UPCOMING EVENTS:
The Vermont Highland Games - June 15, Greensboro, VT. Superb musical performances, Celtic cultural demonstrations and seminars will take place throughout the day. Come and see wonderful vendors selling Celtic goods, explore your heritage in the Clan tent village and learn the Gaelic language. We’ll have bagpipes, Highland dancing, and much more! https://www.vtcelticarts.org/highland-games
Festival at Fort 4 and Highland Games – June 29, Charlestown NH. Enjoy Scottish music, food, heavy athletics, sheep dogs, vendors, dancers and much more. https://www.festivalatfort4.com/
Maine Celtic Celebration – July 19-21, Belfast Maine. a family-oriented weekend celebrating the rich Celtic heritage, culture, and hospitality found along the Coast of Maine. MUSP will have a tent, so please visit us. https://www.mainecelticcelebration.com/
Maine Highland Games and Scottish Festival – August 17, Thomas Point Beach, Brunswick. Join us for a day of all things Scottish….Heavy Athletic Competitions – Highland Dancing – Massed Pipe & Drum Bands – Scottish Country Dancing – Solo Piping Competitions – Scottish Music and Concerts – Clan Village– Highland coos– Historical Reenactors – Sheepdog Demonstrations – Youth Athletics – Scottish Food & Merchandise. The Maine Ulster-Scots Project will once again host the popular Clan and Family information venue and our own MUSP tent – Stop by and say hi. https://www.mainehighlandgames.org/
Quechee Scottish Games and Festival – Aug 24, Quechee, Vermont. Step onto the field and experience decades of timeless tradition! Immerse yourself in the vibrant essence of Scottish culture as clans encircle the main field, Highland Dancers gracefully take the stage, and the sound of the pipes fill the air from all directions. Join us for an unforgettable celebration of Scottish heritage, where generations unite to create cherished memories! https://quecheegames.org/
PAST EVENTS:
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 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, 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-8g6x8
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
