Immigrants Change the Culture

The first mass migration of people from Scotland to North America was the 1739 settling of the “Argyll Colony.” This was named for a western coastal “shire” or Scottish county with towns famous to whiskey drinkers today: Ardberg, Bowmore, Lagavulin, etc. They claimed lands along the inland parts of the Cape Fear River that boats could reach from the coast, ending at Campbelltown (now Fayetteville).

Eventually there were more people from the mountainous Scottish “Highlands” in North Carolina than anywhere in the world outside of Scotland. Some people assume there was a second mass migration after Highlanders lost the Battle of Culloden to the British, ending the “Jacobite Rebellion” of 1746. However, the next major Scottish emigrations came in the mid-1750s and late 1760s, due mostly to economic issues.[1] Including first-generation children, there were anywhere from 15,000 to 30,000 Highlanders in N.C. by the American Revolution.[2]

The Scotch and Scotch-Irish—descendants from earlier Scot emigration to Ireland—had an outsized impact on North Carolina’s culture, influencing lifestyle, religion (the Presbyterian Church), and language. Many terms widely considered “Southern” come from Gaelic, the traditional Scot language, such as britches, “a smidgeon,” galore, and “pig in a poke.”[3] Gaelic was spoken in N.C. as late as the 1980s.[4]

Immigrants and first-generation descendants fought on both sides during the American Revolution, though a higher percentage was Loyalist compared to other European-American nationalities. This was partly due to oaths of allegiance to the king taken by Highlanders after Culloden, although a generation had passed since that battle. Others took the oath to get permission to move to America.

The N.C. Highlanders’ most famous exploit was a failed attempt to help the British recover control of the state early in the war, ending in disaster at the Battle of Moore’s Creek Bridge. Many people were forced to leave the state after that and later battles, often moving to Nova Scotia. But a strong presence has remained to this day. Various Highland Games are held annually across the state, the most famous being in Laurinburg and at Grandfather Mountain.

This content originally appeared on a page for the Scottish Heritage Center, part of St. Andrews University. Sadly, the university closed in 2025. Among its artifacts were a locket Flora Macdonald wore most of her life and a silver sauce boat with the Macdonald crest.

[1] Caudill, William, Director, Scottish Heritage Center, Interview with tour, Laurinburg, N.C., 2020.

[2] Exhibits, Scottish Heritage Center, Laurinburg, N.C., 2020.

[3] Exhibits.

[4] Caudill.