How important is the Declaration of Arbroath..

[ThistleDown]

Yes, I've read this too, but remain somewhat unconvinced, in part, because not all Highlanders were Catholic. Clan Chattan (MacKintosh, MacPherson, MacBean, MacQueen, Farquarson, and some of Davidson, Shaw, MacLean) were Highlanders but are recorded as being Episcopalean (Protestant with bishops, but not Presbyterian or Anglican). I am aware of several branches of the MacBean group who fought in the Revolution, and nearly all on the side of the Patriots. Some were Ulster Scots for sure, meaning that living near Ft.George after the Jacobite rebellions was uncomfortable, so they left for the Plantations (or perhaps there were other reasons, but there are precious few left in Scotland and an abundance of Beans in the USA).

Sorry, Mark, but I don't think that any Highland Scots can be included, in numbers, in your last. That is, that by the 18C there was little or no connection between Highland and Irish Scots. I cannot speak to your D of I point with any certainlty, as I cannot speak to other things related to the D of I (US) that has -- strangely (?) -- become such an important part of this thread. I can confirm, however, that within the Clanchattan the majority of folk in the 18C were Episcopalian. I don't know of any basis for your assertion that those who lived near Fort George after 1745 chose to emigrate (presumably because of their religion, or why otherwise would these facts be related?) and to become in the process Ulster Scots.

From Petty, Strathdearn, Strathnairn and the Upper Reaches of the Strathspey -- in the decades before 1776 -- many did leave, but in the main they left for the industrial sites of the south of Scotland and England or as relatively wealthy emigrees to the Americas and elsewhere. It is not recorded that they left in numbers for Ireland. In plainer words, there were no forced clearances in Clanchattan.

Are we confusing Highland Scots with Ulster Scots here?. I assure you, they are far from being the same beings in Scotland.