The evolving identity of Scottish peoples in New Zealand during the 19th century

Analyse the evolving nature of Scottish identity in 19th century New Zealand, and the role civic organisations had in maintaining memory and shaping ‘Scottishness’.

The Scots, a people who became forever linked with the pursuit of economic fortune and social influence in Europe’s long nineteenth century, often found avenues to success lay in emigration. In those hundred years alone, more than two million Scots left their home country for various locations in the British Empire – and the United States – including India, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. This paper seeks to analyse the effect the Scots as a people had on New Zealand’s young society, and how they evolved as a people once ensconced in this country. For simplicities sake, the Scots will be divided up into two clear cultural groups, the Highlanders and the Lowlanders, due to their distinct cultural traditions and differing migratory patterns. Peoples of the Far North, such as the Shetland Islanders, will be ignored, due to their markedly Nordic culture, and relatively minor levels of emigration to New Zealand.  Of particular interest is the role of civil organisations, created by Scots émigrés in the latter half of the 19th century, such as the Caledonian and Gaelic Societies, and Burn’s ‘cults’ – all of whom played integral roles in maintaining a unique Scottish identity amongst emigrants – and reflect the wider social forces  of the period.

In recent centuries, the Scots as a people – both Highlanders and Lowlanders – underwent significant changes, particularly after the collapse of the Jacobite movement in the mid 18th century, which was "…not a Scottish revolt, but a factional Highland one." The militaristic, feudal and agrarian nature of Highland life contrasts considerably with the Anglo-centric, industrialised, capitalist society that had developed in the Lowlands, which was "…supposedly...more ‘modern’ and less clannish than Highlanders...” Lenihan found that just over 50% of all Highland migrants to New Zealand between 1840 and 1881 had been agricultural workers in Scotland, while "…the majority of the [Lowland] population – females as well as males – was employed in industry by 1881.” Thus, the Lowlanders, who had embraced modernity and industrialisation by the early 19th century treated their Highland compatriots with considerable derision, as summarised by Trevor-Roper: “In general, the attitude of the Lowlands to the Highlanders was that of the Romanised Britons to the Picts. They relied on a...’Highland line’, beyond which the inaccessible barbarians, who were not worth conquering, were left to themselves.” Forced assimilation came in two clear phases, beginning with the two failed Jacobite Rebellions of the 18th century, which effectively marked the end of Highland militarism – and led to harsh, British enforced anti-Highland laws – and ‘The Clearances’ or ‘balmoralisation’ whereupon “...many land-owners [moved] towards sheep farming [leading to] the subsequent clearance of the tenants previously living on that land...” The direct consequence of this painful displacement from the land was the mass-internal migration of poor Highlanders to Lowland urban centres, where many took up industrial jobs, and the emigration of many to North America and Australasia. Devine captures the feeling of Lowlanders surrounding the ‘blunting’ of the Highlands, quoting a Lowlander’s sentiment: “...the Highland dress seemed extinct, and no rational man would have speculated upon its revival”. Lenihan notes, “...internal migration and the availability of employment ensured that even those from far-flung Highland parishes often had first-hand experience of the urbanised, industrial centres in the Lowlands” illustrating the fluidity of population movement in the 19th century in response to a rapidly changing society and economy. Indeed, as Bueltmann argues, “...by 1851 well over 50,000 Highlanders had re-settled in the west of Scotland, the area of highest industrial concentration.” 
         Within this turbulent environment, the centuries-long disdain many Lowlanders had for their Highland brethren – unique due to their Celtic ancestry and Gaelic language – dissipated, as their image was rehabilitated. Leading this reversal were Robert Burns and Sir Walter Scott, who, in different ways, brought about the Romanticisation of Scotland and the Highlan.  ds, and popularised symbols like the kilt, tartan and bagpipes, presenting a "diverse and united concept of Scotland…" to a European audience. MacKenzie states, "The alien Highland world…was pulled into the cultural mainstream by Romanticism…The novels of Sir Walter Scott…exploited the geographical range of Scotland while overlaying its cultural distinctions." Symbols like the kilt and tartan were in fact relatively recent creations, and, despite being synonymous with Highland tradition, were the creation of Lowlanders like the Macpherson’s, as pointed out by Trevor-Roper: “...the kilt is a purely modern costume, first designed, and first worn, by an English Quaker industrialist, and [...] bestowed on the Highlanders in order not to preserve their traditional way of life but to ease its transformation: to bring them out of the heather and into the factory.” Bueltmann notes the sudden popularity of all things Highland-related, thanks to Scott’s efforts to associate tartanry with King George IV’s visit to Scotland in 1822 – the first of a reigning monarch since James II in 1650. In the increasingly industrialised centres of Scotland's Lowlands – Edinburgh, Glasgow and Dundee – distinct processes of dislocation and ‘disculturation’  took place as traditional ways of life were replaced by the values of the Industrial Revolution – opportunity, capitalism, and modernity. Bueltmann concludes that within this dislocation came the appropriation of the Highland way of life – 'Highlandism' – and the birth of a positive 'Scottishness': "Highland symbols and romantic images of tartanry and valour were comprehensible on either side and served as bridges to Scotland’s past.” Such cultural appropriation ties in with Brooking's observation that: “…identities can be multiple and are not like a hat or item of clothing that can only be worn at a time. Sometimes people exhibited only one identity according to the circumstances in which they found themselves and the company they happened to be keeping at the time." Thus, while Scots could be broadly defined as Highlanders or Lowlanders, there are many distinct identities within each, serving to create a subjective and fluid identity. Such deliberate appropriation of different identities is vital to understanding the Scottish legacy in New Zealand, and is therefore an important starting point. Bueltmann, arguing from a cultural constructivist  point of view, states, “In the Scottish case, the role of invented traditions in the making of the nation and ethnic identity has attracted particular attention.” She points to the “inventedness of common ancestral myths relating to identity...” as essential to the Scottish story; the ability of émigré Scots to manufacture common memories in their new home in the Antipodes is a recurring tale, as Mackie notes:
“[Scots] in the far-flung outposts of Empire never lose their identity. First and last they are Scotsmen, bound by ties of race and blood, by traditions and customs which, while their outward forms may change with the passing of the centuries, their inward and spiritual significance remains rooted in the heart."
         While the popularity of Highland symbols grew rapidly in the 19th century, both in the Old World and the Antipodes, migratory trends were consistently dominated by Lowlander Scots, from the first waves in the 1840s to the end of the century. Lenihan in particular has given this phenomena significant attention, analysing in depth the source of Scots migrants to New Zealand. As stated above, the majority of Highland emigrants to New Zealand were agrarian workers in Scotland, eking out a living from the land. Indeed, as Knox pointed out, the industry remained vital to the region far beyond the Clearances: “agriculture remained the most important employer of labour...in the Highlands and Islands, which was the most persistently agricultural region of Scotland with 41% of the population engaged in the industry as late as 1911.” Of great importance, however, is the vast proportion of Lowlanders who made the long journey to New Zealand – “....70.03% of the Scots immigrants arriving in NZ between 1840 and 1920 were born in a Lowland country.” The counties of Lanarkshire, Ayrshire, Aberdeenshire, Angus and Midlothian – all of which are Lowland counties – “...supplied 49% of the Scottish migrants in New Zealand” during the 80 year period,  showing that, while an almost unquantifiable proportion of Lowlanders may have originally come from the Highlands – “...chain migration at the end of the 18th century having contributed to the reshaping of population patterns within Scotland” – New Zealand came to overwhelmingly attract a multitude of Scots who saw the Lowlands as their heritage. According to Te Ara, emigration to New Zealand by Highlanders exceeded 10% only twice – in the periods 1840-1852 and 1853-1870, while the average emigration from the East and West Lowlands was about 33% between 1840 and 1915, illustrating the imbalance between the two broad groups. Brooking shows that over 90% of Scottish emigrants were Lowlanders, which accounts for about 61,200 of the 68,000 19th century Scots. Upon arriving in New Zealand, the large majority of Scots settled in Otago and Southland, as shown by Phillips’ and Hearn’s comprehensive data: 50.2% of immigrants who died in Otago between 1853-70 were Scottish; 62.8% in Southland. In the period 1871-90, the figure was 35.6% for Otago, and 13.1% in Southland; while in the final period of 1891-1915, the figure was 49.7% for Otago, and 44.8% Southland. Such figures clearly show the strong ties that formed between émigré Scots and the two regions, which provided homesick settlers with a taste of the Old Country. Brooking argues that the association between Highlanders and the High Country, in particular, “is not accidental...They sought out country which seemed familiar to them and on which their special skills in pastoral farming could be employed to best advantage.” Also of influence were ‘Scottish networks’, which, according to McAloon, were “...easier to form and maintain” in a small nation like Scotland. These networks were powerful in their ability to attract additional emigrants, aid the dissemination of information, and ease the transition of life in a strange land.  Bueltmann notes, “The swift emergence of Scottish settlement clusters throughout New Zealand, large and small, facilitated meetings and contacts...These informal networks offered support and comfort in difficult times” The strength of such informal networks helps explain the concentration of Scottish migratory patterns, with Scots tending to follow the paths of previous migrants – thus explaining the popularity of the deep South – allowing Bueltmann to conclude, “New Zealand is essentially a Scottish microcosm.” Finally, the Otago gold rush of the 1860s proved integral in the growth of the South’s Scots population. Dunedin’s population grew by around 400% during the early 1860s, with many Scots migrating “...as a result of the classic push-and-pull effects as well as the inexorable laws of supply and demand.” While many of these economic migrants moved elsewhere once the rush waned – as they had left Victoria, Australia previously – the rush helped develop Otago as a region, and was vital to the establishment of a burgeoning civil community. The Scots, a highly mobile group within the British Empire, “...seem to have been proportionately more disposed to emigrate [than the English], perhaps not surprisingly given their more meagre domestic opportunities” and “...loomed large in the influx of prospective miners to Otago...” at rates higher than even the English in the early 1860s. Thus, it is possible to evaluate the gold rush’s effect on Otago: it helped attract large swathes of Scots, who as accomplished networkers  and economically mobile individuals had a higher propensity to undertake such a risky endeavour than their English counterparts, for example. The surge of Scots during the brief rush had an indelibly strong effect on Dunedin, helping to establish – among many other institutions – its university, and many cultural associations that served to strengthen ties with the Old Country and develop a sense of ‘Scottishness’ in New Zealand.
         These civic and ethnic associations aimed at promoting various aspects of Scots culture – be it manufactured or otherwise, and maintain memories of Scotland. Appearing from the 1860s onwards, these associations became bastions of remembrance, and integral in the evolution of a uniquely New Zealand ‘Scottishness’. Bueltmann’s  extensive research of Scottish associations – Burns, Gaelic and Caledonian – concludes that they all aimed to “...overcome the potentially fracturing effects of setting up home in an alien world”, and in a decidedly Scottish way, established groups that sought to “...support the weakened social fabric of their new home by means of fraternal bonding...” Building on this theory, she argues, “...Scots became members of associations because they wished to re-create the life of the old country. Perhaps melancholy and longing lay behind the desire to wallow in memories of ‘auld Scotia’...” Melancholy or not, the three Scots associations examined in this paper all developed into highly distinctive beings, each reflecting the unique cultural and historical traditions that contributed to their creation. New Zealand’s Caledonian Societies have served as a major upholder of Scotch values, in a decidedly inclusive manner – “...the Society ‘although bearing the name of Caledonian’ was not at all ‘exclusively Scotch’.” This “...very open and inclusive  outward-orientated agendas” was highly evident at the annual Highland Games held by different Caledonian chapters. These were popular festivals for the entire community, Scottish or not, incorporating athletic contests, music and other displays of ‘traditional’ culture in a carnival atmosphere aimed at celebrating and remembering Scottish ways of life. Interestingly, and in a trend that “complicated the Scottish associational scene”, the Caledonian Societies were dominated by Lowland Scots – helping to explain their inclusive approach – yet adopted a distinctly Highland orientated persona. This includes pipe bands, tartanry and kilts, the caber toss, and bagpipes – all of which are potent symbols of the Highlands; such cultural appropriation illustrates the fluidity of ‘Scottishness’ as a concept, capable of taking “...cultural practises which were not traditionally part of their heritage” and forming a hybrid, homogenised model which in essence reinvented tradition. As Hobsbawm surmises: “Where the old ways are alive, traditions need be neither revived nor invented” Over time, the inclusiveness of the Caledonian Society’s approach became problematic – for both isolating Scots and failing to remain relevant to mainstream New Zealanders – leading to the creation of a formal organisation tasked with managing the Society’s image and mandate. The New Zealand Federation of Caledonian and Scots Societies aimed to “...unify all Scots throughout New Zealand” and “...exercise a brotherly interest in Scots arriving from the Mother Country and overseas.” Unfortunately, the new approach coincided with the outbreak of WWI, which helped strengthen New Zealand’s identity, at the expense of other, conflicting identities. As Brooking notes, Scots above all other groups had become ensconced in the ‘New Zealand project’, contributing tremendously to aspects like its education system and political sphere. Thus, “As time passed and large-scale immigration dried up after the 1870s, colonial culture related to the homeland in increasingly tenuous ways.”
         Another important Scottish organisation to flourish in the 19th century was the Gaelic Society, established by the Highlander minority as a defender of their unique way of life. Entwistle notes the key distinction between Caledonian and Gaelic Societies: “Members of the Society must be Scottish Highlanders or descendants of Scottish Highlanders”Such exclusivity had both strong advantages and disadvantages for the organization; notably, it was able to prevent the dilution of the Highland culture and Gaelic language by maintaining strict membership rules. However, the barring of Lowland Scots – particularly due to the promotion of the Gaelic language, alien to most Scots – meant that the Society struggled to maintain a large membership. Bueltmann discusses the establishment of the Society at length, suggesting that, in comparison to the broadly inclusive Caledonians – who initially seemed open to assimilation to the ever-developing New Zealand culture, the Gaelic Society sought to “...express a distinct Highland identity, or to delineate themselves from other Scots...”  The Society’s mantra was strongly in line with the forceful words of Sir Robert Stouts – who was referred to as “...our noble Celtic friend” by the Dunedin chapter: “I do not think much of that man, to whatever nation he may belong, who forgets his native country or the country of his ancestors. Depend upon it...” Despite the purity of the Gaelic Society during the 19th century, it was forced to broaden its membership rules by 1911, when “It was resolved...that Scottish folk generally be eligible for membership.” While Entwistle’s glowing biography fails to explain why this resolution came about, Bueltmann suggests that the Society’s hope that “interest in ‘the past...would spur the young people on to good work in the future’”  became increasingly irrelevant as ties with the Old Country became more tenuous, and New Zealand ‘Scottishness’ became the dominant identity. The rapid deterioration of the Gaelic language in the South Island, even in areas with significant concentrations of Highlanders – such as Herbert in North Otago and the Hokonui Hills near Gore  – meant that it died “...with the first generation of migrants.” Despite the hope that young Scots would ‘depend upon’ the memory of Scotland, Brooking has found that “Membership of Gaelic Societies has both diminished and aged” showing the organisations’ failure to adapt to the complexities of a rapidly changing cultural setting.