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Canada marks Clearances



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Published Date: 06 September 2008
THEIR forefathers were among those forced to leave Scotland who sought a new life on the other side of the Atlantic.
Now descendants of the 18th Century emigrants who settled in Canada are being urged to return "home" next year and join the Homecoming Scotland celebrations.

Michael Russell, the environment minister, will today officially unveil a 10ft statue in Canada commemorating the tens of thousands of Scots forced to leave their homes during the Highland Clearances.

The sculpture, named The Exiles, is based on The Emigrants, a statue dedicated to Clearance victims in Helmsdale, Sutherland.

Mr Russell said: "There are an estimated 100 million people around the world who claim Scottish ancestry. The Scottish Government greatly values the members of this worldwide family, who are among the best ambassadors for Scotland."





The full article contains 134 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
Page 1 of 1

  • Last Updated: 05 September 2008 10:03 PM
  • Source: The Scotsman
  • Location: Edinburgh
 
1

scotscanadian,

Waterloo, 06/09/2008 00:46:21
It would have been a good idea to identity the city where this staue is located. Canada is a very large country. I presume this statue is the one located in Winnipeg, Manitoba
2

MarkInAlpine,

Alpine, Texas 06/09/2008 00:47:55
I'm one of those 100 million. Two of my four grandparents had more than 50% Scottish blood.
Thank you Scotland (except for the Essential Familial Tremors, known in my family as the "Eliott Shakes")
3

Scullion,

Canada 06/09/2008 01:51:02
The Highland Clearances gave the final kick in the teeth to the highly romanticized clan system. Clan chiefs had no compunction throwing out their kin who were not protected by Scots law.
Still, the U.S. and Canada benefitted greatly by their hardy presence.
4

Guga II,

Rockall 06/09/2008 03:15:58
#3 Scullion.

Not forgetting the English Duke of Sutherland who started it all.
5

Sierra Foothills Scot,

Diamond Springs 06/09/2008 03:35:14
#3 Scullion

Some clan chiefs and chieftains (admittedly not many) accompanied their people into exile.
6

radge dug,

Alba gu brath! 06/09/2008 07:33:08
It should be remembered that the 'Scotsman' supported the clearances. They saw it as part of the struggle against the 'Celtic race'.

150 years on, they're still printing Labour press releases for Unionist propaganda.

Cuimhnich na thachair, ach gluais air adhart.
7

drunken proffet,

Tassy 06/09/2008 08:00:48
Well that is one thing you cannot blame on the English. As far as I know, Scottish Aristocracy with help from the Church of Scotland (at that time since there are different branchs). You could also mention First World War clearances, Second World War Clearances, Labour Party clearances, Conservative Party clearances etc, all contributed to making the UK the place it is today. I would suggest a wailing wall in the Royal Mile where tourists can stop, bash their heads against the wall and wail a bit. Then head for the nearest pub and get legless, preferably on a nice malt. (without coke or lemonade). That way not only can they not remember why they went to Scotland but they will come back next year to try and find out.
8

donald,

glasgow 06/09/2008 08:30:19
After Culloden Highland Chiefs had to swaer allegiance to the Hunoverian Crown. Many didn't, but they found the nearst relaive that did. Most chiefs held the land in trust for the clann. The Heritable Jurisdictions Acts turned them into estate owners, as in the English Manorial system, providing their sons were educated South, turning them into the absentee, Anglicised landowners of today. The clan system was well and truly smashed, proscribing the native dress and musical instruments, unless they joined the Brutish Army. The language and culture was well and truly ridiculed, creating the North British cringers of today.
9

Scythia,

06/09/2008 08:59:19
No7 - Thanks for that informative and well thoughtout comment. You can now go back to your beloved SUN now.


The clan chiefs were Anglizided post Culloden. The British/English Government enacted laws which basically encouraged them to own properties in England, and to educate themselves on the English ways and the chiefs became detached from their own people.

Between 1746 - 1850 , +70k families were forcibly evicted to make way for sheep, and for sport. If such an event had ocurred today it would rightly be called Ethnocide. Would this have happened had they been Anglo-Saxons ?

Around 1820 the MacDonnell's of Glengarry were cleared from Knoydard and most ended up in Ontario. In
the 1980's the same Knoydard, was sold to an Essex Businessman by the so called National Trust for Scotland ( a membership driven organisation). The said businessman then chopped up the land in small holdings and flogged to English buyers for 20-40k plot. Knoydard as is much of the Highlands has few Scots living there, as can be seen by the Gilbert and Sullivan appreciation societies, Anglican churches popping up everywhere, more evidence of Ethnocide.


Respected journalist George Rosie ,made an STV documentary in the 80's title "The Englishing of Scotland". One of his findings was that 90% of Scottish
nobility were English born and/or Educated despite their Scottish roots, a statistic found right across the upper stratum of Scottish life.

As for the Homecoming, I warmly welcome them because they are more Scots blood in them that 20% of the people living here who call thems elves Scots. Nortb America's gain is Scotlands loss.
10

Pilrig.,

Livingston 06/09/2008 09:11:15
9 - North America's gain was truly Scotland's loss. Ignore the revisionists who claim that the Highland Clearances were an act of benevolence. There's plenty of evidence that they weren't such a thing.

One only needs to visit the remains of the village of Badbea on the Caithness/Sutherland border. This was a village created for the crofters evicted from Kildonan . It's literally on a cliff-edge, the soil is rocky and incapable of yielding food. Whoever put the Kildonan refugees in this site certainly didn't do so out of love for their fellow man.
11

fred bloggs,

Edinburgh 06/09/2008 09:16:52
4: Typically Guga lets his anglophobia distort history.

The Sutherland clearance did not begin until 1807.
12

Calum Crubag,

Dùn Eideann 06/09/2008 09:28:27
Scots were involved and we only need to hear the anti-Gaelic views of some Scots today to know that many are ignorant of their own country's culture and history.

On the other hand - the Scots' nobility, the clan cheifs etc were ANGLICISED. Not Norsefied, Francofied or Germanicised. Equally, you can find that many native Americans, Indians, Aboriginies etc were complicit with the invading 'British' Empire. But would you blame the Anglo-invasion of India on the Indians?

So yeah, many natives were complicit - it's human nature. But the buck stops with London. Greed and the lust for power drove the English all over the globe to detriment of many native cultures. Wales, Scotland and Ireland merely fell first.
13

drunken proffet,

Tassy 06/09/2008 10:14:49
Hi Scythia, I did not know the Sun had a website. However my comment was that today it does not matter a damn what previous generations did, but rather what present generations achieve. If the present generations of the aristocracy were educated in England and are not too inbred to understand what requires to be done with their estates in Scotland, well God love them. (OK, OK it is only the English aristocracy are inbred). As far as I know, and I am not a scholar, the Church of Scotland was not Anglicised and yet they supported (or had to support, since the laird usually paid the church stipend) the clearances. I believe at that time the Free Church of Scotland was formed to combat this devilish attitude. For all the Scots that welcomed the English gold, there were also those that refused it. Needless to say their families disappeared into history and only the bad guys remained. I would say that most of my information comes from a bottle of Ballantynes, so unless you have access to the same bottle, I do not accept criticism. ps I used to read the Bulletin as well however I do not think they are on the internet.

 

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