The
fascinating story of the descendents of Scotland's
sugar slaves how they came to be and the nature
of their existence as but poor whites eking out
a subsistence existence.
Known as the Redlegs, they are the direct descendants
of the Scots transported to Barbados by Cromwell
after the Civil War. Scottish author and broadcaster
Chris Dolan went to meet them to discover why they
are still here 350 years later, what they know about
their roots, and what their prospects are today
when they are the poorest community on the island.
Chris speaks to leading historians in Barbados and
Scotland about how their ancestors were treated
when they first arrived. Was their plight as severe
as that of the black slaves from Africa? Nearly
two centuries after emancipation, this Redleg community
has yet to find a role on the island, where it is
damned by association with the days of slavery,
even though many of its forbears were victims themselves.
In recent years, it has begun to come out of its
racial isolation; could there yet be a hopeful future
for this lost Scottish tribe? |