Has Scotland moved to North Carolina USA?
Would it surprise you to discover that there are more people living in the state of North Carolina of Scottish Descent than Scots in Scotland.
After the highland clearances where the major landowners evicted several thousand crofters (small-holders) large number of Scots made their way by boat to the new American settlements. One party of nearly 2,000 Scots from the Isle of Jura and surrounding area settled in North Carolina. You could read more about that on the Laird of Jura website.
However what I did not know until fairly recently when I was reading about the town of Laurinburg in North Carolina which is as Scottish as the country of Scotland if not more so. For example:
Laurinberg is in the county of Scotland.
Laurinberg’s High School is actually called “Scotland High School”. And what better school song could they have than “Scotland the Brave” the national anthem of Scotland itself.
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.
Their high school football, baseball and the basketball team are all called the “Fighting Scots”. I hope the football team don’t get confused and turn at a basketball team venue thinking they are playing.
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.
The main local fast food company called Scottish Foods has a Highland Piper as its 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?
Want to become a Scottish Lord or Lady? Its easy enough and can be the ideal unique gift idea for anyone whether they have a Scottish connection or not.
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