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WF
Marshall The Bard of Tyrone 1888 - 1959 The Chronicler of Ulster-American Links Reference has already been made to Marshall's one-act play on eighteenth century Presbyterian emigration from Co. Londonderry. 1943 saw the publication of Marshall's Ulster Sails West. The book's subtitle - 'The story of the great emigration from Ulster to North America in the 18th century, with an outline of the part played by Ulstermen in building the United States' - accurately conveys its subject matter. It is clearly a pioneering work and the product of much pain-staking research. The plethora of similar publications which have appeared over the years all stand enormously in Mashall's debt. Mashall's book reveals the extensive influence of the Ulster Scots in ecclesiastical, educational, legal, political and agricultural spheres. Among those identified are Revd Francis Makemie, Cyrus McCormick, the inventor of the reaping machine; Samuel Morse, the pioneer of the electro-magnetic telegraph and the code which bears his name. Pre-eminent in the world of politics were Andrew Jackson and Ulysses S. Grant, 7th and 18th Presidents of the United States respectively. Ulster Sails West's publication coincided with the arrival of thousands of GIs in Ulster as part of the preparations for the invasion of Europe. Eire was endeavouring to exploit its close links with the United States - the result of the great post-Famine emigration - in order to undo partition. Marshall's contention was that the southern Irish made no significant contribution to the struggle for American independence for the simple reason that they were not there in the 1770s and 1780s to make it. Save for the most modest of trickles, there was no emigration from the south prior to the mid-nineteenth century. Marshall's plea was that Americans should shape their stance on partition on the basis of sound historical knowledge and understanding rather than mythology. Ulster Sails West did much for the Unionist cause in America and gave many Ulster people their first intimation of how significant a role people of their stock had played in the growth and formation of the American republic which was on the threshold of becoming one of two global superpowers.
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