An Historical Account of the Settlements of Scotch Highlanders in America. J. P. Maclean
that she patted every dog as he came into the fort.
So thoroughly was Kentucky settled by the Scotch-Irish, from the older colonies, that it might be designated as of that race, the first emigrants being from Virginia and North Carolina. It was first explored by Thomas Walker in 1747; followed by John Finley, of North Carolina, 1767; and in 1769, by Daniel Boone, John Stewart, and three others, who penetrated to the Kentucky river. By the year 1773, lands were taken up and afterwards there was a steady stream, almost entirely from the valley and southwest Virginia. No border annals teem with more thrilling incidents or heroic exploits than those of the Kentucky hunters, whose very name finally struck terror into the heart of the strongest savage. The prediction of the Cherokee chief to Boone at the treaty at Watauga, ceding the territory to Henderson and his associates, was fully verified: "Brother," said he, "we have given you a fine land, but I believe you will have much trouble in settling it."
The history of the Scotch-Irish race in Canada, prior to the peace of 1783, is largely that of individuals. It has already been noted that two settlements had been made in Nova Scotia by the emigrants that landed from the five ships in Boston harbor. It is recorded that Truro, Nova Scotia, was settled in 1762, and in 1756 three brothers from Ireland settled in Colchester, same province. If the questions were thoroughly investigated it doubtless would lead to interesting results.
It must not be lost sight of that one of the important industrial arts brought to America was of untold benefit. Not only did every colony bring with them agricultural implements needful for the culture of flax, but also the small wheels and the loom for spinning and weaving the fibre. Nothing so much excited the interest of Puritan Boston, in 1718, as the small wheels worked by women and propelled by the foot, for turning the straight flax fibre into thread. Public exhibitions of skill in 1719 took place on Boston common, by Scotch-Irish women, at which prizes were offered. The advent of the machine produced a sensation, and societies and schools were formed to teach the art of making linen thread.
The distinctive characteristics which the Scotch-Irish transplanted to the new world may be designated as follows: They were Presbyterians in their religion and church government; they were loyal to the conceded authority to the king, but considered him bound as well as themselves to "the Solemn League and Covenant," entered into in 1643, which pledged the support of the Reformation and of the liberties of the kingdom; the right to choose their own ministers, untrammeled by the civil powers; they practiced strict discipline in morals, and gave instruction to their youth in schools and academies, and in teaching the Bible as illustrated by the Westminster Assembly's catechism. To all this they combined in a remarkable degree, acuteness of intellect, firmness of purpose, and conscientious devotion to duty.
FOOTNOTES:
[5] Skene's "Chronicles of the Picts and Scots," p. 77.
[6] Stille, Life of Wayne, p. 5, says he was not Scotch-Irish.
[7] Dunlap's "Pennsylvania Packet," June 17, 1778.
CHAPTER III.
The Causes that Led to Emigration.
The social system of the Highlanders that bound the members of the clan together was conducive to the pride of ancestry and the love of home. This pride was so directed as to lead to the most beneficial results on their character and conduct: forming strong attachments, leading to the performance of laudable and heroic actions, and enabling the poorest to endure the severest hardships without a murmur, and never complaining of what they received to eat, or where they lodged, or of any other privation. Instead of complaining of the difference in station or fortune, or considering a ready obedience to the call of the chief as a slavish oppression, they felt convinced that they were supporting their own honor in showing their gratitude and duty to the generous head of the family. In them it was a singular and characteristic feature to contemplate with early familiarity the prospect of death, which was considered as merely a passage from this to another state of existence, enlivened by the assured hope that they should meet their friends and kindred in a fairer and brighter world than this. This statement may be perceived in the anxious care with which they provided the necessary articles for a proper and becoming funeral. Even the poorest and most destitute endeavored to save something for this last solemnity. It was considered to be a sad calamity to be consigned to the grave among strangers, without the attendance and sympathy of friends, and at a distance from the family. If a relative died away from home, the greatest exertions were made to carry the body back for interment among the ashes of the forefathers. A people so nurtured could only contemplate with despair the idea of being forced from the land of their nativity, or emigrating from that beloved country, hallowed by the remains of their kindred.
The Highlander, by nature, was opposed to emigration. All his instincts, as well as training, led him to view with delight the permanency of home and the constant companionship of those to whom he was related by ties of consanguinity. Neither was he a creature of conquest, and looked not with a covetous eye upon the lands of other nations. He would do battle in a foreign land, but the Highlands of Scotland was his abiding place. If he left his native glen in order to become a resident elsewhere, there must have been a special or overpowering reason. He never emigrated through choice. Unfortunately the simplicity of his nature, his confiding trust, and love of chief and country, were doomed to receive such a jolt as would shake the very fibres of his being, and that from those to whom he looked for support and protection. Reference here is not made to evictions awful crimes that commenced in 1784, but to the change, desolation and misery growing out of the calamity at Culloden.
Notwithstanding the peculiar characteristics of the Highlander, there would of necessity arise certain circumstances which would lead some, and even many, to change their habitation. From the days of the Crusader downwards he was more or less active in foreign wars; and coming in contact with different nationalities his mind would broaden and his sentiment change, so that other lands and other people would be viewed in a more favorable light. While this would not become general, yet it would follow in many instances. Intercourse with another people, racially and linguistically related, would have a tendency to invite a closer affiliation. Hence, the inhabitants of the Western Isles had almost constant communication, sometimes at war, it is true, but generally in terms of amity, with the natives of North Ireland. It is not surprising then that as early as 1584, Sorley Buy MacDonald should lead a thousand Highlanders, called Redshanks, of the clans or families of the MacDonalds, Campbells, and Magalanes, into Ulster, and in time intermarry with the Irish, and finally become the most formidable enemies of England in her designs of settling that country. Some of the leading men were forced to flee on account of being attainted for treason, having fought under Dundee in 1689, or under Mar in 1715, and after Culloden in 1745 quite a hegira took place, many of whom found service in the army of France. Individuals, seeking employment, found their way into England before 1724. Although there was a strong movement for England from the Lowlands, yet many were from the Highlands, to whom was partly due the old proverb, "There never came a fool from Scotland." These emigrants, from the Highlands, were principally those having trades, who sought to better their condition.
Seven hundred prisoners taken at Preston were sold as slaves to some West Indian merchants, which was a cruel proceeding, when it is considered that the greater part of these men were Highlanders, who had joined the army in obedience to the commands of their chiefs. Wholly unfitted for such labor as would be required in the West Indies and