Throughout our history none have excelled these lovers of ordered freedom in safeguarding human rights and in illustrating loyalty to moral convictions and public duty. The number of able men of Scottish descent who have filled the highest offices of honor and trust in the learned professions, in pulpit, bar, bench, in chairs of science, or as governors, presidents, officers of the army and navy, and in every line of human achievement, is not excelled, if equalled, by those of any other stock in the American blend of nationalities.

Yet the total value of such an addition to the resources of manhood, for the making of the future American commonwealth, cannot be estimated in mathematics only. In education almost every classical school and colonial college in the South was established by these people. In character and abilities—trained and nourished by education, morals, and religion—the Scotch-Irish were excelled by no other people.

In our land—new birth of the ages—the names of the clans and of individuals who bear Caledonian names do not only call up scenes in Scotland’s history, but do forcibly emphasize our blessings of peace after long strife. One of the earliest Scottish stories I remember was of a Grant and a Macpherson, who met one day upon a log spanning a chasm. As neither would give way to the other, their dirks settled the controversy by subtracting two from the population of the Highlands. In our soldier days, it was delightful to see, under the same flag and battling for the same Union, two generals—the ever-victorious James Macpherson and “Unconditional Surrender” Grant. Was it the Inverness-born Macpherson, or the Kentuckian MacClernand, who uttered the prophecy concerning the then closed Mississippi Valley, that “the men of the West would, with their swords, hew their way to the Gulf”? In any event, what would the North have done had all the men of Scottish descent been subtracted from the hosts under Grant? Indeed, what would American history and the reality of to-day be if all the Scotsmen who took part were eliminated from the story? Even in Civil War days it was largely the descendants of Scots who made the Union sentiment in East Tennessee and created West Virginia.

The long discipline of the Scotsmen, resulting in the gifts and graces of Highlander, Lowlander, and Ulsterman, helped grandly on American soil to make the great Republic possible. As we have seen, the tens of thousands of Scots, emigrating beyond the Atlantic, located themselves largely along the line and at the post of danger—among the mountains they loved, on the frontier and the great American highlands, the Appalachian chain, from Maine to Alabama. In the infant days of our nation, when the vital struggle was between savagery and civilization, the Scottish-American frontiersman, alert, brave, tenacious, was the man for the era. He would never say “die” nor give up, while life remained in him. His record, both with the Continentals, in the War of Independence, and in the Union army during the conflict between the States, is a shining one. In the Confederate forces, from 1861 to 1865, the one body of men, selected by that best judge of humanity, Professor N. S. Shaler, of Harvard, as embodying the finer human qualities that shine brightest in adversity, was a regiment composed almost wholly of descendants of men of Scottish stock.

Even to hear casually some of these Scottish names, so interesting to us in history, sets ringing the bells of memory, as when Joseph Henry, at Albany, first sent a thrill through miles of wire to make sound—which Morse, without electrical research or profound knowledge, turned into writing, and thus won the world’s glory. Even the commonplace names of neighbors, as our Scottish hosts in Dundee, Invergowrie, or Newport-on-Tay mentioned them offhand, set our imagination on the dance or to rambling to the ends of the earth.

At home, too, do we not meet at school, in business, at garden parties, or in church, girls and boys, friends and acquaintances, or do we not hear of or see eminent men and women who bear these their ancestral names most modestly? Immediately, a carillon of associations, usually sweet, with “auld lang syne” sounds, fills the secret chambers of memory. “Cochrane” may bring up a rosy face and the laughing eyes of a pretty Vassar girl; “Macfarland” limns in imagination a schoolmate or army comrade; “Cameron” pictures a fellow of infinite wit; “MacIntosh” suggests eloquence in the pulpit. Others recall the halls of Congress, or the seats of executives, or the council board, business experiences, or clerical scenes, or pageants. It has the sensation almost of a shower bath, or crash towel friction, to see in court or pulpit, at clinic, or amid scenes of gentleness, people who bear ancestral names of once slashing swordsmen, or fellows of old famous for lifting cattle, or for defying the king’s writ, of whom we have read often in poetry and romance. How the centuries soften sharp outlines in the enchantment of distance!

It is invidious, if not mildly dangerous, to single out names. Yet with one we close our sketch of “Bonnie Scotland,” choosing for praise the dead, with no living line of descendants. Hepburn, for example, instead of being associated in our minds with dirks and poison, caste squabbles, or pitched battles,—after which “the turf looked red,”—calls up the mild face of a saintly soul who illustrated the Scripture promise of long life because of lips that refrained from speaking guile and of hands that ever healed. Who that is at home in Scottish history but has not infrequently run across the name of Hepburn—which reproduces in its vocables, not only a Scottish streamlet, but a line of mighty men? Who, also, that knows the story of the making of modern Japan but has heard of the beloved physician of Yokohama, known among the native-born as Kun-shi—the sage, super-man, gentleman by eminence, who spent his life in unselfish devotion to his fellow men, as a Christian healer, scholar, lexicographer, and philanthropist. In the midst of fame and fortune won by medical practice in the metropolitan city of New York, James Curtis Hepburn turned his back on these, to uplift in body and spirit the people of Japan, when just opened from hermitage to modern life. In the days of sailing ships and at the seaport where the selvages of two civilizations met, I saw him, day by day for years, with his healing touch dispensing medicine and cheer. He lived to make the dictionary which bridged the linguistic gulf between Orient and Occident, to translate the Eternal Word, to raise up hundreds of effective physicians, and, at ninety, to be honored by His Imperial Majesty the Mikado with a decoration, and to live, in serene old age, a benediction to his neighbors, until within five years of a century. In him I saw America honored and the nobler Scotland incarnated.

THE END

CHRONOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK OF SCOTLAND’S HISTORY

PREHISTORIC
Britain, “north of the Tweed.” Picts and various tribes.
THE ROMAN PERIOD
B.C.
55. Julius Cæsar lands in southern Britain.
A.D.
50. Romans in Britain learn of the Caledonii in the north.
81. Agricola’s frontier between the Firths of Forth and Clyde.
82. The Ninth Legion at the Tay River.
84. Great battle between the Romans and northern natives.
84. Caledonia circumnavigated.
120. Hadrian erects the Roman Wall.
139. Wall of Antoninus Pius.
181. Revolt of the Tribes. Commodus.
208. Uprising of the Tribes. Severus.
210. Roman road made through the Forth Forests.
364. Highland host invades the South.
368. Roman slaughter of the “Scots” (Irish invaders).
406. Revolt of the northern tribes.
410. The Romans leave Britain.
PERIOD OF ANARCHY—FIFTH TO SEVENTH CENTURY
Migration of the “Scots” (Irish) to the peninsula.
Fergus, first “Scots” Prince.
Entrance of the Germanic, Continental tribes into Britain.
Four kingdoms: Pictish (Pictland); Irish (Dalriada); Brython (Strathclyde); and “English” (Benicia).
CHRISTIAN SCOTLAND
563. St. Columba (521–592), Christian missionary at Iona.
573. St. Kentigern at Glasgow.
651. St. Cuthbert at Melrose.
710. The Pict Christians conform to the Roman Church rules.
717. The Columba monks expelled.
730–761. The Pict, Angus MacFergus, paramount.
802. Iona burnt by the Norsemen. Desolate for two hundred years.
802–839. The Scandinavian sea-rovers settle on the northern coasts.
844–860. Kenneth MacAlpine, King of the Picts.
Blending of the Picts and Scots into one people.
904. St. Andrews: religious centre. Stone of Scone.
945. Malcolm acquires northern Strathclyde.
1018. Lothian part of the Celto-Pict realm.
1005–1034. King Malcolm II.
FEUDAL SCOTLAND
1039–1056. Macbeth flourishes.
Ireland, “the Land of the Scots,” is known by its modern name. “Scotland” refers to northern Britain.
1057. Macbeth defeated and slain by Malcolm Canmore.
1066. Normans invade England.
1058–1093. Malcolm Canmore and Queen Margaret.
Great social and political changes in Scotland.
The Celtic Church gives way to Western uniformity.
Dunfermline, capital of the realm.
1124. Alexander, King of Scotland.
Planting of Norman, Flemish, and Anglican colonies on east coast.
Anglo-Norman feudalism in Scotland.
David I, “The Maker of Scotland,” builder of abbeys and bishoprics.
1153–1165. Malcolm the Maiden. Great Clan of Macdonalds formed.
Ascendancy of Anglican influence. Inverness granted a royal charter.
1165–1214. William the Lion. Dundee granted a royal charter.
Chimneys introduced into Scotland.
1249–1286. Alexander III. Treaty with Norway.
Islands incorporated in the Scottish realm.
1292. John Baliol crowned on the Stone of Scone.
FIVE HUNDRED YEARS OF HOSTILITY TO ENGLAND
AND FRIENDSHIP WITH FRANCE
1297–1305. Edward of England. Intervention in Scotland.
1298. William Wallace.
1274–1329. Robert the Bruce.
1334–1346. Battle of Bannockburn.
Scotland independent.
Scottish Parliament at Cambuskenneth.
1333–1361. Struggle with Edward III of England.
King David in Captivity. Ransom. Scheme of Union.
Struggles between Scottish kings and nobles looking to centralization of royal power.
Partisan warfare. The House of Douglas.
1364. Proposal of Union with England rejected by the Scottish Parliament.
THE SCOTTISH KINGS
1371–1390. Robert II. The Stuart line of kings founded.
Policy of Scotland shaped by Earls Douglas, Mar, March, and Moray.
English invasions of Scotland.
1390–1406. Robert III. Beginning of nearly two centuries of royal minority, regencies, and nobles’ power. Decline of kingly authority. Great power of the nobles.
1395. The Lollards in Scotland: forerunners of the Reformation.
1406–1437. James I. His reign a struggle against anarchy.
Attempts to Anglicize Scotland.
Parliament of Highlanders at Inverness. Several chiefs seized and executed.
1437–1460. James II marries Mary of Gelderland: kills Douglas at Stirling. Earls still powerful.
THE RENAISSANCE
1460–1488. James III marries Anne of Denmark.
The thistle, the national badge of Scotland.
Witchcraft. King imprisoned by the nobles and assassinated.
1465–1536. Hector Boece writes the “History of Scotland.”
1488–1513. James IV. Modern History of Scotland begins.
1494. Grey Friars’ Church in Edinburgh built.
Ayala, Spanish envoy and writer on Scotland.
Music and poetry cultivated.
1495. University of Aberdeen founded.
1496. Parliament decrees compulsory education.
University of St. Andrews. Hepburn founds St. Leonard’s College.
1503. Marriage of James IV with Margaret of England, at Holyrood.
First Peace with England since 1332. An era of prosperity.
1505. Royal College of Surgeons founded at Edinburgh.
1507. Printing introduced into Scotland.
1513. Battle of Flodden Field.
THE REFORMATION
Rise of the burgesses and middle classes.
1513–1542. James V: minority. Angus rules. James escapes to France.
1537. James marries Mary of Guise, and on her decease, Mary of Lorraine.
1540. Lordship of the Isles annexed to the Crown.
1542. Invasion of Scotland by Henry VIII.
King and clergy on the Roman, nobles on the Reformed, side.
1542–1587. Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots.
Close relations with France.
1505–1572. John Knox.
Destruction of monasteries and abbeys.
1557. Last Protestant martyr burned.
1565. Queen Mary marries Lord Darnley.
1566. Murder of Rizzio in Holyrood.
1567. Murder of Lord Darnley.
Marriage of Mary with Bothwell.
1567–1625. George Buchanan, scholar, reformer, author of De Jure Regni apud Scotos.
James VI educated by George Buchanan.
PRESBYTERIAN SCOTLAND
1560. Foundation of the National Church.
First General Assembly of Scotland.
1578. Andrew Melville the Reformer. Second Book of Discipline.
Divine Right of Presbytery taught. Nobles debarred from spoiling the Church.
1587. Execution of Mary Queen of Scots.
1592. James gives Presbyterianism his sanction.
1603. Union of the crowns of England and Scotland.
James VI of Scotland becomes James I of England.
1605. The Border region pacified and civilized.
1606. The Union Jack flag, uniting crosses of St. George and St. Andrew.
STRUGGLE FOR FREEDOM OF CONSCIENCE
1584–1688. Scotland’s fight against prelacy.
1610. King James changes his mind. Attempts assimilation of Church of Scotland with the Anglican Establishment.
1618. The Perth Synod accepts episcopacy.
1600–1649. Charles I asserts the royal prerogative.
1625. Attempts to fasten the liturgy and bishops upon Scotland.
1637. Jenny Geddes. Uproar in St. Giles’s Cathedral.
Signing of the National Covenant.
1638. Episcopacy cast out.
1645. Covenanters compel Charles I to sign the Covenant.
1649. Charles Stuart, King of England, executed.
1650. Cromwell in Scotland.
1649–1685. Restoration of the Stuarts. Charles II crowned, 1660.
Prelacy established in Scotland. The dragonnades.
Archbishop Sharp assassinated.
Drowning of the martyrs at Wigtown.
John Graham of Claverhouse. Battle of Bothwell Bridge.
1633–1701. James II of Great Britain.
1680. James, Duke of Albany, in Scotland.
1685. Coronation. The Roman ritual in Westminster Abbey.
MODERN SCOTLAND
1688. Landing of William III.
1690. Restoration of the Kirk in Scotland.
1689. Battle of Killiecrankie.
1692. Massacre at Glencoe.
1695–1701. The Darien Scheme.
1686–1758. Allan Ramsay, poet and musician.
1707. Union of Scotland and England.
1715. The Old Pretender.
1725. General Wade opens the Highlands: road-building.
The Black Watch Regiment formed from loyal Highland clans.
1730–1740. Large number of Scottish students in English schools and universities.
1745. “Bonnie Prince Charlie.”
1746. Culloden. Scottish feudalism ended.
Scottish history merged with that of Great Britain.
1746–1770. The Highlanders assimilated, enrolled in the British army, or emigrate to America.
1751–1773. Robert Fergusson, poet.
1773. Dr. Samuel Johnson visits the Hebrides and Highlands. His book an epoch-maker.
1773. Fingal’s cave first described.
1759–1796. Robert Burns.
1802. The Edinburgh Review started.
1771–1832. Sir Walter Scott: poetry, 1805–1815; prose, 1814–1830.
1822. Caledonian Canal opened.
1795–1881. Thomas Carlyle.
1843. Disruption. Formation of the Free Church of Scotland.
1830. Railway system inaugurated.
1846. Large emigration to America.
1819–1901. Queen Victoria. In the Highlands often, from 1852.
The Highlands become game preserves.
1915. The 225th meeting of the General Assembly in Edinburgh.