Is Scotland in North Carolina?

Would it surprise you to discover that there are more people living in the state of North Carolina of Scottish Descent than Scots in Scotland.

Not a surprising piece of news to those who know their Scottish History. Large numbers of people left Scotland for the New World of America following the Scottish highland clearances. If you visit the Laird of Jura website you will read about how nearly 2,000 people left the Isle of Jura in Argyll and the surrounding areas on a fleet of boats on an expedition that settled in North Carolina.

Some parts of North Carolina even today could still be confused with parts of Scotland. Here are some of the similarities:

Lets look at Laurinberg which is in the county of “Scotland”.

The town high school is of course called “Scotland High School”. And to go with that the School song is the national anthem of Scotland “Scotland the Brave”.

The school traditional marching band wear kilts in the Royal Stewart Tartan. But they also have a Scottish bagpipe band which has won a number of prizes in recent years for their music.

They use the same name “Fighting Scots” for their Basketball, Baseball and Football teams.

The local college is St Andrews Presbyterian College (St Andrew is of course the patron saint of Scotland) has a huge bronze statue of a highlander in native dress waving a Claymore sword.

The College is also home to the Scottish Heritage Centre.

The main local fast food company called Scottish Foods has a Highland Piper as its logo.

What about shopping? Simple answer. Just go to the large Scotland Crossing Shopping Center which has a Rampant Lion as it’s main centrepiece feature. This is the same red lion on a yellow background officially used only by the Scottish Monarch. It’s a good job our legal officers have generally turned a blind eye to this breach of the royal protocol.

The Square Dance Club is the Scottish Twirlers.

The area even has a soccer team called the Scottish Claymores.

Lastly but not least there are numerous streets and roads named after places such as Oban, Skye, and Argyllshire the origins of the first settlers before they left Scotland.

Do you know any other place which is more Scottish than this town in North Carolina?

Want to become a Scottish Lord or Lady? Its easy enough and can be the ideal unique gift idea for anyone whether they have a Scottish connection or not.