20 SEPTEMBER 1902, Page 3

In the Anthropological Section no paper was of more interest

than that read by Dr. William Graham on Tuesday on " The Mental and Moral Characteristics of the People of Ulster." Limiting the term " Ulsterman " to that element in the popula- tion which derived its descent from the Scotch and English colonists of the Plantation under James I., Dr. Graham said the determining factors in the creation of the modern Ulsterman were the colonists from Ayrshire and Dumfriesshire. There was also a considerable English leaven in Armagh and Fermanagh, and finally there was the Huguenot element, to which he traced the vivacity distinguishing the Ulsterman from the Lowland Scot. To his Scotch blood the Ulsterman owed his self-reliance and ultra-religiousness, and though less "dour" than the Scot, he was, as compared with the Celtic Irish, utilitarian, hard, self-assertive, unpoetical, and somewhat rude. He had wit, while the Celt had humour; he never indulged in "bulls," and cared nothing for hunting, racing, the fine arts, opera, or the dance. Finally, insanity arising from religious causes was, in Ireland, peculiar to Ulster.