We have been saying UK for a long time, but, in less than two weeks, the United Kingdom may be no more. A vote on Scottish independence is scheduled for September 18 and this morning came the news, along with a steep drop in the British pound, that a YouGov poll shows for the first time that Scottish sentiment favors independence. That question has been booted around for a long time, and many steps taken toward devolution, including creation of a Scottish Parliament and other concessions to autonomy. But this vote, forced by the Scottish National Party that won a majority in the Parliament in 2011, would be to remove Scotland from the great union formed with England in 1707. The Scottish origins of people in Worcester often is grossly underestimated. Some one third of Worcesterites identify themselves as of Irish roots, but this tends to conceal a important chapter in history. During the late 1600s and after, there was a great Scottish migration to Ireland, with virtually all the settlement in the Ulster Plantation. When we speak of the huge Scots-Irish migration to the United States, we are referring in large part to the Ulster Scots, who had retained in Ireland their customs, religion, and cultural traits. It has been estimated that between 1714 and 1720, more than 50 shiploads of Ulster Scots landed at Boston Harbor. Most famous though are the five ships of 1718, bringing Ulster Presbyterians to Boston. They were not welcomed by the citys Puritan fathers and many moved on through Massachusetts (although a majority chose to created and settle in Londonderry in New Hampshire). Among the three chief places of settlement in Massachusetts was Worcester. The first Worcester colony comprised some 50 log cabins, 200 people, kept busy fighting off Indian raids. It also is said that one of their leaders, John Young, was responsible for introducing the potato into North America. Pressure on these families from local Puritan divines began almost immediately; some families stayed, some moved on to found their own towns such as Pelham and Warren; others moved back to Framingham. It is not necessary to rehearse the contributions that the Ulster Scots as well as thousands of other Irish immigrants made to Worcester. Worcesters Blackstone Canal, linking it to the port of Providence, and thus ocean shipping, began in 1822. It was planned, directed, and built by Irish immigrants and is credited with turning Worcester into a true city. The parade held in celebration centered around Highland Street, as do such parades to this day; indeed, across American there are Highland streets and Highland parks--marking the dispersion of the Ulster Scots through the new nation. My hearts in the highlands, my heart is not here, My hearts in the highlands, a-chasin wild deer. A-chasing the deer and following the roe; My hearts in the highlands; its there I would go. --Robert Burns The Scots are a race notable for achievements in virtually every field. It was the Scottish Enlightenment that spread ideas of reason, science, liberty, toleration, and democratic government throughout England, Europe, and the New World. And the very epicenter of the Industrial Revolution that made Britain, and the United Kingdom, the worlds dominant power for more than a hundred years was in Glasgow. Scotsmen had a disproportionate and critical role in the UKs victory in WWI and WWII. To this day, much of the UKs most potent defense infrastructure is located in the north of Scotland, including nuclear submarine bases and advance fighter squadrons. An interesting factoid is that relative to population size, the men and women of Scotland have won more Nobel Prizes than any other nationality on earth. All of this has worked under the more than 300-year union of England, Scotland, Wales, and, for a time, Ireland. Almost all the tensions now driving the move to independence are economic (big surprise, Scrooge MacScotland? Just kidding). But the sad part, as the Economist pointed out in a recent editorial, is that the fears and dissatisfaction that the Scots hope to address by independence are exactly those that afflict England, the United States, Europe--and virtually the entire West: slowing or declining standards of living, fear that most of us are losing ground economically, a belief that our children may be worse off financially than ourselves, a sense that those who govern us lack the will to fix things, and so on... With the center of governance of Scotland located in London, at Westminster, it is easy and perhaps natural to want to cut the ties. I mean, hey, if Washington were located across the border in Canada, we might be clamoring for independence. But in the United States, it is too obvious that for better or worse Washington is us. This post has run long. In my book on Worcester, I wrote frequently about immigrants roots, including Swedish and Polish, but not as much about the Irish and the Ulster Scots. This seemed like a good, if sad, occasion to do so. The photo is of the Blackstone Canal.
Posted on: Mon, 08 Sep 2014 16:22:52 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015