Weather, Migration and the Scottish Diaspora: Leaving the Cold Country

During the long nineteenth century, cooler temperatures led to agricultural shortages and increased death and disease in Scotland. Meteorologists used environmental determinism to explain this phenomenon and identified the atmospheric conditions that exacerbated it. Emigration agents portrayed their favored climates to attract migrants, and the climate reasons, pressures, and incentives that resulted in the movement of people were complex and varied. This study examines the emigration history of Scotland through the lens of the nation's climate, highlighting the structural features that contextualize the migration experience, including economic and demographic factors.

Format: Hardback
Length: 278 pages
Publication date: 29 October 2020
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

Why did large numbers of Scots leave a temperate climate to live permanently in parts of the world where greater temperature extreme was the norm? The long nineteenth century was a period consistently cooler than now, and Scotland remains the coldest of the British nations. Nineteenth-century meteorologists turned to environmental determinism to explain the persistence of agricultural shortage and to identify the atmospheric conditions that exacerbated the incidence of death and disease in the towns. In these cases, the logic of emigration and the benefits of an alternative climate were compelling. Emigration agents portrayed their favoured climate in order to pull migrants in their direction. The climate reasons, pressures, and incentives that resulted in the movement of people have been neither straightforward nor uniform.

There are known structural features that contextualize the migration experience, chief among them being economic and demographic factors. By building on the work of historical climatologists, and the availability of long-run climate data, for the first time, the emigration history of Scotland is examined through the lens of the nation's climate. In significant per capita numbers, the Scots left the cold country behind; yet the 'homeland remained an unbreakable connection for the diaspora.

The long nineteenth century was a period consistently cooler than now, and Scotland remains the coldest of the British nations. Nineteenth-century meteorologists turned to environmental determinism to explain the persistence of agricultural shortage and to identify the atmospheric conditions that exacerbated the incidence of death and disease in the towns. In these cases, the logic of emigration and the benefits of an alternative climate were compelling. Emigration agents portrayed their favoured climate in order to pull migrants in their direction. The climate reasons, pressures, and incentives that resulted in the movement of people have been neither straightforward nor uniform.

There are known structural features that contextualize the migration experience, chief among them being economic and demographic factors. By building on the work of historical climatologists, and the availability of long-run climate data, for the first time, the emigration history of Scotland is examined through the lens of the nation's climate. In significant per capita numbers, the Scots left the cold country behind; yet the 'homeland remained an unbreakable connection for the diaspora.

The long nineteenth century was a period consistently cooler than now, and Scotland remains the coldest of the British nations. Nineteenth-century meteorologists turned to environmental determinism to explain the persistence of agricultural shortage and to identify the atmospheric conditions that exacerbated the incidence of death and disease in the towns. In these cases, the logic of emigration and the benefits of an alternative climate were compelling. Emigration agents portrayed their favoured climate in order to pull migrants in their direction. The climate reasons, pressures, and incentives that resulted in the movement of people have been neither straightforward nor uniform.

There are known structural features that contextualize the migration experience, chief among them being economic and demographic factors. By building on the work of historical climatologists, and the availability of long-run climate data, for the first time, the emigration history of Scotland is examined through the lens of the nation's climate. In significant per capita numbers, the Scots left the cold country behind; yet the 'homeland remained an unbreakable connection for the diaspora.

The long nineteenth century was a period consistently cooler than now, and Scotland remains the coldest of the British nations. Nineteenth-century meteorologists turned to environmental determinism to explain the persistence of agricultural shortage and to identify the atmospheric conditions that exacerbated the incidence of death and disease in the towns. In these cases, the logic of emigration and the benefits of an alternative climate were compelling. Emigration agents portrayed their favoured climate in order to pull migrants in their direction. The climate reasons, pressures, and incentives that resulted in the movement of people have been neither straightforward nor uniform.

There are known structural features that contextualize the migration experience, chief among them being economic and demographic factors. By building on the work of historical climatologists, and the availability of long-run climate data, for the first time, the emigration history of Scotland is examined through the lens of the nation's climate. In significant per capita numbers, the Scots left the cold country behind; yet the 'homeland remained an unbreakable connection for the diaspora.

Weight: 586g
Dimension: 162 x 240 x 23 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780367350642