ABSTRACT
The history of the Scottish people demonstrates a national propensity to move from one location to another and there has always been a steady haemorrhaging of Scots to other parts of the UK and overseas. This phenomenon started as a trickle in the seventeenth century and grew to upwards of 100,000 individuals during the eighteenth century. However, it was in the nineteenth century that the migration of Scots accelerated. Quantifying this development accurately is impossible until 1851 because of the paucity of earlier records. However, nineteenth century data generally suggest a period of massive European immigration to the US particularly. Estimates suggest that more than 50 million Europeans immigrated mainly to the US between 1815 and 1914, including 22 million from the UK. From 1825 to 1914, nearly two million Scots left their native land for non-European destinations. Approximately 800,000 went to the US and a further 600,000 arrived in Canada. The total population loss during this period represents approximately 42 per cent of Scotland’s population by the beginning of the First World War in 1914. This compares with an equivalent figure for England and Wales of 25 per cent. Migration was therefore a significant influence on the economic and social life of Scotland and recipient countries such as the US.
