The Great Travellers

[Lachlan09]

Scots do end up in the oddest places ! Scots are associated with particular countries through emigration of course, the famous diaspora, but work and commercial opportunities have also attracted Scottish “adventurers” for centuries. The textile and jute industries in India, Jardine-Matheson of Hong Kong for a start and groups of Scottish people like me in the construction and oil industries, working and living in the Middle East and Gulf, are examples of “The Scottish Mafia” abroad. My Great-Uncle, Donald Gow, went East and lived and worked at the HQ of HSBC in Shanghai during the 1920’s/30’s, even dying and being buried there in the late 1930’s. Presumably, that’s where I got itchy feet from, my dad, Great Uncle Donald and Cousin Jim Weir, who was in the Royal Navy, then worked all over the world, dying in Africa. God only knows where I will be when I die, but it won’t be in the UK for sure. Most likely SE Asia, eg The Philippines !

Even here in Oman, the ruler, Sultan Qaboos Said Al Bin Said, is a Scottophile and has given his army and police a Scottish flavour, including pipe bands of course. He also has a Sultan Qaboos tartan for his personal use and those close to him. That’s not too surprising considering the Cameronians did a good job for his father against rebels in the late 1950’s and later sent his son to Sandhurst with the express order that he should serve afterwards in the Cameronians, which he did.

But there is one particular group of Scots who I find particularly intriguing and would be grateful if anyone on this site may be able to throw light on it.

The Highlanders of Indonesia. When I lived in East Java, I was driving around on my day off and I noticed on a map a small railway halt / village called Glenmore. That sounded interesting. Arriving at Glenmore, there was a railway sign but not much else. In Indonesian terms, Glenmore is a highly unusual name and there was nothing at the place to suggest any Scottish connection. However, on a Garuda flight Surabaya-Jakarta later, their magazine had an article on this very place. It stated that in the late 1600’s -1700’s, Highland mercenaries were (as we know) highly regarded by the British, French, Swedish, Russians and of course – Dutch. The VOJ (Dutch East India Company), hired Highlanders for their Company army. A contingent of these Highlanders were stationed permanently in East Java. In time, many of them intermarried with Javanese women and remained there upon completion of service. The mountain surroundings of that part of East Java reminded them of their far-off homeland and they named their settlements after places back home and also using Gaelic names for geographical features. Glenmore was one of these so-named.

No doubt they had offspring, but marrying back into the local population, plus later movements of people to towns and cities etc has meant that there is no longer any evidence of the Highlanders’ presence, apart from the name Glenmore. I have often wondered if DNA testing to check for Highland forebears might yield results.

[BEEDEE]

Lachlan, there is a maritime museum in Amsterdam with a lot of relics, etc from the VOC and their settlements in Indonesia and South Africa. Might be a good start point for some further research.

This also, from Wikipedia:

By 1669, the VOC was the richest private company the world had ever seen, with over 150 merchant ships, 40 warships, 50,000 employees, a private army of 10,000 soldiers, and a dividend payment of 40% on the original investment.

Brian

[Lachlan09]

Thanks - I don't know why I called it VOJ ! I must have been thinking J for Jan Kompanje, the nickname for the VOC's army.

Somewhere in the house I have a man's wrap from Java. I bought it at the start of Eid, just after the end of Ramadan one year. I won't call it a sarong, as the name for a man's sarong is different (I forgot the Indonesian name). Unlike a sarong, which is a thin "blanket" wrapped around, this is like an envelope, sewn up the open side. You step into it, then bring round the surplus widths from the ends to the centre-front in sarong style and tie it off in a number of possible traditional ways. It is hand-woven, made of a silk-like cloth material and is a strikingly tartan-like pattern, such patterns being traditional in Java. I was told by a Javan that there are different patterns which are associated with families and regions.

I know it’s a bridge too far, but it’s intriguing to imagine some connection with Scotland.

Aku cinta Indonesia !