HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21365, 19 June 1931, Page 12

HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION

LECTURE BY DR ELDER A very interesting lecture was given by Dr J. R. Elder before members of the Historical Association in Messrs Charles Begg and Co.’s concert chamber last night, Dr Elder selecting as his subject “The Scottish Background in the Otago Settlement.” The.Hev. J._ Kilpatrick presided, and in introducing the speaker said that he was sure that the lecture would be very instructive, as the period to be dealt with was one of great interest to Otago people. Dr Elder commenced with the remark that the instinct for a knowledge of history was a strong human trait. The men who had come to Otago in 1848, he said, were men who brought with them inherited traditions with regard to all things social and religious. They were the offspring of Scotsmen, whose minds had been moulded in definite fashion by the struggle of their forefathers to achieve freedom in politics and in religion. To interpret the history of the Scot in Otago it was necessary to look far beyond the shores of New Zealand and turn to survey the rock from which the New Zealand Scot was hewn. The lecturer went on to trace events in Scotland for a .considerable period prior to the commencement of emigration. He dealt fully with the various troubles which assailed the church in Scotland, and traced the causes and effects of these. By this means he made it apparent to his audience that a great change was taking place in the religious life of the Scottish people. The manner in which political life and religious life were inextricably mingled was also described in an,interesting fashion, and'the climax, when it became necessary to reach a decision regarding the manner of appointing ministers, was seen in the courts. This resulted in a general gathering of the clergy in Edinburgh when, out of 405 ministers present, 427 resolved to secede from the church unless Parliament should yield to the demands made. The direct result of this was the setting up of the Free Church Of Scotland, whose principles with regard to religion and education were to be the guiding principles of the Otago settlement, which was now, said the lecturer, one of its greatest monuments.

Dr Elder then proceeded to deal with the social position which existed in' Scotland, and its effect in hurrying on the process of emigration. He referred to the efforts made in the seventeenth century to establish Scottish settlements in Newfoundland, Cape Breton Island, and South Carolina, all of which ended in failure. The ill-fated Darien scheme was also referred to. The defeat of a Jacobite rebellion and the consequent end of the clan system saw the Highland chief becoming a landlord, and breeding sheep to make his lands pay. The Highlanders found, themselves without employment and without the land from which they had been accustomed to draw a bare living. The gleue became sheep farms, and thousands of Highlanders sailed for America. The five reasons given for this Highland emigration of the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries were the union of the farms for the introduction of sheep raising, redundancy of population, the Jacobite rebellion, the influence of the returned Highland soldiers, and the rise in rente. From this stage, the lecturer pointed out, the desire to seek new lands increased rapidly, despite the efforts made by the authorities to check it. Early in the nineteenth century the state of affairs iji Scotland became worse, and in 1815 emigration to Canada was assisted by the Government. Economic and political circumstances combined to maintain the tide of emigration, and the .reports received from those who had gone to Canada tended to make the people more enthusiastic. ’■

Dr Elder went on to refer to the lives and influence of men like George Rennie, the Rev. Thomas Burns, and Captain Cargill. and he then dealt briefly with the early arrivals in the South Island of New Zealand. He stated that while the earlier Scottish settlers had been prepared to compromise with the ideas and customs of the peoples of other stock, the men of the Otago settlement arrived prepared to emphasise the Scottish tradition, with results that had formed the story of-the early years of the settlement. At the conclusion of the lecture, a vote of thanks was accorded Dr Elder, on the motion of Mr T. Ritchie.