Belly,

OK, so you asked them their religion, glad to know that the Catholics, Non-Conformists and Atheists were not involved.

I'm comforted; also in India, still a bit Jet Forwarded.

//OK, so you asked them their religion//

As it turns out, there's no need. Once again wikipedia has the answer: yes, hillbillies are predominantly Protestant.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillbilly#Etymology_and_history

Toni,

"..yes, hillbillies are predominantly Protestant."

but not exclusively.

Belly's "hillbillies" seem more like hippies than hillbillies.

Dear Is Mise,

A Benn Hamilton was convicted earlier this year on dog fighting charges in SA. Hamilton is a Scottish name and Scotland is hardly a Catholic stronghold.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-04-17/dog-fighting-man-benn-christopher-hamilton-jailed/9667214

He is unlikely to be a recent migrant of the type you were trying to pin this disgusting practice on.

I would wager that the Queensland group are probably of similar linage. Therefore I think until we know more WASP hillbillies is probably an apt description at this stage and your attempted 'dog whistle' politics has well and truely run out of puff.

//Belly's "hillbillies" seem more like hippies than hillbillies.//

Hippies running dog-fighting rings? That doesn't sound like any hippies I've ever met. Watching two dogs try to kill each other doesn't seem very mellow, man. That sort of thing that would harsh a hippy's vibe.

I'm not sure if we're quite on the same page when it comes to what makes a hippy. I tend to think of these guys:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBO_x01Zze4

As you can see, far too busy smoking pot and smelling bad at music festivals to worry about training fighting dogs.

Now, your hillbillies on the other hand... well, they're simple rural folk given to simple rural pleasures like inbreeding, alcohol abuse, wife-beating, bestiality, animal cruelty, and these days (and perhaps worst of all), WWF wrestling.

Far more likely to be the sort of people running dog-fighting rings than hippies, wouldn't you think?

Steele,

The Catholic population of Scotland is 16% around half the Church of Scotland figure, so not insignificant being the second largest Christian group in Scotland, my own Campbell and MacDonald migrant ancestors were Catholics (early 1800s) whereas my other Scots ones were solid Presbyterians..

Hillbilly has many connotations and the term 'Redneck" is also applied to Catholics, especially in the north of England.

WASP, hillbilly and redneck are all derogatory terms an' po' ole Berry rilly did'n mean to be nasty, now did he?