>> Not many of our ancestors here in the South, especially the ScotsIrish
>> sort from whom I'm descended on most of one side, Campbells and Clarks,
> Campbells are Highland Scots and not likely to have been Scot-Irish.

That's nuts. The Campbell lands are the closest to Ireland of any part
of Scotland - you can *see* Ireland from there, all the way from Kintyre
to Islay. The Campbells were among the first groups to participate in
the 17th century Plantation.


> Highland Scots came directly to the Carolinas -- Cape Fear area of North
> Carolina and Pee Dee River area of South Carolina in the 18th century.

Which is true, but it doesn't mean some didn't arrive via Ireland as well.

Whatever the ingredients, TMO's characterization of the cooking methods
makes historical sense.


> Tea cakes are cookies, not pancakes. [...]

Here you need to translate, because I've never yet figured out what the
exact denotation of "cookie" in US English is, despite having lived in
the US for a couple of years. It doesn't seem to be exactly the same
as what we call a "biscuit". The nearest I can think to what you seem
to mean would be what we call a fruit scone.


> I simply have a thesis that their origin was in Scotland because "tea"
> as a light meal originated in Scotland in the 18th century and there
> was a large immigration of Scots to the South in the 18th century.

The social class that had time to spare for "light meals" (most people
didn't) must have overlapped with the owners of ovens, so maybe it
would make sense that such a food was oven-baked from the start. What
that says about where it came from I have no idea. The Aberdeen UP
Scots Dictionary says your sense of "tea" is of 20th century origin
in Scotland and doesn't list "teacake" as being specifically Scots at
all. Most people in Scotland would now assume "teacake" always meant
a Tunnocks one (google for it, they're legendary).

Maybe I should post Adam McNaughton's song about the history of the
Tunnock's Caramel Wafer here.

============== j-c ====== @ ====== purr . demon . co . uk ==============
Jack Campin: 11 Third St, Newtongrange EH22 4PU, Scotland | tel 0131 660 4760
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