UPCOMING EVENTS:
Watch this space for future events and follow us on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/maineulsterscots for updates and current news.
PAST EVENTS:
November 2024
November 23rd saw a standing room only audience for the first public report on MUSP's archaeological work "Uncovering the lost Ulster-Scots settlement at Flying Point." Our own, John Mann discussed who the Ulster-Scots were, why they came to Maine, and reviewed the various archeological work and finds that give us insights into this fascinating history.
Many thanks to John, the Freeport Historical Society and Wolfe's Neck Center and all the volunteers for a fantastic and well received talk.
The lecture was recorded and as soon as it is prepared we will share it here on our MUSP website.
September 2024
VISITING MAINE FRONTIER SETTLER SITES (DATED 1718-1756)
Our partners associated with the Ulster-Scots Community Network (U-SCN), Belfast, N. Ireland were enthused to visit several Maine Frontier settler sites located in Harpswell, Brunswick, and Freeport with their guide John Mann, a direct descendant of Ulster-Scots emigrants to Casco Bay.
Deirde Speer-Whyte, Development Officer of U-SCN and archaeologist, along with Finula Magowan, Ulster-Scots volunteer and archaeologist, made stops at the Harpswell Museum and Meetinghouse, the First Parish Church Cemetery in Brunswick, and the Flying Point region -- which included the Anderson homestead, Means Massacre, and Little River Tide Mill sites, as well as Mann Cemetery on Friday, September 6th.
At the Harpswell Museum & Meetinghouse, they were able to converse with docent, David Hackett, a direct descendant of Elijah Kellogg. At the First Parish Church and Mann Cemetery locations, they were able to see multiple gravesites of 1st and 2nd generation Ulster-Scots emigrants, including those of Thomas and Robert Means and Robert Dunlop. Finally, in the Wolfe's Neck/Flying Point area, they were able to view the remnants of the old tide mill that the Anderson's built, owned, and operated in the mid-18th century.
Deirdre and Finula related that visiting these colonial sites allowed each of them to make a deeper connection to their ancestors who were of the Ulster Plantation and had made their way across the Atlantic Ocean to Canada and New England in the 19th century; from Ulster province to their sister province, the District of Maine. We share their sense of connection and far reaching family ties -- from there to here.
The Wolfe’s Neck Center for Agriculture & the Environment has recently opened an exhibit of selected photo enlargements from the Val and John Mann photographic collection. The exhibit opened to a full house on September 12th and featured speakers, Libby Bischof, executive director of the Osher Map Library and John Mann, Land Surveyor and local historian.
The title of the exhibit is “Capturing An Era” “Women’s Eyes On Family Farming At Wolfe’s Neck 1900-1960.” The photos were taken by three generation of the Banks/Pettengill family starting with Helen Bank Pettengill, her daughter Alice Pettengill Maybury, and her grand-daughter Verna Maybury Noble and their neighbor, Rubie P. Mann. “The photographs of three family farms provide a glimpse of the different approaches taken to adapt to a changing farm environment during the first half of the 20th century.
The exhibit remains available for viewing at the Smith Center located at 184 Burnett Road, Freeport, ME through to the end of 2024.
AN EVENING OF GOOD COMPANY, CHAT, AND LOCAL FOODS
On Monday, September 9, 2024, the Maine-Ulster Scots Project welcomed honored guests, Deirdre Speer-Whyte, Development Officer of the Ulster-Scots Community Network and archaeologist, and Finula Magowan, Ulster-Scots Volunteer and archaeologist to the Thomas Means Club in Freeport for an evening of Meet & Greet.
The Thomas Means Club (TMC) is a former one-room schoolhouse named in memory of the Means family patriarch. The MUSP directors and volunteers were pleased to be joined by TMC members for a dose of neighborly networking.
A yummy potluck meal of traditional Maine dishes was enjoyed. The evening provided an opportunity for all to mingle and discuss our shared histories concerning the Ulster-Scots diaspora from the Ulster Plantation to coastal Maine and its frontier beginning in 1718.
Our partnership with U-SCN and affiliates was established in 2018, during the 300th anniversary commemoration conference held on the Bowdoin College campus.
MUSP is deeply appreciative and values the alliance-building between the U-SCN, as well as the TMC members. Our shared vision for exploration and preservation of emigrant stories, as well as the impact of those frontier people settling Maine’s coastal communities, are thriving initiatives.
August 2024
August 17, 2024 - Maine Highland Games - The Maine Ulster-Scots Project had a very successful day at the 45th annual Maine Highland Games and Scottish festival. We had the opportunity to help families identify their possible Clans and explain the history and importance of the early Scots-Irish along the coast of Maine.
Thank-you John, Bill, Karen, Peter, Steve, Dave, and Heidi, for your efforts in continuing our mission of saving and sharing the stories of Maine’s Ulster-Scots.
July 2024
July 20, 2024 - Maine Celtic Celebration - Our thanks to Maine Ulster-Scots Project Secretary, Julie Potter-Dunlop and Treasurer, Dave McCausland for setting up and hosting our booth at the Maine Celtic Celebration along the beautiful harbor of Belfast, Maine to continue the mission of sharing our Maine Scots-Irish heritage with event attendees. Our info tent was well received and had a constant flow of interested folks from Maine and around the county.
Since this celebration was held in Belfast, Maine, enjoy this wonderful video describing the story of two Belfast's - 3,000 miles apart. Two ports linked by name, by culture, and by shared tradition: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=by8PT-8g6x8
May 2024
May 8, 2024- Patten Free Library - MUSP Director, John Mann gave a talk about the Scots-Irish settlement of the lower Kennebec during the 18th century to 23 in-person and 45 online attendees. This program used maps, source documents, and archaeological findings to describe the introduction and settlement of Scots-Irish families along the Kennebec River in the eighteenth century, “America’s Eastern Frontier.”
May 8, 2024– Northern Ireland - MUSP President Becky Miller and Secretary Julie Potter-Dunlop attended Coleraine Historical Society’s 40th Anniversary Conference at Ulster University (Coleraine Campus, Northern Ireland).
August 2023
Our thanks to Maine Ulster-Scots Project President, Becky Miller for setting up and hosting our booth at the 2023 Quechee Scottish Games in Vermont to continue the mission of sharing our Maine Scots-Irish heritage with event attendees. Great job Becky and thank you for representing us so well.
August 2023
The Maine Ulster-Scots Project had a very successful day at the 44th annual Maine Highland Games and Scottish festival. We had the opportunity to help families identify their possible Clans and explain the history and importance of the early Scots-Irish along the coast of Maine.
Thank-you John, Bill, Becky, Karen, Peter, Dave, Heidi, Rebecca, and Mark for your efforts in continuing our mission of saving and sharing the stories of Maine’s Ulster-Scots.
Video of Opening Ceremonies of 2023 Maine Highland Games:
July 2023
Maine Celtic Celebration in Belfast, Maine presentation by Dr. Julie A. Potter-Dunlop of the Maine Ulster-Scots Project.
“First Ulster-Scots Settlers to the District of Maine Frontier in the Early 18th-Century.”
Discussed in this interactive talk was how the emigration of Ulster-Scots to the frontier of coastal Maine in the early 18th-century has been often overlooked and under reported. It is clear the first settlers wanted to own property and escape from the burden of high rents and from generations of control by Lords and Lairds (their English and Scottish landlords). It is also clear that they wanted relief from the continuing constraints being put on their Protestant Kirk. Earning that opportunity by homesteading the American wilderness and defending their claims was the bargain that they made. They brought with them a tradition of pioneering expertise, and a reputation for defending their property at all costs. These skills were born from centuries of hard necessity, both in Scotland and in Ulster (Mann, 2005).
April 2023
Congratulations to SCOTTISH ARTS, the New England based organizers of the Indoor Scottish Festival held April 2023 in Salem New Hampshire. More info: https://nhssa.org/
Events during the day included: Piping, Drumming, Pipe Bands, Highland Dance, Scottish Clans and Vendors, Workshops on Genealogy, Celtic Art, Scottish Organizations.
And our thanks to Maine Ulster-Scots Project President, Becky Miller for setting up and hosting our booth at the festival in order to continue the mission of sharing our Maine Scots-Irish heritage with event attendees.
July 2022
Our thanks and congratulations to the MUSP team for two great presentations at the Maine Celtic Celebration in Belfast, Maine on July 23 & 24th. Rebecca Graham (MUSP President) gave two informative talks :
"Good Wives and Subtle Warriors": A presentation showing the challenges and contributions of Scots-Irish frontier women to the founding of New England communities. This talk will examine the sometimes not-so-subtle power of frontier women in Maine and New Hampshire through court records, local legends, and litigation.
“Scots Irish Migration to Maine and the Founding of the State”: A discussion of the long journey, historic events, and circumstances that brought the Scots/Irish to Maine and the impact of that on Maine’s development and character.
Both days saw an interested audience of over 25 along with MUSP committee members Julie, Becky, Pam, and Dave. Thank you Julie for organizing our participation in this event.
Since this celebration was held in Belfast, Maine, enjoy this wonderful video describing the story of two Belfast's - 3,000 miles apart. Two ports linked by name, by culture, and by shared tradition: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=by8PT-8g6x
August 2022
The Maine Ulster-Scots Project had a very successful day at the 43rd annual Maine Highland Games and Scottish festival this past weekend. We had the opportunity to help families identify their possible Clans and explain the history and importance of the early Scots-Irish along the coast of Maine.
Thank-you John, Bill, Becky, Karen, Dave, Heidi, Rebecca, Mark, and Brad for your efforts in continuing our mission of saving and sharing the stories of Maine’s Ulster-Scots.
“DIRIGO”: The Maine Lambeg Drum made its inaugural appearance at the 2022 Maine Highland Games and attracted 100’s of interested festival goers as they entered the parade field and clan row.
May 2022
“Walk Tour of the Mann Cemetery, one of Freeport’s oldest Ulster-Scots burial grounds”
John Mann, a 6th-generation descendant of Gideon Man (of North Yarmouth — now Freeport), opened his presentation with this poem by Kenelin Lufkin (Eliza Dennison King) found in “Three Centuries of Freeport.”
“Upon a fragrant hillside
By the Harraseeket shore,
They laid the captain when he died,
'Twas forty years and more.
The blackberry vines above him
In tangled masses creep,
And those who used to love him,
Around him calmly sleep.”
John discussed 17th-century occupation and land acquisition at Flying Point, including claims by George Felt and the Richard Dummer family (Dummer’s Claim).
He went on to describe the emigration and traits of the first Ulster Scots from the North of Ireland (circa 1722-1756) to Flying Point and associated critical events the pioneers endured (French and Indian War and the Great Throat Distemper Epidemic of New England 1735-1740).
Lastly, John informed the 50+ attendees of the physical characteristics of the burial ground and the headstones themselves. A walking tour of the cemetery followed.
John closed his presentation with this insight, “The burial ground is a testimony to the grit and determination of the Ulster-Scots families: Anderson, Chase, Mann, Means, Patten, and Rogers. From the uncertainty of life in Scotland and Northern Ireland, they found a permanent home and resting place at Flying Point. We can never know the exact identities of all the individuals interred in the unnamed burials, but they represent families and neighbors with a common past” ~ Pamela Crane, Archaeologist.
August 2021
Maine Highland Games
April 2019
‘1718 – 2018’ Reflections on 300 years of the Scots-Irish in Maine' was produced following academic conferences at Bowdoin College, Maine and in Coleraine, Northern Ireland hosted by the Ulster University. These events marked the 300-year anniversary of the first large scale movement of people to Maine from what is now Northern Ireland.
This important work is a compendium of presented papers by a range of American and Ulster based writers and historians and provides a unique record of historic links between Ulster and Maine. These papers from 19 different authors have been published together in “Reflections”. Some of the papers are academic, some poetic, and others personal with the aim to share the Scots Irish stories of those who played a significant role in shaping the state of Maine, New England, and the United States of America.
July 2019
Maine Celtic Celebraton
August 2019
August 2018
Read an in-depth recap of the Conference:
2018
Maine Highland Games
August 2016
