Thanks Plunkett and Victor.

The exchange has been informative and entertaining.

I have a little to add.

The Fall 1989 issue of Caldwell Family Newsletter refers to an Andrew Calwell, who leased land in Ulster Ireland from John Cunningham of Craifield, Parish of Beith, Ayrshire, who first acquired the land in 1610.

The Fall 1988 Caldwell Family Newsletter (avaliable from Caldfwell Family Association, c/o Editor, Marilyn Janda, mjanda@ midspring. com, mentions additional Calwells for the County of Down, 1630, that included John, Thomas, Robert, and William. The Caldwell spelling was not used at that time. It has yet to be established any of these Calwells are my kin.

A map is shown in the Fall 1989 issue of Caldwell Family Newsletter showing the Scottish origins of East Ulster settlers as of 1600-1641. (Reference: Raymond Gillespie, Colonial Ulster: The Settlement of East Ulster 1600-1641, Cork University Press for The Irish Committee of Historical Sciences, 1985.)

This book covers the political, social and economic aspects of the counties of Antrim and Down in the early portion of the 17th century." It will answer many of the questions Victor asked about the early Caldwell settlers.

The events of 1641 and thereafter would likely be of more interest and are barely covered in my April 2002 posting, "Prelude to Caldwell Migration to America." It looks like Plunkett has provided pretty good sources for those wanting to explore this area more.
I had previously posted on 3/17/02 that Gillespie's book has a map showing the Caldwell settlements in Ulster Plantation. This was incorrect. Antrim and Down were in East Ulster outside of the Ulster Plantation.

Gillespie states that other than woodland clearing, the landscape of East Ulster (Antrim and Down) was left virtually unchanged by the earliest 17th century settlers. By 1640 there was a timber shortage as trees were cut for buildings, fuel, and export.

During the Nine Years War most of the records of land title in were destroyed. Sworn statements by local inhabitants were recorded in Dublin as evidence of place-names and title. The earliest title disputes arose because of fluctuating natural boundaries such as rivers. The government sought to eliminate these disputes by establishing townlands with fixed boundaries to provide stability. Landlords required that tenants enclose the leased premises with hedges. Another technique used to provide stability was registration in manor courts.

Harvests of perishable produce necessitated easily accessible markets. Transportation and communication were reserved largely to river valleys. Storms, overflows and deluges occasionally wiped out ferries, bridges, fords, and roads. Local parishes were obligated to maintain the roads in their territory. Despite these problems, Antrim and Down were among the wealthiest counties in Ireland in the early 17th century.

The ease of coastal shipping, despite pirates, favored trade with Dublin and the Pale, rather than western Ulster, explaining in part the separation of Protestant Ireland from the rest of Ireland.

Mail could take up to 12 days between Dublin and the counties of Antrim and Down. Gillespie says this contributed to a feeling of self-reliance and independence from authority.

Antrim and Down's closeness to Scotland provided an attraction to potential Scot colonists, a motley group of individuals with money, those with high social status but no money, younger landless sons of wealthy families, small landowners and tenants, landless laborers, and fugitives of justice.

As the 17th century progressed, there was an increasing pool of landless people with small odds of acquiring land, drawn to the cheap land, secure title, and natural resources of Antrim and Down.

The population declined in the 1630s, mainly because of movement of some settlers back to England and Scotland. Recurring poor harvests was another chief factor. Many of the Scottish settlers refused the Black Oath, a pledge of allegiance to the King, and returned to Scotland.

By 1630 there were about 12, 000 inhabitants in Antrim and Down. Life expectancy among laborers was low, and there was a scarcity of labor. Protestant landowners employed native Irish. This scarcity limited growth and yield on investment, and in turn, led to a scarcity of capital.

Although the Crown forbid leasing land to native Irish, some settlers ignored this prohibition. If the harvests were poor, rent could not be paid.

If the Caldwell settlers were typical inhabitants of Antrim and Down, cattle and sheep would have been the preferred livestock and oats the preferred crop.

By the 1620s, EU exported about a third of the total Irish cattle exports – animals were easier to move than grain. Horses were in short supply, especially for spring and winter ploughing, so tenants shared their animals. Sheep were good for wool and manure.

Many of the surviving records would be found in Dublin, where courts were located and where the government controlled land grants.

Gillespie's book describes in interesting detail the relationships between landlords and tenants and how the power of the landlords minimized the role of judicial officials. The sheriffs were nearly all of large landed families.

Gillespie observes that in rural society social status depended less on literacy and more upon the value of an individual's land and the dependency others had on that individual. The landless turned to their lord, community and family. They depended upon their landlord for defense. The landlord had the right to call muster. The manor court saved the tenants the high costs associated with litigation in the courts of the government.

Holding of arms and family crests was highly esteemed, and especially sought by those who felt slighted by English snubs.

In contrast among the native Irish, lineage was more important than land value or education.

Marriage was based on old fashion values: land, not romance. Family networks kept land intact through inheritance. The eldest heir inherited the main portion of the estate, and the younger sons were given small tracts of land and a profession to discourage litigation that might place the estate at risk.

The landlord services in the day-to-day working of the estate were the more significant
In Antrim the main centers of administration were located in Carrickfergus and Ballymena, in Down, Newry, Downpatrick and Dromore.

Newry was the main center of merchant activity in Down, chosen not for its port facilities but for its prestige value as an assize town. The assize brought considerable wealth to a town by attracting local gentry who had a high demand for consumer goods.

Merchant freemen established themselves in a town, developed trading and moved on to other towns. Their merchandise tended to be very mixed – imports of salt, soap, treacle, needles. Because of the difficulty with coin shortage, the merchants added to the EU economy by building up a complex system of credit to facilitate the movement of goods.

Gillespie's book compares and contrasts colonial life in Antrim and Down with Scot-Irish colonies of America.

Regards, David Andrew Caldwell