| GLOBAL: The Scottish World by Billy Kay |
| Written by Billy Kay | ||||||
| Saturday, 24 November 2007 | ||||||
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In"The Scottish World", renowned broadcaster Billy Kay takes us on a globaljourney of discovery, highlighting the extraordinary influence theScots have had.
In"The Scottish World", renowned broadcaster Billy Kay takes us on a globaljourney of discovery, highlighting the extraordinary influence theScots have had on communities and cultures on almost every continent. The Scottish World: A Journey into the Scottish Diaspora by Billy Kay, Mainstream Publishing "Thaim wi a guid Scots tongue in their heid are fit tae gang ower the warld." InThe Scottish World, renowned broadcaster Billy Kay takes us on a globaljourney of discovery, highlighting the extraordinary influence theScots have had on communities and cultures on almost every continent. Whileothers have questioned the self-confidence of the Scots, Kay hastravelled the world from Bangkok to Brazil, Warsaw to Waikiki and foundringing endorsements for the integrity and intellect, the poetry andpassion of the Scottish people in every country he has visited. Heexpands people´s view of Scotland by relating remarkable stories of thewealthy Scottish merchant community in Gdansk; of national geniuses ofScots descent, such as Lermontov in Russia and Grieg in Norway; of anAmerican Civil War blamed on Sir Walter Scott and initiated in the StAndrews Society of Charleston; of inspirational missionaries in Calabarand Budapest; of Scotch Professors establishing football in soccerstrongholds like Barcelona and São Paulo; of pioneers like Sandeman andCockburn and the Scottish roots of many of the great wines of Europe;and of our amazing involvement in liberation movements in Malawi,Chile, Peru, Greece, Corsica and India. The Scottish World is a celebration of the enormous contribution the Scots have made to the modern world.
"Tosum up. If the Scottish World is not a complete cultural geography(that´s still on the horizon), what Billy Kay does and he does it well,true to his intention of adding "an open, international dimension toour sense of national identity" is weave a web of world – wideScottishness with a weft of critical humour and a woof of knowledgeablefeeling." "…awell researched study of the real influence Scots have had on themodern world in which we can take a proper pride. If you feel the oddCringe from time to time, buy this book to restore the balance everyScot can take through Kay´s words and images." "FromSir Patrick Spens sailing "To norroway o´er the faem" to bring back aprincess fated never to become Scotland´s queen, to astronaut NeilArmstrong, descended from Borderers , who took a "small step for man,one giant leap for mankind", it´s a fascinating journey and one everyScot can take through Kay´s words and images." "BillyKay´s The Scottish World (Mainstream, £16.99), is a ramble across theplanet, and is full of revelations about the Scottish diasporaoverlooked by most historians." "TheScottish World: A Journey into the Scottish Diaspora (Mainstream£16.99) glows with his enthusiasm for Scotland and for other countiesin a lifetime of exploration." THE SCOTTISH WORLD CONTENTS: Prologue Fit Tae Gang Ower the Warld
To give you a flavour of the books contents two extracts are included below. From Chapter 2 A Forgotten Diaspora Duringthe 17th century more Scots went to the Baltic lands of Poland andPrussia and from there eastwards into Lithuania and Russia than tookpart in the massive plantation and settlement of Ulster! Yet it remainsvery much a forgotten diaspora, except among historians of the region.In the History of the District of Deutsch Krone written at the turn ofthe 20th century, F. Schmidt described the legacy in the character ofthe people: The increase in strength and industrial capacity which thisScottish admixture instilled into the German was of the very highestimportance, and it can scarcely be doubted that the peculiar compoundof stubbornness and shrewdness which characterises the inhabitants ofthe small towns of Eastern Prussia has its roots in the naturaldisposition of the Scot. In Poland, the Scots organisedthemselves into a self-help society called the Scottish Brotherhood,whose record book may have been destroyed during the war, or it may lieyet covered in stour in a deep vault somewhere in Russia. Written inScots, English, German and Polish, it was called The Green Book ofLublin, and had detailed accounts of this prestigious organisation withbranches in all the major cities of Poland. In making the seriesMerchants Pedlars, Mercenaries for the BBC, I experienced a late 20thcentury version of the Scottish Brotherhood. It began when I mentionedmy forthcoming trip to Poland to the poet Douglas Dunn. He gave me thephone number of a friend, Rory Allardyce who was working through theBritish Council in Poznan. I called Rory, he knew my work and we hadmutual friends in Dundee. A good start, but it got better. When hecalled me back, he gave me details of a network of Scots who would helpme all over Poland. ´The person who´ll meet you off the plane in Warsawis Drew Caldwell´ said Rory, ´he was in the year above you atKilmarnock Academy!´ The Brotherhood, apparently is no deid yet!In its day, the Scottish Brotherhood had twelve branches throughout theregion, who met at an annual parliament on the Feast of Epiphany atThorun in Royal Prussia. It boasted members whose legacy is stillvisible in Poland and Scotland; Craigievar Castle, Marischall Collegeand the Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen all benefited from wealthgenerated by men like Danzig Willie Forbes, and Robert Gordon; thechurch in Krosno was endowed from the fortunes earned in the Hungarianwine trade by Robert Porteous, the masterpieces in Gdansk´s artgalleries were donated by Jacob Kabrun or Cockburn, and one of the mostpoignant coffin paintings in the Poznan museum is of a fair headed,three year old boy, commissioned by his father, the merchant RobertFarquar. In the 17th century Poland was a European superpowerstretching from the Baltic almost to the Black Sea, and our firsttravel writer Sir William Lithgow left us a vivid impression of theScottish penetration of the country and the maintenance by the Scots ofthe convivial traditions of their homeland! And forauspiciousness I may rather term it to be a mother and nurse for theyouth and younglings of Scotland who are yearly sent hither in greatnumbers, than a proper Dame for her own birth, in clothing, feeding andenriching them with the fatness of her best things… And certainlyPoland may be termed in this kind to be the mother of our Commons, andthe first commencement of all our best merchants´ wealth….Here I foundabundance of gallant rich merchants, my countreymen who were all verykind to me, and so were they by the way in every place where I came,the conclusion being ever sealed with deep draughts and ´God be withyou´ Lithgow must have created quite an impression among theScots and Poles as he travelled the country, for his nickname, LuglessWull, was also an accurate description of his appearance. In a waywardyouth, his ears had been "cuttit aff" as punishment for fornicationwith an unmarried lassie back in his native Lanark. "It cuid hae beenmuckle waur" – it could have been a lot worse, said Wull! While gallantScots merchants thrived in the cities, more typical were the hundredsof lads who shouldered pedlars packs and set off into the Polishcountryside to hawk everything from pins and needles to the finestlinen. So many boarded ship for Danzig that contemporaries reckonedthere were between 20,000 and 60,000 Scots in the country at that time.Better over there than over here, was the attitude of the English. Whenpolitical union with Scotland was being debated in their parliament in1606, this apocryphal warning was given of what might happen toEngland´s green and pleasant land should the northern hordes come overthe wall. If we admit them into our liberties, we shall be overrun withthem, as cattle (naturally) pent up by a slight hedge will over it intoa better soyl, and a tree taken from a barren place will thrive toexcessive and exuberant branches in a better, witness themultiplicities of the Scots in Polonia. The ´multiplicities´ werea result of economic opportunities for travelling salesmen to sellgoods supplied by the sizeable network of Scots merchants in all of theBaltic ports to the massive rural population in the predominantlyPolish hinterland. There, a large gentry and teeming peasantry existedalongside a small German middle class in the towns. In Polish society,trade was despised by the gentry, beyond the reach of the peasantry andvery much in the hands of foreigners ´ principally Germans, Jews andScots. The Jews and Scots were frequently grouped together as people totax, and look down upon. The German craft guilds in Prussian citieslike Königsberg saw the Scots travellers usurping their trade. The toneof their complaint to the Duke of Prussia is typical: …the Scots skimthe cream off the milk of the country, usurp the whole trade and are sobold and so smart withall, that nothing can happen in a nobleman´s or acommon citizen´s house, be it even death, without the Scots being thereat the very moment offering to supply his goods. Given what we know happened inlater centuries to the Jews in the region, it is also chillinglyfamiliar. These people have like a cancerous ulcer, grown and festered,they cling to each other, keep boarders, hire large houses, nay,sometimes oust honest citizens by offering a higher rent, furnishseveral stores, and this not because of their large capital – most ofthem are only commission merchants – but because 4 or 5 of themcollude, so that if we were to admit 1 as a burgess publicly we shouldsecretly create half a dozen of them who would prowl about the countrytowns from east to west and finally leave from the gate with a patchedknapsack… not however without leaving in their place at home a coupleof green boys who would afterwards carry on no better. The firstmention of Scots pedlars in the region appears as early as 1320, butthe numbers increased dramatically throughout the 16th and 17thcenturies. By taking goods direct to the consumer, of course, they wereundercutting the profits and the powers of the burgesses in the towns.So common were they that the words Schotte and Szot covered bothpedlars and natives of Scotland – it was the same in parts of Swedenand Denmark too – while they appear in the native folklore as thebogeyman. In both the Kashubian dialect and in German, proverbialsayings used to frighten naughty children included Warte bis derSchotte kommt – Wait till the Scot comes and gets ye! In reality, therewere few cases of Scots harming the locals, in fact the reverse was alot more common. Alone, and carrying goods and money on remote countrypaths, there are many cases of Scots boys being robbed and left fordead. If that was not hard enough to thole, eventually the wealthyScots turned against them too. By the 1590´s they were becoming toonumerous and embarrassing, so they wrote to James V1 asking him tointervene and stop so many of them leaving from Scottish ports. Thesettled Scots also wrote to the local authorities distancing themselvesfrom ´the disgrace to our nation when such people, lazy and unwillingto work as they are, crowd the streets´. I hae this image in ma heid opuir, destitute sowels daein the 17th century equivalent o sellin theBig Issue on the brigs o Dansk! The puir pedlar image was extended toimply meanness, and the Polish language has disparaging expressionsreferring to the Scots and their meanness. Eventually, though thepedlars settled down all over Poland and Prussia and in specificallyScottish quarters such as Old Scotland in Gdansk, Scotlandsyde inMemel, and the Scots Vennel in Stralsund. Unlike the Jews, asChristians they could marry local girls and were gradually absorbedinto German and Polish society. The first mention of Scotspedlars in the region appears as early as 1320, but the numbersincreased dramatically throughout the 16th and 17th centuries. Bytaking goods direct to the consumer, of course, they were undercuttingthe profits and the powers of the burgesses in the towns. So commonwere they that the words Schotte and Szot covered both pedlars andnatives of Scotland – it was the same in parts of Sweden and Denmarktoo - while they appear in the native folklore as the bogeyman. In boththe Kashubian dialect and in German, proverbial sayings used tofrighten naughty children included Warte bis der Schotte kommt – Waittill the Scot comes and gets ye! In reality, there were few cases ofScots harming the locals, in fact the reverse was a lot more common.Alone, and carrying goods and money on remote country paths, there aremany cases of Scots boys being robbed and left for dead. If that wasnot hard enough to thole, eventually the wealthy Scots turned againstthem too. By the 1590´s they were becoming too numerous andembarrassing, so they wrote to James V1 asking him to intervene andstop so many of them leaving from Scottish ports. The settled Scotsalso wrote to the local authorities distancing themselves from ´thedisgrace to our nation when such people, lazy and unwilling to work asthey are, crowd the streets´. I hae this image in ma heid o puir,destitute sowels daein the 17th century equivalent o sellin the BigIssue on the brigs o Dansk! The puir pedlar image was extended to implymeanness, and the Polish language has disparaging expressions referringto the Scots and their meanness. Eventually, though the pedlars settleddown all over Poland and Prussia and in specifically Scottish quarterssuch as Old Scotland in Gdansk, Scotlandsyde in Memel, and the ScotsVennel in Stralsund. Unlike the Jews, as Christians they could marrylocal girls and were gradually absorbed into German and Polish society. From Chapter 8 To Smile in Ka´iulani´s Eye Honolulu International Airport, Hawaii, February 20, 1975. Itis late in February of 1975, and my friend Bill and I are arriving inthe United States on an eventful flight which has taken us from thesticky heat of Thailand to airports in Osaka in Japan, Taipei in Taiwanand an overnight stay in the deepest mid winter of Seoul, South Korea.We have about two hundred dollars between us, and no onward ticket. Webadly need to find work in the States to replenish the funds, so thatwe can keep travelling. As we approach the line for U.S. Immigration,tired and anxious, we are aware that a visa allowing us to stay in thecountry for a decent length of time will make all the difference. As weapproach the booths, we notice that one of the desks is staffed by ayoung attractive woman…. As he has always been good at communicatingwith members of the opposite sex, Bill decides that is the queue forhim. Meanwhile, I have noticed another desk presided over by a giant,burly, male official with the name tag R. McLeod – this is definitelythe queue for me! When my turn comes, I regale Mr Mcleod with an eyewitness desciption of Dunvegan Castle, the beauties of Skye and theglories of Clan McLeod. The man is awe struck, and awfie happy to hearechoes of his distant ancestral home here in the middle of the PacificOcean. While a delighted Mr McLeod grants me a nine month visa andsends me skipping into the United States, Bill has ended up with evenburlier male immigration officers who are strip searching him fordrugs! Significant eye contact with the young woman resulted in hernoticing his dilated pupils and with his protestations of beingsleepless in Seoul waved aside, he ended up in the search room. Billwas innocent, but they only granted him a three month visa. The moralof the story, my countrymen and women is this… never rely on fleetingglances and good looks, when you have the permanence of the Scottishcard to play! Others had played it before me. Off the street in Waikikiwhere I lived was Tusitala Street – Tusitala being the Hawaiian forTeller of Tales, the name given to Robert Louis Stevenson, celebratinghis gift as a storyteller and writer who spread knowledge of Hawaii andPolynesia around the world. When he arrived in the islands for a fivemonth stay in 1889, and returned for a few weeks in 1893, he wasinvited to address a huge gathering at the Thistle Club of Honolulu,one of three Scottish organisations catering for a sizeable communityof Caledonians who settled in Hawaii for very different reasons.Lahaina and Dundee were two of the world’s major whaling ports in thesecond half of the 19th century. As the Arctic became over fished, theAntarctic attracted a number of expeditions, so you had Dundonianvessels as regular visitors to the port. Quite a few Dundonian marinerscame back to the islands and stayed….others never left in the firstplace when they saw the beauties of the place. They were augmented by afair number of people from Kirriemuir, Glamis and Forfar who worked inthe Scots–dominated sugar industry on the big island of Hawaii. There,the sugar plantaion area of Hamakua was known as the Scotch Coast. WhenI visited the island in 1975, I met an old man who remembered leavingCupar Angus on a horse and trap, bound for Hawaii. Like thisAyrshireman he could recite Tam o’ Shanter from beginning to end, so wedid a shared performance of it which pleased both of us greatly. Therewas another strong Dundee connection. The remarkable wealth generatedin the boom years of the jute industry from the 1870´s onwards, led tothe city´s excess capital going west to finance American railroadexpansion and land deals in Texas and Oregon. One group of jute baronsformed the Hawaiian Investment & Agency Company in 1880 andproceeded to lend huge amounts in the land mortgage business andcontribute to the economic development of the islands. Due to suchinvestment, due to the whaling connection, and due to the sugarindustry in the islands, Dundee for many years had a Hawaiian Consulresident in the city! The most remarkable Scottish Hawaiian connectionthough is one in which RLS became involved in during his time in theislands, and later on in his life in Samoa. Stevenson was intenselyaware of the threat to indigenous cultures posed by imperialism, be itGerman and British in Samoa or American in Hawaii. The writer wasalways on the side of the native culture, and believed that it shouldhave the support of an indigenous political structure as well. As aScot, this was brought into sharp relief in Hawaii when he realisedthat the heiresss apparent to the Hawaiian throne was the an engaging13 year old girl called Princess Ka´iulani. She was the daughter of thelate Princess Miriam Likelike and an Edinburgh man called Archibald S.Cleghorn, a former merchant and currently Collector General of Customsin the islands. RLS was befriended by the family during his stay on theislands in 1889 – and was invited to the royal palace to partake of ameal of ´guid Scotch kau–kau´ – kau–kau being the Hawaiian word forfood. He admired the beautiful Scots–Hawaiian princess, and at onepoint when she was due to travel to Scotland for her education, hededicated a lovely poem to her which ends: But our Scots islands far away Stevensontold the lassie tales of Scotland under the Banyan tree planted by herfather in Waikiki, probably stories of Bruce and Bannockburn, storiesof royal heroism and commitment to the people he served, models ofbehaviour for a future monarch who faced a similar struggle to preserveher own and her people´s independence. Ka´iulani was not able tofulfil her destiny as the last Hawaiian queen – when RLS returned toHawaii in 1893 the political situation had changed dramatically.Ka´iulani´s aunt, Princess Lili´uokalani had been deposed in abloodless coup by supporters of American annexation of the islands.They proclaimed the right to set up a Republic of Hawaii that ledeventually to the establishment of America´s 50th state. Ka´iulani diedof pneumonia in Waikiki in March 1899, in a Hawaii newly under theAmerican flag. When Stevenson returned to Hawaii from Samoa in1893, he had only just over a year left to live. When he rose toaddress the Scottish Thistle Club of Honolulu at their premises onMerchant Street on September 27, 1893, despite the flamboyant red sashand the dashing corduroy suit his countrymen in the packed audiencecould see that he was emaciated and wearin awa tae the land o the leal.But that was forgotten as they were consumed by his brilliant eloquenceand passion for Scotland and her history. I would have loved to havebeen there, to have heard Stevenson with his deep love for Scotlandreach accross the seas and the centuries to inspire the hearts of theexiles. They would also have been touched by the poignant way hebrought his speech to an end. He mentioned that he had been affected bythe recent dedication to him of the novel The Stickit Minister by S. R.Crockett who wrote of those muirland places dear to the exile… Where about the graves of the martyrs the whaups are crying. My heart remembers how. Stevensonadded: ´I feel that when I shall come to die out here among thesebeautiful islands, I shall have lost something that has been my due –my native, pre–destinate and forfeited grave among honest Scots sods´.Such was his reception that he was invited back to the Club on October21, but he was too ill to attend. At its meeting on October 23, theThistle Club elected Stevenson ´honourary chieftain´. Their silverthistle emblem was pinned onto his lapel just before his finaldeparture from Hawaii on SS Mariposa on October 27. He promised that itwould go with him to the grave, and so it did. For the launchof the book at the Edinburgh Book Festival in August 2006, Billycreated a show using story, poetry, music and song associated with theScottish diaspora: The Scottish World Anevening of music, poetry, story and song celebrating the Scottishdiaspora and its influence all over the world. Among the highlightswhich captivated a sell-out audience in the Spiegeltent at the lastEdinburgh International Book Festival were: the French romantic lovesong with a Scottish setting, "Garçon Malheureux"; the hymn "Alteren´sSacrament" by 17th century Norwegian poet Petter Dass, son of PeterDundas from Dundee, translated back into Dass´s ither mither tongue,Scots, by Kay and movingly sung by Paterson; the North East song fromthe Peninsular War, "The Forfar Sojer"; songs of exile like "The SunRises Bright in France" and the Scots Canadian classic written by aBorders shepherd, "The Scarboro Settlers Lament." TheScottish World has been performed at Celtic Connections in Glasgow, theDumfries and Galloway Arts Festival, The Pittenweem Arts Festival, theWest Dumbartonshire Literature Festival and at the EdinburghInternational Book Festival. This was its billing in the festivalprogramme: The Scottish World BillyKay, charismatic and eloquent, writer, performer and broadcaster, isone of the great chroniclers of Scottish language and culture. In thisspecial musical evening, with the legendary talents of Scottishtraditional musicians Rod Paterson, Norman Chalmers and Derek Hoy –members of Jock Tamson´s Bairns – Billy and the Bairns will celebratein music, story and song the incredible influence of the Scottishdiaspora in far flung countries of the world, to mark the launch of hisbook The Scottish World. Some reactions to the event. "Ienjoyed your presentation at the Book Festival enormously and thinkyour book is outstanding. It is an extremely enjoyable and informativeread, well researched, beautifully and vigorously written and wellproduced." "´ScottishWorld´ is the fruit of much research and thinking on Scotland´scontribution to the world through it´s greatest export – its people.Aided and abetted by Rod Paterson, Norman Chalmers and Derek Hoy of theband ´Jock Tamson´s Bairns´ Kay led his audience from the siege ofOrleans, through Scandinavia, Germany, Poland, Africa, Canada andIndia, to return again to the green fields of France. Kay´s enthusiasmis infectious, and his good-humoured guided tour made for a fineambassadorial flourish for any thinking tourists in the audience. Kayand his companions clearly have a potential touring vehicle on theirhands. If it´s already wowed them elsewhere this would come as nosurprise, and if it hasn´t already, it´s certainly something they oughtto consider. Jam–packed with historical anecdote and appropriate songs,Kay narrated and presided over a well–tempered account of Scots men andwomen´s contribution in lands other than their own." "EveryoneI´ve spoken to has raved about it and, for many, it was probably thehighlight of the entire fortnight (and there were many great nights tosavour). So thanks for making such a brilliant contribution to the 2007festival – almost certainly the best of the seven to date." "BillyKay and Rod Paterson attracted a large audience to the Kilted Skirlierestaurant at Loch Lomond Shores. The restaurant has the stunningbackdrop of Loch Lomond, with Ben Lomond´s profile dominating thescene; unfortunately it was a rather dreich evening, and Bill and Roddid not see the scene in all its glory. The audience, sitting in thecomfort of the coffee and cocktail lounge, soon forgot about theinclement weather, as Billy and Rod whisked us away on a musical andoral tour of the globe, from Norway to Hawaii, following in thefootsteps of the Scots diaspora. Billy is a well–known broadcaster andwriter, whose work mostly focuses on creating an awareness of Scottishculture, rescuing aspects of it from neglect or marginalisation. Rod isone of Scotland´s premier folk singers, being a member of Jock Tamson´sBairns and the acclaimed group, Ceolbeg as well as being a solo artistwith many recordings to his name." BillyKay, the erudite Scottish Wordsmith and his musical partner RodPaterson on guitar and vocals were absolutely stunning. Billy´spolished, informal and clever presentation was wonderfully offset byRod´s plaintive and at times deeply moving virtuosity… what a superbperformance by both. The Scottish World is available from all good bookshops in Scotland and from Amazon.
Images courtesy of Billy Kay.
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