Highland Diaspora

The Kiltarlity Craft Class stitchers came together from Beauly, Inverness and the surrounding area to stitch the stories of our diaspora communities and the lasting connections between us, even oceans apart.

This is their story.

The reasons for migration from the region vary widely, largely depending on the time period. Medieval migration, for example, took the form of crusaders and pilgrims, mercenary soldiers in the Netherlands, Denmark, Russia and Scandinavia, as well as merchants looking to sell their wares in key countries like Poland and the Netherlands. Both before and after the Scottish Reformation, Scottish scholars would embark to the wider continent in the pursuit of knowledge including the young Highland scholar James Fraser in 1657.

Perhaps the most well-known movement of Scots is attributed to the Highland Clearances - the forced eviction and poverty-driven emigration of tens of thousands in the 18th and 19th centuries. The Highland Clearances changed many communities from North Sutherland to Arran forever and its aftermath had irreparable repercussions on Gaelic culture across the Highlands and Islands. ⁠While many families chose to re-settle to major industrial centres like Glasgow, others were forced to relocate overseas to countries like the USA, Canada and Australia to survive.

In the 18th century, a number of landowners in the Highlands made money from the enslavement of people on British Caribbean plantations, including in Jamaica and Guyana, while others inherited or married into this money. There are various examples of beneficiaries owning land in the Highlands, using their money to improve their own lives and others with little to no regard for the pain and suffering that has brought them these earnings.