in 1568. The search for the McCains became a mystery story with clues, false turns, many adventures, and then ultimate success through Y chromosome DNA testing. In 2008 the McCains were reunited with their family that remained in Ireland, after 289 years of separation.
The
McCain history includes people and events familiar to readers of Irish
and Scottish history; Redshanks, Iníon Dubh, Mary Queen of Scots, the
Earls of Argyll, the Ulster Migration, and the Scots-Irish, are all part
of this family’s history. Faint
memories of this past were told for generations in Mississippi and as
the research progressed the facts behind these memories were uncovered.
The
Y chromosome DNA results revealed that the McCains of Mississippi,
which include Senator John McCain’s family, are the same family of
Wallace and Harrison McCain, the founders of Canada’s McCain Foods, one
of the most successful corporations in the world. They
are also the same family as James McKeen who organized the 1718 fleet
that began the great Ulster Migration to the English Colonies. All
these families are paternally related and they all descend from one
Gaelic man named Mac Eáin that lived in Kilmichael Glassary parish, in
mid Argyll, in the Scottish Highlands, in the 1400s.
The book tells of the author’s many trips to Ireland in search of his distant cousins there. There
are anecdotal stories, some humorous and others involving “famous”
people; such as, Phil Robertson of Duck Dynasty, Mary Coughlan (Irish
Tainste or vice president), Cindy McCain (wife of Senator McCain), Seán
Mac Stiofáin (1970s head of the IRA) , Alan Heusaff (WW II German
officer in Dublin who later became president of the Celtic League), and
Muhammad Ali.
There is even an encounter with a Bean Sí (faerie woman) on the windy
cold hill of megalithic stone ruins at Loch an Craoibh. All presented from the perspective of a native Mississippian.
Another theme in the book is the Scots-Irish. Contemporary histories about the Scots-Irish present stereotyped and romanticized accounts of this dynamic group. Finding the McCains reveals a more complex history and shows the cultural conflation common in Scots-Irish popular history.
Finding the McCains
is an excellent read for all interested in Irish and Scottish history
and is an how-to guide for those interested in how-to guide for those
who would like to use genetic genealogy to locate their family in the
old country and recover lost family history.
To purchase from Amazon: Finding the McCains
To purchase from Ulster Heritage directly send US $20 (postage paid) to:
Ulster Heritage
PO Box 884
Oxford MS 38655
USA
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Three
centuries of life in a Tyrone parish. A history of Donagheady from 1600
to 1900, by William Roulston (USD $ 12.95) Format Ebook.
This
book tells the story of the parish of Donagheady and its families over
three centuries. Donagheady occupies the most northerly portion of
County Tyrone. It is a large parish, stretching from the River Foyle to
the Sperrins. In the period covered by this study Donagheady experienced
massive changes with the result that the parish in 1900 was a very
different place from the one it had been in 1600. Through the Plantation
and subsequent waves of migration in the seventeenth century,
especially from Scotland, the character of much of the parish was
transformed.
The
creation and disintegration of the estate system in Donagheady is also
charted in this volume and the fate and fortunes of the landowning
families and their tenants is explored. The histories of the main
religious denominations are covered, as well as the nature of rural
society itself. Other chapters in this book examine the impact of the
Great Famine on the parish, the development of the village of
Dunnamanagh, attempts to improve educational provision, the rise and
decline of rural industries, and the relationship between Donagheady and
the wider world.
William Roulston is from the townland of Gortavea in the parish of Donagheady, and was raised on a farm that has been in his family’s possession since 1830. He is the Research Director of the Ulster Historical Foundation. His other books include The parishes of Leckpatrick and Dunnalong: their place in history (2000), Researching Scots-Irish Ancestors (2005), and Restoration Strabane, 1660-1714 (2007). This e-book is every-word-searchable and includes Griffiths Valuation for the Parish. 390 pages.
William Roulston is from the townland of Gortavea in the parish of Donagheady, and was raised on a farm that has been in his family’s possession since 1830. He is the Research Director of the Ulster Historical Foundation. His other books include The parishes of Leckpatrick and Dunnalong: their place in history (2000), Researching Scots-Irish Ancestors (2005), and Restoration Strabane, 1660-1714 (2007). This e-book is every-word-searchable and includes Griffiths Valuation for the Parish. 390 pages.
Link to purchase: Three centuries of life in a Tyrone parish
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The Laggan Redshanks, by Barry R McCain, 98 pages, Trade Paper Back from Amazon (USD $13.46)
In
the sixteenth century Scottish Highlanders settled in the Laggan
district of east Donegal. They were called Redshanks. The history of
the Laggan Redshanks has many fascinating elements which include Clann
Chaimbeul and their dynamic leader the fifth Earl of Argyll, Gaelic
sexual intrigues, English Machiavellian maneuvers, and the Redshanks
themselves. This book not only tells the fascinating story of how a
Highland Scottish community became established in the Laggan, but also
includes the surnames of the Redshanks and notes of their origins in
Scotland, which will be of interest to family historians and
genealogists. The appendices include the muster roll surnames in their
original and modern spellings with notes on the point of origin in
Scotland.
Link to purchase on Amazon: The Laggan Redshanks
Book can also be purchased from Ulster Heritage:
Price US15.00 postage paid, send cheque to:
Ulster Heritage
PO Box 884
Oxford MS 38655
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Giant’s Causeway and Dunluce Castle, by Robert McCahan (USD $2.95) Format Ebook.
Robert
McCahan was the local historian of north Antrim. A prolific writer, he
was born in 1863 in Ballycastle and wrote a series of fascinating
history booklets on aspects of north Antrim’s history and geography.
Most were published in the first quarter of the 20th Century. We offer
his The Giant’s Causeway and Dunluce Castle as an E-book for a nominal
fee. The 15 page booklet offers a fascinating insight and local views of
the Dunluce Castle, Bushmills and Giant’s Causeway area from the
perspective of a man living there at the turn of the century. Certain
families, such as the Boyd, McQuillians, McDonnells and others are
mentioned.
Link to purchase: Giant's Causeway and Dunluce Castle
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The
Stewarts of Ballintoy, by Rev George Hill (USD $7.95) With notes on
other families in the district (a facsimile copy) Format Ebook.
Rev.
George Hill was born in 1810 and passed away in 1900. His formal
training and pursuit of the history of Antrim made him its primer
historian. His classic work, published in 1876, was Historical Account
of the McDonnells of Antrim. His in-depth knowledge about the families
of the Glens and Route and his ability to write this into a readable
history make his works must have classics. We offer his The Stewarts of
Ballintoy via E-book. The book, a history of the Stewarts, an old
Gaelic Hebridean family brought to north Antrim by the McDonnells in
the 16th Century and became one of the leading families in north
Antrim. The book has much more, however, it includes accounts of the
Wars of the Three Kingdoms, the battles and engagements in north
Antrim. The 62 page book includes many notes on the other families
living in or near Ballintoy.
Link to purchase: The Stewarts of Ballintoy
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Strabane & West Ulster In The 1800s; Selections from The Strabane Morning Post
(USD $16.95) Format Ebook.
Strabane
& West Ulster in the 1800s, is an in-depth look at the lives
and time of people of all classes and creeds in the early decades of the
19th century. The information is extracted from the pages of the weekly
newspaper, The Strabane Morning Post, and much previously unavailable
material has now been brought into the public domain. Descriptions of
floods, fevers and famines provide insights into the problems of
everyday life, while advertisements demonstrate the extent of economic
activity and the range of products available to those who could afford
to pay. The copious coverage of court cases sheds light on the extent of
lawlessness and the severity of law enforcement while regional and
parliamentary affairs are also highlighted.
This
compilation is therefore both an entertaining examination of the
foibles of a past age and a comprehensive source base for further
analysis of key events and responses. It is a must for anyone interested
in the everyday responses of ordinary people in their own environment
to a rapidly changing world and a major addition for researchers and
genealogists in unraveling an era in which evidential material has been
difficult to locate. This limited edition publication should take pride
of place among a range of local materials from West Ulster and provide
endless hours of pleasurable engagement in the concerns of another age.
Link to purchase: Strabane & West Ulster in the 1800s
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In the Days of the Laggan Presbytery By Rev. Alexander G. Lecky, B.A. Published 1908, 148 pages (USD $9.95) Format Ebook.
In
the Preface, Rev. Leck writes “these everyday transactions gives us a
clearer picture of some phases of the social and religious life of
by-gone times than would a record of the more important events with
which the historian deals.”
The
writer gleans a great volume of important information from the Minutes
of the Laggan Presbytery including its origin, the division of the
Presbytery, its subsequent re-unification which is followed by the
re-division into three Presbyteries. He also discusses travel problems
in the area and congregational disputes which include those between
Strabane and Donagheady as well as Urney and Letterkenny.
The
book includes transcriptions of the wills of Rev. Robert Cunningham,
Mrs. Frances Cunningham and Rev. Hugh Cunningham; the names of the
ministers of the Laggan Presbytery; and the names of those attending
Presbytery meetings from 1672-1700 as Ruling Elders and Commissioners.
Link to purchase: In the Days of the Laggan Presbytery
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The Laggan and its Presbyterianism by Rev. Alexander G. Lecky, B.A., 1905, 119 pages (USD $8.95) Format Ebook.
Link to purchase: The Laggan and its Presbyterianism
A
history of the Presbyterian Church and the residents of the Laggan
which is a flat section excellent farmland in Co. Donegal stretching
from Londonderry in the north to Stranorlar in the south. Many families
in the Laggan had very close ties and often family members in Co. Tyrone
across the River Foyle. Some families worshiped by crossing the river
every Sunday. Chapters include Early Laggan History; Early Church Life;
Laggan Presbytery which included churches in Co. Tyrone; Persecutions
& Sufferings; Rebellion of 1641; Siege of Derry; St. Johnson;
Raphoe & its Royal School; Seceders; Newtownchunningham,
Ballylennon, Second Raphoe; Monreagh, First Ray & Sharon
Tragedy; Convoy & Donoughmore; Ballikndrait; Old Times &
Manners; Appendix include Hearth Tax Rolls for Taughboyne, Clonleigh,
Raphoe, Convoy, Donoughmore, Stranorlar, Leck; Householders in Leck
1794; Tenants on Abercorn Co. Donegal 1794; Householders St. Johnson
1794.
Link to purchase: The Laggan and its Presbyterianism
