1

History Works Unit 7

A Unit for History at Key Stage 3

Scots Come to Ulster:

The Montgomery Plantation in County Down

The Ulster-Scots Education Project

2

The Ulster-Scots Education Project

History Works

Scots Come to Ulster:

The Montgomery Plantation in County Down

Key Learning Outcomes

Pupils’ Knowledge, Understanding and Skills

Pupils will know and understand the factors which caused a Plantation scheme to be

developed in County Down in the late sixteenth century.

Pupils will have an enhanced understanding of the concept of significance, in relation

to the Montgomery Plantation’s contemporary and continuing impact on the north of

Ireland.

Pupils will be able to recognise bias and stereo-typing in sources.

Pupils will be able to recognise and evaluate a range of sources, primary and

secondary, about the process and effects of plantation, including contemporary

accounts, family histories and the assessments of recent historians.

In addition, this unit allows pupils opportunities to engage with key curriculum elements in

a meaningful way, for example:

Cultural Understanding – Pupils will evaluate how the Plantation contributed to the

development of a diverse community in the north of Ireland

Personal Understanding and Mutual Understanding – Pupils will have opportunities

to empathise with Planter migrants to Ulster and with native Irish inhabitants,

learning to appreciate different perspectives and experiences.

3

Section 1: A New Life in a New Land

Suggested learning intentions

Pupils will have opportunities to

Consider migration and its contribution to diversity in the community.

Identify the factors which would influence people who decide to emigrate

Discuss the proximity of north-east Ulster and Scotland and the significance of this in

history and in the present

Reflect on the reasons for the difficulties and setbacks experienced by the Earl of

Essex in his Plantation scheme

Respond to and comment on a primary source document about the Essex Plantation.

Background for Teachers

Ireland, Scotland and England in the reign of Elizabeth I

Image of Elizabeth I here.

Scotland was a separate country with its own King in Edinburgh, although that changed after

Elizabeth’s death in 1603.

King Henry VIII (1491-1547) was given the title King of Ireland by the Irish Parliament in

1541.

By the time of the reign of Elizabeth I (1558-1603) the English had been extending their

control in Ireland for several hundred years, but English rule centred on the Dublin area.

The Irish were different from the English in several ways:

Religion — Catholic, while the English were Protestant.

Culture — Irish culture was Gaelic. Different areas of the country were ruled by chieftains

from powerful families who were often at war with one another, but Gaelic culture also had

very well developed literature and music traditions. Although some English had lived in

Ireland since Norman times they had inter-married with the Gaelic Irish and adopted their

culture, with its customs and traditions.

Legal System — Irish law covering issues, for example, such as inheritance and land

ownership, was also different from English. It was called Brehon law.

Language — People in Ireland spoke Irish, a Gaelic language.

People in this period had less of a sense of the nation as a whole than we have today, or of

national identity – i.e. feeling Irish, Scottish, English and so on. Then, people’s first loyalties

were to their families and to the local lords and chieftains they served, in whatever region of

the country they inhabited.

4

Elizabeth’s Policy in Ireland

Elizabeth I feared that England might be invaded by a Catholic European nation such as

Spain, and that the Irish might help the invaders. She frequently tried to get promises of

loyalty from the Gaelic chieftains in the different areas they controlled, but did not feel she

could always trust them. Another way of trying to deal with the problem, was to send settlers

from England to live in Ireland – the idea was that they would make a population who would

show loyalty to the Queen rather than to Irish chiefs, especially if they were given their own

land to farm and make a living on. Such settlements of large numbers of English in Ireland

were called plantations.

Opportunities for Thinking Skills and Personal Capabilities

Managing Information

Pupils should have opportunities to select, classify,

compare and evaluate information

Thinking, Problem-Solving and Decision-Making

Pupils should have opportunities to weigh up pros and cons,

and to justify opinions and conclusions.

Working with Others

Pupils should have opportunities to listen actively, share opinions,

and to learn with and from others.

Opportunities for Cross-Curricular Skills

Communication

Pupils should have opportunities to

Contribute comments, ask questions and respond to others’ points of view (Talking

and Listening).

Find, select and use information from a range of sources; understand and explore

ideas in texts; use evidence from texts to explain opinions (Reading)

Introductory Activity

You can use this activity to introduce the concept of migration, as an aspect of the

Plantation scheme.

Why do people move from their home country to another one? How can

it benefit them and benefit the new homeland?

Display pictures of people from different cultural backgrounds and ethnicities, and/or short

phrases in Polish, French, Urdu, English, Irish and Ulster-Scots. Ask pupils if they can

identify the origins. In brief whole class discussion, introduce the terms ‘migrants’ and

Key Terms

Migrant

Emigrate

Diversity

Plantation

Planter

Primary source

5

‘migration’; talk about migration and ask pupils about the benefits it brings in terms of

creating a more interesting and diverse society.

Activity 1

‘Wanted Down Under’

Encourage pupils to empathise with the migrants through the following activity

Imagine you are moving to a new home in a different country, for example Australia. See

Active Learning and Teaching Methods for Key Stage 3, p. 11 for Card Ranking Activity.

Let pupils in pairs rank the 10 issues/factors they would consider most important if

they were going to emigrate to Australia.

More able pupils could identify 10 factors themselves; less able could be provided

with the list in Resource 1

Let each pair link with another pair. Encourage discussion that allows to pupils to

compare and justify their choices to each other.

In feedback to the teacher, a show of hands could be used to determine which factors were

considered a) most important, b) least important by a majority of the class.

Points for discussion and debrief

Was anyone surprised about what was considered most or least important?

Do they think their parents might rank these factors in a different order? What would

parents consider most important?

Would they (pupils) have any worries about being accepted by people in the new

country? Identify some of these.

Activity 2: Early Migrants to Ulster

This activity introduces the concept of ‘plantation’ – of migrants arriving in part of Ulster

from another place, as part of an economic scheme, and seeking to put down roots

permanently. It illustrates some of the problems experienced by the planters and the scheme

organisers. It allows the pupils to begin engaging directly with primary source material.

Essex and Antrim: a plantation in Ulster

Explain that in 1573, the Earl of Essex who was Queen Elizabeth I’s military chief in Ulster

tried to start a plantation of English people in County Antrim. He brought 1000 soldiers and a

number of men from Devon in England who had been offered land in Ulster. Both the Queen

and Essex were very keen for this plantation to be a success but things did not go well. Essex

soon reported to Elizabeth that his planters were:

‘wanting the resolute minds to endure the travail of a year or two in this waste country’ and

6

‘feigning excuses to repair home where I fear they give forth speeches in dislike of the

enterprise’.

Some meanings:

resolute – determined; travail – hard work; feigning – making up; repair – return.

Explain that this report is what historians call a primary source – a document written by

someone who was alive at the time of an event, and may have been an eye witness of the

things he/she describes.

Whole Class Discussion: Teacher led Q and A session

Read Essex’s report again and try to answer the following questions:

1. What word does Essex use to describe the country his planters settled in?

2. What phrases suggest he is critical of the settlers? What does he feel is wrong with

their attitudes and behaviour?

3. How do you think the Irish people who were already living in Antrim felt about

settlers coming in from Devon? Is there a clue, perhaps, in the large number of

soldiers Essex brought with him?

4. Do you sympathise with the people who left and went back to Devon? What hardships

do you think they had to suffer?

5. Why do you think Essex blames the deserting settlers in his report and not himself for

sending them to Ulster? (Clue – think about whom he is reporting to!)

Activity 3: Migrants from Scotland to Ulster

This activity gives pupils the opportunity to focus on ways in which the close connection

between Ulster and Scotland continues in the present day, and on ease of travel between the

two places due to the short sea journey which facilitates and encourages movement between

the two places.

Display maps and pictures here to illustrate how Antrim and Down in particular are

very close to the western isles and to south-west Scotland.

Access http://www.ribraid.com/ for images of the Donaghadee/Portpatrick rib raid,

an event which illustrates that proximity and how it contributes to leisure, sporting

and economic activity, and to a sense of friendship between the people in both places.

Show of hands – Ask how many people in the class have travelled by boat or plane to

Scotland in the last twelve months? Discuss the reasons for these journeys. Find out if any

pupils have relatives living in Scotland.

Emphasise that Scotland and Ulster are much closer than are England and the rest of Ireland

and that there has been a great deal of migration between Ulster and Scotland, in both

directions, since prehistoric times. Also remind pupils that just like migrants to Ulster today

people came from Scotland because they thought they and their families might have a better

7

life here. The planters were looking for land on which they could build good homes and grow

crops or keep animals for money and food. In other words, they thought they would become

what we might call prosperous.

Get pupils to focus briefly on the contrast between arriving in Ulster today, and arriving in

the seventeenth century before there were large towns with services such as lighting, piped

water, sewerage.

Section 2: Montgomery Arrives in Down

Learning Intentions

Pupils will have opportunities to:

Learn about the process by which Hugh Montgomery acquired land in Ulster

belonging to Conn O’Neill

Discuss and reflect on the methods used to acquire the land

Understand the role of the king in backing a private enterprise plantation on the land

formerly owned by O’Neill

Consider the contribution to the religious diversity of Ulster made by the Scots

migrants to Ulster.

Opportunities for Thinking Skills and Personal Capabilities

Managing information

Pupils should have opportunities to examine evidence;

make links between cause and effect, communicate with a sense

of audience and purpose

Being creative

Pupils should have opportunities to imagine, generate, invent.

Working with others

Pupils should have opportunities to adapt their behaviour and language to suit different

people and situations; to give and respond to feedback.

Opportunities for Cross-Curricular Skills

Pupils should have opportunities to

Contribute comments, ask questions and respond to others’ points of view. (Talking

and Listening).

Listen to and take part in discussions, explanations, role plays. (Talking and

Listening)

Find, select and use information from a range of sources; understand and explore

ideas in texts; use evidence from texts to explain opinions. (Reading)

Background for Teachers

Key Terms

Laird

Meer Irish

Gaol

Presbyterians

Meer Irish can be interpreted here

as the native Irish, people of Irish

Gaelic identity.

8

Why is the term ‘plantation’ used for English and Scottish settlements in Ireland rather than

invasion, theft or colonisation? Montgomery, of course would have argued that he acquired

the land from Conn O’Neill as part of a deal which gained Conn his freedom. However, it is

possible to explain the employment of the term as follows:

Colonisation in itself would denote a colony – but as Ireland became a kingdom in 1541

when Henry VIII became King of England and Ireland under the Kingship Act, the view was

that it was a kingdom of the realm. Following the act of union in 1603, James VI and I

envisioned a unitary British state, where again Ireland, England and Scotland were viewed as

separate but inclusive kingdoms within that domestic agenda.

The term ‘colonisation’ has in itself negative connotations about the aim and purpose of the

settlements taking place. For James especially, his view was that ‘planting’ people in Ulster

would propagate civility and encourage a British and Protestant way of life, which he

believed would bring domestic and international stability (and of course financial gain). The

seventeenth century plantations were viewed as positive and reinforcing means of unifying

the kingdoms under one crown. This is particularly so with the Hamilton and Montgomery

settlements, which of course were fully endorsed by the Scottish king and held up as an

exemplary paradigm on which to base the much larger, government-sponsored plantation of

ulster.

Activity 4: Land for Plantation in County Down

This activity familiarises pupils with the story behind Montgomery’s acquisition of land for

plantation in County Down.

Explain to pupils that some years after the Earl of Essex’s failed attempt in Antrim two

Scotsmen made a more successful attempt at planting parts of Ulster. One was Hugh

Montgomery, a laird (landowner) from Braidstane in Ayrshire, but before he made a start on

the plantation plans, some very cunning tricks were played.

Display a map showing Ayrshire and its proximity to Ulster.

Map showing Ayrshire and proximity to Ulster.

Images of Elizabeth I and Conn O’Neill.

The Secret Agent and the Gaoler’s Daughter – tell this story to the class.

Guidance for teachers: A version can be found in Bardon’s A History of Ulster, pp. 120-1.

Display images of Elizabeth I and Conn O’Neill. Explain that Queen Elizabeth I had

imprisoned Conn O’Neill, an Irishman who was the Gaelic Lord of Upper Clandeboye and

the Great Ards. Display map showing Upper Clandeboye and the Ards in Co Down.

Map showing Upper Clandeboye and the Ards in Co Down.

Conn’s family had lived in the area and owned the land for hundreds of years, but he and his

men had been involved in fighting with Elizabeth’s troops so when Conn was captured

Elizabeth put him in prison.

Image of James I

9

Display image of James I

Conn was still held in a dungeon in Carrickfergus in 1603 when a new king came to the

English throne. This was James I (1566-1625), who also happened to be King of Scotland.

Hugh Montgomery sent a secret agent to Carrickfergus, to get to know the daughter of the

gaoler and make her think he was in love with her. She quickly became so fond of him that

she was ready to do anything he asked. He persuaded her to open Conn’s cell from where he

escaped by sea in a boat that took him to Largs in Scotland.

Discuss briefly with whole class:

What do you think of the plan to use the feelings of a young girl in love in this way?

What do you think of the girl’s behaviour? (After all, she could have got her father

into a lot of trouble by letting the prisoner escape.)

Extension Activity: Role Play

This activity will help to engage the pupils with the historical events covered, by allowing

them to imagine and identify with the characters and some of the tensions and personal

conflicts they experienced.

Pupils should work in pairs on the following scenario:

Imagine that one of you is the secret agent and the other the gaoler’s daughter – work out the

conversation they might have in which he persuades her to open Conn’s cell. How does he

introduce the idea? What objections does she raise? How does he overcome these?

Remind pupils of the following guidance for role playing activities:

Use appropriate body language, for example an arm around the shoulders to show

affection.

Use relevant facial expressions for the situation, for example smiles to show you

are pleased, frowns or biting the lip to show worry or nervousness.

Use appropriate spoken language, for example expressions of love, but also words

and phrases which show the secret agent pressurising the girl into doing as he asks.

Relevant costume/props, for example a key to open the Conn’s cell.

The Deal with O’Neill

Background for Teachers

At Braidstane Castle, Montgomery’s home in Ayrshire, a deal was struck with Conn. The

deal said that:

If Montgomery could get Conn a pardon from the king, he would give Montgomery

half his lands. James I agreed to this on certain conditions: ‘the land should be

planted with British Protestants’, and no land should be granted ‘to any person of

‘Meer Irish’ can be

interpreted here as

the native Irish,

people of Irish Gaelic

identity.

10

meer Irish extraction’.

Conn would keep the remainder of his lands for himself and his family.

Enter James Hamilton

Hamilton was another Scotsman who had worked for James I in Ireland.

He managed to persuade James that he should have some of the O’Neill land

too and in the end, in April 1605, it was split three ways, between Hamilton, Montgomery

and O’Neill. At the same time the King made a condition, that Hamilton would settle English

or ‘Scotchmen’ on the land. This was important, as it meant that the King had given his

backing to Scots people as settlers. Although the Scots were Protestants, many were

Presbyterian in denomination. So from the time of this plantation there would be significant

numbers of Presbyterians as well as Catholics and English Protestants (Anglicans) in Ireland.

Display the terms of the agreement for the class, or present them with copies in the form of a

‘contract’, and then encourage the pupils to discuss the following questions in groups.

Group Discussion – pupils work in groups of 3. This could be reported on to the class, or

alternatively the Opinion Finders activity, or a Hot- Seating activity might be used. See below

for further details.

1. Why do you think King James I made the conditions he did?

2. How do you think Montgomery felt about Hamilton being given so much of the land

he had worked to get for himself?

3. Writing about the deal, the historian Jonathan Bardon said ‘Conn came out of it well’?

How far do you agree with that statement? What had Conn gained exactly? Do you

think Conn was the loser?

4. From what you know now, how important do you think the King’s part was in the

plantation in Down? Does this surprise you? Remember it was supposed to be a

private enterprise, not a state one.

An alternative to this group discussion could be the Opinion Finders activity – see Active

Learning and Teaching, p. 54. If using the activity approach turn the 4 questions into the

following statements:

See Resource 3

1. James was being fair to everyone with the conditions he made.

2. Montgomery would have been pleased with the final deal.

3. Conn would have thought himself lucky to get a pardon and half of the land in Upper

Clandeboye in a legal agreement with the King.

4. The plantation in Down was a private enterprise (business deal), not a government

one.

A further alternative to the group discussion would be a hot-seating activity with King James

I, Montgomery and Conn O’Neill each questioned in turn about their experiences and

attitudes to the deal. See Active Learning and Teaching, p. 36 for guidance.

11

Section 3:The Plantation Grows

Extracts from Montgomery Family History

See Resource 6.

Suggested learning intentions

Pupils will have opportunities to

Explore primary source accounts of the plantation in Down for information on how the

settlement developed

Develop an awareness of bias and interpretation when analysing sources

Develop an awareness of stereo-typing in relation to the presentation of women and

women’s roles through analysing a relevant source

Imagine and reflect on the experiences of the early settlers through role play and other

activities.

Opportunities for Thinking Skills and Personal Capabilities

Managing information

Pupils should have opportunities to examine evidence;

make links between cause and effect, communicate with a sense

of audience and purpose

Being creative

Pupils should have opportunities to imagine, generate, invent.

Working with others

Pupils should have opportunities to adapt their behaviour and language to suit different

people and situations; to give and respond to feedback.

Opportunities for Cross Curricular Skills

Contribute comments, ask questions and respond to

others’ points of view. (Talking and Listening).

Listen to, take part in discussions, explanations, role plays. (Talking and Listening)

Find, select and use information from a range of sources; understand and explore

ideas in texts; use evidence from texts to explain opinions. (Reading)

Communicate information, feelings and ideas in a clear and organised way. (Writing)

Activity 5

Background for Teachers

These extracts are taken from The Montgomery Manuscripts: (1603-1706), ed. by Rev

George Hill (Belfast, 1869). The author, William Montgomery, was a descendant of Hugh

Montgomery and was writing a family history, at some distance in time from the plantation

events and characters he describes. As such, he was not an eye witness of the plantation as it

developed and may have had a personal interest in presenting the events and characters

Key Terms

Woodkerne

Descendant

Priorities

Stereo-typing

12

sympathetically.

Extract 1

1605-6: Sir Hugh Montgomery returned to Ayrshire and persuaded many of his tenants and

neighbours to join him in Ulster. But what was the Ards area of Co Down like in the early

17th

century? In an account written at the end of the 17th

century by a descendant of Hugh

Montgomery, whose name was William Montgomery, we learn that in 1606 the country was

more wasted than America … in all those parishes 30 cabins could not be found, nor any

stone walls, but ruined roofless churches, and a few vaults at Grey Abbey, and a stump of an

old castle in Newton, in each of which some gentlemen sheltered themselves…But Sir Hugh

in the spring brought with him … smiths, masons, carpenters … They soon made cottages

and booths for themselves, because sods and saplings of ashes, alders and birch trees with

rushes for thatch, and bushes for wattles, were at hand.

Discuss in Pairs

1. What jobs did the people whom Montgomery brought to County Down do?

2. Why were people who did these jobs needed?

3. How easy or difficult would it have been to set up home in the countryside as it is

described here?

4. How did the planters use what was available to transform it? (Find out from an

internet search what wattles are.)

5. Identify the personal qualities and characteristics the planters would have needed to

possess in order to succeed in this environment?

Follow with a whole class feedback and debrief session and include the following issues

in the discussion:

What do you think the people’s first reactions were when they saw the ‘wasted’

countryside they had come to settle in?

What about the Irish people who were already living in the area? What feelings might

they have had towards the Planters? How do you think the two groups got on

together?

Extension Activity

The following activity will help pupils imagine how settlers, as individual human beings,

may have grappled with the decision of whether or not to set out for a new life in Ulster. The

purpose is to develop pupil understanding of the potential personal conflicts raised for

individuals by the prospect of taking part in the Montgomery scheme.

Role play: In pairs. Either of the following:

1. You are Malcolm Bell, a blacksmith in Braidstane, Ayrshire and have quite a good

business. You have just had a visit from Sir Hugh and he has promised that he will set

13

you up as a blacksmith in Ulster if you will take part in his plantation scheme. Discuss

with your wife whether you will go or not. (Think of the factors that would influence

you to take up the offer, and the issues that would make you think twice.)

2. One of you is Hugh Montgomery, the other is Jamie Broon, a poor man, one of his

tenants. Hugh offers land to Jamie if he will go to Ulster and start farming there.

Jamie is tempted to accept, but he has an elderly mother to look after. Will he risk

taking her to a new life in Ulster? Will he be too afraid of offending his landlord to

refuse? Work out the conversation he and Montgomery might have.

In groups of six, pupils could present their role plays to each other and assess,

using ‘Two Stars and a Wish’. See Active Teaching and Learning, p. 73.

Alternatively, the characters of Malcolm and Jamie could be questioned in a hot-

seating activity involving pupils working in groups of five. See Active Teaching

and Learning, p. 36.

Remind pupils again of the guidance for adopting and maintaining a role, as explained

above.

Activity 6: The Scottish Connection

Guidance for teachers

A prelude to this activity might include the following:

Picture to illustrate a woodkern with this explanation: A woodkerne was a soldier who fought

for one of the great Irish chieftains. They were often angry when new settlers arrived and

took over the land, so they attacked them, and stole their goods and cattle.

Emphasise to the pupils that there were ‘meer Irish’ (see above), supporters of Conn O’Neill

living on or near the areas planted with settlers by Montgomery. Ask how they would have

felt as they watched the Scots planters arriving and preparing to build homes, plant crops,

clear land for grazing animals. Why would they have objected – for what reasons? How do

pupils think their resentment might have been expressed?

Pupils could be encouraged to think of, or bring in copies of media stories in which migrant

workers today are resented by ‘locals’. Also see the CCEA Migrant Workers booklet, p.11 –

‘Attitudes to Migrant Workers’ and resource 9.

However, if this approach is taken, the differences between the situation and experience of

the ‘host community’ in Ulster in the early seventeenth century and today would need to be

very sensitively handled as the woodkerne (‘locals’) rather than the planters (‘migrants’) may

be regarded as the marginalised group in the earlier period due to the defeat of their Lord,

Conn O’Neill, though this interpretation can provoke debate among historians and other

commentators.

Extract 2

Montgomery planned and organised the building of a harbour at Donaghadee in order to

14

make it easy for Scots to travel to County Down to settle, and to bring in supplies for the

planters. Picture of Donaghadee harbour here. He also began developing the town of Newton

(now Newtownards). Here is a further extract from William Montgomery’s account. Read it

and try to answer the questions which follow:

… in the fair summer season, (twice, sometimes three times every week) they were supplied

from Scotland, as Donaghadee was … but three hours sail from Portpatrick … in June, July

and August 1607, people came from Stranraer, four miles, and left their horses at the port,

hired horses at Donaghadee, came over with their wares and provisions to Newton, and sold

them, dined there, staid two or three hours and returned to their houses the same day… Such

was their encouragement from a ready market, and their kind desire to supply their friends

and kindred, which commerce took quite away the evil report of wolves and woodkerns,

which envyers of the planters’ industry had raised…

Blank map of south-west Scotland and east Ulster here.

Picture to illustrate a wolf.

Work in pairs on the following questions.

1. On the map plot the journey described - from Stranraer via Portpatrick and on to the

places in Ulster named in the account.

2. Select the evidence in the source which shows the importance of the closeness to

Scotland for the success of the plantation?

3. Select examples of how the writer gives the impression that the planters were busy,

hard-working people who changed and improved the landscape?

4. What dangers does William refer to that might have put people off coming to settle in

Ulster? What reason does he give for such stories being circulated?

Hear the responses of the pupils to the questions in a whole class debrief session. Include the

following issue:

William suggests the stories of wolves and woodkerns were put around by people

who were jealous of the Planters’ success. Do you think William might be giving a

biased opinion here? (Clue: William was a member of the Montgomery family.)

Extension Activity: Priority Pyramid – see Active Teaching and Learning, pp. 59-60.

This activity will develop pupils’ thinking about and beyond the information given in the last

two extracts. The question to be discussed is: ‘Why did people become planters?’ More able

pupils could be asked to generate their own ideas and then to prioritise them.

For less able pupils a list of reasons to discuss and prioritise might include the following:

See Resource 4

They wanted adventure.

15

Many were criminals and hoped to escape the law by going to Ireland.

They wanted to create a better life for themselves and their families.

They were hard-working, liked being busy and knew they’d have plenty to do.

It was just a short journey from their homes in Scotland to Co Down.

They knew there would be no shortage of supplies.

They trusted Sir Hugh when he encouraged them to move to Ulster.

More able pupils could be asked to devise their own list of reasons and then to prioritise

them.

Activity 7: Evidence and Bias

Extract 3

William Montgomery wrote his account nearly 100 years after the plantation took place. He

often describes it in a way that sounds very approving, and glowing with praise. Here is a

further example:

Now everybody minded their trades, and the plough, and the spade, building and setting fruit

trees etc., in orchards and gardens, and by ditching their grounds. The old women spun, and

the young girls plyed their nimble fingers at knitting – and everybody was innocently busy.

Now the Golden peaceable age renewed, no strife … or Scottish or Irish feuds … disturbing

the tranquillity of those times.

Whole Class Discussion

1. William is not a witness of the events he describes. How will knowing this affect your

view of the reliability of his account?

2. Select some words and phrases that make the community life sound perfect and ideal.

3. William is a descendant of Sir Hugh Montgomery. How might that affect the way he

writes about Sir Hugh’s work?

4. What other evidence would you look for if you wanted to test the accuracy of

William’s account? (Pupils may need prompting here to suggest eye witness accounts

such as letters or diaries from the period.)

Activity 8: The Role of Lady Montgomery in the Plantation Economy

Extract 4

William Montgomery has quite a lot to say about the part Sir Hugh’s wife played in the

plantation scheme. He describes how she was as ‘active and intent on the work’ as her

husband, and how she organised the building of watermills throughout the area for the

grinding of corn to make flour for bread, which reduced the need for the import of grain from

Scotland. This shows the community was becoming more independent and would have been

very important for its survival. The following extract shows the personal and very practical

interest Lady Montgomery took in new settlers as they arrived:

16

Her Ladyship had also her farms at Greyabbey…as well as at Newton, both to supply

newcomers and her house; and she easily got men for plough and barn, for many came over

who had not stocks to plant and take leases of land, but had brought a cow or two and a few

sheep, for which she gave them grants, and an house and garden plot to live on, and some

land for flax and potatoes, as they agreed on for doing their work….and this was but part of

her good management, for she set up and encouraged linen and woollen manufactory which

soon brought down…the prices of … cloths.

Questions for individual answers, or homework – the focus here is on managing

information

Encourage pupils to carry out investigative research to help them answer Qs 4 and 5. Possible

internet sources they might consult include:

http://www.ulsterhistory.co.uk/clarkejohn.html - potatoes

http://www.discovernorthernireland.com/Traditional-Dishes-A1943 - potatoes

http://www.irishlinenmills.com/ - linen industry

http://www.elizabethi.org/contents/women/ - role of women

Pupils should be encouraged to go beyond these suggestions and search the internet and

school library sources for further information.

1. What evidence is there here that Lady Montgomery was an active and clever business

woman?

2. Why would she have been so ready to assist the new settlers in practical ways?

3. Why do you think it was important for the community to become self-sufficient rather

than to import goods from Scotland?

4. Did the crops and industries – cloth making, potato-growing – which Lady

Montgomery encouraged continue to be important to Ireland in later centuries? What

does this tell us about the impact and significance of the plantation?

5. Does the description of Lady Montgomery here challenge stereo-types people may

have of women in earlier centuries?

Section 4: The Impact of the Montgomery Plantation

Suggested learning intentions

Pupils will have opportunities to

Understand some of the consequences of the private enterprise Montgomery

Plantation

Explore how the Montgomery plantation influenced the King’s decision to establish

an official Plantation scheme throughout much of Ulster

Evaluate the significance of the Montgomery plantation settlers in

the development of a diverse community in Northern Ireland.

Opportunities for Thinking Skills and Personal Capabilities

Key Terms

Consequences

Significance

Ulster

Northern Ireland

17

Managing information

Pupils should have opportunities to examine evidence; make links between cause and effect;

communicate with a sense of audience and purpose; use a range of methods for collating and

representing information.

Thinking, problem-solving and decision-making

Being creative

Pupils should have opportunities to imagine, generate and invent as they experiment with

ideas and questions.

Working with others

Pupils should have opportunities to learn from and with others.

Self-management

Pupils should have opportunities to organise, plan and persist with tasks.

Opportunities for Cross-Curricular Skills

Contribute comments, ask questions and respond to others’ points of view. (Talking

and Listening).

Listen to and take part in discussions, explanations, role plays. (Talking and

Listening)

Find, select and use information from a range of sources; understand and explore

ideas in texts; use evidence from texts to explain opinions. (Reading)

Communicate information, feelings and ideas in a clear and organised way. (Writing)

Activity 9: Consequences Game

The information below can be given to pupils as a resource sheet and used to stimulate

pupil discussion in a Consequence Wheel activity.

See Active Teaching and Learning, p. 17. The ‘main event’ to be explored is ‘The

Montgomery and Hamilton Plantations’.

Guidance for Teachers

Pupils should be encouraged to consider how short term and long term causes are linked as

they discuss and evaluate the significance and consequences of the Down and Antrim

plantation schemes in seventeenth century Ulster and in twenty-first century Northern

Ireland. They should be guided to focus on issues such as the different religious traditions and

cultural identities of planters and native Irish communities. (For different cultural identities

see Background for Teachers section on Ireland, Scotland and England in the reign of

Elizabeth I.)

Evaluations of the Montgomery enterprise are available in the following texts:

18

Perceval-Maxwell, M., The Scottish Migration to Ulster in the Reign of James I (London:

Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1973).

Bardon, J., A History of Ulster (Belfast: Blackstaff, 2007).

Resource Sheet – See Resource 5

As the plantation continued in Co Down (and in parts of Co Antrim which James Hamilton

had received in further grants from King James), the settlements became more prosperous, in

other words many people who worked hard succeeded in becoming financially better off. The

numbers of people grew due to the birth of children, and to more planters arriving from

Scotland. Presbyterian ministers also migrated to Ulster from Scotland (the first, Edward

Brice in 1613). They came to look after the plantation communities by teaching them their

traditional religious beliefs. They wanted to encourage the new generations born in Ulster to

grow up within the same faith as their parents and grand-parents, because they felt these

beliefs were right and God-given, and also because if everyone attended the same church and

held to the same beliefs the community felt stronger and more united. We would say it helped

to give the people a sense of identity. This was comforting to many who had left homes and

relatives behind in Scotland, or who felt threatened by living in a place where, as we have

seen, there were many difficulties and dangers to deal with.

The Presbyterian planters built churches. They also quickly established schools to ensure that

boys and girls were taught to read the Bible for themselves, since Presbyterians express and

develop their faith through personal reading, study and discussion of the scriptures as well as

through attending church services. There are still large numbers of Presbyterians in Counties

Antrim and Down today. We see evidence of this in the many Presbyterian churches with

large congregations in towns such as Bangor, Holywood and Newtownards where many of

Montgomery’s settlers first built their homes. Often these churches are plain, rectangular-

shaped buildings, with a simpler appearance than Church of Ireland or Catholic churches.

This reflects the Presbyterian belief that worship should focus on prayer and on Bible

teaching, with less emphasis on the physical appearance of the church building itself.

Pictures of early Presbyterian churches here to illustrate.

This private enterprise plantation had a further effect on the later history of Ulster and of

Ireland. When the Earls of Tyrone and Tyrconnell, whose lands covered much of the

remainder of the Province of Ulster fled the country in 1607, their territory was seized by the

Crown. The historian Michael Perceval-Maxwell says that the Down plantation set an

important ‘example’ of what could be achieved by putting Scots and English settlers in

Ireland: ‘The success or failure of the Down project could not but influence the king’s

thoughts when he had to make up his mind about the fate of the lands seized … after the

flight of the earls … in 1607. For these reasons the Down plantation was of far more than

local importance.’ King James I wanted the whole of Ulster to be as stable and profitable as

he believed Montgomery’s plantation was, and he thought the best way to ensure this was to

plant the rest of the country with large numbers of British (Scottish and English) Protestants

who would be loyal to him.

19

Evidence that the Down plantation was successful, is that the king felt the process could be

repeated elsewhere in Ulster, this time with official government organisation and backing.

Just a few years later many more settlers from England and Scotland began arriving in

Donegal, Armagh, Fermanagh, Tyrone and Derry as the government run Plantation of Ulster

got under way. The new planters too were attracted by the possibility of getting land and of

making a better life for themselves and their families. They too would have been influenced

in deciding to migrate to Ulster by reports of the success of the County Down plantation.

Pupil Activities:

Guidance for Teachers

These tasks are designed as a concluding exercise in the study of the Montgomery plantation.

They should support and develop pupils’ grasp of the historical events, their communication

and thinking skills, and their historical investigation and interpretation skills. They focus on

the skills of managing information (presenting information for different audiences) and being

creative. Higher ability pupils should be encouraged to do task 1.

1. Write two letters home to Ayrshire. Both should be from people who have moved to

Co Down to take part in the plantation scheme. One should be by a person whose

experiences and thoughts confirm William Montgomery’s accounts, the other from a

person whose experience would make us doubt the accuracy of William’s version.

Remind pupils of the following guidance for writing letters:

Include an address at the top – An imaginary house name, The Montgomery

Plantation, Co. Down.

Include a date in the year 1606.

Describe what you have seen and done since arriving in County Down –

include information about the hard work you have had to do and details of

what the countryside is like.

You are writing to a friend, so you can describe your thoughts and feelings

honestly.

Be careful to bring out the differences in the experiences and attitudes of the

two correspondents.

2. Conn O’Neill’s twitter account – write a series of tweets covering his escape, the deal

made with Montgomery, Hamilton and the King, his thoughts as he sees towns and

farms springing up over his land with new Scots settlers coming in. Does he feel he

has done well out of the deal?

Remind pupils to keep each tweet to no more than 140 characters and to avoid

abusive comments – as per twitter rules.

3. Create a cartoon strip of 6 frames illustrating the beginning, growth and success of the

Montgomery plantation, using lines from William Montgomery’s account for

captions.

20

See eg. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Broons for an example of a cartoon

strip story aimed at people including your peer group.

Resources

Resource 1

Ten issues for introductory card ranking activity: important points to consider when deciding

whether or not to emigrate.

Present as cards – one statement per card.

Are there good schools for the children?

Will I miss my family and friends at home and be really unhappy?

Can I make a living there?

Can I get a house as good or better than the one I live in here?

Are food and clothes more expensive than at home?

Are people who live there friendly or will I be lonely?

Is there anything dangerous about the place?

Is the weather better than at home?

Are there lots of interesting or fun activities to do?

Even if I have to work very hard at first, is there a good chance that I’ll be better off than if I

stayed at home?

Resource 2

Map of south -west Scotland and east Ulster, to allow the settlers’ journey to be plotted.

Resource 3

Statements for ‘Opinion Finders’ Activity

1. James was being fair to everyone with the conditions he made.

2. Montgomery would have been pleased with the final deal.

3. Conn would have thought himself lucky to get a pardon and half of the land in Upper

Clandeboye in a legal agreement with the King.

4. The plantation in Down was a private enterprise (business deal), not a government

one.

21

Resource 4

Statements for ‘priority pyramid’ activity:

The question to be discussed is: ‘Why did people become planters?’ A list of reasons to

discuss and prioritise might include the following:

They wanted adventure.

Many were criminals and hoped to escape the law by going to Ireland.

They wanted to create a better life for themselves and their families.

They were hard-working, liked being busy and knew they’d have plenty to do.

It was just a short journey from their homes in Scotland to Co Down.

They knew there would be no shortage of supplies.

They trusted Sir Hugh when he encouraged them to move to Ulster.

Resource 5

As the plantation continued in Co Down (and in parts of Co Antrim which James Hamilton

had received in further grants from King James), the settlements became more prosperous, in

other words many people who worked hard succeeded in becoming financially better off. The

numbers of people grew due to the birth of children, and to more planters arriving from

Scotland. Presbyterian ministers also migrated to Ulster from Scotland (the first, Edward

Brice in 1613). They came to look after the plantation communities by teaching them their

traditional religious beliefs. They wanted to encourage the new generations born in Ulster to

grow up within the same faith as their parents and grand-parents, because they felt these

beliefs were right and God-given, and also because if everyone attended the same church and

held to the same beliefs the community felt stronger and more united. We would say it helped

to give the people a sense of identity. This was comforting to many who had left homes and

relatives behind in Scotland, or who felt threatened by living in a place where, as we have

seen, there were many difficulties and dangers to deal with.

The Presbyterian planters built churches. They also quickly established schools to ensure that

boys and girls were taught to read the Bible for themselves, since Presbyterians express and

develop their faith through personal reading, study and discussion of the scriptures as well as

through attending church services. There are still large numbers of Presbyterians in Counties

Antrim and Down today. We see evidence of this in the many Presbyterian churches with

large congregations in towns such as Bangor, Holywood and Newtownards where many of

Montgomery’s settlers first built their homes. Often these churches are plain, rectangular-

shaped buildings, with a simpler appearance than Church of Ireland or Catholic churches.

This reflects the Presbyterian belief that worship should focus on prayer and on Bible

teaching, with less emphasis on the physical appearance of the church building itself.

Pictures of early Presbyterian churches here to illustrate.

22

This private enterprise plantation had a further effect on the later history of Ulster and of

Ireland. When the Earls of Tyrone and Tyrconnell, whose lands covered much of the

remainder of the Province of Ulster fled the country in 1607, their territory was seized by the

Crown. The historian Michael Perceval-Maxwell says the Down plantation set an important

‘example’ of what could be achieved by putting Scots and English settlers in Ireland: ‘The

success or failure of the Down project could not but influence the king’s thoughts when he

had to make up his mind about the fate of the lands seized … after the flight of the earls … in

1607. For these reasons the Down plantation was of far more than local importance.’ King

James I wanted the whole of Ulster to be as stable and profitable as he believed

Montgomery’s plantation was, and he thought the best way to ensure this was to plant the rest

of the country with large numbers of British (Scottish and English) Protestants who would be

loyal to him.

Evidence that the Down plantation was successful, is that the king felt the process could be

repeated elsewhere in the Ulster, this time with official government organisation and backing.

Just a few years later many more settlers from England and Scotland began arriving in

Donegal, Armagh, Fermanagh, Tyrone and Derry as the government run Plantation of Ulster

got under way. The new planters too were attracted by the possibility of getting land and of

making a better life for themselves and their families. They too would have been influenced

in deciding to migrate to Ulster by reports of the success of the County Down plantation.

Resource 6

Extracts and Questions

Extract 1

1605-6: Sir Hugh Montgomery returned to Ayrshire and persuaded many of his tenants and

neighbours to join him in Ulster. But what was the Ards area of Co Down like in the early

17th

century? In an account written at the end of the 17th

century by a descendant of Hugh

Montgomery, whose name was William Montgomery, we learn that in 1606 the country was

more wasted than America … in all those parishes 30 cabins could not be found, nor any

stone walls, but ruined roofless churches, and a few vaults at Grey Abbey, and a stump of an

old castle in Newton, in each of which some gentlemen sheltered themselves…But Sir Hugh

in the spring brought with him … smiths, masons, carpenters … They soon made cottages

and booths for themselves, because sods and saplings of ashes, alders and birch trees with

rushes for thatch, and bushes for wattles, were at hand.

Discuss in Pairs

1. What jobs did the people whom Montgomery brought to County Down do?

2. Why were people who did these jobs needed?

3. How easy or difficult would it have been to set up home in the countryside as it is

described here?

23

4. How did the planters use what was available to transform it? (Find out from an

internet search what wattles are.)

5. Identify the personal qualities and characteristics the planters would have needed to

possess in order to succeed in this environment?

Extract 2

Montgomery planned and organised the building of a harbour at Donaghadee in order to

make it easy for Scots to travel to County Down to settle, and to bring in supplies for the

planters. Picture of Donaghadee harbour here. He also began developing the town of Newton

(now Newtownards). Here is a further extract from William Montgomery’s account. Read it

and try to answer the questions which follow:

… in the fair summer season, (twice, sometimes three times every week) they were supplied

from Scotland, as Donaghadee was … but three hours sail from Portpatrick … in June, July

and August 1607, people came from Stranraer, four miles, and left their horses at the port,

hired horses at Donaghadee, came over with their wares and provisions to Newton, and sold

them, dined there, staid two or three hours and returned to their houses the same day… Such

was their encouragement from a ready market, and their kind desire to supply their friends

and kindred, which commerce took quite away the evil report of wolves and woodkerns,

which envyers of the planters’ industry had raised…

Blank map of south-west Scotland and east Ulster here.

Picture to illustrate a wolf.

Work in pairs on the following questions.

1. On the map plot the journey described - from Stranraer via Portpatrick and on to the

places in Ulster named in the account.

2. Select the evidence in the source which shows the importance of the closeness to

Scotland for the success of the plantation?

3. Select examples of how the writer gives the impression that the planters were busy,

hard-working people who changed and improved the landscape?

4. What dangers does William refer to that might have put people off coming to settle in

Ulster? What reason does he give for such stories being circulated?

Extract 3

William Montgomery wrote his account nearly 100 years after the plantation took place. He

often describes it in a way that sounds very approving, and glowing with praise. Here is a

further example:

Now everybody minded their trades, and the plough, and the spade, building and setting fruit

trees etc., in orchards and gardens, and by ditching their grounds. The old women spun, and

the young girls plyed their nimble fingers at knitting – and everybody was innocently busy.

24

Now the Golden peaceable age renewed, no strife … or Scottish or Irish feuds … disturbing

the tranquillity of those times.

Whole Class Discussion

1. William is not a witness of the events he describes. How will knowing this affect your

view of the reliability of his account?

2. Select some words and phrases that make the community life sound perfect and ideal.

3. William is a descendant of Sir Hugh Montgomery. How might that affect the way he

writes about Sir Hugh’s work?

4. What other evidence would you look for if you wanted to test the accuracy of

William’s account? (Pupils may need prompting here to suggest eye witness accounts

such as letters or diaries from the period.)

Extract 4

William Montgomery has quite a lot to say about the part Sir Hugh’s wife played in the

plantation scheme. He describes how she was as ‘active and intent on the work’ as her

husband, and how she organised the building of watermills throughout the area for the

grinding of corn to make flour for bread, which reduced the need for the import of grain from

Scotland. This shows the community was becoming more independent and would have been

very important for its survival. The following extract shows the personal and very practical

interest Lady Montgomery took in new settlers as they arrived:

Her Ladyship had also her farms at Greyabbey…as well as at Newton, both to supply

newcomers and her house; and she easily got men for plough and barn, for many came over

who had not stocks to plant and take leases of land, but had brought a cow or two and a few

sheep, for which she gave them grants, and an house and garden plot to live on, and some

land for flax and potatoes, as they agreed on for doing their work….and this was but part of

her good management, for she set up and encouraged linen and woollen manufactory which

soon brought down…the prices of … cloths.

Questions for individual answers, or homework – the focus here is on managing

information

Encourage pupils to carry out investigative research to help them answer Qs 4 and 5. Possible

internet sources they might consult include:

http://www.ulsterhistory.co.uk/clarkejohn.html - potatoes

http://www.discovernorthernireland.com/Traditional-Dishes-A1943 - potatoes

http://www.irishlinenmills.com/ - linen industry

http://www.elizabethi.org/contents/women/ - role of women

Pupils should be encouraged to go beyond these suggestions and search the internet and

25

school library sources for further information.

1. What evidence is there here that Lady Montgomery was an active and clever business

woman?

2. Why would she have been so ready to assist the new settlers in practical ways?

3. Why do you think it was important for the community to become self-sufficient rather

than to import goods from Scotland?

4. Did the crops and industries – cloth making, potato-growing – which Lady

Montgomery encouraged continue to be important to Ireland in later centuries? What

does this tell us about the impact and significance of the plantation?

5. Does the description of Lady Montgomery here challenge stereo-types people may

have of women in earlier centuries?