Scots-Irish or Scotch-Irish
Scots-Irish or Scotch-Irish? Is one, or the other of them, correct?
Both Scots-Irish and Scotch-Irish can be found in dictionaries.
Merriam Webster online:
Scotch-Irish adjective
ˈskäch-ˈī-rish
Definition of Scotch-Irish
of, relating to, or descended from Scottish settlers in Northern Ireland
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Scotch-Irish
Free Dictionary online:
Scotch′-I′rish or Scots-Irish n.
1. the descendants of the Lowland Scots who were settled in Ulster in the 17th century. adj.
2. of or pertaining to the Scotch-Irish.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
https://www.thefreedictionary.com/Scots-Irish
Your Dictionary online:
Scots-irish meaning
skŏtsīrĭsh
The people of Scotland who settled in Ulster or their descendants, especially those who emigrated to North America.
https://www.yourdictionary.com/scots-irish
American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language
Scots-I·rish
(skŏts′ī′rĭsh) n.
1. The people of Scotland who settled in Ulster or their descendants, especially those who emigrated to North America.
Also called Scotch-Irish.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
https://www.ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=Scots+Irish
The term Scotch-Irish has been more widely used in the United States than Scots-Irish. Book titles using Scotch-Irish are more numerous than book titles using Scots-Irish. People of Scottish background were known as Scotch in the 18th century.
Scotch-Irish has been used for immigrants from Ulster (mainly of Presbyterian heritage) for more than three centuries. In a letter written by Elizabeth I, she described Sorley Boy MacDonald and others as being of the Scotch-Irish race.
The term was used in Colonial America, along with Irish, Ulster Irish, Northern Irish and Irish Presbyterian. A Maryland document shows Scotch-Irish being used as an insult.
The term Scotch-Irish is a source of confusion. It was not in common use in the United States until the mid-19th century when it became common. It had fallen out of use by the time the United States had become a new country. The ethnic Scots, who had immigrated from Ulster, were typically referred to as Irish, since their most recent home had been in Ireland.
Due to the Irish Potato Famine, of the 1840s, many Irish Catholics fled to America. This large-scale Catholic migration caused the Protestant Scots to adopt the qualifier Scotch Irish to distinguish themselves and their culture from the new immigrants.
The term Scots-Irish is used most often by genealogists and academics. Presumably, they are conforming to British usage. Today, people in Scotland are called Scots rather than Scotch.
Though it is common in the United States, Scotch-Irish is seldom used in England, Scotland and Ireland. People in Scotland prefer to use the terms Scottish and Scots, reserving Scotch to refer to whisky.
Whisky or Whiskey? That is another story!
Scotch-Irish or Scots-Irish: What's in a Name? An Essay by Michael Montgomery
http://ulsterscotslanguage.com/en/texts/scotch-irish/scotch-irish-or-scots-irish/
SCOTCH-IRISH
Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language TOM McARTHUR
https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/united-states-and-canada/us-history/scotch-irish
The Scots-Irish The second largest pre-Revolutionary European immigrant group
https://www.mcmillen-design.com/scotsirish/pages/scotsirish.html
Scotch, Scottish and Scots-Irish By David A. Fryxell
http://www.tartansauthority.com/tartan/tartan-today/finding-your-tartan/scotch-irish
