What They Don't Say About Slavery in Scotland

I'm going to talk about the transatlantic slave trade and to do it I'm going to take you to places that you've never thought of to reveal truths that you never think of and make connections that you've never imagined and it starts with a train journey if you're interested in the people places and events in Scottish history then click the Subscribe button at the bottom right of the screen and ring the notification Bell to be told when I upload new videos in the meantime let me tell you a story a while back I made a video about slavery in Scotland it was one of my most popular and it tells an important story of how Scots were bound at the service by other scores at the start of that video I specifically asked people to forget about their ideas at transatlantic slavery in spite of that but a lot of comments from folks saying what about Africans Who Sold other Africans what about Arab slavers or North African Burberry Pirates Who enslaved white folks what about British abolitionists and what about what about what about what about well what about watching the video before shouting your agenda I can't know for sure but I caught the feeling that the comments were coming from quite nationalist types predominantly from across Atlantic don't worry we've got knockers too people so obsessed by the racial element that they ignored both my appeal at the start and the fact that the video wasn't even about transatlantic slavery no here's the thing Robert Mugabe did some brutal and horrific things in Zimbabwe I don't feel responsible for them because I'm half black I don't feel guilty about the transatlantic slave trade because I'm half white neither am I an apologist or either you're not responsible for what happened in the past unless and try to justify it in the prison foreign Scotland continue to benefit from transatlantic slavery today that's why I took the train but all of that later it's weird I'm taking the train too there's the heart of today's story now you knew that I wasn't taking the train to the West Indies or the American Deep South you might think we're me talking about Scotland and transatlantic slavery that I'd be going to Glasgow to talk about sugar Burns and tobacco Lords but no I've brought you to Aberdeen I'm going to Aberdeen University Museum's exhibition about their connection to transatlantic slavery on the way let me point out signs of this trade hidden in plain sight Virginia Street Jamaica Street and Sugarhouse Lane but there's way more than that Aberdeen in its universities had deeper connections to the transatlantic triangular trade than you might imagine it doesn't sound as bad when you call it the Triangular Trade does it European Merchants would sail to West Africa where manufacture Goods to trade one type of manufacturer Goods would be rifles which would give favorite locals the advantage in battle over their enemies those captured in battle would be a fair trade and along with others captured or treated shipped on to the second leg an enslavement in the West Indies or America's toiling in the fields to produce the goods for that most valuable third leg sugar or maybe tobacco price of a human life Europeans in West Africa are traded amongst each other and these copper manilas were common Foreigner currency amongst British and Dutch and no doubt West African Traders and of course here is where you see the result here we have a letter written in 1798 it's from an estate manager in Jamaica writing back to the plantation owners The Gardens of aberdeenshire whose wealth from Forced African labor saw them build the very grand kearnes house near fraserburgh over the 10 years that followed the manager tells of new people enslaved for the benefit of the Gordon's Force labor camp evil woman from what we would call Nigeria were trafficked to the Jamaican State and he says in the letter down here I've put a few new Negroes upon Georgia of an evil cargo lately sold myself they consist of Four Women at 63 pounds one woman girl 61 pounds four little girls 59 pounds over a hundred thousand evil people were forcibly enslaved and we've not heard the last of them in this video now Scotland's not a homogeneous Nation it isn't today it wasn't then and here's something that illustrates it perfectly here's a book published just before the 1789 parliamentary debate on the abolition of slavery it was written by this chapter equiano an Igbo enslaved as a child in West Africa trafficked across the Atlantic to the Caribbean then Virginia then England now the title of his autobiography the interesting Narrative of the life of aluda equiano understates the incredible life that this guy LED before becoming an abolitionist campaigner if he'd been Scottish I would have made a whole video about them it goes without saying there were people here in Aberdeen who supported him and his cause and this book was a bestseller as well as being one of the first books published by a black African in Europe so the idea that our nation or any Nation for that matter were all slavers or all abolitionists is ridiculous cries of Mia Copa or sanctimonious hand washing are both misplaced Aberdeen University is an amalgamation of Marshall College and King's College Marshall College sent two pro-abolition petitions to Parliament whilst King's College refused to do so but students of both and lecturers at ministry as technicians cleaners and marketing departments as well as everyday Scots like you and me today still benefit from that trade let me introduce you to Gilbert Ramsey don't worry until recently I'd never heard of him either this Painting came to Aberdeen University in 1728 the year that this chap died he was born in 1658 in the Parish of birth about 30 miles west of Aberdeen after he graduated from Marshall College he spent the next 12 years in England attending billion College Oxford and becoming an Episcopalian minister when he died in 1728 he left a legacy that was one of the biggest donations ever to have been made to the Aberdeen universities up to that point how did he do that it arrived in the Caribbean as a minister in 1689 in the next 42 years he spent three years in a parish in antigued and then 32 years as Rector of Christ Church Barbados he twice married wealthy women from the Barbadian slivocracy gaining Rich Estates in the process it seems that you also had family connections to the Royal African company that had a monopoly on the importation of enslaved people to Barbados add to that his role overseeing Estates on behalf of the society for the propagation of the Gospel in foreign parts in case you didn't catch that a missionary Society funded the propagation of the Gospel with profits from slave labor camps when it came to slavery Gilbert was up the dog coordinate and when he died is well instructed as executors should sell off the enslaved people owned in Barbados and add the money to his estate in order to pay various Legacies the 3 800 pounds paid to the university would fund a professor of languages a chair of Hebrew and Oriental languages for bursar's and Divinity I mean it was a religious man after all wasn't it and it added some bursaries and philosophy to the philosophy bursaries it already funded earlier but we'll come back to that oh and they got the picture as well I mean you've got to preserve the memory of such a significant benefactor but he made other donations as well you know is known as the vinegar Bible so called because there are quite a few spelling mistakes in this particular print one of which instead of telling the parable of the vineyard describes the parable of the vinegar now it's really really rare and we're so lucky to get to have a look at this today and here's why embossed on the front are the words the gift of the Reverend Gilbert Ramsay of Barbados to the Parish Church of birth in Scotland I guess we better go to bars this is fingering in the Parish of birth when I introduced the idea of transatlantic slavery you probably didn't expect to be coming to location in rural aberdeenshire but this is where Gilbert Ramsey was born and it benefited from his Legacies Gilbert left a sum of 500 pounds the interest from which should be used for the benefit of the poor of this Parish I often hear the folks described at the very start of this video saying most people who fought for the Confederate Army never owned slaves Fair Point of course none of the poor who benefited from this fund owned slaves either 14 shellings for an honest man in distress one pound for a blind man in Gallo health 14 shillings to a poor boy three pounds to James Ford's five motherless children six showings and a pair of shoes for 10 children and poor parents 15 showings for widows old and infirm one pound ten shillings to Margaret Law's funeral a second 500 pounds was to yield interest that would pay for a school it meant that children from this area could go to school for free Ramsay's will stipulated as slave money should only pay for a teacher who was Pious prudent and experienced the instructor pupils and the principles of religion they had to be able to read and write English and to understand both Greek and Latin it provided a good start in life for children in this area I'm sure in their minds that the nation came from Gilbert Ramsey but in truth it came from the backs of the enslaved of the Caribbean today's school was built in 1962 in the original school and teachers house passed to the burst Community Trust ensuring that to this day it continues to benefit the people of the parish I wonder how often the people of this community think about how much West Africans donated to the life of this rural aberdeenshire Parish we know a little bit the story of one of the children of the parish who benefited from the school's education to tell you about him I want to take you back in a town and introduce you to some folks that are really special to me whilst I'm doing that let me mention that I'll be doing my stories of Scotland stand-up comedy show throughout the Northeast in October and November 2023 come and see me and Port soy Dolphins West Hill Keith bremar Ellen lossiamouth balater couldn't be mint law and Aberdeen itself for details of all tour dates and tickets click top right or find the link in the description below I met my sister comfort from a Dad's second marriage when he went back to Ghana along with a Nigerian husband Ben what the hell happened to you been I had a freak accident hurt my back a freak accident yeah and she arranged me yeah I guess so listen what'd you think of this place it's totally beautiful I've been here before you've never been you've already been here before yeah yeah you see your big brother will show you places in Aberdeen all right yeah come on let's go let's go and see no here's the thing you've never been in here before but you do have a connection to Aberdeen University don't you yes I do tell me about it okay well um as part of my work in NHS grampian in Occupational Health I have an honorary associate position in University of Aberdeen and just do you give lectures to Aberdeen University students yes when I'm asked yes I do that right okay now Ben you have a connection to the Aberdeen University sector as well don't you yes I do what do you do I recruit International students for rubber Garden from South Asia so you lure students from South Asia come to University yeah and you teach people in Aberdeen University yes there you go right that's the short answer yeah there you go right so you you guys have both got a connection uh to this place yeah yeah and there's something I want you as West Africans right connected to Aberdeen University sector I want to show you this window come around here okay now these are the Great and the good of people that have been involved in the history of Marshall College right now come over over here let me show you this I didn't just bring you to see this beautiful home I brought you to see this particular Crest here right now this is a Crest as you can see there of Gilbert Ramsey 1727 because he died in 1727. and he was in Episcopalian Minister and he was a huge benefactor to the university here at Marshall College and that's why 180 years after his death when this was put up they included his Crest in this beautiful window okay now the reason was that he gave a gift of 3 800 pounds no that's like over a million pounds in today's money it was one of the biggest gifts been given to the University at the time of a single person right okay wow and that's a lot of money for a minister yeah yeah yeah well the thing is he wasn't just a minister he was a minister in the Caribbean okay so in actual fact he had plantations and the money that he made and give it to the university okay where you work was made from enslaved people that were taken from West Africa over to the Caribbean and when he died his will had them sold so that he could give money to the university here interesting Ben you're Nigerian yeah portrayabian he will evil yeah no I knew that right what I didn't know until I started this investigation is that over a hundred thousand evil people were transported across the Atlantic as part of our transatlantic slave trade to me and it was earlier on when I was in a the museum and we saw a letter written by a manager of a plantation and Jamaica sending back to the gardens here that it just put nine enslaved every woman on the plantation there there's also about by another written by an Igbo man who was taken enslaved taken to the West Indies then the Americas and then brought here and he was the slave of our ship's Captain who fought against the French yeah and all the battles between the French and the British and he had to accompany that guy on the boat because he was so when they were involved in battles and stuff this poor guy Not only was he enslaved but he was also yeah and fought at the Battle of legals against so he must have been gone all the way I can't see my house from here right yeah and of course it sad that's not the only thing leader because he gave he funded a chair a couple different chairs but he also gave birthstones in philosophy he also with some of his money the one of the places we were earlier on was out in in bars in Finland and he built a school there and he gave birth cities in philosophy here but only to people called Ramsey and many years after Gilbert Ramsey's death was a guy called Frank Ramsey who number one came from fengen and burst and went through that school okay that you benefited from from this guy's donations and then he came here and got one of the Ramsey bursaries right and when he graduated what did you do he went across the West Indies okay got a farm and enslaved more more in the cycle continues yeah in fact when uh the colonial slavery in Britain was abolished he Frank Ramsey the second guy was compensated for the loss of his 46 sleeves that he no longer had as assets and cash was paid out to all the slave owners who no longer had the benefit of their slaves yeah sad isn't it it's sad but I wanna there's more I want to tell you about compensation paid out to people in slave paid out to slave owner right and Aberdeen in connection with Aberdeen okay absolutely so come with me yeah okay interesting you wouldn't think that's up you know Aberdeen or Scotland in general slavery and Ramsey wasn't the only connection between Aberdeen University and slavery history is replete with stories of Scots who went to worked in or stayed at home and profited from Caribbean slavery and I wanted to show comfort and Ben the most obvious sign of it in Aberdeen for this we're heading down for the other component part of Aberdeen University King's College there are some beautiful buildings here dating back to the 15th century but some parts of the college are more recent and maybe slightly less attractive foreign what do you think of this beautiful is Grand I trusted about the Crescent Mundo yeah we were talking about that I'll be honest I think it looks hideous but that's but you see it quite often don't you yeah yes I do why is that well because I bring my son to the nursery your Nursery is here yes because you're Aberdeen University staff use this particular Nursery so you pass these Gates every day that's right but I bet you don't know about the history of the gates no all right let me tell you about the history of the games okay and the 18th century all right uh there was a guy and his name was Hugh Leslie now his dad had been the professor of Greek here at Aberdeen Universe well the King's College and Marshall College came together to form Aberdeen University so we've been to Marshall College King's College his dad was a professor of uh Greek and he uh Hugh Leslie married a woman called Anne lamin who'd been born in Jamaica and so of course she'd inherited plantations in Jamaica and one of their younger Sons because they had somebody managing over there they were just enjoying the benefits of it right okay but there's some problems with the manager so they sent one of their younger Sons Hugh Fraser Leslie to manage the esteem he did very well and not only did he run his mum's estate but he managed to buy two plantations of his own so he is good business was good right now when slavery was abolished in the colonies and compensation was paid out as I mentioned here they controlled uh I think it was two uh 492. in 492 enslaved people which they got compensation of 7 112 pounds 18 Shillings and 11 Pence right which is a lot of money in these days what did they do with the money well some these gates are not the entrance to the university okay these Gates were actually the entrance to their estate house on the other side okay oh wow and when they got that compensation some of the money went into upgrading the house and some of it was used to build these Gates right yes so they were built with compensation slavery From Slavery yeah and in actual fact not only that and when the government paid out compensation in 1834 okay where did the government get the money they bought it they issued British government debt all right to fund the payouts right and you know when they finished paying off that debt when 2015. what eight years ago they'd been paying out compensation for sleep on the depth until eight years ago all right taxpayers money unionized taxpayers were paying for their uh money that was compensated to uh slavers all those years ago it's incredible thoughts yeah um no here's another thought we're all West African right and I'm guessing we've all been to elmina castle at Cape Coast you've been elmina Castle Cape coast and you know when you go in the castle and there's that gate of no return yeah where when slaves were taken and put out in the boat and taken right you know that feeling you get when you go down and it's a kind of creepy do you know what I mean you just oh you know what strikes me is the people that went through that gate of no return the people who funded this game here that you pass every day it's part of Aberdeen University to your Aberdeen University Nursery where your son and my nephew right goes to Nursery every day yeah yeah that's quite an incredible history yeah it's incredible history and an incredible thought isn't it yeah yeah one more thing right see this guy uh Hugh Fraser Leslie the the when he came back from the West Indies okay um he was asked to be on the committee that organized the amalgamation of Marshall College and King's College to go together to become the new Aberdeen University so Aberdeen University is not only a benefiting from the proceeds of slavery people in the integral formation of it yeah yeah uh this is down to the foundation of it goes down to the foundation of it yeah unbelievable s are wider than that you see the Fraser's mansion house that these Gates were originally built to serve is also now a community center it's impossible to disentangle the world creating Western economies from a trade that delivered economic rewards to those countries over hundreds of years the Fraser slavery compensation went into the fabric of their buildings but what about all the other slave owners throughout Scotland what did they do with their Capital payout well they invested it many invested it in the new technology of the day Railways that were being built by private Enterprise tunnels Bridges and Victorian infrastructure projects the very infrastructure that I use to get here today we here in Scotland benefit from the transatlantic slave trade every day in ways we never appreciate here's the thing Ben back in Nigeria yeah your parents are pretty well off aren't they you see come on they're okay they're okay they've got a few quid let's not miss okay all I'm seeing is all right they're all this sleeve money that's trickled down in this side of Atlantic right in West Africa there were local people that sold other people into slavery as well yeah maybe some of that money trickled down on your side Atlantic as well I'm just saying the whole thing's much messier than we thought then we tend to think about yeah yeah anyway I'm Gonna Leave You okay I'll see you later all right cheers cheers bye at the start of this episode I told you that this story would take us to places that you never thought of reveal truths that you never think of and connections that you never imagined I hope I've delivered on that claim the transatlantic slave trade pervades every corner and every person in Scotland right down to the modern day beneficiaries where and are of course predominantly European but not exclusively the Tangled waves messier than would like to think a Scottish West African I reap the rewards of slavery just getting here today now I wasn't responsible for the enslavement or forced labor of past Generations were only responsible for how our knowledge informs our actions today don't blame me but people on one side of the world were enslaved and forced to work so that people on another continent could benefit from the raw materials extracted middlemen grew rich and cast charitable crumbs of hypocrisy even the pious and academic turned a blind eye because they rationalized their own need in the public thought nothing but to have the new Goods that they enjoyed and if you don't think that applies to us today text me in the video that sparked this one's coming up on screen I can only make these videos because people support by clicking top right to become patreon members you could do that but maybe a modern slavery charity deserves the funds more I mean dog is going to be a lot of my life

Channel: Scotland History Tours

Views: 86,573

Keywords: tales from scotlands history, stories from scotlands history, tales from scotlands past, Bruce Fummey, Scotland history tours, Scottish history tour guides, scottish history for dummies, Aberdeen University, Marichal College, Trans Atlantic Slave Trade, triangular trade

Id: R7I-7xvT34E

Length: 32min 45sec (1965 seconds)

Published: Sat Sep 02 2023