The Appalachians: Scots-Irish Connection
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My wife comes from a long line of Appalachian hill folk. For years she thought she was Scots-Irish ancestry, like so many others in the hills.
Then her brother had their genealogy done. Turns out they’re Germans who arrived before the Scots-Irish. Funny, she doesn’t like sauerkraut.
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I didn’t like sauerkraut either until I had wine cured kraut. Now I really like it at times.
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That’s biblical.
No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments. 1 Tim. 5.23
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Hi @BanjoBen Did you get an opportunity to down a few pints of Guinness when you were in Ireland. The Irish call it one of your essential 5 foods. Not sure what the other four might be but I have a notion that they are liquid and they make your head spin.
I stayed with a Presbyterian pastor while in Northern Ireland. His daughter is an outstanding banjo player, Tabitha Agnew Benedict (her husband is mando whiz David Benedict). Tabitha’s parents were super kind and gracious hosts. We played for his church congregation one night then another of his friend’s congregation another night. In between, he recommended a place that had a good pint, and it was delicious! I didn’t realize that it varied from pub to pub. He gave me a good education, not only on the food/beverage fare but also the cultural animosity still present b/t protestants and Catholics, loyalists and republicans.
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Yes there is still unrest in the North. I was based in Belfast for four months in 1973 during the height of the troubles. We had a few encounters with the IRA. Nail bombs, Mortars and Shots fired. Thankfully no one in our unit sustained any injured. The people of NI are really very nice. But the internal conflict is ever present. You will have seen that if you travelled close to any bordering conflict zones.
Spent some time in Derry, or Londonderry…depending on who you talked to!
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Speaking of kraut…
Today in West (this is the city name) Texas, we had a “Czech” Pizza. It had mustard, kraut, sausage and cheese. It was weird and good!
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I love eating down in those parts!
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Same here. We go past there on our way to Waco Surf, so it makes for a fun day. I have had Kolaches from 3 different places this week (Czech Stop, Gerik’s and Slovacek’s). I wonder why I can’t lose weight.
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One of my college roommates had last name Gerik and he was from there. I went to his wedding, a huge traditional Czech-Catholic wedding…it was an experience!
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