The Historical Magazine, and Notes & Queries Concerning the Antiquities, History and Biography of America (December, 1867)

16 April 1746

Battle of Culloden

HISTORICAL

“<Skye ; and nota few fromthe mainland of Argyll. *<'The precise date of the landing of the first Scot- ‘“tish emigrants in the Carolinas cannot be wellas- **certained. It appears that Scotch families were *‘settled on the Cape Fear River previous to **the division of the Province into North and ** South Carolina, in 1729. Some time between “©1744 and 1746, a Highlander, named Neil ** Macneil, from Argyllshire, visited North Caro- *‘lina. He retnrned to Scotland in 1748, and, in ‘‘the following year, landed in Wilmington, **North Carolina, with his family and about ** three hundred emigrants (some say six hundred) ‘* from the District of Kintyre, Argyllshire. It is ** said that upon the arrival of so unusual an impor- *“tation at Wilmington, theauthorities, struck with **the dress and language of the new comers, re- ‘* quired Macneil to enter into a bond for their **peaceful and good behavior. Perhaps the ‘‘warlike spirit of the Celtic race struck the ** Wilmingtonians with such terror as led to “the demand of the bond. Our intrepid country- ‘‘man managed to evade the demand, and, **ascended the Cape Fear with this band of his *‘countrymen. From this period the emigration ** was yearly on the increase. Mr. Macdonald of **Kingsbureh and his lady, the farfamed Flora ‘Macdonald, famous for her adherence to the un- **fortunate Pretender, Prince Charles, in his ** forlorn condition after his defeat at Culloden, ‘femigrated with a number of others from the ‘“Isle of Skye; so that every year added to the ‘* number of the Scotch Highland emigrants, until ‘‘they soon formed the majority of the popula- ‘tion and controlled the civil and ecclesiastical ‘*interests of no less than seven Counties, viz: **Cumberland, Bladen, Robeson, Richmond, ‘* Montgomery, Moore and Harnett.