Scotland in North Carolina
Did you know that there are more people living in North Carolina USA who boast Scottish descent than there are Scots living in 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.
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.
The main school is called Scotland High School. The school song is “Scotland the Brave” (the official national anthem of Scotland).
The school traditional marching band wear kilts in the Royal Stewart Tartan. But they also have a Scottish bagpipe band which has won a number of prizes in recent years for their music.
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.
What about shopping? Simple answer. Just go to the large Scotland Crossing Shopping Center which has a Rampant Lion as it’s main centrepiece feature. This is the same red lion on a yellow background officially used only by the Scottish Monarch. It’s a good job our legal officers have generally turned a blind eye to this breach of the royal protocol.
As we might expect there are a large number of local streets named after places such as Argyllshire, Kintyre and Skye where the first Scottish settlers lived before coming to North Carolina.
Do you know any other place which is more Scottish than this town in North Carolina?
Did you know you could increase your Scottish ness by becoming a landowner on the isle of Jura and become a Scottish Royal? It makes an idea unique gift idea for anyone with or without an existing Scottish connection.