12. How did Scottish emigration affect Scotland?

Harry Lauder (left) and Charlie Chaplin (right). Two of the highest paid entertainers in the world in the early 20th century. Chaplin was a movie star but Lauder was a star of the music hall. He toured the USA, Canada, Australia in his trade mark highland dress and crooked cane.

1. Scotland now has a tradition of emigration? Our population has been falling and we need to reverse this!


2. Scottish culture and values have been spread across the world. Millions of Canadians, Australians Americans, Africans etc have Scottish roots.


3. The kilt, tartan, sentimental songs about Scotland are symbols of Scottish identity partly because they were used by emigrants as a mark of their Scottishness abroad.

Click here to listen to the Proclaimers singing "Letter from America"

and here are the lyrics ...

When you go will you send back
A letter from america?
Take a look up the railtrack
From miami to canada
Broke off from my work the other day
I spent the evening thinking about
All the blood that flowed away
Across the ocean to the second chance
I wonder how it got on when it reached the promised land?

I’ve looked at the ocean
Tried hard to imagine
The way you felt the day you sailed
From wester ross to nova scotia
We should have held you
We should have told you
But you know our sense of timing
We always wait too long
Lochaber no more
Sutherland no more
Lewis no more
Skye no more...... etc
I wonder my blood
Will you ever return
To help us kick the life back
To a dying mutual friend
Do we not love her?
Do we not say we love her?
Do we have to roam the world
To prove how much it hurts?
Bathgate no more
Linwood no more
Methil no more
Irvine no more.

11. What impact did the Scots have in their new countries?

Angus McMillan from Skye has been accused of the murder of Aborigines in the Australian state of Victoria.

James Ramsay MacDonald was born in Lossiemouth. He never knew his father who was a farm labourer. His mother was a servant. He emigrated to England and became involved in trade unions and the Labour Party. He was Britain's first Labour Prime Minister in 1924.

Andrew Carnegie was born in Dunfermline but his family emigrated to the USA. Carnegie made millions in the US steel industry and in railroads. He was famous for giving his money away for libraries and other community purposes. He famously said "The man who dies rich dies ashamed."

1. Scots migrants were usually keen to educate their children. They set up schools and colleges.



2. They took their Protestant and sometimes the Catholic religion.



3. Many Scots became important politicians in countries like Canada, Australia and New Zealand.



4. Andrew Carnegie from Dunfermline was the world’s richest man in 1906. He gave all his money away to good causes.



5. Don’t forget the Scots in England! E.g. Ramsay Macdonald became the leader of the Labour Party.

BUT …

Scots were not angels! Scots were often guilty of treating Native American Indians badly. The same happened in Australia where Scots sometimes attacked Aborigines. From "The Scotsman":

A SCOTTISH pioneer revered as one of Australia's foremost explorers faces being erased from maps amid accusations that he was responsible for the cold-blooded murder of hundreds of aborigines.

The aborigines are calling for the electoral district of McMillan in the southern state of Victoria to be renamed out of respect for the men, women and children they say were slaughtered by Angus McMillan and his 'Highland Brigade' in the massacre of Warrigal Creek.

The 1843 massacre was one of several attributed to McMillan, originally from Glenbrittle, Skye, and his band of Scottish settlers, who styled themselves the 'Highland Brigade'. They are accused of carrying out a genocidal campaign against the aborigines for a decade.

10. Why were the Scots often successful abroad?

Statue of Robert Burns in New York's Central Park

1. They could speak English . This was a big help in Canada, USA, Australia etc.
   Scots were mostly Protestant and White. This gave them an advantage over other groups at a time when racist attitudes were still common.




2. They were often well educated. (Just like you!)




3. They arrived in fairly small numbers compared to other groups of migrants. This made them less threatening.




4. Migrating in quite small numbers meant that the Scots could “network” more easily.




5. Scots had a good reputation in certain trades e.g. engineering (Think of Scottie in Star Trek!)




6. Scottish culture was popular in other nations due to Robert Burns, Walter Scott etc. This made Scots popular too.

9. What made the Scots leave for New Lands? (Pull factors)

1. British colonies abroad tried to attract settlers. They paid agents who toured Scotland.


2. Companies sometimes recruited Scots for particular trades e.g. railway engineering, stone masons, shepherds.


3. Transport became much easier and cheaper in the 20th Century (Think TITANIC!)


4. Some went to convert Africans and others to Christianity.

8. What made the Scots leave for new lands? (Push factors)

1. Emigration has been going on since the 1700s. Many Scots, especially Highlanders, thought that emigration was a natural thing to do. Many of them also had family contacts in Canada, the USA etc.


2. Poverty, especially in the Highlands where farm land could not produce much food for the growing population.


3. A potato blight in the 1840s caused terrible poverty and suffering just as in Ireland.


4. Scots were sent to Australia as convicts.


5. Highland landowners often evicted poor tenants to modernise the farming methods. Sheep were brought in instead. In some parts of the Highlands, sporting estates were created where rich people could hunt deer. The tenants were cleared away.


6. Some landowners paid the fares of their tenants to emigrate rather than pay high taxes to the poor law.


7. In the industrial areas of Scotland, unemployment was sometimes very high. Especially after WW1.


8. Landowners and charities sometimes paid for groups of Scots to emigrate.
   

7. What helped the Irish to mix with the native Scots?

Glasgow born John Wheatley was from an Irish background. He became active in the Labour party and was elected an MP. He was especially interested in improving housing conditions. When the Labour Party formed a government in 1924, an act of Parliament was passed which allowed local councils to build good quality council houses for rent. Thousands of Scots benefited from the Wheatley Act.

1. Love is the answer! Scottish boys and Irish girls (or vice versa) met and married.


2. Irish people were often very active in political parties. Both native Scots and Irish immgrants benefited together from this.


3. Irish people were often active in trade unions and politics. This was also good for both groups.


4. After 1918, the government took over the Catholic schools which had been set up and began to pay for their upkeep. This gave the Irish community more confidence that they were being treated fairly.


5. Religion became less important in the 20th century. Fewer people went to church and religious divisions were less important.

6. What problems did the Irish experience in Scotland?

This Orange Lodge banner shows a portrait of John Cormack who led an organisation called "Protestant Action". During 1935, Protestant Action organised several anti Catholic demonstrations at which rioting broke out. (The modern Orange Lodge states that it is not an anti catholic or sectarian organisation.)

1. Ulster / Irish Protestants who came to the Glasgow area often had a strong dislike of the Catholic Irish. This caused trouble between the two communities.


2. Trouble between the Irish and the native Scots got worse as politics in Ireland became more violent.


3. Scottish Protestants often attacked the Catholic Irish for religious reasons.


4. The Irish were often very poor and had the worst housing. Some native Scots said that this was because they were lazy or ignorant. (Some of them even said the same thing about poor Scottish people!)


5. The Irish often suffered from prejudice and racism … “What school do you go to?” at a job interview…


6. Irish workers were often blamed for the low wages which were common at the time. Employers often encouraged this by deliberately using Irish workers as strike breakers.

5. What support did the Irish get from their communities?

Brother Walfrid was the priest who founded Celtic FC as a means of raising funds for poor children in the east end of Glasgow.

1. The church was very important for religious comfort and as a social gathering place.


2. The church often provided extra help e.g. a soup kitchen, charity fund raising.


3. Priests were often Irish. They could often speak Gaelic and translate letters from English.


4. Football teams like Celtic, Hibs, Dundee United often gave the Irish a focus for their community.


5. Irish music and dance was often very important in bringing the community together.


6. Education was very important. Irish children were sometimes refused places in Scottish schools or bullied if they were allowed in. The Church organised separate schools for them. These schools were taken over by the government in 1918.

4. What kind of work did the Irish do? What kind of homes did they find?

Scotland's economy was booming at the very time that Irish migrants needed work. Coal mining employed tens of thousands in the 19th and 20th centuries.

1. It was often low paid and unskilled. Native Scots often got the best jobs.
2. They were often used as cheap labour by employers.
3. Many settled close to where they landed. They got jobs in the factories of Glasgow.
4. Iron works and coal mines in Lanarkshire attracted many.
5. Farming was a popular choice. Irish men could already do this.
6. Dundee was popular. The new jute spinning factories needed labour.
7. As they tended to be low paid, they had little choice when it came to housing. They got the worst
8. Overcrowding was common. More people to spread the cost of the rent.
9. Landlords spent as little as possible on housing and there were no laws to force them to improve matters.
10. Overcrowding helped disease to spread more easily. Typhus, cholera, TB were very common.

3. Why were Irish migrants attracted to Scotland? (PULL factors)

The Broomielaw in 1880. Ships carrying Irish migrants could sail right into the centre of Glasgow.

1. Scotland was the closest part of the UK to Ireland.


2. Irish people had been coming to Scotland in small numbers for centuries. It was not a foreign country to them.


3. There were more jobs in Scotland and wages were higher.


4. Irish women and children could get work in the new factories.

2. Why were Irish emigrants pushed out of Ireland? (PUSH Factors)

1. Ireland had very little industry to provide jobs.


2. Ireland’s population had grown rapidly.


3. Jobs in spinning and hand weaving were disappearing due to new factories in Britain.


4. Landowners evicted tenants who could not afford to pay high rents. They also started to use modern farming methods which needed less workers.


5. Irish Catholics were prevented from doing some government jobs. Protestants got a better deal.


6. The potato famine meant that there was no longer enough food to support the population.

1. What this Blog is about.

This blog has been set up to help you revise your Immigrants and Exiles Intermediate History topic