11 MAY 1944, Page 12

DE VALERA'S LAST CHANCE"

Snt,—In your issue of April 28th, in his article on Mr. de Valera, Viscount Castlereagh referred to the inhabitants of Northern Ireland as "Ulster Scots," which I take leave to suggest is an unfortunate misnomer. That the Ulster people do not belong to Scotland is literally true, from the point of view of residence and geography, and if they are not Irish u, what nation can they claim to belong? Or are- they to be nationally " nameless," like Wordsworth's little unremembered acts. If birth. upbringing, and residence of his family in the country for generations entitle a man to be an Irishman, Ulsterman, .or Northern Irishman, why bring in the word "-Scots " as an appendage to "Ulster " ? I happen u- be a Northern Irishman by birth and bringing up, and I beg to.decline the compliment of being termed an " Ulster-Scot,".. although, like St. Peter, my speech betrayeth me, and I have been charged with being a Scot by men from that country, which soft impeachment I always politely deprecate, while thanking them for the implied compliment and stating that, if I were not an Irishman I would not mind being a Scot, which I am afraid they look upon as an effort of humour, not of tact.

It occurs to me that a case in point is the family of the great Mr. Glad- stone which originally hailed from Scotland, they having in view no doubt the " finest prospect," described by Dr. Johnson with malicious artfulness ES appealing to the folk of the Northern country, but who would have Oken the liberty of terming Mr. Gladstone an English Scot, although, having been born in a certain city, he might reasonably be looked upon as belonging to the "Liverpool Scottish." May I say that I, as an Ulster Loyalist, have no sympathy with Mr. de Valera and all that he stands