Has Scotland moved to North Carolina USA?
Most people would expect to find that Scotland had the largest number of Scots but they would be wrong. In reality the state of North Carolina USA has more people of Scottish descent than does Scotland.
Not a surprising piece of news to those who know their Scottish History. Large numbers of people left Scotland for the New World of America following the Scottish highland clearances. If you visit the Laird of Jura website you will read about how nearly 2,000 people left the Isle of Jura in Argyll and the surrounding areas on a fleet of boats on an expedition that settled in North Carolina.
Some parts of North Carolina even today could still be confused with parts of Scotland. Here are some of the similarities:
The town of Laurinberg is situated in the state county of “Scotland”.
The town high school is of course called “Scotland High School”. And to go with that the School song is the national anthem of Scotland “Scotland the Brave”.
The school has a marching band who all wear the Royal Stewart Tartan. And of course they have a prize winning bagpipe band wearing the full kilt.
The school Football, Baseball and the Basketball teams are called the “Fighting Scots”. (Did you know that the game of Basketball was invented by a Scottish American who was charged with finding some sports activity for youths to play indoors during bad weather? Its true!)
The local college is St Andrews Presbyterian College (St Andrew is of course the patron saint of Scotland) has a huge bronze statue of a highlander in native dress waving a Claymore sword.
The College is also home to the Scottish Heritage Centre.
Feeling hungry? Visit the local fast food company called Scottish Foods using a Scottish bagpiper as its main logo.
The area even has a soccer team called the Scottish Claymores.
We cannot ignore the fact that many local street names are named after places in Scotland including Skye, Argyllshire, Oban, Kintyre.
Do you know any other place which is more Scottish than this town in North Carolina?
Looking for a unique gift idea for someone with a Scottish connection then make them a Scottish landowner.
