Scots Emigration

Scots in Canada: A Concise History The story of the Scots who went to Canada, from the 17th century onwards. In Canada there are nearly as many descendants of Scots as there are people living in Scotland; almost 5 million Canadians ticked the "Scottish origin" box in the most recent Canadian Census. Many Scottish families have friends or relatives in Canada. Who left Scotland? Why did they leave? What did they do when they got there? What was their impact on the developing nation? Thousands of Scots were forced from their homeland, while others chose to leave, seeking a better life. As individuals, families and communities, they braved the wild Atlantic Ocean, many crossing in cramped under-rationed ships, unprepared for the fierce Canadian winter. And yet Scots went on to lay railroads, found banks and exploit the fur trade, and helped form the political infrastructure of modern day Canada. This work follows the pioneers west from Nova Scotia to the prairie frontier and on to the Pacific coast. It examines the reasons why so many Scots left their land and families. The legacy of centuries of trade and communication still binds the two countries, and Scottish Canadians keep alive the traditions that crossed the Atlantic with their ancestors.

Twa Tribes: Scots Among the Native... Americans. This is an enlightening account of three pioneering Scots and the special relationships they had with the native people of North America. Hugo Reid, Alexander Ross and Charles McKenzie fought against the attitudes of prejudice of their day and assumed the language and culture of the tribes they encountered and married into. This is the fascinating story of their experiences and achievements in a land far away from their Scottish birthplace.

Plaids and Bandanas: From Scottish... From droving to driving, reivers to rustlers, heilan kye to long horns, "Plaids and Bandanas" explores the link between the two cattle cultures in music, song and dance, and folklore. The vast number of Scots who emigrated to North America has been well documented, whether through forcible eviction during the clearances of the 18th and 19th centuries, or voluntarily in the hope of a better life. With them they took their culture, their language, their music, and their skills. Cattle droving in Scotland was an established profession from the 16th century, and many such migrants took cowboy jobs in the American West. The medium of music paints a vivid picture of their social and personal lives and the exchange was not all one way. The music crossed and re-crossed the Atlantic creating strong links between the old culture and the new. Lonely men in strange surroundings found comfort in songs that reminded them of home. The author, himself a musician, researched the roots of the songs and the routes of the drovers, provding a text which highlights the links between the Wild West and the no-less-wild Highlands.

Patrick Sellar and the Highland... Clearances: Homicide, Eviction and the Price of Progress. In April 1816, Patrick Sellar was brought to trial in Inverness for culpable homicide in the manner of his treatment of the Highlanders of Strathnaver. This is an account of Sellar's life and times. It shows that he was ruthless and cruel, but also that he had a streak of idealism: did he really believe that the displaced Highlanders would be better off, better fed, educated and housed in their new homes? Have the Highlanders in the end become more productive and prosperous? The author examines such questions as these, showing there is a case for Sellar's defence as well as for his prosecution.

The Highland Clearances In this account of the Highland Clearances of the 18th century, Eric Richards draws attention to the brutal evictions as being one amongst many solutions to the problem of maintaining marginal and unfertile land and reasserts that as we enter the 21st century, we have yet to find a solution.

The Stonemason: Donald Macleod's... Chronicle of Scotland's Highland Clearances.

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