SCOTLAND ROUND THE WORLD The Darian Scheme

by Lorraine Smith

The Darien Scheme as the most ambitious colonial scheme attempted in the 17th Century. However, the resulting catastrophe led to far reaching consequences for Scotland. The Scot’s were the first to realise the potential of Darien. This was to establish a colony on the isthmus of Panama. Which would, due its geographical position, handle the greater part of trade with the Far East.

It was the brainchild and lifelong dream of William Paterson. He was a well-heeled London merchant, though Scots born. He was one of the founders of the Bank of England and one of the main proponents for the Darien Scheme. Paterson was born in Tinwald, Dumfriesshire in 1658 and at seventeen emigrated to Bristol and then the Bahamas where he acted as a merchant and developed a keen business acumen while dealing with local buccaneers. He made his first fortune through international trade, travelling extensively in the Americas and West Indies.

liament passed an Act which established the Company of Scotland trading to Africa and the Indies. This was a company financed by public subscription.

The Scot’s rose to the challenge and thousands of ordinary folks invested money in the scheme to the tune of around £500,000, about half the national capital available at the time. Almost every Scot who had £5.00 to spare invested in the Darien Scheme. Furthermore, thousands volunteered to travel on board the five ships which had been chartered for the pioneers.

Paterson’s Dream was alive and caught the public imagination. The pioneers would include famine driven Highlanders and soldiers following the Glen Coe massacre. The Darien Scheme offered hope to Scots for a new life and prosperity.

There was one problem. No one had actually visited this Promised Land, this remote and magical place where Scots could settle. The scheme was based on the sightings of sailors and pirates, that the area offered a land where trading links could be established with the world and create prosperity and prestige for Scotland.

On 12th July 1698 the ships departed amidst fanfare and much excitement. There were 1200 pioneers aboard ‘Caledonia’ ‘St Andrew’ ‘ Unicorn’ and ‘Endeavour’.

The original directors of the Company of Scotland were Scottish and English in equal numbers, with the risk investment capital being shared half from English and Dutch and the other half from the Scots. The powerful East India Company, afraid of losing their trade monopoly, pressured the English Parliament into withdrawing support from the scheme. This forced the Dutch and English to withdraw and left the Scot’s as sole investors.

In 1695 Paterson was approached about the possibility of establishing an East India Company in Scotland. On June 26th the Scottish Par-

It was a dejected and less enthusiastic group of pioneers who arrived on the mosquito-infested scrap of land known as the Darien on 30th Octo- ber 1698. Many had already fallen ill and power struggles amongst the elected councillors created tensions. They came ashore and renamed the land Caledonia with its Capital to be New Edinburgh.

The first gruesome task was to bury the dead pioneers which included Paterson’s wife. The lack of food, and attacks from hostile Spaniards exacerbated an already difficult situation. Some native Indians took pity on the Scots and offered them fruit and fish as gifts.

Eight months after arriving, 400 Scots were dead, and the colony decimated by starvation and stricken with fever. The colony was abandoned in July 1699. Deaths continued in the ships and only 300 of the 1200 settlers survived. A desperate ship from the colony had called at the Jamaican city of Port Royal but was refused assistance on the orders of the English Government, who feared antagonising the Spanish. Those who made it back found themselves regarded as a disgrace to Scotland and some were disowned by their families. The Caledonia with 250 survivors made it to New York Harbour.

In a letter to Hugh Montgomerie, a Glasgow Merchant, Robert Drummond reported that sickness and death continued to deplete the remnant of the colonists. When the Scots were told that two ships, the Olive Branch and Hopeful Beginning, had already sailed to re supply the deserted colony, Thomas Drummond commissioned two sloops to aid their efforts in Darien. The Olive Branch and Hopeful Beginning landed in August 1699 with 300 settlers. They found ruined huts and 400 overgrown graves. Expecting a bustling town, the ship's captains debated their next move. When the Olive branch was destroyed by fire the survivors fled to Jamaica in the Hopeful Beginning and docked in Port Royal harbour, but no Scots were allowed ashore and illness struck the stranded ship. The second expedition landed in

Caledonia Bay on the 30th of November. Some men were sent ashore to rebuild the huts. This caused some to complain that they had come to join a settlement and not build one. Morale was low but Drummond insisted the Fort must be rebuilt as a Spanish attack would surely come.

The colonists were apathetic until Alexander Campbell arrived, sent to organise a defence. He was a good leader and drove the Spanish from their stockade at Toubacanti in January 1700. He was wounded in the attack and then contracted a fever. The Spanish closed in on Fort St Andrew and besieged it for a month. Disease was the main killer at this time. The Spanish commander called for the Scots to surrender and avoid a final assault warning no quarter would be given. The Scot’s agreed and were allowed to leave with their guns and Darien was abandoned for the last time.

Scotland paid the price of more than 2000 lost lives. Along with the £500,000 investment lost, the Scottish economy was crippled.

It has been argued that the Darien Scheme destroyed the economy to such an extent that it triggered the dissolution of the Scottish Parliament. This in turn led to the 1707 Union with England.

Lorraine is a keen student of history and writes about Dundee during WW1 and WW2. Her main interest is WW1 and comes from family research and family lore told to her when she was a child. Research has uncovered the interesting stories behind each family member’s path to war, and also the stories of those who stayed behind. These now form the basis of a novel using the stories of her grandparents.