rednex

[sewingtwiggy]

why are american red necks called red necks? 

cheer

[Quizmonster]

'Redneck' has been a derogatory term used by one social/religious group about another for a very long time. For example, in parts of England it was used by Protestants to refer to Catholics and that situation was reversed in the Southern States of the USA. Likewise, Afrikaaners in South Africa applied the name 'rooinek' to the English settlers. More generally, though, it has been applied by the upper classes to the lower, labouring classes, presumably because the latter had to toil in the fields and got sunburnt as a result!
The earliest recorded written use of the word is in a book by A. Royall called 'Southern Tour'. It says: "Red Necks, a name bestowed upon the Presbyterians of Lafayetteville".

[arty7774]

The word redneck is first cited in Scotland, where it referred to supporters of the National Covenant and The Solemn League and Covenant, otherwise known as Covenanters - largely lowland Presbyterians.

The Covenanters in the mid-17th Century signed documents that stated Scotland desired the Presbyterian form of church government and would not accept the Church of England as its official state church. Many Covenanters signed the documents in their own blood to signify that they would spill their blood to keep the Church of England from becoming the official church, and wore red pieces of cloth around their necks as distinctive insignia - hence the term Redneck.

These Scottish Presbyterians migrated from their lowland Scottish home to Ulster (the northern province of Ireland) during the 17th Century and soon settled in considerable numbers in North America across the 18th Century. One etymological theory holds that since many Scots-Irish Americans who settled in Appalachia and the South were Presbyterian, the term was bestowed upon them and their descendants.

[Quizmonster]

That's an interesting story, Arty, but the scholars at The Oxford English Dictionary have found no written use of the word prior to the 1830 Ann Royall version I quoted in my earlier response.
I'd certainly be glad to hear where the word was first cited in Scotland...and so, I'm sure, would they!

[sewingtwiggy]

Thanx for both answers,  both make sense....... cheers