Roy J. McClymont
1
The Darien Scheme: A Supplement
In early November 1698, approximately 1,200 Scots landed in a remote area of the
Isthmus of Panama in a bold attempt to start a colony that was hoped would alleviate the
economic woes of the nation. Scotland of the 1690s was well aware of its national misfortunes.
The vast majority of the population was cash poor, all the while living on the doorstep of a
fledgling modern economy that seemed to flourish in England only exacerbated matters.1 In
addition to its decaying national economy, widespread famine fueled social tensions, and by
1698, contemporaries conservatively estimated that as much as one-fifth of Scotland‘s
population to was resigned beggar hood.2 The future was grim. Barred by the Navigation Act of
1660 from trading with lucrative English colonies, national autonomy became the paramount
objective for the increasingly desperate Scots.3 Founded in 1695, the Company of Scotland
Trading to Africa and the Indies ambitiously opted to seize the Isthmus of Darien, a crucial link
between the continents of North and South America. Even more ambitiously, the directors of the
Company of Scotland proposed to establish a colony centered on an international free-port,
which promised unbridled success for Scotland as the middleman of Atlantic and Pacific trade.
Between 1698 and 1700, the Company sent two separate voyages to establish the colony of New
Caledonia. The unwelcome Scots threatened a fragile stalemate between competing imperial
W. Douglas Jones, ―‗The Bold Adventurers‘: A Quantitative Analysis of the Darien Subscription List
(1696),‖ Scottish Economic & Social History, 21.1 (May 2001), 25.
1
Eric Richards, ―Scotland and the Uses of the Atlantic Empire,‖ in Bernard Bailyn and Philip D. Morgan,
eds., Strangers Within the Realm: Cultural Margins of the First British Empire (Chapel Hill: The
University of North Carolina Press, 1991), 71, 69-73.
2
David Armitage, ―Making the Empire British: Scotland and the Atlantic World, 1542-1707,‖ Past and
Present, 155 (May 1997), 56-7; Armitage, ―The Scottish Vision of Empire: Intellectual Origins of the
Darien Venture,‖ in John Robertson, ed., A Union for Empire: Political Thought and the British Union of
1707 (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1995), 102; Richards, ―Scotland and the Uses of the
Atlantic Empire,‖ 71.
3
Roy J. McClymont
2
interests in the Atlantic, which effectively doomed the venture from the start. The results were
predictably horrific, and by the end of the venture, more than 2,000 settlers died and all of the
money raised in Scotland was lost.
Method
The failure and consequences of the Darien Scheme are fairly well known to most
Scottish and British historians, as are the ways in which this important event in the history of
Scotland has been retold – mostly via an economic and political lens. Although this traditional
approach to studying the history of the Darien Venture has much ―factual‖ relevance, it is empty
of human experience and thus is not complete because it glosses over the unimaginable suffering
of the pioneering colonists to focus on the financial misfortunes of the investors of the venture,
and subsequently the political and economic effects this event had on the trajectory of Scottish
history. As such, I intend to supplement the better-known political and economic narrative of the
Darien Scheme from below by using journal entries and correspondences in the form of letters
from the first expedition, and introducing the complexities to the situation that Spanish interests
brought.4 Where the words of those directly involved in the venture are limited, unimportant or
verbose, I will incorporate the voices and experiences of the Scots at home, and other parties
involved as described in the pamphlets, books and broad sheets that were sold to the literate
urban dwellers of the period. When the subjectivity of these works is debatable, as it almost
In my opinion, analysis of the second expedition of the Company of Scotland‘s colonial venture offers
no new insight, thus it is omitted from this paper. This is however due to length constraints, and does not
suggest that the suffering of those involved in the second expedition was any less significant than the
first.
4
Roy J. McClymont
3
always is, I will weave in interpretations and analysis from other historians. With this
combination of sources, a more nuanced narrative of the Darien Scheme can be attained.5
My conceptual framework for this task is primarily owed to the work of Ross E. Dunn.
As a prominent world historian, he is more aware than most of the multiple narratives and
perspectives through which to understand events in world history. In his pioneering work The
Adventures of Ibn Battuta: A Muslim Traveler of the 14th Century, Dunn subtly places a single
human being at the centre of his narrative in a bid to explain all that surrounds him.6 This, of
course, is a mammoth task riddled with problems, but it is an invaluable tool for letting a reader
experience history from below. By employing such a method to the Darien Scheme, a piece of
work can be produced that is not explicitly about a little known gentleman named Mr. Rose, and
the more famous William Paterson, but rather about the events and world that surrounds them.
Their journey and the experience of the expectant Scots awaiting news back in Scotland of the
expedition‘s progress are therefore merely the start and end points from which a narrative of the
Darien Scheme can be constructed via a human lens.7
5
It should be noted that the majority of primary documents (and subsequently secondary work) regarding
the Darien Scheme is devoid of the experience of women. This is due to numerous factors, but most
certainly because the expedition to the Darien, like almost all initial colonizing expeditions of the period,
involved many more men than women. Patrick Manning in Migration in World History (New York:
Routledge, 2005) 5-7 provides a useful model that highlights the male dominated pattern of migration in
colonial expeditions.
6
Ross E. Dunn, The Adventures of Ibn Battuta: A Muslim Traveler of the 14th Century (Berkeley:
University of California Press, 2005).
7
To take this paper further, I would employ other methods that world historians commonly use, namely
by focusing on key cross-cultural processes – migration, trade, warfare, religious and cultural conversion,
and the creation and maintenance of empires to name a few. These processes not only shaped daily life
around the world in the past, as would be evident from a more complete journal of someone like Mr.
Rose, but continue to do so today.
Roy J. McClymont
4
The Traditional Narrative
The Darien Scheme is correctly seen as the single most important colonial venture in
Scottish history. Backed by both the people and government in financial and emotional terms,
the legacy of events between 1695 and 1700 left an indelible mark. Although scholarship to date
on the Darien Scheme has merits, much of the research is fairly homogenous and bland. To
further this point, most surveys of Scottish history depict Scotland‘s response to the economic
conditions of the late seventeenth-century in some version of the following:
William Paterson, founder of the Bank of England, campaigned for ways to right the
economic woes of Scotland in the late seventeenth century. As a result of his tireless work, The
Company of Scotland, Trading to Africa and the Indies was formed by the Scottish Parliament in
1695 to compete with the ―monopolistic Chartered Companies of London‖ in global trade.8
Paterson appealed for funds in London, Hamburg and Amsterdam, but due to opposition from
the English government and its commercial allies, the appeal was unsuccessful. Undeterred,
Paterson and the Scottish government decided to ―go it alone‖ and raised some 400,000 Scottish
Pounds, almost a quarter of the cash in the nation, and went ahead with a venture that would put
a Scottish colony on the Isthmus of Panama. Much optimism surrounded the Darien Scheme,
and in July, 1698, five ships and 1,200 people (Paterson, his wife and child included) departed
Scotland with some fanfare.9
By early November, they had arrived at their destination, and although they had lost a
considerable number of people to illness on the crossing, they remained in high spirits at the
newly founded settlement of New Edinburgh in New Caledonia. However, due to the harshness
8
Christopher Harvie, Scotland: A Short History (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002), 111.
9
John Prebble, The Scottish Dream of Empire (Edinburgh: Birlinn, 2000), 117.
Roy J. McClymont
5
of the environment, Spanish hostility, English indifference, sickness, and disease, many settlers
died in the first few months and the colony was abandoned by July of 1699.10 By the time bad
news of the first expedition had reached Scotland, a second expedition had already departed and
arrived in the Darien in November of 1699, almost exactly a year after the first. Finding New
Edinburgh abandoned, they debated starting over or returning home. Fractured by this decision,
their half hearted effort at a new beginning in New Caledonia was ultimately destined for the
same fateful outcome as their predecessors. By March 1700, the enterprise ―to found a Scottish
colony on the Isthmus of Panama to trade with the Pacific and Atlantic simultaneously had ended
in total disaster.‖11
Notable scholars of Scottish history such as T.M. Devine, Christopher Harvie, Michael
Lynch and J.D. Mackie all correctly assert that the failure of the Darien Scheme was catastrophic
not only to the Scottish economy, but to the pride of many of the venture‘s supporters too. There
is also agreement that blame was inevitably to be assigned, with the easiest place in which to
direct it to the south and the English who had not only withdrawn financial support at the last
minute, but had also failed to assist any rescue attempts, financially or diplomatically.12
Naturally, these historians go on to assert something to the nature a result of Scotland‘s
devastated and non-existent economy, the English were able to further rub salt in the wounds of
the ailing Scots by garnering political union in 1707 with the Act of the Union for the paltry
price of a payment of 398,000 Scottish pounds. This payment was labeled as compensation to
the losses of the Darien Scheme and the new assumed burden of part of the English state‘s
10
J.D. Mackie, A History of Scotland (London: Penguin, 1991), 255.
11
T.M. Devine, The Scottish Nation: A History 1700 – 2000 (London: Penguin, 2001), 5.
12
Ibid., 5-6.
Roy J. McClymont
6
national debt.13 Most scholarship of this period usually terminates analysis of the issues with an
anecdotal quote from Scotland‘s National Bard, Robert Burns, stating that with this union the
Scots had been ―bought and sold for English gold.‖14
In the course of just a few paragraphs, sometimes a page or two, one of the most
important events in Scottish history is herewith dispensed, with little to say of the issue as it was
experienced from below and little mention of the events from print culture of the day.15 As such,
the well known traditional narrative of the Darien Scheme can be supplemented with the story of
the Scot at home and the colonist abroad as depicted in the pamphlets, books and broad sheets
sold to the literate urban dwellers of the period. Nothing can be lost from such an enterprise, all
it to be gained.
Origins of the Venture
The Isthmus of Darien (modern day Panama) was ―rediscovered‖ early in the European
Age of Discovery.16 Claimed by Columbus in 1502, Vasco Nuñez de Balboa then settled the
first Spanish colony of Santa Maria there in 1510 and presided as governor. From there Balboa
pushed west to the Pacific guided by the local native population and, as Dennis R. Hidalgo
suggests, ―gave the Isthmus instant value in the eyes of Europeans because by crossing it they
13
This payment is known as ―the equivalent.‖
14
Robert Burns, Robert Burns: The Complete Poetical Works (Darvel: Alloway Publishing, 199), 461.
15
Not one of the following authors and titles dedicate more than a few pages to the Darien Venture, yet
they admit to it being a pivotal point in Scottish history: T.M Devine, The Scottish Nation: A History
1700 – 2000 (London: Penguin, 2001); Christopher Harvie, Scotland: A Short History (Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 2002); Michael Lynch, Scotland: A New History (London: Pimlico, 1992), J.D. Mackie,
A History of Scotland (London: Penguin, 1991).
―Rediscovered‖ is obviously a more appropriate term than ―discovered‖ as the area had been inhabited
since 15,000 BC at the latest. Patrick Manning, Migration in World History (New York: Routledge,
2005): 40-41.
16
Roy J. McClymont
7
would cut down the time to reach China.‖ The Isthmus thus remained firmly in Spanish hands as
conquistadors and colonial officials crisscrossed the landscape in search of gold and silver,
erecting military outposts along the Atlantic coast to combat threats emanating from water, and
maintaining a show of force over the local Indian tribes.17
Spanish colonial presence in the region, however, remained remarkably thin. For all
purposes, this led Lionel Wafer, a self proclaimed intrepid explorer and contemporary observer,
to suggest to the Scottish Company‘s directors that ―the Spaniards had no settlement‖ on the
Isthmus‘s north coast at the Bay of Darien during his brief residence there. The area, they were
told, was ripe for the taking.18 The Spanish Crown was clearly not the equal of its forbearers,
although it still commanded international respect.19 Nonetheless, Europe remained deeply
suspicious of Carlos II‘s ability to maintain both his overseas empire and his sanity. Not
surprisingly, Spain itself ―was acutely aware of its own shortcomings and ―particularly sensitive
to foreign policy issues and the fate of the Monarchy,‖ Christopher Storrs notes.20 Amidst this
international stalemate, the first of five Scottish Company ships that eventually carried 1,200
colonists in all quietly arrived near the Darien coast on October 27, 1698. The group did not—
could not, in fact—know that their presence was anything but secret and would create ripples
throughout the Atlantic world.
Dennis R Hidalgo, ―To Get Rich for Our Homeland: The Company of Scotland and the Colonization of
the Isthmus of Darien,‖ Colonial Latin American Historical Review 10, no. 3 (Summer 2001): 313.
17
18
Lionel Wafer, A Short Description from, and Descriptions of the Isthmus of Darien, where the Scots
Collony Are Settled (Edinburgh, 1699).
Bernard Bailyn, ―Introductions: Reflections on Some Major Themes,‖ in Bailyn and Denault, eds.,
Soundings in Atlantic History, 27; Christopher Storrs, ―Disaster at Darien (1698-1700)? The Persistence
of Spanish Imperial Power on the Eve of the Demise of the Spanish Habsburgs,‖ European History
Quarterly, 29.1 (1999), 6-7.
19
20
Storrs, ―Disaster at Darien,‖ 6, 9-10.
Roy J. McClymont
8
Despite a common sovereign (in 1603 the accession of James VI of Scotland to the
English Crown created a ―regal union‖ between England, Ireland, and Scotland), Scotland found
a fierce imperial rival in its English neighbor. The preeminent economic force in the late
seventeenth century Atlantic, England jealously guarded its esteemed position through the
Navigation Acts of 1651 and 1660. Largely in response to several wars over shipping rights
from mid- to late century, England sought to trump the Dutch economically by restricting all
importing and exporting roles to English vessels.21 The amended Act prohibited Scottish
involvement, limiting goods to ships that ―belong only to the people of England or Ireland‖ and
manned by an English captain and crew that were three fourths English.22 Thus, economically
speaking, as in other ―key matters between Scotland and England, the Scots were treated as
foreigners,‖ says Eric Richards.23 Douglas J. Hamilton concurs. ―It is clear from this that while
Scots were sometimes able to get ahead,‖ argues Hamilton, ―their status as foreigners, despite
sharing a monarch could be an effective barrier to them.‖ Problematically, ―[t]hey remained
reliant on English concessions.‖24
Facing rampant poverty, overpopulation, and a desire to find tenable land, frustrated
Scots increasingly looked beyond the confines of their local environment. In the course of the
seventeenth century, tens of thousands of merchants, lawyers, doctors, academics and soldiers
ventured to places as widespread as Scandinavia and the Baltic, Russia, Poland, the Low
21
Peter Linebaugh and Marcus Rediker, The Many-Headed Hydra: Sailors, Slaves, Commoners, and the
Hidden History of the Revolutionary Atlantic (Boston: Beacon Press, 2000), 145-6, 148; Richards,
―Scotland and the Uses of the Atlantic Empire,‖ 71.
―Navigation Act 1660,‖ in Andrew Browning, ed., English Historical Documents, 1660-1714 (New
York: Routledge, reprint 1996), 533.
22
23
24
Richards, ―Scotland and the Uses of the Atlantic Empire,‖ 71.
Douglas J. Hamilton, Scotland, the Caribbean and the Atlantic World, 1750-1820 (Manchester and
New York: Manchester University Press, 2005), 2-3.
Roy J. McClymont
9
Countries, France, the Mediterranean and North Africa, not to mention Ireland and England.25
Others circumnavigated English law, and fulfilled a variety of roles within England‘s Atlantic
peripheries. Many Scots lived in the Caribbean before political union with England in 1707 and
were well represented from Barbados to St. Lucia, Nevis, Montserrat, and Antigua. Prejudice to
Scottish nationality pre-1707 might be ignored, if convenient, which accounts for Atlantic Scots
serving in roles as militiamen, merchants, planters, and even political elites. Instead hope
prevailed that colonization schemes might remedy Scotland‘s pitiable economic plight.
The Darien Scheme was not the first Scottish attempt at colonization in the New World.
Following a pamphlet titled An Encouragement to Colonies by William Alexander published in
1624, the first documented Scottish colony materialized a year later in Nova Scotia.26 Although
this settlement initially failed, a permanent colony was finally established in 1629. This first
Scottish settlement was named Port Royal; however, its existence was brief.27 Only three years
later in 1632, Charles I signed the Treaty of Suza, which returned Nova Scotia to the French.
The Scots were forced to abandon their fledgling colony in its infancy, and William Alexander
was left deeply in debt.28
The next serious attempt by the Scots to colonize was in 1683 when Charles II granted a
charter for the colony of New Jersey to 24 proprietors, 12 of whom were Scots. The colony was
25
From 1500-1800 the majority of Scots faced East rather than West. Allison Games reiterates in David
Armitage, The British Atlantic World, 1500-1800 (London, 2002), 37, this notion when she states, ―in
their Atlantic orientation the English were distinct from the Scots, who were precociously European in
orientation.‖
26
William Alexander, An Encouragement to Colonies (London, 1624).
27
Michael Fry, The Scottish Empire (Edinburgh: Birlinn, 2001), 21.
28
Michael Fry, Scotland And the Americas, 1600 to 1800 (Providence, R.I.: John Carter Brown Library,
1995), 19.
Roy J. McClymont
10
to be split between an English settlement in West New Jersey and a Scottish settlement in East
New Jersey. During the 1680s, around 700 Scots migrated to East Jersey, of whom
approximately 50% were indentured servants. From the middle of this decade onwards, there
was further emigration with the deportation of captured Covenanters. Although they were also
to have been placed in indentured servitude upon arrival, these settlers were instead declared by
the courts to be free men, as they had not volunteered for indentured service.29 For those who
made their way to East New Jersey by their own will, they did so because of texts such as
George Scot‘s The Model of the Government of the Province of East-New Jersey in America
which guaranteed freedom of worship.30 This large influential text, approximately 270 pages in
length, appealed to many Presbyterians who were looking to escape the religiously oppressive
administration of the last Stuart king.31 Until 1697, every Governor of East New Jersey was
Scottish, and Scots maintained great influence in politics and business even after 1702, when
East New Jersey and West New Jersey were merged to become a royal colony.32 However, due
to this merger and its new status as a royal colony, it was never seen as a solely Scottish
enterprise that would reap benefits only for the Scottish government and people.
Around the same time as the East New Jersey experimentation, Sir John Cochran of
Ochiltree and Sir George Campbell of Cessnock negotiated the purchase of two Carolina
counties for Scottish settlement. Although the Province was an English colony in the early
1680s, these two enclaves were intended to provide a safe haven for Presbyterian
29
Fry, The Scottish Empire, 24.
30
George Scot, The Model of the Government of the Province of East-New-Jersey in America (Edinburgh,
1685).
31
Fry, The Scottish Empire, 19.
32
Ibid., 24.
Roy J. McClymont
11
nonconformists. In 1684, one hundred and forty eight Scottish settlers arrived to build a
settlement at Port Royal - the Scots renamed this as Stuarts Town. Once settled however, there
was frequent conflict, both with Spanish allied Indians and with the English at Charles Town.
The Scots raided the Spanish mission at Santa Catalina as well as encouraging and arming the
Indians they traded with to attack the Spanish directly. In 1686, the Spanish retaliated and sent
three ships with one hundred and fifty Spanish troops and Indian allies to attack Stuarts Town.
However, due to sickness and disease, the Scots had only approximately twenty-five effective
fighting men and were thus unable to defend the town. After only two years of existence, Stuarts
Town and a Scottish holding in the Americas was wiped out.33
Throughout the seventeenth century, Scotland‘s attempts at colonizing the Americas can
only be described as ―sad and disastrous.‖34 As the century was coming to a close, the Scottish
economy could be described in the same way.35 It was under severe strain from a lack of growth,
devastating crop returns and the monopolizing of Atlantic trade from their overbearing neighbors
to the south.36 To make matters worse, the debilitating English ―Navigation Acts of 1660 and
1663 were inexorably enforced,‖ and ―Scots‘ shipping was thus limited to trade with Scotland.‖37
As a modern world-system of core, semi-periphery and periphery was being formed, Scottish
33
Allan MacInnis et al, Scotland and the Americas, c.1650-c.1939: A Documentary Source Book
(Edinburgh: Scottish History Society, 2002), 71-73.
34
John Prebble, Darien: The Scottish Dream of Empire (Edinburgh: Birlinn, 2000), 18.
For an overview of the economic woes in this period, an excellent resource is T. C. Smout‘s Scottish
Trade on the Eve of the Union, 1660-1707 (Edinburgh: Oliver & Boyd, 1963).
35
Scotland was blighted in the late seventeenth century with ―three catastrophic harvests.‖ Christopher
Harvie, Scotland: A Short History (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002), 111.
36
37
Ibid., 17.
Roy J. McClymont
12
merchants found themselves excluded from any part of it.38 Although some strategies were
made by Scottish entrepreneurs to bypass the Navigation Acts, namely by using English frontmen to mask trading ventures in ports such as Ayr and Edinburgh, the Scots were unable to
maintain any substantial financial independence from England the way things stood. Economic
necessity therefore dictated the need for a way to stimulate the Scottish economy. The stage was
thus set for a plan to rescue the wellbeing of the nation.
The Company of Scotland
In June 1695 the Scottish Parliament granted by Act a patent of incorporation to create
the Company of Scotland Trading to Africa and the Indies. Creating the Company of Scotland
put the Scottish Parliament squarely at odds with both King William and the powerful English
East India Company. Because of the East India Company‘s monopoly on trade it quite naturally
viewed the Scots Company as a serious economic threat. Critics charged that Scotland could
potentially create an Atlantic free port and bring in goods at a fraction of the East India
Company‘s prices. The prospect of a dependent kingdom taking precious wealth from England
greatly disturbed the king as well. As ruler of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and
Ireland, William‘s authority trumped that of the Scottish Parliament. William was reportedly
enraged at Scotland‘s seeming lack of regard for his political authority. The Act, he said,
bestowed ―such powers priviledges and soveraignties as iff there had been no King of
Scotland....‖ As it were, no formal plans for Scottish settlements actually appeared until July
1696. ―I have been ill served in Scotland,‖ the king fumed. The damage was done. The king‘s
38
As things stood in the late seventeenth century, Scotland could not be classified as a core or periphery
player in Wallerstein‘s Modern World-System. Although beyond the scope of this paper, I would argue
that Scotland could not even be classified as a semi-periphery player in this model as the only significant
partner they had in trade were themselves. Immanuel Wallerstein, The Modern World-System II:
Mercantilism and the Consolidation of the European World-Economy, 1600-1750 (New York City:
Academic Press, 1980).
Roy J. McClymont
13
advisors adamantly protested that the outfit would further jeopardize the English economic
situation at home and abroad.39
Following its bitter reception by the king and the East India Company, the Scotland
Company proposed a stunning new strategy. The Scots now envisioned their Company in
broader investment terms as an alternative to the exclusive English East India Company model.
For would-be investors in England effectively shut out of the East India Company monopoly, the
founders of the Scottish Company believed its joint-stock endeavor would offer a more attractive
avenue for economic advancement. Company officials went to London to obtain immediate
investors several months before it publicly announced the details of its venture in July 1696. At
that early stage, the fledgling Company problematically lacked clear direction and,
embarrassingly, suffered for basic sailing vessels for the expedition.40
The Scots in England had pressing problems from the start. Through the combined
efforts of the Crown and East India Company, the Scottish Company faced a serious prospect of
legal action for violating the English monopoly. Wisely, its directors withdrew from London to
Scotland in February 1696, though not before attracting some English subscribers. From the
East India Company‘s standpoint the more immediate problem was the loss of some £300,000
belonging to England now ―lost‖ as far as they were concerned to investments in the Scottish
effort. William moved to void all existing English investments (some 200 in all) and outlaw any
future subscriptions as well. Fearing repercussions, all English investors promptly withdrew
their pledges before the Crown in fact invalidated them. For all purposes, the king left the
David Armitage, ―The Scottish Vision of Empire: Intellectual Origins of the Darien Venture,‖ in John
Robertson, ed., A Union for Empire: Political Thought and the British Union of 1707 (New York:
Cambridge University Press, 1995), 100-01; Hill, The Century of Revolution, 262-63.
39
Prebble, Darien Disaster, 44; Armitage, ―Scottish Vision of Empire,‖ 100-01; Hidalgo, ―To Get Rich
for Our Homeland,‖ 319-20.
40
Roy J. McClymont
14
Scottish Company isolated economically. ―Thereafter,‖ writes David Armitage, ―the Darien
venture, for good and ill, was Scotland‘s alone.‖41
Whit the attempt to raise capital in London nixed, the promoters of the Company shifted
their efforts to Edinburgh and Glasgow. Douglas Watt points out that ―at first sight this might
have appeared a grim prospect. Scotland was not in the premier league of financial powers in the
late seventeenth century. There were certainly signs of economic improvement, but she had
slipped far behind the Dutch and English in terms of trade, industry and financial muscle.‖42
Regardless of the situation, the Scottish people answered the financial call from the Company in
a dramatic fashion. Walter Herries highlights this case in A Defence of the Scots Abdicating
Darien when he wrote, ―they came in shoals from all corners of the kingdom to Edinburgh, rich,
poor, blind and lame, to lodge their subscriptions in the Company‘s house.‖43 Of course there is
some poetic license in this quote, but the fact remains that a quick perusal of the Company‘s
subscription books shows that subscribers did in fact come from all over Scotland, and were
diverse in status and contribution as well as location.44 Subscribers ended up coming in such
numbers that eventually the Company decided to raise the targeted amount of £300,000 Sterling
to £400,000 Sterling so that those ―who lived at a distance from this place, not yet come in,
occasioned partly for want of timely advertisement and through the badness of the weather‖
Armitage, ―Scottish Vision of Empire,‖ 100-01; Hidalgo, ―To Get Rich for Our Homeland,‖ 320;
McPhail, ―Through a Glass, Darkly,‖ 130.
41
42
Douglas Watt, The Price of Scotland: Darien, Union and the Wealth of Nations (Edinburgh: Luath
Press, 2007): 47.
43
Walter Herries, A Defence of the Scots Abdicating Darien: Including an Answer to the Defence of the
Scots Settlement there (1700), 8.
44
A list of the subscribers can be found in various locations. I used the list provided in the appendix to
James Samuel Barbour‘s A History of William Paterson and the Darien Company (Edinburgh: William
Blackwood and Sons, 1907) to bolster this claim of a diverse subscription list.
Roy J. McClymont
15
could have the opportunity to contribute to the subscription fund.45 By August 1696 the
Company of Scotland had received the goal of £400,000 Sterling from approximately 1,500
Scottish investors. Incredibly, the total comprised somewhere between 20 and 30 percent of all
available wealth in Scotland.46 That so many people from all over the country put such a large
percentage of the nation‘s wealth into the venture highlights the tremendous confidence and
expectation the Darien Scheme had generated.
Detailed information on the rank and file Darien investor continues to elude historians.
Despite such limitations, analysis of surviving subscription lists does yield some surprising
results. The lists suggest that the Company received investments within Scotland from nearly all
walks of life and occupations, with only the poorest unrepresented. ―Surprisingly,‖ states W.
Douglas Jones, ―all but one of Scotland‘s thirty-three shires (Caithness) may be found in the
Darien subscription books.‖ Five Lowlands counties in particular—Midlothian, Lanarkshire,
Angus, Ayrshire, and Fife—contributed the most subscribers and range from a high of 30.1% to
a low of 3.3% percent of all entries. The average invested sums are telling. In Edinburgh and
Glasgow, for example, better than half of the pledges fell between £50 and £199. Such numbers,
Jones concludes, ―were sums well within reach of Scotland‘s merchants and tradesmen,
professionals and soldiers, relicts and servants.‖47 The last group, of course, did so by pooling
their investments. In sum the diversity of investors made the success of the proposed settlement,
regardless of its location and risks, of critical importance. That the investment period itself
coincided with economic depressions, a severe agricultural crisis, and a surge in available credit
45
Watt, Price of Scotland, 54.
46
Watt, Price of Scotland, 74, 163-64, 205; Jones, ―The Bold Adventurers‖, 22-3.
Jones, ―The Bold Adventurers,‖ 26, 36, 38 (quote). Jones calculated that ―Edinburgh and Glasgow
subscribers together contributed at least 32.7% of the total capital‖ (p. 25). See Table II, p. 28.
47
Roy J. McClymont
16
from the new Bank of Scotland (founded 17 July 1695) meant that 1696 represented a feverpitch moment of ―financial mania‖ that threatened to sink the Scottish economy to the tune of
about £500,000 or better at the least opportune moment for the nation as a whole.48
Nevertheless, investors far and wide continued to deem the Company venture crucial for both
individual and national improvement.
In July 1696 the Company formally announced plans to establish a settlement in Africa or
the Indies. Thus far it had collected pledges far greater than initially believed possible and
moved to the next phase: hearing proposals for the placement and type of the eventual colony.
Company directors entertained consultations with at least three individuals all intimately familiar
with the Isthmus of Darien by early 1697. William Paterson, William Dampier, and Lionel
Wafer had each written extensively on the region. The three men independently informed the
Company‘s directors that the rewards of settling Darien far outweighed any potential risks. All
seriously downplayed the Spanish presence there and firmly maintained that its legal right to the
land had long since elapsed.49 Paterson, Dampier, and Wafer were unanimous: the Scotland
Company would be foolish not to take Darien. Unfortunately, the enterprise remained anything
but secret. Unbeknownst to the Company, William‘s representatives abroad quickly discovered
The term ―financial mania‖ is from Watt, Price of Scotland, xviii; McPhail, ―Through a Glass, Darkly‖
132, 142; Jones, ―The Bold Adventurers,‖ 25-7, 38; Hidalgo, ―To Get Rich for Our Homeland,‖ 317, 32224.
48
49
Later defenders of the Darien colony were adamant in their support for the same idea. For example, see
Company of Scotland Trading to Africa and the Indies, Scotland's right to Caledonia (formerly called
Darien), and the legality of its settlement (1700); and Company of Scotland Trading to Africa and the
Indies, Council General, The Council-General of the Indian and African Company's petition to His
Majesty (1699).
Roy J. McClymont
17
the Scots‘ intentions and orchestrated a significant smear campaign to prevent other European
powers from aiding expedition preparations.50
The Netherlands remained perhaps the epicenter of global capitalism in the late
seventeenth century. Although skeptical of the rather hazy plans for Darien, the prospect of an
international free port appealed to many ambitious Dutch merchants. After all, Scotland‘s
Parliament guaranteed its Company the right to import goods duty free. Merchants could
thereby undercut traditional English and Dutch monopolies to sell or transship such goods at a
substantial profit.51 A free port might provide a much needed impetus to reverse the trend of
English success in international trade. Initial optimism quickly gave way to suspicion on the part
of the merchants first at Amsterdam and then Rotterdam. Pressure from the United Dutch East
India Company (VOC) also conspired to end Scottish hopes in the Netherlands. By March 1697,
Hamburg appeared to be the Scotland Company‘s last viable option.52
The Scottish presence at Hamburg did not go unnoticed either. English diplomat Sir Paul
Rycaut apprised William‘s Secretary of State William Blathwayt, Jr. of the Scots‘ arrival in
August even before formal instructions were issued by the Scottish Company itself.53 Concerned
with their time and efforts in Hamburg, Rycaut wrote to Secretary William Trumbull of the Scots
presence:
McPhail, ―Through a Glass, Darkly,‖ 134; Armitage, ―The Scottish Vision of Empire,‖ 102; see the
correspondence of Sir Paul Rycaut, England‘s representative at Hamburg, in Papers Relating to the Ships
and Voyages of the Company of Scotland Trading to Africa and the Indies, 1696-1707 (Edinburgh:
Edinburgh University Press, 1924), 6-27, 29-48. (hereafter Darien Shipping Papers), 6-27, 29-48.
50
51
Philo-Caledon, A defence of the Scots settlement at Darien : With an answer to the Spanish memorial
against it. And arguments to prove that it is the interest of England to join with the Scots, and protect it.
To which is added, A description of the country, and a particular account of the Scots Colony (Edinburgh,
1699), 28.
52
53
Watt, Price of Scotland, 74, 94-7.
Watt, Price of Scotland, 97; Rycaut to Blathwayt, Hamburg, 10 August 1696, in Darien Shipping
Papers, 6.
Roy J. McClymont
18
I have been as watchfull as I could to observe all their motions and am well assured that
they have made no steps or addresses yet to obtaine any favour from ye Senate relating to
ye settlement of trade or gaining priviledges or making a Concordatum and Articles with
this government; howsoever they speed not their time idly here, but employ themselves
either in building their ships which may be ready by ye end of May next, or in procuring
subscriptions for enlargement of their Stock by ye Dutch merchants….how farre yet
Dutch may adventure therein I know not, for Mr. Paterson, who is a diligent Projector,
lyes hard at them, and representing nothing but riches and a golden age….54
The fruitful international fundraising mission Company directors had envisioned collapsed; the
details of the proposed Darien venture were anything but secret. Scottish agents, including
William Paterson himself, bragged and boasted their way from Amsterdam to Hamburg high
society. Another well-connected Englishman there summarized the entire Darien plan for
government officials as early as May 1697, more than a full year before ships would sail to the
Isthmus. Formal plans were later affirmed on July 23. By October the same correspondent to
England relayed the full extent of Scottish preparations down to the smallest detail.55
The Company‘s final plan chose William Paterson‘s model for a settlement at Darien to
control the gateway to the Pacific. Several ships laden with men and supplies were to depart
from Scotland in late 1698 to establish the colony of New Caledonia on the northern coast of the
Isthmus of Darien. The fate of Scotland and its people now rested on the colony‘s ultimate
success or failure; Paterson was the guarantor.
National Enthusiasm
Paterson‘s vision and passion generated much excitement. The hope that this scheme
would reverse the fortunes of the entire nation outweighed any perceived negative factors.
Subsequently, an explosion of songs, poems and propaganda exclaiming the undoubted success
54
55
Rycaut to Trumbull, Hamburg, 2 March 1697, in Darien Shipping Papers, 16.
Extract of a Letter from Mr. Orth, Hamburg, 20 April 1697; and Orth to Trumbull, Hamburg, 12
October 1697, both in Darien Shipping Papers, 34-5, 44-6; Watt, Price of Scotland, 10.
Roy J. McClymont
19
Scotland would achieve from their venture spread quickly across the nation. One such example
of this is a broadside ballad published anonymously in Edinburgh in 1699. Entitled ―Trades
Release: or, Courage to the Scotch-Indian Company,‖ this lengthy ballad is a celebration of the
Darien Company. Most telling perhaps is the first few lines, which state: ―Come, rouse up your
Heads, Come rouse up Anon! Think of the Wisdom of old Solomon, And heartily Joyn with our
own Paterson, To fetch Home INDIAN treasures.‖56 Not only do they highlight the emotion and
excitement surrounding the venture, the line that describes Paterson as ―our own‖ subtly suggests
that although he founded the Bank of England, he is in fact a Scotsman and can make great
changes for his own country too. The rest of the verses go on to make extravagant claims to the
success that the company will undoubtedly achieve, and thus have little else to offer in analysis.
Supplementing the idea that print culture can highlight the excitement felt towards the
Company of Scotland are the numerous descriptions of the Darien that were printed in the late
seventeenth century. Two such examples were published in Edinburgh in the year 1699 alone.
Both Lionel Wafer‘s A Short Account from, and Description of the Isthmus of Darien and Isaac
Blackwell‘s A Description of the Province and Bay of Darien give accounts of the geography,
the flora and fauna, the natives and customs of the region among many other things.57 Wafer
describes the land as ―very good, with variety of Hills and valleys, watered with the Rivers,
covered with perpetual woods.‖58 As for the inlet (site of the proposed free port), Wafer thought
it was
56
Anon., Trade's release: or, Courage to the Scotch-Indian-Company Being an excellent New Ballad; to
the tune of, The Turks are all confounded (Edinburgh, 1699).
57
Isaac Blackwell, A Description of the Province and Bay of Darien (Edinburgh, 1699); and Lionel
Wafer, A Short Description from, and Descriptions of the Isthmus of Darien, where the Scots Collony
Are Settled (Edinburgh, 1699).
58
Wafer, ―A Short Description,‖ in Darien Shipping Papers, 53.
Roy J. McClymont
20
a good harbour but hath a bad entrance having several Rocks on each Side the Channel,
especially on the east side, and not above eight or nine foot water, tho deeper further in;
the opening at the entrance is Scarce a furlong over, and the two points that make it are
very capable of being fortified as is the land about the Bed of the harbour which is also
very fruitful for plantations and hath good fresh water.59
Originally considered by the Scottish Company as an unfortunate blemish on the otherwise
utopic landscape, the high cliffs and ―bad entrance‖ of the harbor actually provided an excellent
natural defense against would be attackers. In the waning days of the first expedition, it
remained the lone obstacle separating the Scottish outpost from the Spanish expedition en route
to reclaim the Isthmus from a substantive threat to its empire.60 Although there is much to be
skeptical about regarding what these particular gentlemen wrote, the fact that there was anything
written on a place so far away shows that people had much invested, both financially and
emotionally, in the expedition.
Also adding weight to the argument that there was much interest in what the Company of
Scotland was trying to achieve are the histories of the Darien that were published in 1699. In
both London and Dublin, a book titled The History of Caledonia: or, the Scots Colony in Darien
in the West-Indies was printed and sold.61 The reasons for this are open to interpretation, but,
regardless, there is little doubt that the excitement generated by the Darien Scheme had
permeated Scotland‘s borders resulting in curiosity for some, and concern for others.
59
Ibid., 51.
60
Francis Borland, The History of Darien; Giving a Description of that Country, an Account of the
Attempts of the Company of Scotland to Settle a Colony in that Place, and a Relation of Some of the many
Tragical Disasters which attended that Design (Glasgow: Printed by John Bryce, reprint 1779), 10,
suggested that the cliffs and the ―deep Bay‖ combined to block, or at least conspire to alter, the prevailing
trade winds. By all accounts, the Bay did pose significant problems for vessels unaccustomed to entrance
there and, more problematically, for all exiting.
61
Anon, The History of Caledonia: or, the Scots Colony in Darien in the West-Indies (Dublin, 1699);
Anon, The History of Caledonia: or, the Scots Colony in Darien in the West-Indies (London, 1699).
Roy J. McClymont
21
A final cultural example that highlights the excitement, optimism and hope surrounding
the Darien Scheme can be found in the broadside Caledonia Truimphans.62 A handsome poem
and congratulatory verse, it produces a confident vision of the future success of the settlement
even if the king and the English oppose it by stating:
Nor shall insulting neighbors henceforth taunt,
The generous Scots for poverty and want.
Our ships through all the world shall go and come,
Even from rising to setting sun.63
The optimism in the language and tone of this piece is mirrored by the optimism that can be seen
in the Company‘s coat-of-arms that is at the head of this broadside.64 Featuring a rising and
setting sun, and what appear to be two natives holding exotic treasures flanking the flag of St.
Andrews, the anticipation that the Scots would soon enjoy the fruits of oceanic trade spanning
the globe is widely apparent. This broadside would have been a very powerful and coercive
piece to many people, literate or not. The patriotic and rousing language would have
impassioned those who read it or listened to it. The symbolic nature of the coat-of-arms would
have been equally important to fostering a belief that things were going to improve in Scotland.
The speed at which the subscription books had been filled, along with the ballads,
broadsides, poems and songs, had undoubtedly whipped up a frenzy of excitement. Testament to
this can be measured by the thousands of people who gathered at the port of Leith in the middle
of July 1698 to witness the departure of the fleet. This is the kind of expectation that the main
protagonist of the first expedition narrative, Mr. Rose, either felt himself or no doubt was acutely
aware of when he departed Scotland on one of the five ships that carried the expedition‘s 1,200
62
Anon, Caledonia Truimphans: A Panegyrick to the King (Edinburgh, 1699).
63
Ibid.
See the appendix for a scanned copy of The Company of Scotland‘s coat-of-arms taken from Douglas
Watt, The Price of Scotland, 95.
64
Roy J. McClymont
22
colonists in July of 1698. Unfortunately the initial entries in his journal give no indication of
exactly how he felt, but we can only assume that his presence on the expedition is an indication
of his belief in the importance of the venture.65 The previous assumption can be made with some
confidence, considering there is evidence to suggest there were many Scots who wanted to make
the trip but were not needed, hence ―the many seamen and soldiers whose services had been
refused were found hid in the ships, and, when ordered ashore, clung to the ropes and timbers,
imploring to go, without reward, with their companions.‖66
The First Expedition
By the end of September, Rose and the expedition had reached the Caribbean.67 Nothing
much is said about the crossing of the Atlantic other than an entry about the rituals that were
performed when they crossed the Tropic of Cancer.68 The ease at which Rose and his fellow
passengers experienced this crossing with fair weather and calm seas is rare, especially in the
midst of what we now know is hurricane season. However, even when the weather was
cooperative, most pre-modern transatlantic crossings were brutal.69 Seafarers had to endure poor
and potentially lethal food, especially when the wind, or rather the lack of it, extended journey
65
The initial entries are merely logbook entries of the state of the weather and the like. J.H. Burton, The
Darien Papers: Being a Selection of Original Letters and Official Documents Relating to the
Establishment of a Colony at Darien by the Company of Scotland Trading to Africa and the Indies, 16951700 (Edinburgh: Bannatyne Club, 1849), 60.
66
Francis Russell Hart, The Disaster of Darien: The Story of the Scots Settlement and the Causes of its
Failure, 1699-1701 (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1929), 53-54.
67
J.H. Burton, The Darien Papers, 60.
68
I am happy to say though that such rituals, which break the monotony of long journeys, are still alive
and well.
69
One of the ships involved in the 2nd expedition was not as fortunate as the vessel on which Mr. Rose
was aboard. From A Letter Onboard the Rising Sun in Caledonia Bay December 1699, the author
accounts the horrendous conditions and high mortality rate endured during their Atlantic crossing to
overcrowding, spoiled food, unfavorable winds and ―wickedness and silly management.‖ Allan MacInnis
et al, 2002, 33.
Roy J. McClymont
23
time beyond the calculated time. Space was an issue as well. Ships were often overcrowded,
though not to the same degree that slave ships were, but sickness and disease would spread easily
and quickly in tight quarters. G.V. Scammell articulates the conditions early modern seafarers
faced when he states:
The record of many voyages is hence a chronicle of death related in the forthright
language of the day. Crews and passengers succumbed to ‗ship fever‘, ‗the bloody
runs‘, ‗the bloody flux‘ (typhus and dysentery) or to scurvy, dropsy, smallpox,
various pulmonary conditions and those diseases (notably syphilis, cholera and
malaria) contracted ashore. Besides which there was the toll from accidents. Men
were killed or disabled by falls from aloft. Others ignominiously met their end by
slipping from the ‗seats of convenience‘ slung outboard for use as lavatories. And
in lengthy voyages there were few rituals more familiar than those for the burial
of the dead at sea.70
Fortunately for Mr. Rose and the vast majority of his fellow colonizers, to this point the journey
between Scotland and the expedition‘s destination in Central America was going well, and it
could be presumed that spirits and expectations still remained high.71
One might the convoy to have crossed the paths of the Dutch, English, French or Spanish
before reaching their final destination. Interestingly, it was none of these great seafaring colonial
powers that the Scots first came across in the Caribbean; rather, it was the Danish. Whilst
searching near St. Thomas for a pilot to guide them to Golden Island, which was situated at the
entranceway to the natural harbor the Scots intended to settle, the expedition landed on Crab
Island on the 3rd October and ―took possession of the Island in the name of the Company of
G.V. Scammell, ―European Seafaring in Asia,‖ in Scammell, ed., Seafaring, Sailors and Trade, 14501750: Studies in British and European Maritime and Imperial History (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2003), IX,
36-37.
70
71
In a work of greater scope and detail, evidence from other peoples crossing of the Atlantic could be
provided to give some contrast to Rose‘s fortunate experience. The compare and contrast method
employed by historians in works of world history is not only common, but also an extremely effective
conceptual tool.
Roy J. McClymont
24
Scotland Trading to Africa.‖72 However, the next day they found out from settled Danes on St.
Thomas that the King of Denmark had already claimed the island. For whatever reason, (Rose
gives none), the Danes were happy for the Scots to have Crab Island. So, the Scots flew the
company colors for the short time they were there whilst filling their ships with water before
continuing the journey to the Darien.73 For me, however, the importance of this interaction with
the Danish is not so much who gained or lost what, but rather that the Caribbean was a hive of
activity not only for the superpowers of colonial activity previously mentioned, but for smaller
European nations who were trying to secure as much of the New World‘s riches as they could as
well.74
Before leaving Crab Island in the evening of October 8th, the Scots managed to procure a
pilot from the Danes who knew his way to the exact location in the Darien they intended to
colonize.75 Also, before their departure, a sloop visited the Scots and tried to sell goods. Rose
states ―she was loaded with flour, beef and other goods‖ and that they ―endeavored to drive a
bargain with him for some provisions, but his prices were too high.‖76 Once again, the
interconnectedness of the period is highlighted. The Scots had only been on Crab Island for a
matter of days, and they were given the opportunity of making a transaction with someone other
72
Burton, The Darien Papers , 61.
73
The importance of taking on water at Crab Island would be discussed by Rose and other colonists at a
later date as they believed that those who died or were sick upon the expedition‘s arrival to New
Caledonia had suffered their demise due to the water taken on board here.
74
Lack of numbers compared to larger colonial participants did not necessarily mean that successful
colonization or trade by smaller European nations was not possible. In addition to the Danish presence in
the Caribbean, the Dutch and Portuguese, both small nations in terms of geography and population, had
enjoyed considerable success due to their enterprising seafaring tendencies. Michael Fry, Scotland And
the Americas, 1600 to 1800 (Providence, R.I.: John Carter Brown Library, 1995), xviii.
75
Burton, 61.
76
Ibid., 62.
Roy J. McClymont
25
than themselves or the English, unlike the harsh reality that existed back in Scotland. Scotland‘s
sphere of influence was growing daily, and the pioneering colonists must surely have been
excited with the opportunities that were presenting themselves.
By the end of October, Rose and the Scottish expedition had reached their destination.
Immediately, before even disembarking their ships, the colonists were met by two canoes with
several members of the indigenous population on board. Rose describes that they spoke little
English and ―indifferent Spanish,‖ but that they were ―very free and not at all shy.‖77 He also
interestingly remarks that they plied them with drink in hopes of gathering who told them to
expect the Scots within two years, to which they replied that the Scots ―were very welcome, and
that all the country was at war with the Spaniards.‖78 I say this is interesting, because as touched
on previously, the destination of the expedition was supposed to be a secret that only Paterson,
the venture‘s brainchild, and other directors in the Company of Scotland knew about. Rose
himself would not even have known the final destination until the captains of each of the
expedition vessels‘ opened instructions once clear of Scottish waters. Unbeknownst to the Scots,
details of the proposed venture had been leaked and relayed to England well before the
expedition‘s departure from Leith.
News that had reached Boston first was filtered into Scotland by March of 1699. In An
Exprefs from the African and Indian Scots Company’s Fleet, word of the potential in New
Caledonia was re-iterated, as was the hard work of the colonists who were spending their whole
time ―building Forts and Houses.‖79 Although this text also champions the ―magical‖ healing
77
Ibid., 62.
78
Ibid., 62.
Anon, Exprefs from the African and Indian Scots Company’s Fleet, Landed in New-Edinburgh in
Caledonia (Edinburgh, 1699), 1.
79
Roy J. McClymont
26
qualities of the climate and environment of New Caledonia, the mortality rate of the colonists in
the first two months begs to differ. In addition to the forty-four named deceased from the
expedition‘s relatively easy crossing, thirty-two colonists succumbed to the effects of fever and
flux in the months of November and December.80 However, this early high rate of mortality
could very well have been a result of the poor water the expedition took on from Crab Island
whilst looking for a pilot to assist them in finding their final destination, as it appears that the
colonists were settled enough in their new home to enjoy a grand feast to celebrate Christmas. 81
At least one person, Captain Thomas Fullartoun of the Dolphin, appeared to have enjoyed
himself a little too much as he collapsed and passed away shortly after the feast due to the effects
of overindulgent food and drink consumption.82 In summary, it is difficult to ascertain the true
nature of life in the Darien. Such high mortality rates undoubtedly point to a more difficult
experience than the sources indicate, but there may have been legitimate reasons to believe that
life was going to improve once trade and commerce were stimulated by visiting merchants and
ships.
In Scotland however, optimism was still fervent. Upon news of the expedition‘s safe
arrival to the Darien, an ode predicting the joys to be expected from the colony was printed on a
broadsheet. Titled, An Ode Made on the Welcome News, it celebrated the ease at which the
natives ―freely did Resign, and all the Treasures of their soil,‖ and that ―Indian Gold shall soon
80
Ibid., 2.
Eric J. Graham and Tom Barclay, ―Ayr & The ‗Scots Lots‘ in the Americas 1682-1707,‖ History
Scotland, July/August, 2003, 29.
81
Anon, Exprefs from the African and Indian Scots Company’s Fleet, Landed in New-Edinburgh in
Caledonia (Edinburgh, 1699), 2.
82
Roy J. McClymont
27
release The Nation from its Tempral Grand Disease‖.83 So, not only does this piece of text yield
an interpretation of life in the newly formed settlement of New Caledonia, it also sheds light onto
life in Scotland itself. Reference to poverty as one of the nation‘s greatest threats is highlighted
in the same text: ―No swarms of Beggars shall annoy, no Vagabonds corrupt our Wealth, but
every man that enjoys Health, His frugal Country shall imploy, T‘increase our Store & Crown
our lasting Joy.‖84 The belief in the probable success of this venture was high, and that it could
change the social and economic conditions of all was the expected outcome.
Such enthusiastic literature was fueled by the numerous positive correspondences that
were reaching Scotland from New Caledonia. One such example can be found in the
anonymously authored piece titled A Letter Giving Description of the Isthmus of Darien.85 This
publication was the first comprehensive eyewitness account of the new settlement at Darien and
is full of false hopes concerning its suitability as a site. It provided investors and potential
settlers back home in Scotland with detailed descriptions of the varieties of trees and animals, the
friendliness of the local population, and the first planting of tobacco for trade. The confidence
that would accompany the second expedition to leave in the summer of 1699 was no doubt
fueled by such accounts, which nevertheless certainly misled their readers about the challenges
presented to potential colonists by the intended plantations. These environmental challenges are
widely apparent from reading the weather reports from Mr. Rose‘s diary. Between the
expedition‘s arrival on the 3rd November and their one-month anniversary, Rose records that
Scotland‘s temporal grand disease was poverty. Anon, An Ode Made on the Welcome News of the Safe
Arrival and Kind Reception of the Scottish Colony at Darien in America (Edinburgh, 1699).
83
84
85
Ibid.
Anon, A Letter, Giving a Descripton of the Isthmus of Darian: (Where the Scot's Colonie Is Settled;)
from a Gentleman Who Lives There at Present (Edinburgh, 1699).
Roy J. McClymont
28
there was wind, rain and thunder for 16 of those 30 days.86 This weather presented a major
inconvenience, as in Rose‘s own words where he recounts on several occasions that ―these 24
hours there has fallen a prodigious quantity of rain,‖ and ―the weather continues very bad which
hinders the work much.‖87 This is most likely one of the main reasons the Scottish colony failed
– poor planning and unrealistic goals to set up a colony in a location to this day that is virtually
uninhabited. Perhaps if so much had not been at stake (i.e. the perceived notion that this venture
was the nation‘s saving grace), then the colonists would have realized quickly that this location
was not suitable. Clouded by emotions, the decision to settle in the Darien, and the stubbornness
of the leaders to ultimately stick it out cost the people of Scotland dearly, and most of the
colonizers would pay with their lives.
Abandonment
Company reports indicate that by the time the Spanish began their attack on New
Caledonia, ―Officers, Seamen and Planters were seized with a severe sickness of Fever, Ague,
and Flux.‖88 Ground for planting and the climate had not been as forgiving as the directors had
promised (and indeed were told). Francis Borland, a later settler, said the Isthmus was ―full of
mountains and marshes, and its air…continually cloudy and dark, and very hot withal, which
renders it very unhealthy, especially in the wet season, from April to November inclusively.‖89
The unpredictable growing season fueled rampant disease and stunted the most basic agricultural
sources as well. Regarding farming, Captain Robert Drummond complained that ―they [settlers]
had neither time nor hands enough to plant, but only some few things for experiment, such as
86
Burton, 64-73.
87
Ibid., 64-73.
88
Paterson, ―Report of Matters relating to the Colony of Caledonia,‖ Darien Shipping Papers, 109-10.
89
Borland, The History of Darien, 8.
Roy J. McClymont
29
yams, Indian corn, and Jamaica Pease, which they said came to perfection in five weeks time.‖
Drummond later wrote to Company directors (they received it late November 1699) with
disturbing news, concluding that between May and July 1699 ―about 200 persons died before
they came away.‖ Drummond and others blamed the ―scarcity of fresh provisions and strong
liquors‖ for the high mortality rates. For the directors in Scotland, the horrific news had arrived
far too late. Nearly two months before, a second voyage of 1,300 new settlers and much needed
supplies embarked for Darien. Drummond‘s ominous letter likely arrived at virtually the same
time the travelers had stepped on the shores of the Isthmus to find utter destitution. Paterson and
Company were unaware that the situation was worse than they knew.90
Along with the problem of acquiring basic foodstuffs, poor communication contributed to
the settlements decay and mass suffering at Darien. In February 1699, Caledonians sent one of
the few intact Company vessels first to Dutch Curacao, then to the Windward Islands, and finally
onto St. Thomas with £1,400 worth of goods to trade for supplies. Damaged outside of
Carthagena (Colombia), the Dolphin limped into the Spanish harbor there and had its goods and
crew seized for piracy.91 The ship was a total loss for the ailing Scots. The following month
brought no communication from Scotland or anywhere else. Settlers saw little hope for even the
most basic food needs. In fact, there was no word from Scotland at all as settlers struggled to
build simple dwellings and embankments for defense. Construction of Fort St. Andrew was
barely halfway completed.92
Paterson, ―Report of Matters relating to the Colony of Caledonia,‖ Darien Shipping Papers, 109-12;
Hidalgo, ―To Get Rich for Our Homeland,‖ 340-41.
90
91
Carthagena, as it was spelled at the time, or Cartagena, Colombia today.
92
Watt, Price of Scotland, 154-55; Paterson, ―Report of Matters,‖ Darien Shipping Papers, 109.
Roy J. McClymont
30
Colonists received word in mid-May 1699 that English settlements throughout the
Atlantic rim were forbidden from offering any aid to the Scots at Darien. The Scots believed
their misfortunes were because of Sir William Beeston, Governor of Jamaica, who signed the socalled ―Jamaica Proclamation‖ on April 9. Initially it appeared to have been a localized act,
though was actually identical to those issued throughout William‘s colonies. James Vernon, the
king‘s secretary, penned the original in compliance with His Majesty‘s wishes.
In His Majesty‘s Name and by command, strictly to command His Majesty‘s subjects,
whatsoever, that they do not presume, on any pretence whatsoever, to hold any
correspondence with the said Scots, nor to give them any assistance of arms,
ammunitions, provisions, or any other necessaries whatsoever, either by themselves or
any other for them, or by any of their vessels, or of the English nation, as they will
answer the contempt of His Majesty‘s command, at their utmost peril.93
Vernon insisted that William was misled about Scotland‘s intentions at Darien and that their
residence there violated Spanish claims to the Isthmus. The potential rift with Spain, Vernon
alleged, caused His Majesty no small amount of personal and political grief. However, as early
as September 1697, William was told by his own Commissioners for Trade that Spain had no
claim of the region. The Commissioners insisted William settle Darien ―with all possible
dispatch lest the Scotch Company be there before us, which is of utmost importance to the trade
of England.‖ Charles Dunwood, a survivor, attested to the effectiveness of the king‘s power,
telling Scottish Company directors that Caledonians starved because the William‘s proclamation
was observed so strictly that no one dare defy it.94 Their suffering was now complete.
Preparations for a second voyage to New Caledonia were well underway in Scotland as
the situation of the first expedition turned critical at Darien. Caledonians heard rumors from
Quoted in Prebble, Darien Disaster, 197; Bingham, ed., ―Virginia Letters on the Scots Darien Colony,‖
814-5.
93
Armitage, ―The Scottish Vision of Empire,‖ 109; Paterson, ―Report of Matters,‖ Darien Shipping
Papers, 109; Borland, The History of Darien, 23, claimed that, alternatively, some of the survivors even
confided ―that they were designed to leave the place, before ever they heard of the Proclamation.‖
94
Roy J. McClymont
31
Jamaica that the Scots Company had forsaken them. For Scots at home, meanwhile, scattered
speculation that the settlement was deserted made its way to Scotland‘s shores. Neither side of
the Atlantic could be entirely sure of the truth; however, statistics painted a stark picture. Of the
1,200 Scotsmen from first expedition, 300 were dead and buried by their fellow colonists at the
Isthmus.95 Malaria, yellow fever, and starvation ran rampant through the settlement. Some were
hesitant to leave New Caledonia without express permission from Scotland, word from which
was still forthcoming. Francis Borland later attested that, ―All the time of their abode here,
which was upwards of seven months, they say they had never so much as one Letter or Vessel
from Scotland, which was a great discouragement to them, and no good policy in our Directors at
home.‖ The bulk of the settlers, he acknowledged, simply ran amuck.96
Misery had its limits. On 19 June 1699 the remaining 900 colonists crowded about four
ships—the St. Andrew, the Unicorn, the Endeavour, and the Caledonia—as a dozen or better
were left behind, too ill to endure the hardship of a grueling ocean voyage. The St. Andrew took
seven weeks to reach Jamaica, losing 100 of its passengers en route. There Scots survivors
deserted or bound themselves to indentured servitude simply to survive. Three ships remained.
Only two eventually reached New York. The Endeavour sank on July 1 and its passengers were
carried instead by the Caledonia, which took six weeks to reach its destination. Estimates
aboard the ships suggest the voyage to North America claimed more than a third of the initial
survivors. At New York the tattered colonists confirmed the abandonment of New Caledonia in
detailed correspondence to the Scottish Company. But their suffering was not yet over. Many
95
Works place this number between 200 and 400. A settler, Drummond, in Darien Shipping Papers, 109,
reported hearing of 200 casualties at the time while the higher total is from Prebble, Darien Disaster, 236.
96
Borland, The History of Darien, 22-3.
Roy J. McClymont
32
more ultimately languished and died after the journey. From the first voyage no more than a few
hundred Scots survived in all.97
Conclusion
That the Darien settlement was a tragedy for Scotland in all senses is beyond question. In
the coming months, Scots struggled to make sense of the Darien scheme and its own fragile
place within the Atlantic world. Blame fell upon the Scottish Company itself, though England,
King William, and the Spanish were all more frequent targets.98 Figures vary but contemporary
accounts suggest close to 2,000 Scots died and the £400,000 raised by a remarkably diverse
cross-section of the impoverished nation of Scotland vanished.99
Little could the readers‘ of the ballads, songs and poems, recipients of the letters from
William Paterson, and those behind the conception of the Company‘s coat-of-arms believe just
how poorly the venture was going by the spring of 1699. By the time these texts were being
disseminated and celebrated in Scotland, the colony barely existed. Within a few months, New
Edinburgh would be completely abandoned as the colonists were dying by the dozen weekly including Paterson‘s own wife and child – and then in November of 1699, the second expedition
would arrive in the Darien exactly a year after the first and find the settlement at Fort St.
Andrews overgrown to such an extent, it would have been hard to believe anyone had been there
previously at all.100 With nobody to trade with at Darien for fear of reprisal by the English and
Spanish, the new colonizers would fail just as miserable as the first. The colonists were literally
97
Watt, Price of Scotland, 156.
98
Hidalgo, ―To Get Rich for Our Homeland,‖ 347.
99
On this point see Watt, Price of Scotland, 193.
100
Hidalgo, ―To Get Rich for Our Homeland,‖ 436.
Roy J. McClymont
33
experiencing the same fate as they had as Scots at home – the strangulation of their economy
from outside forces. The only difference being, the foreign environment that they were in
multiplied the negative effects of a non-existent economy exponentially.
Many more pages could follow with the observations and experiences of those from the
second expedition to supplement the ―regular‖ Darien Scheme narrative. For example, the
descriptions of the Isthmus of Darien as provided by Mr. Rose can be compared and contrasted
with those from earlier travelers such as Isaac Blackwell and Lionel Wafer.101 When Mr. Rose‘s
accounts are sparse, letters from William Paterson can be used. When Paterson‘s accounts end
with the abandonment of the first expedition, those of the Rev. Francis Borland, minister to the
second expeditions, can continue the narrative.102 When news of the safe arrival to the Darien
reaches Scotland, print culture can provide a snap shot of the atmosphere in the homeland.103
News of the expedition‘s arrival was not only eagerly awaited in Scotland, but in England and
Spain as well. The Spanish had the most vested interests in the region; thus, it is no surprise that
there are a significant number of correspondences between Seville and colonial outposts.104 The
point being that traditional telling of the Darien Scheme can be retold with a plethora of sources
and multitude of methods. The narrative need no longer remain stale, economic and political.
People experienced the history of the Darien venture – thus people must be the centre around
which the narrative is retold.
101
Isaac Blackwell, A Description of the Province and Bay of Darien ; Lionel Wafer, A Short Description
from, and Descriptions of the Isthmus of Darien, where the Scots Collony Are Settled.
102
Borland, Francis, Memoirs of Darien (Glasgow: Hugh Brown), 1715.
103
An example of this type of source is the anonymously authored An Ode Made on the Welcome News of
the Safe Arrival and Kind Reception of the Scottish Colony at Darien in America, (Edinburgh, 1699).
104
A collection of these papers have been compiled and translated into English by Francis Russell Hart,
and are titled Spanish Documents Relating to the Scots Settlement of Darien, (Boston: Massachusetts
Historical Society, 1931).
Roy J. McClymont
34
Appendix
Map 1. The Scots settlement in America called New Caledonia. A.D. 1699. Lat. 8-30 North.
According to an original draught by H. Moll G. 1729. - Map of the Bay of New Caledonia in
Darién, Panama.
Source: Special Collections, University of Glasgow.
Roy J. McClymont
Map 2. Anonymous. A New Map of the Isthmus of Darian in America & Bay of Panama, the
Gulph of St. Michal with its Islands, & Countries Adjacent. ln A letter giving A Description of
the Isthmus of Darian, Edinburgh: 1699.
Source: Special Collections, University of Glasgow.
35
Roy J. McClymont
36
Roy J. McClymont
37
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