Cahir O'Dogherty in 1607 about 500,000 acres of forfeited land in the
province of Ulster were at the disposal of the crown. At the
suggestion of King James the I. of England, Ulster was divided into
lots and offered to colonists from England. Circumstances, however,
turned what was mainly intended to be an English enterprise into a
Scottish one. Scottish participation "which does not seem to have been
originally regarded as important," became eventually, as Ford points
out, the mainstay of the enterprise. "Although from the first there
was an understanding between [Sir Arthur] Chichester and the English
Privy Council that eventually the plantation would be opened to Scotch
settlers, no steps were taken in that direction until the plan had
been matured ... The first public announcement of any Scottish
connection with the Ulster plantation appears in a letter of March 19,
1609, from Sir Alexander Hay, the Scottish secretary resident at the
English Court, to the Scottish Privy Council at Edinburgh." In this
communication Hay announced that the king "out of his unspeikable love
and tindir affectioun" for his Scottish subjects had decided that they
were to be allowed a share, and he adds, that here is a great
opportunity for Scotland since "we haif greitt advantaige of
transporting of our men and bestiall [i.e., live stock of a farm] in
regairde we lye so neir to that coiste of Ulster." Immediately on
receipt of this letter the Scottish Privy Council made public
proclamation of the news and announced that those of them "quho ar
disposit to tak ony land in Yreland" were to present their desires and
petitions to the Council. The first application enrolled was by "James
Andirsoun portionair of Litle Govane," and by the 14th of September
seventy-seven Scots had come forward as purchasers. If their offers
had been accepted, they would have possessed among them 141,000 acres
of land. In 1611, in consequence of a rearrangement of applicants the
number of favored Scots was reduced to fifty-nine, with eighty-one