By 1775 thousands of Highlanders had come to the colony. Alexander McAllister wrote to relatives urging them, “Well to take currage and com to this country it will be of benifite to the rising generation.” Others did follow. Letters written back to Scotland encouraged further immigration. The first organized immigration of Highlanders to North Carolina came in 1739, when 350 people from Argyllshire journeyed to Wilmington and up the Cape Fear River to settle in what became Cumberland County. The combination of these changes resulted in the displacement of many people from the land. Sheepherding, a profitable industry that took land away from farming, was also introduced to the Highlands. Improvements in farming methods, such as the introduction of the metal plow, and a change in the allocation of land to tenants enabled the production of food by fewer people. A marked increase in population-due to the introduction of the smallpox vaccine and the building of roads that allowed easier availability of imported food during times of starvation-put pressure on a region that already had meager resources. The aftermath of this defeat included the victors’ taking weapons from the Highlanders forbidding clan members to give military service to their chief putting clansmen under the jurisdiction of the law, rather than their chief forbidding the wearing of Highlanders’ native tartans, or plaids and requiring all schooling to be conducted in English, rather than the Highlanders’ native Gaelic language. The Highland army of “Bonnie Prince Charlie” was defeated at Culloden Moor in 1746 by Scottish and English forces.

Many Highland clans supported Charles Edward Stuart-whose grandfather had been King James II of England-in his attempt to take the English throne from King George II.

Scotland experienced changes in the mid-1700s that resulted in thousands of Highlanders emigrating. They, in turn, gave him obedience, military service, and land rents. The clan chief-who was related by blood to clan members-provided land for members to farm. The landscape promoted isolation and independence, and as late as the early 1700s, Highland society was structured along a tribal clan system. In the 1700s it was a poor region where the staple foods were oatmeal and beef. The Highlands are a beautiful but rugged land of mountainous, rocky terrain and harsh winters. The Highland Scots are unique in the way they moved in large, organized groups directly from their homeland to the North Carolina colony. Highlanders are descendants of Celts who settled in the northern mainland and islands of Scotland, which is part of Great Britain. The surnames Campbell, McNeill and Stewart, and the prevalence of Presbyterian churches are two of the legacies of Highland Scots who immigrated to North Carolina. See also: Scottish Settlers Argyll Colony Highland Games Gaelic Language Crofter Immigration Tar Heel Junior Historian Association, NC Museum of History Reprinted with permission from the Tar Heel Junior Historian, Spring 2006.

Highlander scotland