HIGHLAND CLEARANCES, HENRY DUNDAS, AND THE SCOTTISH SLAVE TRADE: Oh, and the Duke of Sutherland

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  • čas přidán 15. 06. 2020
  • In HIGHLAND CLEARANCES, HENRY DUNDAS, AND THE SCOTTISH SLAVE TRADE: And the Duke of Sutherland Scottish history tour guides Bruce Fummey links three of the tales from Scotlands History that are too often obscured. At the time of filming we are in the middle of a discussion of Black Lives Matter #BLM. The debate about racial justice has often focused on controversial statues, Henry Dundas the most prominent. The Scottish slave trade is almost forgotten in our consciousness, but the Highland clearances remain.
    Even Robert the Bruce has been bizarrely brought into the recent statue debate. I hope this video provides a broad context
    Three ways to help Scotland History Tours video productions at www.scotlandhistorytours.co.u...
    Here's a video explaining the three ways to help me make more videos • Crowdfunding Options t...
    If you enjoy the Scotland History Tours videos then you can help support on a one off or regular basis by making a donation at Buy Me a Coffee Just click the link
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    Drone pilots were Liam McNamara
    and Alan Stewart / @scottish-m3
    Thanks to Rob Gibson for the photograph of The Duke of Sutherland.
    Scotland History Tours is here for people who want to learn about Scottish history and get ideas for Scottish history tours. I try to make videos which tell you tales from Scotland's past and give you information about key dates in Scottish history and historical places to visit in Scotland. Not all videos are tales from Scotland's history, some of them are about men from Scotland's past or women from Scotland's past. Basically the people who made Scotland. From April 2020 onward I've tried to give ideas for historic days out in Scotland. Essentially these are days out in Scotland for adults who are interested in historical places to visit in Scotland.
    As one of Scotland history tour guides people ask: Help me plan a Scottish holiday, or help me plan a Scottish vacation of your from the US. So from April 2020 I've tried to give a bit of history, but some places of interest in Scotland as well.

Komentáře • 726

  • @ScotlandHistoryTours
    @ScotlandHistoryTours  Před 4 lety +27

    Here are three ways you can help me make more video productions. Just click the link www.scotlandhistorytours.co.uk/support

    • @julianshepherd2038
      @julianshepherd2038 Před 3 lety +5

      Isn't English a Germanic language not Latin ?

    • @julianshepherd2038
      @julianshepherd2038 Před 3 lety +2

      Also could you mention the enclosures acts that cleared the English off common land in England.? They might use race as an excuse but it's about power, money and class. Oh and the transition from feudalism to capitalism.
      I really liked the video but a 13 part series would suit me better. L we get on BBC Scotland is that failed archeology guy. Kneel Oliver.

    • @ScotlandHistoryTours
      @ScotlandHistoryTours  Před 3 lety +3

      🥱🥱😴

    • @buccaneersfan7948
      @buccaneersfan7948 Před 3 lety +3

      You're right. All Lives Matter. No one deserves to be a slave. God created us all equal. Keep exposing the truth bud 👍.

    • @mitchelljm1617
      @mitchelljm1617 Před 2 lety +1

      Mate you are brilliant!

  • @janecooper3142
    @janecooper3142 Před 3 lety +174

    It needs adding - the Highland crofters that were 'cleared' out had their own sheep. Little, primitive, short-tailed sheep that they'd been farming back in AD83 and for thousands of years since then. Those little sheep were also cleared out with their croft owners and replaced with larger, white, longtailed sheep that had been introduced into Britain by the Romans. Those little sheep had provided the essential wool for clothing, bedding & more (Viking sails were made of wool), plus milk for cheese that could be stored over the winter as well as meat from older animals. The crofters only had tiny flocks and they were brought into sheepfolds by the croft house at night for protection. Without their little dunface sheep the crofters would have struggled to survive in the Highlands. Next time you rightly talk about the 'English' sheep driving out the crofters, please don't forget that the little dunface sheep were also driven out. The Scottish Dunface or Tanface sheep were thought to have been driven to extinction, but a few survived on St Kilda, and when that population was 'evacuated' with most of their sheep being sold to finance the evacuation, a tiny feral flock was left behind on Boreray island.

    • @shesaknitter
      @shesaknitter Před 3 lety +21

      Thanks so much for this additional information. Fascinating!

    • @earlofmar7987
      @earlofmar7987 Před 3 lety +6

      That was interesting. Are you a historian or in animal husbandry?

    • @leighgreendog9543
      @leighgreendog9543 Před 3 lety +3

      And so an inner suburb exists at Melbourne Oz. Settled by those lucky to survive. Nay sheep sadly

    • @gustavmeyrink_2.0
      @gustavmeyrink_2.0 Před 3 lety +29

      Those perfidious Romans and their large livestock!
      I am Friesian and we too had a run in with the Romans due to livestock size. At some point the Romans made it to Friesia and we negotiated a kind of tax to avoid war. The tax was a certain number of cowhides because the Roman Empire ran on leather ie they used for everything from sandals via uniforms to straps which held their siege machines together.
      So when a year later they returned to collect their hides they said our cattle and therefore the hides were too small and demanded 3x as many. That was too much for my ancestors to bear so war it was. There were two battles. The Romans lost the first and we crucified 900 of them. The Romans also lost the 2nd but instead of risking crucifixion 2500 Roman soldiers committed suicide (not long before the Romans had crucified 6000 survivors from Spartacus' revolt, a story well known throughout Europe).
      As Julius Caesar once remarked 'you cannot subdue the Friesians because they have no kings' and indeed Archeology has shown that there was no difference in status or wealth in Friesian society until christianity came along. The last Friesians converted in the 11th century.
      The historical upshot of all this is (and in a large part thanks to the geography of Friesia) Feudalism never took hold there as it did in the rest of Europe except Scandinavia.

    • @earlofmar7987
      @earlofmar7987 Před 3 lety +8

      @@gustavmeyrink_2.0 Thank you for that information. I didn't know any of this. I like learning these bits & pieces of history. I think it's so important to see how our world was shaped.

  • @jamescoughlan8193
    @jamescoughlan8193 Před 3 lety +28

    All school kids should be taken to these statues and be told the truth, serves a much better function than tearing them down to be forgotten

    • @dinkster1729
      @dinkster1729 Před 3 měsíci

      Maybe, their descendants with a great deal of power and money would object to that.

  • @francessocha6143
    @francessocha6143 Před 2 lety +27

    As a young teacher in the mid sixties I was told I was not allowed to teach the Highland Clearances. We need to leave these statues where they are but make sure folk know why. As ever greed, self -aggrandisement and self interest rule. We need to learn. “Haud ga’en” Bruce.

    • @dinkster1729
      @dinkster1729 Před 3 měsíci +1

      Where was this that you were not allowed to teach about the clearances? Some history in Canada is passed over, too. But since so many of our Scottish ancestors came because of the clearances, we know about it. Maybe, our parents teach us about it or our grandparents?

    • @francessocha6143
      @francessocha6143 Před 3 měsíci

      @@dinkster1729 This was in the county of Angus, NE Scotland, in the Northlinks Primary School which no longer exists in Montrose. The directive came from above, I hasten to add, not the Head Teacher who was ex-army and all for telling things as they were. He was a very good “Headie”. I’m long retired so have no idea if things have changed but I do know none of my grandkids, 29 to 16, studied the Highland Clearances .

    • @dinkster1729
      @dinkster1729 Před 3 měsíci

      @@francessocha6143 A lot of the bitter-sweet immigrant experience is reflected in this American German folk song from Pennsylvania: czcams.com/video/VhNKnoLMKYo/video.html People who did better in their New World than they would ever have done in their former home would have an up and at 'em attitude. The Oscar Brand version uses the illiterate English version, "I come" rather than the standard "I came" form that Pete Seeger uses.

    • @dinkster1729
      @dinkster1729 Před 3 měsíci +1

      @@francessocha6143 Maybe, Scotland or U.K. authorities are ashamed to talk about it, right? The British probably don't talk about the Potato Famine in Ireland either and what they did about it. I did my practise teaching round in Essex, England. Most of my fellow students were of Irish descent and some of them were planning to go to Ireland after our month in England in 1973. I was shocked by how against the Irish the British were. "Oh, you don't want to go there! they said, "The Irish are so uncivilized." Lord knows what they think of the Scots.

    • @francessocha6143
      @francessocha6143 Před 3 měsíci

      @@dinkster1729 Did you not know? The men all have ginger hair, beards, wear kilts and spend most of their time drunk going round hills shooting haggis. They just don’t mention the women 😂. That’s a bit harsh, the northerners are fine, they are looked on as much the same as the Scots, a slightly lower form of life than the southerners 🙄. I know how the Irish feel. My maiden name may be Donald but I have Irish catholic on one side and Irish Protestant on the other both a couple of generations back. There are problems both sides but it would be nice if we could all follow “ tell the truth and shame the devil”. Historical truth is important. Maybe if governments world wide followed that we wouldn’t be in the mess we’re in today.

  • @MackofDuart
    @MackofDuart Před 10 měsíci +8

    Very moving my Scottish Brother. I write from the West Coast of the USA. I am here because of the Clearances so long ago. I would like to think that the success of the Scots in this country is a bit of a middle finger to those oppressors of that time. We are still here, still upright and doing well.

  • @abj777
    @abj777 Před 3 lety +47

    Thanks for sharing this history! As a Black American who finds the Dundas clan on my family tree , this is one cool lesson!

    • @ScotlandHistoryTours
      @ScotlandHistoryTours  Před 3 lety +8

      I'm not entirely sure he was one of the good guys

    • @lolatyou
      @lolatyou Před 3 lety +8

      @@ScotlandHistoryTours can any of us say we are 100% good guys?

    • @charlesgreaves3293
      @charlesgreaves3293 Před 3 lety +8

      @@lolatyou Amen, all we do is walk forward as best we know and do no harm.

    • @bravodelta6193
      @bravodelta6193 Před 3 lety +1

      @@lolatyou Very true brother , good and bad in everyone at some point and time

    • @stevenwheeler5324
      @stevenwheeler5324 Před 2 lety +1

      It's a half lesson.. Henry Dundas ended slavery in Scotland.also Canada.he fought for Irish soldiers pensions.he also fought for Catholic emancipation.he also got sailor's wife's money when their husbands had been pressed ganged. He completely changed and improved the royal navy to be the greatest navy ever. Was first ever War minister.he wrote pitts India policy for ending the tyranny of the East India company. Endlessly promoted scots to high positions.. his story is complex for sure and he has always been the villain of the empire.

  • @tbwpiper189
    @tbwpiper189 Před 3 lety +19

    I'm a white man in his sixties, Irish by descent, and heard the stories of the Irish being starved off of their land. I am aware of such tragedy but allow it not to impede my forward momentum into the future. While history is important, the future is equally and critically so. They're the two halves of the human scale. But never must one outweigh the other, lest the imbalance turn over the entire structure. Slavery was, is, and always will be the scourge of mankind, no matter the colour or race of the perpetrators and their victims. As you said, ALL LIVES MATTER. Once that is understood the scales of humanity will again be leveled. This was an excellent video and touched home the lives of all who love the peoples of the world.

  • @muleepete8
    @muleepete8 Před 3 lety +13

    As a 66 year old retired US Navy man, a member of the Clan MacMillan and a member if of the human race, it was finding these videos and the host who is so honest and eloquent in his presentations that I have found someone with whom I feel a deeper kinship than even my brothers at arms. Bruce, you are a refreshing and enlightened voice who tells great stories without prejudice. You are a wonder to listen to. Thank you for your lessons in Scots history and moral perspective. May I call you Friend?

  • @okiejammer2736
    @okiejammer2736 Před 3 lety +37

    Wow.
    Sigh. Shaking my head.
    Just ... Wow.
    I watched this more than once. This video needs to be required viewing for students in middle and high school classrooms - everywhere.

  • @junestewart5098
    @junestewart5098 Před 4 lety +74

    Well done and I would like to think most people feel the same. We Scots have a long and varied history which, as you so rightly say, must be exposed and accepted for the age in which it had happened. We should move on from learning these very lessons but often we end up repeating them. Brilliant video Bruce 💕.

    • @ScotlandHistoryTours
      @ScotlandHistoryTours  Před 4 lety +5

      I doff my cap to you ma'am

    • @sapien82
      @sapien82 Před 3 lety +5

      I think our national anthem sums it up with the line "and in the past, they must remain" this applies to all of Scotland's brutal and disturbing past and our age of tyranny and oppression and warfare and fear. Lets us not forget it, but look to the past so we don't fail in the future.

  • @stuartmcallister1965
    @stuartmcallister1965 Před 2 lety +7

    I grew up hearing the rhetoric of “what the English done to us” we weren’t just victims of the Empire. We were the Empire. Puppets and puppet masters. Complicit in its greed and injustice. Great work Bruce.!

  • @mysteryhombre81
    @mysteryhombre81 Před 3 lety +14

    This is one of the most hauntingly poetic videos I've ever seen, your words and atmosphere took me back to that time.

  • @dreichoutdoors5274
    @dreichoutdoors5274 Před 3 lety +8

    I clicked on your video and wondered how you would be able to do that story justice in just 10 minutes. I'm very pleased to say that you did it incredibly well. I just wish that story was better known and taught within our education system. I remember taking my 11yo daughter to see the remains of one of the cleared township here in Argyll, she struggled to comprehend the inhumanity of what had happened there. It was gutting to have to tell her how the highlands are littered with such villages. My own ancestors were amongst those cleared from their land and relocated to Brora as part of the Sutherlands' clearances, only for my great grandmother to find herself employed as a lady in waiting at Dunrobin Castle in the very early 1900's.

  • @monicalynnjames
    @monicalynnjames Před 3 lety +18

    A truly beautiful tribute to the complex history of the highlands, thank you so much for your work to tell the whole story!

    • @ScotlandHistoryTours
      @ScotlandHistoryTours  Před 3 lety +1

      You are so kind. Thank you. You may also enjoy these
      czcams.com/video/FQ92_d3u3QA/video.html

  • @seanryan5005
    @seanryan5005 Před 3 lety +17

    Profoundly touched by your voice. Thank you!

  • @diarmuidmacgiollaruaidh8936

    "Briseann an dúchas tri suile an cait" (nature breaks through the eyes of a cat - an old gaeilic proverb). The words you use to describe history are incredibly beautiful - "nobody wants to be separated from this land where mountain loch and Glen pervade your soul"!! Braught goosebumps on my neck. Just discovered your channel recently and love every video I've watched so far! Diarmuid - Gaeil ó Éireann.

  • @alexandria8743
    @alexandria8743 Před 3 lety +40

    fucking yes i found a mad guy w dreads to explain my history

  • @jameshalfpenny4726
    @jameshalfpenny4726 Před 4 lety +21

    Brilliant, a perfect counter for the the aggression shown in George Square at the weekend........if only more people followed their country’s history.

    • @ScotlandHistoryTours
      @ScotlandHistoryTours  Před 4 lety +9

      I'll be honest I've found it an upsetting time. Some attitudes that had been locked in the closet have come out recently and reminded me of the bad old days.

    • @jameshalfpenny4726
      @jameshalfpenny4726 Před 4 lety +1

      Scotland History Tours yes I can well imagine, it’s amazing how history repeats itself....

    • @rsfaeges5298
      @rsfaeges5298 Před 3 lety +1

      @@ScotlandHistoryTours 😿💜

    • @sandrafraser6028
      @sandrafraser6028 Před 3 lety +1

      @@ScotlandHistoryTours Thank you for your work, you are making a difference.💕

  • @rfitzy612
    @rfitzy612 Před 3 lety +9

    The best comment I heard was from my auld man - don’t topple the statues - explain what they did and give the name and address of his family who inherited their bloody handed wealth.

    • @jocksjewelerygemstones8782
      @jocksjewelerygemstones8782 Před 2 lety +3

      Let's hope no-one gives your address out for the crimes of your ancestors I mean why would I feel guilty for what people I never new did

  • @darrylpatterson1091
    @darrylpatterson1091 Před rokem +1

    Thanks again Bruce, wholeheartedly agree with your sentiments. History must not be buried or erased. We learn from the good and the bad to hopefully do better.

  • @davidgillis25
    @davidgillis25 Před rokem +1

    Beautiful video, I'm currently in Canada after a couple centuries removed from the clearances.

    • @ScotlandHistoryTours
      @ScotlandHistoryTours  Před 8 měsíci

      Come to one of my live shows in Canada in 2024. Shows in Halifax, Annapolis, New Glasgow, Moncton, Montreal, Perth , Ottawa, Toronto, Fergus, Seaforth, Calgary, Vancouver and Victoria. Most of the details are here. www.brucefummey.co.uk/shows.aspx

  • @sallycosten4539
    @sallycosten4539 Před 4 lety +17

    My God, that rocked me to my socks! Thank you once again Bruce.

  • @macleoddj
    @macleoddj Před 3 lety +7

    None can change the society and time we're born into. What matters is what we do. As a Carolina Scot, a product of the Clearances and a history of slavery in the region, this particularly hit home and made me sad a bit. Thanks for your thoughtful insight.

  • @amandagraham4254
    @amandagraham4254 Před 2 lety +10

    I know that my Graham family fled to Canada in the 1800"s. I know that my Irish side did as well. I think it was the clearings because they were scared to death. IMO, we just had to get out! Unfortunately we brought this crap to the Indigenous people of North America, and for that I am eternally sorry 😞

  • @Mybassgruvin
    @Mybassgruvin Před rokem +1

    Great video like always Bruce and very timely. I agree with you 100%, it should not be ignored. When we ignore the past we are doomed to repeat it. I commented on your other video about Slavery and I was telling you how my Scottish ancestors were pushed out of the Highlands during the clearances. They immigrated to North Carolina and I believe they became slave owners themselves. As I stated in the other video, I don't know how they treated their slaves but I can only hope they didn't mistreat them based on their own inhumane treatment from the English, and their fellow Scots.

  • @par576
    @par576 Před 3 lety +2

    Another great video! I am with you, and the people of Golspie, who don't think statues should be removed. We can't change the past but we can tell the truth. I think the removal of Confederate heroes in America is the wrong way to go about it.

    • @nikkolettguyer4913
      @nikkolettguyer4913 Před 3 lety

      The confederate statues are participation trophies for losers and the people who complain about their children getting a participation trophy when the children play sports are the ones who want those statues to stay. They should have never been erected as they were erected to intimidate black people.

    • @cplmpcocptcl6306
      @cplmpcocptcl6306 Před 3 lety

      I agree. Let them have their statues. No one is intimidated by them.

  • @octavialewis6817
    @octavialewis6817 Před rokem

    I'm African American and truly enjoy your channel. 😘

  • @julianolan2860
    @julianolan2860 Před rokem

    Thank you from Australia where so many of us must carry the duty of reparation to the colonised indigenous people who were once free here. When the poor cleared Highlanders taken to Australia by force arrived here to work as indentured labour - paying back the cost of their forced journey (yes you heard it) over years in the colony, every door in the harbour town was shut against the 'dirty immigrants'
    passing through with their new overlords. We are a terrible species more so because we can do better. We know how to do better and we know everyone thrives when equality is widespread.
    Warm regards Julia Margaret Nolan- great granddaughter of Irish Famine refugees.

  • @tattil.c.6290
    @tattil.c.6290 Před 3 lety +7

    It really makes me sad to know that people treated other people so horribly due to whatever reason they felt justified for them to do so. I remember segregation in the south, I was young when that was ending. The attitudes of most are better today than when I was a child but in some areas that hasn’t been much change. I was taught better, thankfully and have taught my children better as well.

  • @tzefirayah_700travelmore.

    Fascinating topic! Thank you for sharing this historic story. You're a wonderful storyteller! Peace.

  • @EKcyclist
    @EKcyclist Před 3 lety +4

    One of your most evocative videos, Bruce.
    My own family are supposed to have come to Glasgow, from around Oban, Taynuilt and Loch Awe. They “dropped the ‘Mac’ for bread”, as the saying goes. I wonder if there’s a story in that episode for you as a wrap to the Clearances section?
    I’ve been to see the Earl of Sutherland’s statue, by the way. I spat on it.

  • @leonaandrickscott164
    @leonaandrickscott164 Před 4 lety +3

    Fantastic video Bruce very well done. It was an honour to do a private tour with you in Scotland as well you were amazing.

  • @patmiller9236
    @patmiller9236 Před 2 lety

    Thank you. A poetic and powerful statement- and it never does end as we currently watch Putin's genocidal efforts in Ukraine.
    I love your channel having just found it and find your much needed wise balanced perspective inspiring.
    Our last trip before the COVID closure was Scotland in January 2020. We look forward to returning again to your beloved country.
    Blessings from Colorado, USA.

  • @ukbuddhist
    @ukbuddhist Před 3 lety +3

    Thank you for this. An amazing video, you really are the best voice for Scottish history right now!

  • @raydriver7300
    @raydriver7300 Před rokem

    So moving. I’ve said it before but it bears repeating: you have the words 🌞

  • @OublietteTight
    @OublietteTight Před 5 měsíci +1

    Excellent
    Poetic
    Intense
    Hits home

  • @gordonchristie246
    @gordonchristie246 Před 4 lety +6

    Another great video Bruce. I am glad of your knowledge and your wisdom. Have a great week my brother.
    Very best regards Gordon.

  • @Tigrezebra
    @Tigrezebra Před 3 lety +3

    The way you put this video together was very heartfelt, and I feel tears in my eyes and a lump in my throat.
    Thanks for this, I truly cherish the truths you exposed.

  • @vickiepower6201
    @vickiepower6201 Před 3 lety +6

    Beautifully told and yet so sad, truly touched my heart

  • @jamesmacdonald4637
    @jamesmacdonald4637 Před 3 lety +7

    Thank you for making this great video. I stumbled upon it - and your channel - accidentally, as I was looking into the Highland Clearances. Really insightful, and you're a terrific orator!

    • @ScotlandHistoryTours
      @ScotlandHistoryTours  Před 3 lety +2

      Thanks James, I really appreciate you taking the time to say hello. Please feel free to subscribe to the channel. There's loads more videos on things historically Scottish: scientists, inventors, monarchs, battles, heart warming stories, and beautiful views along the way I hope.

    • @jamesmacdonald4637
      @jamesmacdonald4637 Před 3 lety

      @@ScotlandHistoryTours Thanks so much, Bruce! Have subbed and I'm looking forward to checking out more of your videos and great Scottish stories.

    • @ScotlandHistoryTours
      @ScotlandHistoryTours  Před 3 lety +1

      Thanks, and enjoy

  • @jaimiehardy5652
    @jaimiehardy5652 Před 3 lety +3

    I'd say that English wasn't a Latin language in any way, it's a mix (mainly) of Scandi/Germanic languages.
    I would say that you have a valuable perspective and it's one I find myself sympathetic too.

    • @ScotlandHistoryTours
      @ScotlandHistoryTours  Před 3 lety

      English is essentially French (Latin language) and German, yes some other bits and bobs too.

    • @jaimiehardy5652
      @jaimiehardy5652 Před 3 lety +1

      @@ScotlandHistoryTours www.britannica.com/topic/English-language
      Thats not the case, although there are many French words incorporated into English, it is not the basis of English.
      Love your videos by the way.

  • @lilzapper7904
    @lilzapper7904 Před 2 lety

    I completely agree that tearing down the monuments will do nothing to expose the hypocrisy and cruelty of those once exalted in stone. Yes, all lives matter. Celt, Pict, Scot, Slave, Irish (immigrant), child, Native American, Indian/Pakistani, poor, Hispanic...ALL lives. Thank you for having the courage to state your views.

  • @laragwen102
    @laragwen102 Před 3 lety +2

    Very powerful and timely presentation. Thank you. Now stop making me cry!

  • @msheldon10
    @msheldon10 Před 4 lety +6

    Fantastic video Bruce! Shines a light on aspects of Scottish history that we're often backward about coming forward with.

    • @ScotlandHistoryTours
      @ScotlandHistoryTours  Před 4 lety +3

      Thanks man. I really appreciate that coming from a proper arty/techy like yourself

    • @msheldon10
      @msheldon10 Před 4 lety +3

      @@ScotlandHistoryTours Cheers. That should be former arty/techy who is back at Uni trying to become a brainy type :P

  • @saidahamelin3118
    @saidahamelin3118 Před 3 lety +8

    Such incredible atmosphere to this story. Wow.

  • @paulrosenberger2485
    @paulrosenberger2485 Před 3 lety +3

    This is a very powerful presentation. Thank you so much!

  • @OsculumTormentum
    @OsculumTormentum Před rokem +1

    Cool! The only heritage lessons I got were my old mans pride in eating marmalade jam & & our tartan & hand with the dagger dirk coat of arms Manu forti ! Keep the content coming awesome!

  • @Jawz8u2
    @Jawz8u2 Před rokem

    Great Story Teller. Thank You. Blood is still on our hands today. "Send the Cell Phones Back!" should be our Battle Cry : )

  • @minskybrown8634
    @minskybrown8634 Před rokem +2

    That was very informative. Thank you. I am trying to find out more about Scottish plantation owners in Jamaica and this sets the scene. So many Scot surnames there: MacKenzie, McLean, McIntosh, Graham & Stewart.

  • @andymcd6689
    @andymcd6689 Před 4 lety +3

    I have been thinking on this subject over the past number of days and after watching your excellent and thought provoking article, I think that now more than ever that Dundas should be removed from his place of honour, that is St. Andrews Square, and instead moved to the hall of shame. A statue in the centre of our capital should be for someone that we admire and gives us pride. Instead, we have someone who prolonged the misery of others and provides a sense of regret. I am not denying that we should remember the mistakes of the past, not at all, but we must learn these important truths in the class room, not the monuments where we would honour our heroes.

  • @vonBottorff
    @vonBottorff Před rokem +1

    Lots of clearance was at the hands of absentee landlords. One Highland island owned by an English aristocrat was cleared for sheep -- and she lived in London and had never seen the place.

  • @eleanorkidd5840
    @eleanorkidd5840 Před 4 lety +6

    Brilliant video. If only history lessons in school were this good. Thanks Bruce

  • @stevenrussell9034
    @stevenrussell9034 Před 2 lety +1

    Man you tell a compelling story. Thanks!

  • @Murderbot2000
    @Murderbot2000 Před 2 lety

    Bruce, I’ve enjoyed all of your videos. I have no idea how, nor why they showed up in my recommendations. But I’m glad that I got connected to them.

  • @DonMackay64
    @DonMackay64 Před 4 lety +3

    Beautifully filmed and very well written. Great work Bruce.

  • @christopherrotter3969
    @christopherrotter3969 Před 6 měsíci

    God Bless you Bruce. I ‘ ll light a candle for you, in a beautiful church in New York….from a son of Clan Donald

  • @NotNowCato1254
    @NotNowCato1254 Před 3 lety +1

    Really good stuff. Refreshing perspective. Thanks Bruce.

  • @macleod1602
    @macleod1602 Před 3 lety +4

    This is an uncomfortable reality and brought a tear to my eye. I wished everyone would watch this video.

    • @ScotlandHistoryTours
      @ScotlandHistoryTours  Před 3 lety +2

      Why.not share it with friends and little by little everyone will see it.

    • @macleod1602
      @macleod1602 Před 3 lety +1

      @@ScotlandHistoryTours I will, for sure.

  • @audreycortesi4652
    @audreycortesi4652 Před rokem

    This by far has been one of the best streams I’ve seen so far a very important message thank you so very much for this😢

  • @eridanoooouuuuus
    @eridanoooouuuuus Před 3 lety +2

    I came across your channel this weekend and it’s safe to say I spent a sizeable portion of it watching your videos, and this was fantastic as always.
    While I think we should pull down the statue of Dundas in St. Andrew’s square, the statue over looking Comrie may as well be left alone, except for a new plaque explaining who he was. I am from Crieff, I was last at the Comrie statue last autumn.
    You are fantastically well spoken and a real pleasure to listen to. Thanks again

  • @shanedrewbattersby6291

    Bruce. Well said. At the end of this video you articualated what i have been trying to for months.
    On another note. Thank you for having this channel. Im Canadian witha deep scottish heritage. Ive learned alot about my past thru historians like you and Dan Snow. ( yes thats right you are just as good if not better a prsenter as him) There are 2 countrys on our planet i feel at one with. Canada and Scotland. Having visited scotland a few times. There is somthing familiar somthing in grained in my being something feels at home in both Countries. Its not the romance of being in a storied land. Its the smell of the air in the great glenn, the feel of the peat underfoot. Being one in my group to help the others understand some of the more west coast and northern Brogues. I spent 26 yrs in the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders of CANADA. We had a few expats in our ranks. 1 was my first Company Sergent Major (CSM) He is Glasswiegian. He would get angery with us and start yelling we would understand the odd "EWES GUYS" but then he'd storm off leaving us on the parade square at attention for 2 or 3 mins while he calmed down. Then he'd come back and ask if we understood anything he said. He was a Corporal in the Scots Guards for10 yrs and would forget how thick his accent sounded to us. Funny. Here i was barley 17 grown up with tonnes of scots expats family friends. I though i could understand scots. Then enters CSM McCarrel.
    ALBAINN GU BRATH
    CHANADA GU BRATH

  • @jacquelinemerrick4257
    @jacquelinemerrick4257 Před rokem +1

    wow "nobody wants to be separated from this land where mountain loch and Glen pervade your soul"!!
    goosebumps

  • @bobmcclure8069
    @bobmcclure8069 Před 2 lety +2

    There are no words... Wow... I managed to hold the tears back, but just barely. It is easy to justify brutality, just declare the other side non-people. As you said, it is an old game.

  • @guychase8611
    @guychase8611 Před rokem

    I saw that monument to that I humane
    piece of entitled vermin in 1994 at Golspie for each of four days playing the Golspie Classic (£15 entry fee) . My local companions explained the clearance of the Highlands .
    Your presentation is very eloquent and fitting.
    Both monuments should have plaques attached ,explaining the tyranny of those “improvers”.

  • @scrapbagstudios
    @scrapbagstudios Před rokem

    Thank you for this excellent video. You have packed a lot into this short video and painted a very vivid picture. I live in Australia and First Nations people are currently battling (still battling I should say) for recognition - of the true history - of culture, language and to be listened to, to be included in the constitution. I do not have First Nations heritage, I was born in England, but I cannot stand injustice in any form, wherever it lands and by whom it is wielded. I did not know a lot of the detail of the clearances, but I have known about them for a long time and like the Enclosures in England, that they caused a lot of suffering at the hands of fat cats. Keep up the good work. 💙

  • @1776patric
    @1776patric Před 2 lety

    Thank you! Bruce

  • @johnmackinnon1026
    @johnmackinnon1026 Před 3 lety +1

    This was just an excellent,well thought out,and mature video, well done,....

  • @junesmith852
    @junesmith852 Před 11 měsíci

    Oh bruce this video is so heartbreaking 💔 to hear, human's can be so cruel 😢 the scenery is beautiful though and you told the story with sympathy and empathy, thank you kindly. God bless 🙏🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🥃

  • @christopherlyon4946
    @christopherlyon4946 Před 3 lety +6

    Thank you so much for this. I love your "insider/outsider" wisdom and insight and the way you bring the present into focus through the past, and vice versa. In particular I'm impressed by the way that, in the space of just over 10 minutes, you combine remote history, contemporary relevance, geography, issues of personal identity, economic and social justice, hard information and deep humanity. You manage to do this in a way that is both radically engaged, very accessible and open for the viewer to develop their own reflections. Best wishes from a new subscriber!

    • @ScotlandHistoryTours
      @ScotlandHistoryTours  Před 3 lety +2

      When you say it like that it sounds exhausting 😜 i hope you enjoy future bids. Sometimes I throw in bad.jokes as well

    • @christopherlyon4946
      @christopherlyon4946 Před 3 lety +1

      @@ScotlandHistoryTours It was brilliant, not exhausting at all, just rivetting. And although I have laughed out loud at the humour in the other videos I've watched, there were no jokes in this one: it was totally engaging on its own terms. Thanks again.

  • @rubywestmoreland7485
    @rubywestmoreland7485 Před 2 lety

    Thank you for this. It is perfect for bringing all the frayed ends of this history together in one picture.

  • @pamczech5984
    @pamczech5984 Před 3 lety +1

    Here here try to tell others that we need to remember my great grandparents came to America during the civil war thank God they found freedom

  • @elizabethrusson7495
    @elizabethrusson7495 Před 3 lety +2

    For individual Scots that say "that wasna me", I did some research on a friend's family tree to find out her gggrandfather owned a slave in Grenada and he was born in the Highlands. Just the son of a farmer, nothing more. Another carpenter on Grenada had nineteen slaves. So it wasn't just the Dundases and the Sutherlands, but ordinary Highlanders were encouraged to both invest and work in the Caribbean trade.

    • @harlandeke
      @harlandeke Před 3 lety

      So what is that person supposed to feel? Like a monster because an ancestor partook of something that had been accepted for all of human existence? I don't understand what the point of that is.
      I am an American of mostly a Scot, Irish, Manx, English and Norwegian decent, and I don't know if any of my ancestors owned slaves, but me and my father and brothers recently did DNA testing and found that we were about 1% African...so who knows what it means?
      I hate slavery and true racism, but racism is a human problem...no particular ethnic group is free from that evil.
      There is hatred of the "other" in every ethnic group on earth..I refuse to be buffaloed into self loathing or embarrassment of my dominant race for things that I myself utterly abhor.
      In every race there are subsets that have committed the same gross atrocities against each other.
      We have to move past the finger pointing and move forward to a better future...the future that Martin Luther King dreamed of.
      May God help us find it...the current finger pointing is only dividing people, not bringing them together.
      Ok...let the hate and name calling spew forth..I don't care.

  • @fionadrummond9538
    @fionadrummond9538 Před 3 lety +2

    In Toronto, Canada, there is a movement afoot to change Dundas St./Dundas Square because of Henry Dundas’ links to slavery. I don’t know what to think....but so true that those who forget history are doomed to repeat it....

    • @haatpraat2993
      @haatpraat2993 Před 3 lety

      Do you honestly think in the 21st century with all our access to social media, media and communications people will simply forget about monsters like Dundas if we remove his statues? If anything the internet is bringing to light the massive participation of Scotland in the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade and the role played by Dundas's and many other Scots. The statue in Edinburgh never even came also to that in almost 200 years.
      The argument to preserve statues dedicated to people who committed or facilitated crimes against humanity in order to stop these crimes reoccurring is ludicrous. There is not one statue in the whole of Germany dedicated to Adolf Hitler, but yet Germany arguably is the most anti Nazi nation in the whole of Europe.

  • @kerrwintersgill
    @kerrwintersgill Před 4 lety +3

    Excellent - thank you for an insightful and meaningful video!

    • @ScotlandHistoryTours
      @ScotlandHistoryTours  Před 4 lety

      No, thank you for stopping by. Please subscribe for more, if you haven't already done so

  • @stevefarable
    @stevefarable Před 3 lety

    And you my friend reveal history with such clarity, making it so relevant to day.

  • @sparky2086
    @sparky2086 Před 4 lety +17

    These costume pictures are hilarious. Love these videos on our history. They should be in the effing schools.

    • @ScotlandHistoryTours
      @ScotlandHistoryTours  Před 4 lety +8

      Thanks to my son for the thumbnail pictures

    • @Scottbutcher7
      @Scottbutcher7 Před 4 lety +6

      The english don't want to teach the scottish about this stuff because it will make more people want independence 😂

    • @thefastandthedead1769
      @thefastandthedead1769 Před 3 lety +2

      @@Scottbutcher7 Totally true there! Can you imagine The Scotland Office run by the red and blue Tories allowing that?

  • @shelleygibbons1065
    @shelleygibbons1065 Před 2 lety

    Beautifully done !! As always. So we'll done . As a history lover . Who wants to learn from our past ! We cannot erase the past ! But we can change the future

  • @HayleyK-
    @HayleyK- Před 9 měsíci

    Wish there was HOURS long episodes, I’m born a Swede, stay in Sweden 🇸🇪
    I’ve generations of Scottish family from the 1800’s & I can’t find anything interesting BEFORE THAT & NOW I know why. Extremely impressed & extremely interesting xxx
    💁‍♀️😘☮️💕🇸🇪🇸🇪

    • @ScotlandHistoryTours
      @ScotlandHistoryTours  Před 9 měsíci +1

      Just watch a bunch in a row😂

    • @HayleyK-
      @HayleyK- Před 9 měsíci

      @@ScotlandHistoryTours typical Scottish answer lol. At least I wasn’t told to SELLOTAPE them together, my “Grann-Da” told me sellotape my Snapped VHS tape of CINDERELLA together. My fave childhood film Forced on me because he’d get _Aww us wains_ plonked in front of the TV, was the Boys that didn’t like it best 😆
      🏆🏆💁‍♀️😘💕🇸🇪🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇸🇪🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿☮️☮️☮️

  • @TedLindenIsHere
    @TedLindenIsHere Před 2 lety +2

    Here in Ontario, Canada, we have a TONNE of streets named after Dundas. Many here, particularly in Toronto, have been claiming his name should be removed because he 'helped enable slavery' here.

  • @barbaralavoie1045
    @barbaralavoie1045 Před 3 lety +1

    A very good video and very enlightened for all to hear and understand. In all countries this stuff happened and yes, all lives do matter.❤️

  • @bryanditmer_borubrin5802

    Thank you Bruce.

  • @georgefuters7411
    @georgefuters7411 Před 3 lety +1

    Wow, just recently found your videos: this is the best one yet!
    I was aware of Scots involvement in the slave trade from the wealthy owners to the Clyde built slavers. I've never been so moved by the knowledge as by your delivery...
    Total, unconditional Respect! Keep up the good work, I doubt I'll ever see a better view on the subject.
    Hope to see lots of plaques on statues in the years to come 😔

    • @jackmcnally9237
      @jackmcnally9237 Před 2 lety

      However, it was essential to erase and will be so in the near future to remove Nelson, as from Dublin and indeed from Trafalgar Square, in order that Anglo - Norman Saxondoom learn a degree of humility. Keep up your guid work ! I'm Mac Con Ulaidh a grand name!

    • @georgefuters7411
      @georgefuters7411 Před 2 lety

      @@jackmcnally9237 No bi gurach, Nic Conulaidh.
      Removal defeats the end purpose: to make people aware of our collective history, the good and the bad.
      We can't erase their deeds and actions, or their effects on us today by denying the existence of people and deeds that make us uncomfortable or sit well with our current sensibilities.
      Much of the race problem in the states is due their whitewashing of history and denying their role in genocide and suppression of the rights and status of the indigenous and former enslaved peoples.
      Education is what is required not denial.

  • @tayman6665
    @tayman6665 Před 3 lety +1

    Excellent video very moving. well done Bruce

  • @AndrewTheCelt
    @AndrewTheCelt Před 3 lety +2

    You could have replaced Gael with Native American at any point as the same thing happened to that culture and peoples, the land was not a wealthy individuals but shared amongst the tribe or clan, not that there wasn’t push back from encroachment but it was not the same as was ownership in the English understanding, thank you Bruce for another great history lesson

    • @ScotlandHistoryTours
      @ScotlandHistoryTours  Před 3 lety +1

      Aye that's the point. Greed and inhumanity seems to be a thread that winds through the centuries

  • @ryanll7312
    @ryanll7312 Před 2 lety +1

    Again, I live in the American south and you’ve made another video that I love you for. Keep it up!

  • @clockworkkirlia7475
    @clockworkkirlia7475 Před 3 lety +2

    Our opinions differ as to the statues in particular, but your perspective is undeniable and I thank you for this video. It's actually brilliant, with a really solid, excellent message. I'd say I'm a year late, but I'd share this video a hundred years late.

  • @Chrisinpommyland
    @Chrisinpommyland Před měsícem

    My family are from the Crosbies and were married into Robert de Brus First Earl of Annandale. I’m directly related to Robert the Bruce and King David the First. I hereby claim the throne of Scotland and all its territories. Long live King Christopher the Stoned, Laird of the Blunts, The High Lord Protector of the Royal Herb! Any of my cousins on here? My Grandpa was from Glasgow and was an engineer at the docks. His Father was an engineer too, Lewis McGregor Crosbie.

  • @sher3571
    @sher3571 Před 3 lety +3

    My Belief Is That
    Those Monuments
    Should Be Kept in Museum
    As a Testament To What They DONE
    But Never in The Public Square
    Where They Would Be Seen as Heroic

    • @StudeSteve62
      @StudeSteve62 Před 3 lety

      Yes. The distinction between celebration and commemoration is huge...

  • @RichyCR1
    @RichyCR1 Před 4 lety +1

    Outstanding video and nails what attitudes are needed today 👍

  • @josephcianflone9901
    @josephcianflone9901 Před 3 lety +1

    Powerful words, well said and well felt!

  • @CAM-fq8lv
    @CAM-fq8lv Před rokem

    Very moving. I grew up in Cape Breton and we never had one word about any of this in history class. Gaelic died with my great grandmother. But my grandfather had sheep still. Thanks for this.

  • @kirstenperson4389
    @kirstenperson4389 Před 3 lety +1

    What a powerful message. Well done.

  • @dorasmith7875
    @dorasmith7875 Před 3 lety +1

    I thought I was going to learn about Henry Dundas, the highland clearances, and the Scottish slave trades and it's pretty much a poetic durge for the clans.

  • @ShiningNoctowls
    @ShiningNoctowls Před 2 lety

    Thanks for sharing; take care 🔥❤🌙

  • @donaldwood606
    @donaldwood606 Před 2 lety +1

    Just found your channel, you are on impressive historian and human being. All I can say is thank you for your insight.

  • @mikaelwalker7331
    @mikaelwalker7331 Před 2 lety

    Agree 100% with you on the preservation of history. No statue should be dismantled, history can't be changed but must be a lesson. As for some of the individuals that made it, perhaps they are facing divine judgement...

  • @fractalnomics
    @fractalnomics Před 3 lety +2

    Agree. Thank you, our family story too, we went to NZ, and we never forget.

    • @TheBirdierouge
      @TheBirdierouge Před 3 lety +3

      My family story also, mine went to Canada... Nova Scotia which is New Scotland in latin. The Highlanders left a very strong culture that survives to this day in the entire province. In some areas Gaelic is still the spoken language. The flag itself is the Scottish flag with the colors reversed. Both you and I have come from Scottish survivors and as for myself I feel it's an honor to be so.

  • @thedarkone999
    @thedarkone999 Před 3 lety +3

    Hi, I have watched a few of your videos and I have enjoyed them all. I am from Beith originally and I recently found out that a slave by the name of Shankar was brought to the town to be taught a trade. His history is documented in the press at the time. To this day he has never received his freedom and I think as a nation we should do something about it.

  • @annescott2748
    @annescott2748 Před 3 lety

    So well narrated; I absorb every word you say.

  • @markmacdonald3260
    @markmacdonald3260 Před 3 lety +4

    We have to remember the bad things in our history a well as the good. Lest we forget.