Scotland – Its Unique Story Part 7

                         Emigration to the Baltic

Scotland – Its Unique Story Part 7. During the long reign of King James VI (1567-1625) the population of Scotland is thought to have doubled in size. From the 1590’s onwards this prompted a large scale movement of population to the then economically vibrant Baltic region of northern Europe. The Scottish migration was particularly concentrated in Sweden and Poland. At one point some 30000 Scots were estimated to be resident in the Kingdom of Poland. There was a particular concentration in the city of Gdansk(Danzig) in Poland which has areas in it known as Old and New Scotland. There were many merchants present in the city and also in Torun and Krakow.

                                              Scots In Poland

Though usually welcomed in Poland Scots were often criticized for their drunkenness and sheer numbers. Successful merchants such as Robert Gordon and William Forbes made hugh fortunes in Danzig which were reinvested back in Scotland. The latter being known in Scotland as ‘Danzig Wiilie’. Gdansk even recruited a regiment of Scottish mercenary soldiers to defend it. In the early seventeenth century the office of the Scottish General (Generał Szkocki) was created by the King of Poland in order to collect taxes and organize the judiciary over all Scots in Poland.

                                                    Scots in Sweden             

There was also a large-scale emigration from Scotland to Sweden in this period and in particular to the newly established city of Gothenburg after 1621. This meant that many ideas came back to Scotland along with the trade in such items as wood and grain. Many Scots became merchants and traders and also soldiers in the Swedish Army under King Gustavus Adolphus and his successors in the extensive wars in the Northern Europe of this period. One of the most famous later became the commander of the Covenanter Army in Scotland namely Alexander Leslie, later made Earl of Leven by King Charles I. Leslie had risen to be a Field Marshal in the Swedish Army and had taken an important part in the Swedish victory at the Battle of Wittstock in 1636. From 1639 he successfully invaded England, capturing Newcastle in 1640 effectively ending the second Bishop’s war and forcing Charles I to come to terms with the Covenanter controlled Scottish Parliament in 1641.