Some interesting chapters on settlement around Montreal, Eastern Ontario, and also around Scotstown. Almost nothing on the area around Richmond. I suspect Richmond area was settled by a mix of immigrants: Loyalists, English, Irish and Scottish. Perhaps they all become intermingled and lost their sense of separate identities. The most documented area seems to be the area around Scotstown-Megantic, where most of the settlers seem to have come from the outer Hebrides, in particular the isle of Lewis. These more homogeneous communities seem to have kept up their oral traditions and history better than the mixed communities; even speaking Gaelic into the mid-20th century.
This books again reminds why many of the Scots immigrants perhaps did not keep up their Scots links, as they were mostly unwilling emigrants forced off their land and betrayed by the local chieftains, power elites and landowners. The Scotstown communities were not so much hanging onto a broader Scottish identity as continuing local transplanted communities tied to place of origin.
There are a lot of shipping lists with dates and ports of departure. One thing I can surmise is that my McLean ancestors probably sailed from Greenock, the closest large shipping port to Argyll.
No comments:
Post a Comment