Spectator's Notebook

since the Presbyterians of south-west land were 'planted' in north-east Ireland ames I in 1610 they have had a rough, gh time, and it has turned them into a gh, tough people. During the remainder of century, efforts were made by the eslishment in London to get the Preserians in Scotland to conform more nearly the tenets of the Church of England. In er, however, where they were fighting for lives against the native Irish, who had driven from their lands, and at the same trying to carve out new farms from sts and bogs, 'they were more or less ed to pursue their own religion in their Way. However, in 1703 the Test Act, ed with many economic difficulties, en d that the great emigration to America

d get under way in 1717.

the rest of the century the Prestians.poured over to America and by the of the revolutionary war they formed up 9f a million people out of a white Iation of about three million people at tinte.

any left from Derry, and one of the chief for disembarkation was Philadelphia, or

e other port on the Delaware. They ed south down the Valley-of Virginia into h and South Carolina and eventually

• Up in Texas. They were the men of the Frontier in the forefront of the fight 1114 the Indians. The English and German et.8 whom they met disliked them and it Said of them that "they kept the Sabbath ,everything else they could get their hands °f one thing, however, we can be certain „eS' hated Britain and her King. Washing"nee said, "If all else fails I will make my N8tand for liberty among the 'Scotch-Irish' native Virginia." e term Scotch Irish is unknown in Britain dnearly unknown in Northern Ireland. Inin seventeenth-century America they r.either known as Irish or as Irish Prest:ans, but when the vast Catholic Irish ,.ation got under way in the nineteenth n'irY, at the time of the potato famine, then aanle Scotch-Irish began to develop.

rlY occupants of the White House were

ieoten-Irish descent. The first such i 4„dent was Andrew Jackson. Until his b,ltration, which was a rough, tough afhe occppants of the White House had hnglish 'landed gentry' types, i.e. e;gton of Mount Vernon and Jefferson unte Cello. I suppose the most famous ! trish president was President Wilson. a" the government of Northern Ireland ed to preserve the Wilson homestead in tftlY Tyrone we found Wilsons still living 4sh.e old farm, and when the Dean of „"Ington flew over for the inauguration to„, Y (he is President Wilson's grandson), id'u us that Farmer Wilson had the ential jaw!

tkon's ancestry 'ij4t t t'ken years ago I wrote to Richard Nixon,

tN"le ex-Vice-President of the United I told him that there were many people red N.ixon in Northern Ireland, and I won'f by any chance he might be of IsIrish descent. He replied that indeed so. The Nixons, he said, had come "utnfries and had settled in Northern Ireland for about 100 years before coming on to America. Warming to his subject, however, he added, "You might be interested to know that my mother's family, the Milhouses, were Protestants from the South of Ireland." After some investigation it was actually discovered that the Milhouses had moved from Northern Ireland to Southern Ireland before emigrating to America.

Some two or three years ago the President was entertained by the Eire Government and some dispute arose as to whether he had been taken to his correct ancestral village. It appeared that the village of Timahoe was at least duplicated in the Republic of Ireland. In the midst of this controversy I wrote a letter to a Dublin paper explaining that Nixon was really 'Scotch-Irish,' but my letter was tucked away at the bottom of a second page of letters — obviously my claim was considered cheekyl_Perhaps today Dublin would be only too willing to palm off this latest of the Scotch-Irish Presidents on Northern Ireland!

In America

It was about fifteen years ago that I first set foot in the United States; although it was the end of September the temperature at Kennedy Airport was 93°F and the humidity 90 . In a very short time my English-weight clothes were saturated. Mercifully_ I had one new 'tropical suit' in my suitcase and it did overtime for the next fortnight. Prior to this visit my idea of America was virtually based on Hollywood films. It was astonishing to find how different was the reality from the myth. My private secretary from the Ministry of Finance in Belfast was English, and one day in a cab in New York we were chatting together in our 'English' accents. Suddenly the driver turned his head to speak to us at a traffic light. "You two guys English?" Almost before we had time to reply he added in a charming Southern accent,. "Just go on talking, love to hear the English talk." This was not the America we had ex pected and I often think how unfortunate it is that few British people really understand America or Americans.

On another American visit with a different private secretary — Ulster, ex-RAF, ex-Pathfinder — there was wonderful confusion over that civil service expression 'private secretary.' We arrived at the headquarters of an American firm which had recently come to Northern Ireland. Somehow Or other I found myself in the 'President's office.' After the initial welcome I suddenly said, "My private secretary is downstairs." "Oh gee," came the reply, "bring her up."

Civil service

During the last five years Northern Ireland has become notorious. Exasperated British people may well imagine that because Ulster politicians appear to be impossible, the administration provided by its civil servants must also be bad. Nothing could be further from the truth.

I suppose the ministry that has had the greatest effect on the Province in the last twenty-five years is the Minstry of Commerce. Ever since the famous American firm, Duponts, made their first European investment in Northern Ireland, other famous international firms have flowed into the province. In about 1960 the British Industrial Development Office was set up in New York, and while they were part of the British Consulate General, because they had their own separate office on the fiftieth floor of the Chrysler Building, they were able almost to run a separate empire.

The incredibly successful attraction of international industry to Northern Ireland in the post-war era is something about which little is known on this side of the Irish Sea.

Moreover, not only were these Civil Servants able, but the discrimination practised by some local authorities could not be laid at their door. I remember Catholic MPs at Stormont telling me that they always had fair treatment from Stormont. I can also remember Catholic bishops and priests saying what wonderful assistance they had had from the Ministry of Education at Stormont in the erection of Church schools. Here then is something we should remember with gratitude when so much of the news from Northern Ireland is bad..

Prince Charles _

It is doubtful if anyone aged twenty-five has made a better maiden speech in the House of Lords than Prince Charles. Many peers seemed astonished that he was so relaxed and poised. In fact, however, there can be few young men anywhere in the world who have had so much experience of public speaking. The Prince has inherited the Bowes-Lyon charm, complete with complexion, and the Mountbatten mind. British republicans will have to work overtime if they are to stop him from ascending the throne one day.

And talking of the throne reminds me of an English peer who now lives in America. He brought his young son over to see him take the oath. After we had all had lunch together my wife took the boy up into the Gallery to watch the proceedings. She pointed out the throne to him and then he became pensive. "Do tell me," he said, "how can someone seize the throne, especially when the Queen is sitting on it, because it must be quite heavy?" Well, it will be heavier still when Prince Charles is King!

O'Neill of the Maine

Lord O'Neill of the Maine, as Terence O'Neill, was a Unionist MP in the Parliament of Northern Ireland from 1946 to 1970 and was Prime Minister from 1963 to 1969.