I researched the topic of the Scotch Irish, and the songs they might have carried and deposited in the Southern Mountains, exhaustively about 10 years ago and am to give a presentation on it in Atlanta at the end of next month (with some need to update my knowledge - and quickly!) I too have reservations about the emigration figures - they may be anything between 100,000 and 200,000 for the period 1715 - 1775, curiously, exhaustive research on entry from the north of Ireland through the Delaware ports shows considerably less activity than was previously argued. The most recent conspectus is probably Brian Lambkin and Patrick Fitzgerald <> (Palgrave MacMillan, 2008)- they summarise a considerable range of sources.

If you want to discuss this further, it might be best to go private since it could get quite academic. jmoul81075(at)aol.com - for (at) read @.