Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Being a white southerner by accident of birth, I consider myself largely “Scots-Irish.” It doesn’t mean a lot to most of us; it’s just something we’ve always been told we are. I think a lot of us, in turn, assume we’ve some Irish blood and get all excited about the prospect of green beer on St. Patrick’s Day. Actually, the Scots-Irish (an almost exclusively New World term, as I understand) are descendants of Scottish and English immigrants originally transplanted to northern Ireland by England to dilute and colonize the native inhabitants, a questionable practice that repercusses to this day. So, you see, don’t go into a pub in County Cork and brag you’re a Scots-Irish cousin from the States. If they ever figure out wha’th’divil you’re talkin’ about, they might not buy you a Guinness. But hey! It is St. Patrick’s Day, and we’re all Irish.