The Scots of Virginia: America's Greatest Patriots

According to British historian James Anthony Froude, “No people so few in number have scored so deep a mark in the world’s history as the Scots have done. No people have a greater right to be proud of their blood.”

As this book reveals the Scottish people of Virginia, namely the Scots from Ulster in Ireland, were the people most responsible for the articulation of the principles of individual human rights which became the foundation for the demands for American independence and for the formulation of the values and principles outlined in the constitution of the United States of America.

Horace Edward Henderson begins his account of The Scots of Virginia with the origins of the Scottish people who may have been among the first descendants of the early Celts who crossed over the original landbridge to the British Isles from Europe following the retreat of the Ice Age. Subsequent Celtic waves forced the earlier Celts up into Scotland which eventually evolved as an amalgamation of indigenous Picts with Irish Scots, Angles, Saxons, Norsemen and Normans. Scotland as a nation, however, did not occur until about 843 AD after the Irish Scots had brought over Christianity and the Gaelic language when Kenneth Macalpine ascended the throne of the Picts. Although the Romans occupied most of Britain, they had little influence upon Scotland itself since their area of occupation mainly concerned only England and Wales.

Historians claim that the settlement of the Nordic people throughout Britain was the “definitive event” in the history of the British people and was much more important than the Roman occupation or the Norman conquest. Most of Britain had been mainly settled by the Angles and the Saxons who came from Denmark and Germany and until the 10th century, after much mixing of numerous races, generally the people inhabiting the British Isles were considered to be predominantly Nordic. Then, when the Normans invaded England in 1066 they were considered to have been “the most highly organized continental state of the day.”

The History of Scotland itself covers a difficult period of almost 800 years of conflict and suffering as the people of the north struggled against poverty and warfare for survival. Fortunately, early Scotland was ruled by a succession of able kings who succeeded in advancing the progressive development of the Scottish society. Most importantly, their independent church and Celtic character successfully resisted the extensiion of the Anglo-Saxon culture into Scotland. Consequently, Scotland was largely transformed into its unique character, as we know it today, by the introduction of feudalism, the reform of the church, the plantation of burghs, and by effective governmental control. Furthermore, Nordic customs and cultures were substantially replaced by Norman influences when the more civilized and peaceful ways of the Normans crossed the Scottish borders and became an influential part of Scottish society and religion.

However, the Scots remained a poor and undeveloped nation of limited opportunities until the end of the 18th century. For many years after the Normans had conquered Saxon England, and as aggressive incursions raged across the borders of England and Scotland while relations fluctuated between peace and conflict, the major influence on Scottish Celtic civilization was Norman whereas it had been Saxon for the English. During this period, characterized by continuous wars on the continent, conflict continued between the Scots and the English across the borders between them until finally the Scots were defeated in the definitive Battle of Culloden in 1746.

Meanwhile, England had advanced into a great power which soon surpassed the other countries of Europe in progress towards a civilized society while Scotland suffered particularly from weak leadership by ineffective kings. Furthermore, the geography o