Scottish Exodus: Travels Among a Worldwide Clan

by James Hunter

Millions of Scots have left their homeland during the last 400 years, and until now, they have mostly been written about in general terms. Gathering the tales of particular emigrants, drawn from the once-powerful Clan MacLeod, and discovering what happened to them and their families, this history breaks new ground. These are stories of, among other things, French aristocrats, Polish resistance fighters, Texan ranchers, New Zealand shepherds, Australian goldminers, Aboriginal and African-American activists, Canadian mounted policemen, and Confederate rebels. One 19-century MacLeod even went so far as to swap his Gaelic for Arabic and his Christianity for Islam before settling down comfortably in Cairo. Based on unpublished documents, letters, family histories, and the author's travels in the company of today's MacLeods, this is a tale of disastrous voyages, famine, dispossession, and the hazards of pioneering on faraway frontiers. But it is also the moving story of how people separated from Scotland by hundreds of years and thousands of miles continue to identify with the small country where their journeys began.

Genres: History

414 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

James Hunter was brought up in North Argyll. He was educated at Duror Primary School, Oban High School and Aberdeen and Edinburgh Universities.

He was the first director of the Scottish Crofters Union which he helped to establish as a highly effective pressure group with a substantial membership right across the crofting areas.

A journalist, broadcaster and writer, Hunter has published a number of books about the Highlands and Islands. He has lectured in Britain and North America on Highland history and on Scottish environmental and land use issues, as well as making many radio and television programmes.

Reviews

[Jbondandrews · Rating 3 out of 5]

Certainly a great deal about the Clan McLeod but not really enough about their interactions with indigenious peoples.