Page:Glossary of words in use in Cornwall.djvu/134

 INTRODUCTION. In the earlier part of the reign of Elizabeth the Iriflh language was generally spoken by the people in the North-east of Ireland, the exceptions being in some few centres of English occupation, such as Cairickfergas, Belfast, the shores of Strangf ord Lough, the neighbour- hood of Ardglass, and that of Carlingford. During Elizabeth's reign considerable numbers of English, and of Lowland Scots, came oyer and settled in the thinly-populated terri- tories of Antrim and Down ; their leaders got grants of lands, and the native inhabitants moved away to less accessible districts of the coimtry, or, to some extent, took service with the new-comers. This influx of English and Scotch settlers marks the introduction of English as a generally-spoken language into Antrim and Down. In the succeeding reign the number of English-speaking settlers was largely augmented, for as the forests were cut down the space available for colonization increased, and after the flight of the Earls of Tyrone and Tyrconnell in 1607, many Scotch settlers came into the district, along with Welsh and English. Still later, after the quelling of the rebellion of 1641, by the Parliamentary armies the number of English-speaking settlers was further increased, and for a considerable time afterwards a slow and gradual immigration went on, chiefly of Scots. Bichard Dobbs, Esq., writes thus in May, 1683, while speaking of the traffic between Scotland and the North of Ireland: — ''Only people (with all their goods upon their backs) land here from Scotland. Take in from Glenarm to Donaghadee and the ports a 2