David Blair (1603 - 1662)

DAVID BLAIR was born on 9 Jun 1603 in Migerholm, Ayershire, Scotland. He died about 1655 in Aghadowey, Londonderry, Northern Ireland. David Blair was in the textile business, probably linen. He owned, with other Blairs, a bleach house in Aghadowey. The Blair Society for Genealogical Research reported the following: "Before the reign of Queen Elizabeth the Scottish people as a whole were hardy, but extremely ignorant, and crude in their habits of life.” The Reformation under John Knox was an epoch in the history of the nation.

This event had a wonderful effect upon the inhabitants. Through them the whole course of World's history became changed. The Scots became a nation of iron men capable of asserting themselves and insisting upon their principles. Up to this time they had been a changeable and vacillating people. Out of the Reformation they came as a vital world force.

"When they removed to Ulster, a new kind of settler had come to cope with the Irish. The English settlers became dissolved in the Irish population; but the Scot loathed the Irish as he did the Devil himself. This feeling was heartily reciprocated by the natives. Much bitterness and strife ensued between the two races.

This arose not alone because of the differences of religion but because of their essential difference ethnologically. They were a different race of people, and so definite was the difference, and so persistently was it maintained that it was indeed a rare case when a marriage occurred between the two peoples. "Consequently the Scot in Ulster remained as much a Scot as did his brethren in Scotland. His communities were essentially Scotch and habits and customs brought from Scotland became indigenous in Ireland. A traveler through Ulster would have found the people, the language, the customs, the religion and other matters similar to Scottish communities in Scotland. The Celt in Ulster therefore remained a thoroughbred Celt, and the Scot continued to be unadulterated Scotch blood during his residence there. And the final word in the appellation of the Scotch-Irish concerns merely their residence in Ireland."

On the map of Ireland the province of Ulster includes nearly a quarter of the territory of the island. The southern boundary runs from Donegal Bay on the west to Carlingford Bay on the east. In the center of Ulster lies County Tyrone, with counties of Donegal, Londonderry and Antrim along the northern seacoast boundary. This is the heart of Scotch-Irish country.

Almost from the time of their arrival in Ireland, Ulster Scots caused nightmarish difficulties for the English government. There were too successful economically and threatened English domestic producers of farm products and textiles. And, they were too tough-minded to accept broken promises and retroactive restrains without active protest. The Ulster settlers came largely from Galloway and the region included in the old kingdom of Strathclyde: Dumbartonshire' Ayrshire, Renfrewshire, Lanarkshire, and Dumfriesshire. The area between Aberdeen and Inverness and the counties around Edinburgh, Edinbburghsire, Haddingtonshire, and Berwickshire also contributed to the large contingent of Scots who took up residence in the Ulster Plantation. In Ireland the newcomers swarmed into Londonderry, Tyrone, Armagh, Fermanaghd, Down, Donegal, Cavan, and Antrim. With the King's consent, the native Irish were driven from the hill tops and from the most fertile districts and their lands were made over to the Scottish immigrants. The Scots gained possession of the greater part of the counties of Antrim, Down and Londonderry.

According to Blair Family tradition, sometime around 1620, David Blair (born June 9, 1603 in Milgerholm, Ayshire, Scotland, the son of John and Beatrix Muir) came to Aghadoewy in Ulster, Ireland, where he probably lived in a thatched cottage. David was in the linen/textile business. He owned, with other Blairs, a bleach house in Aghadowey. He died in Aghadowey, Antrim, Ireland, probably in the mid 1600's but became the progenitor of a specific line of the Blair clan of Ulster Scots which would be widely scattered in North America.

David followed his brother Alexander to Ireland to take advantage of the cheap land offered by the king. Though the land was cheap, life in Ireland was not peaceful. The series of events that began on April 6, 1625, when King James I died and was succeeded by his son Charles I marked the beginning of the Civil War known as the Irish Rebellion. Charles was a firm upholder of the "divine right of Kings." His reign prompted a rebellion in Scotland in 1638 and a revolt in Ulster, Ireland on October 3, 1641, first breaking out in South Derry.

In Ulster, the religious tensions were marked by massacres of Protestants. The people of Dublin received warning in time to protect themselves; but the Protestants of other places were taken by surprise and were slain until whole provinces were almost depopulated. A Scottish settler's force of some 260 men was successful in repelling the first attack by insurgent forces. Then on December 13, a large Irish force approached Gavagh and defeated the settlers in the Aghadowey district. The settlers fled to Coleraine, and their houses were burned by the Irish Army. In April 1642, a Scottish army landed at Carrickfergus to suppress the Irish rebellion. It was at the beginning of the Irish Rebellion that two boys were born to David Blair and his wife in Aghadowey. It was the descendants of David Blair who later emigrated to the American colonies. The known children, born in Aghadowey, Antrim, Ireland, of David Blair are: Abraham and James. NOTE: Many other sources list another son of David, Robert Blair born about 1639 and died 1732, Massassachusetts, United States.

Derry Coat of Arms

Traveled to Ireland from Scottland for land