1 00:00:00,200 --> 00:00:27,520 Speaker 1: Ridiculous History is a production of iHeartRadio. Welcome back to 2 00:00:27,560 --> 00:00:30,640 Speaker 1: the show, Ridiculous Historians. Thank you, as always so much 3 00:00:30,680 --> 00:00:33,400 Speaker 1: for tuning in. Let's hear it for the man, the 4 00:00:33,440 --> 00:00:38,320 Speaker 1: myth Legend super producer mister Max Williams. Hello, Hello Max? 5 00:00:38,479 --> 00:00:39,720 Speaker 1: Who's that woo waing over? There? 6 00:00:39,800 --> 00:00:40,159 Speaker 2: Is that you? 7 00:00:40,320 --> 00:00:41,400 Speaker 1: Noel Brown? Oh? 8 00:00:41,440 --> 00:00:43,879 Speaker 3: You know, I like a good wu and to wo 9 00:00:44,400 --> 00:00:48,160 Speaker 3: you with history. And by you I mean the ridiculous 10 00:00:48,200 --> 00:00:48,959 Speaker 3: historians at home. 11 00:00:49,000 --> 00:00:52,880 Speaker 1: I think we all do. I am Ben Bollen and 12 00:00:53,120 --> 00:00:57,960 Speaker 1: we are we are following up on a guys. I 13 00:00:58,000 --> 00:01:00,319 Speaker 1: don't think any of us have been to Scotland right, 14 00:01:00,440 --> 00:01:04,120 Speaker 1: not yet. No, I haven't. But I've seen Trainspotting in 15 00:01:04,160 --> 00:01:07,280 Speaker 1: Brave Heart. Does that count? 16 00:01:07,360 --> 00:01:09,720 Speaker 3: Yeah, I've got the full history of Scotland in those 17 00:01:09,720 --> 00:01:11,800 Speaker 3: two films, Past and Present. 18 00:01:12,120 --> 00:01:17,319 Speaker 1: You're plugged in, You're plugged in. Max also, has not 19 00:01:17,400 --> 00:01:21,880 Speaker 1: been a Scotland, but it's currently part of the United Kingdom. 20 00:01:22,680 --> 00:01:26,839 Speaker 1: This was not always the case. In fact, Scotland became 21 00:01:26,920 --> 00:01:30,559 Speaker 1: a part of the UK as recently as seventeen o seven, 22 00:01:30,600 --> 00:01:34,040 Speaker 1: but it's still a very different part of the world. 23 00:01:34,120 --> 00:01:37,280 Speaker 1: You know, It's got its own culture, its own cuisine. 24 00:01:37,040 --> 00:01:40,759 Speaker 3: Oh yeah, I thought of another Scotland movie, Highlander series 25 00:01:41,200 --> 00:01:43,920 Speaker 3: that's like Scotland of the future but also the past. 26 00:01:43,959 --> 00:01:45,360 Speaker 3: It's weird the way those movies work. 27 00:01:45,640 --> 00:01:49,160 Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, do check out the entirety of the franchise 28 00:01:49,320 --> 00:01:52,400 Speaker 1: before you write to our complaint department. Jonathan Strickland at 29 00:01:52,440 --> 00:01:53,680 Speaker 1: iHeartMedia dot. 30 00:01:53,520 --> 00:01:56,640 Speaker 3: Com, especially the third one I think is called The Quickening. 31 00:01:57,040 --> 00:01:59,240 Speaker 3: Maybe did I make that up? Or is that a 32 00:01:59,280 --> 00:01:59,760 Speaker 3: dune thing? 33 00:02:00,040 --> 00:02:03,440 Speaker 1: Well? The Quickening is what happens when you kill another 34 00:02:03,600 --> 00:02:06,920 Speaker 1: immortal in the Highlander franchise. 35 00:02:07,000 --> 00:02:10,399 Speaker 3: Oh no, Highlander two is subtitled The Quickening, and Highlander 36 00:02:10,440 --> 00:02:14,440 Speaker 3: two is mega weird. It's like very futuristic and very 37 00:02:14,560 --> 00:02:15,200 Speaker 3: very strange. 38 00:02:15,480 --> 00:02:17,839 Speaker 1: Yeah, there's a time jump in there, right big time. 39 00:02:18,080 --> 00:02:18,919 Speaker 1: What you got Max? 40 00:02:19,440 --> 00:02:21,960 Speaker 2: I will say I brought up Scotland with my mom 41 00:02:22,040 --> 00:02:24,320 Speaker 2: recently as I pointed out to her that King James 42 00:02:24,360 --> 00:02:28,960 Speaker 2: first I e. Bible dude is also King James six 43 00:02:29,120 --> 00:02:31,280 Speaker 2: of Scotland, and she's like how, I'm like, well, they 44 00:02:31,400 --> 00:02:33,480 Speaker 2: merged the lines together and explained HERM like, but yeah, 45 00:02:33,480 --> 00:02:35,360 Speaker 2: it's kind of weird. It's a fun little trivia question. 46 00:02:35,639 --> 00:02:39,160 Speaker 2: And I also then dropped her the legendary King James 47 00:02:39,200 --> 00:02:42,600 Speaker 2: quote where he says, in the eyes of God, kings 48 00:02:42,600 --> 00:02:45,320 Speaker 2: are gods too. It's like the most egotistical line I've 49 00:02:45,320 --> 00:02:45,799 Speaker 2: ever seen. 50 00:02:45,840 --> 00:02:45,920 Speaker 3: That. 51 00:02:46,280 --> 00:02:50,600 Speaker 1: Yeah, James always known as a humble dude, as most 52 00:02:51,120 --> 00:02:54,560 Speaker 1: rulers are. You know, it's funny. We were talking about 53 00:02:54,560 --> 00:02:58,120 Speaker 1: this on a different show that inspired our episode. Today. 54 00:02:58,600 --> 00:03:02,560 Speaker 1: Every so often, our beloved Scots will raise the flag 55 00:03:02,600 --> 00:03:06,040 Speaker 1: and hold a referendum on regaining the independence that was 56 00:03:06,160 --> 00:03:07,919 Speaker 1: lost in seventeen oh seven. 57 00:03:08,639 --> 00:03:13,120 Speaker 3: Remember that freedom, Freedom, That's the thing, right. Sorry, sorry, 58 00:03:13,120 --> 00:03:16,320 Speaker 3: I'm hung up on brave heart guys. Please Scottish listeners, don't. 59 00:03:16,360 --> 00:03:19,080 Speaker 3: I'm not making fun. I love the culture and the 60 00:03:19,120 --> 00:03:22,960 Speaker 3: country of Scotland. I'm just purposefully sounding like a rube. 61 00:03:23,320 --> 00:03:27,440 Speaker 1: Well, we could say that there is a conspiracy afoot, 62 00:03:27,600 --> 00:03:30,960 Speaker 1: because depending upon whom you ask, there will be people 63 00:03:31,000 --> 00:03:34,960 Speaker 1: who tell you that every time Scotland pushes for independence, 64 00:03:35,360 --> 00:03:42,360 Speaker 1: the United Kingdom sabotages those efforts. Why would they do that, rascals? 65 00:03:42,720 --> 00:03:44,880 Speaker 1: It's a you know, maybe a story for a different 66 00:03:44,920 --> 00:03:47,320 Speaker 1: day or a different show, But up up, I wonder 67 00:03:47,360 --> 00:03:52,440 Speaker 1: what show you're referring to. Men. We'll never know, we 68 00:03:52,480 --> 00:03:53,440 Speaker 1: will know we do stuff. 69 00:03:53,440 --> 00:03:55,119 Speaker 3: I don't want you to know this show, the podcast, 70 00:03:55,160 --> 00:03:57,200 Speaker 3: the movie, the ride, the book. Check out the book 71 00:03:57,240 --> 00:03:59,960 Speaker 3: by the way, it's still available anywhere fine books are sold. 72 00:04:00,840 --> 00:04:07,960 Speaker 1: Yeah, it's a real sexy book. Fine book anyway. In 73 00:04:08,040 --> 00:04:12,920 Speaker 1: today's episode, no, we're exploring how Scotland lost its independence 74 00:04:13,040 --> 00:04:16,479 Speaker 1: in the first place, and it gets so ridiculous. This 75 00:04:16,640 --> 00:04:20,560 Speaker 1: is something we discovered in the course of unrelated research. 76 00:04:20,839 --> 00:04:24,720 Speaker 3: Yeah, it's true for that other aforementioned show, and it 77 00:04:24,760 --> 00:04:29,000 Speaker 3: doesn't start in Scotland. Actually, the real tale unfolds and 78 00:04:29,040 --> 00:04:34,480 Speaker 3: a fantastical, terrifying, gif full and severely unconquerable stretch of 79 00:04:34,600 --> 00:04:37,559 Speaker 3: jungle known as the Darien Gap. 80 00:04:44,320 --> 00:04:47,760 Speaker 1: We're back, all right. What is the Darien Gap? Surprise, folks, 81 00:04:47,839 --> 00:04:51,320 Speaker 1: It is not a gap store in Darien. That was 82 00:04:51,400 --> 00:04:54,040 Speaker 1: our first guess. I think I was wanting to get 83 00:04:54,040 --> 00:04:57,760 Speaker 1: some slacks, some slacks from the Daryan Gap in gap slacks, 84 00:04:58,080 --> 00:05:03,360 Speaker 1: gap slacks. The Gap instead is like roughly a sixty 85 00:05:03,600 --> 00:05:08,400 Speaker 1: six or so square mile region of rainforest and unforgiving 86 00:05:08,600 --> 00:05:13,800 Speaker 1: mountains between Panama and Columbia. For all of known human history, 87 00:05:14,240 --> 00:05:19,120 Speaker 1: it has been untamable. You can't put infrastructure in there. Really, 88 00:05:19,760 --> 00:05:24,719 Speaker 1: no big civilization succeed. It's got everything. Stefan voice from SNL, 89 00:05:25,440 --> 00:05:32,840 Speaker 1: brutal temperature extremes, dangerous wildlife, criminal cartels, human trafficking, disease, mudslides, gullies. 90 00:05:32,920 --> 00:05:36,400 Speaker 1: If you're talking about danger, this place has it all. 91 00:05:36,400 --> 00:05:39,279 Speaker 3: Indeed, and on a map, it does kind of look like, 92 00:05:39,440 --> 00:05:44,640 Speaker 3: you know, on paper, a pretty solid location strategically, geopolitically, 93 00:05:44,839 --> 00:05:48,440 Speaker 3: you know, economically speaking for trade, et cetera. It's the 94 00:05:48,480 --> 00:05:52,160 Speaker 3: only land crossing from South to Central America, and it's 95 00:05:52,560 --> 00:05:54,480 Speaker 3: very very convenient. 96 00:05:54,000 --> 00:05:54,960 Speaker 1: To the Caribbean. 97 00:05:55,200 --> 00:05:59,360 Speaker 3: It's also right next to both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. 98 00:06:00,360 --> 00:06:03,159 Speaker 1: Yeah, like you were saying, no, if you just look 99 00:06:03,279 --> 00:06:07,080 Speaker 1: at the map, you never actually stepped foot in the gap. 100 00:06:07,720 --> 00:06:10,440 Speaker 1: Like a lot of other people throughout history, you might 101 00:06:10,480 --> 00:06:13,440 Speaker 1: assume it's kind of the park Place or the Broadway 102 00:06:13,640 --> 00:06:17,800 Speaker 1: in the Great Game of Geopolitical Monopoly, and back in 103 00:06:17,839 --> 00:06:22,279 Speaker 1: the sixteen hundreds, Scotland made the same assumption. Beat me here, Max. 104 00:06:22,640 --> 00:06:26,440 Speaker 1: Holy shit, were they wrong. They were super super wrong. 105 00:06:26,520 --> 00:06:30,280 Speaker 1: They were disastrously incorrect. Boy oh boy, they were. 106 00:06:30,720 --> 00:06:33,520 Speaker 3: One thing that we have to understand about this age 107 00:06:33,560 --> 00:06:36,680 Speaker 3: of exploration is that as soon as European powers kind 108 00:06:36,720 --> 00:06:40,040 Speaker 3: of clocked that there were these vast stretches of land 109 00:06:40,160 --> 00:06:44,479 Speaker 3: that contained riches, untold and natural resources over there in 110 00:06:44,520 --> 00:06:47,719 Speaker 3: the America. Everybody wanted a piece. It's like the gold 111 00:06:47,800 --> 00:06:50,800 Speaker 3: Rush in that way. Everyone's trying to get a piece 112 00:06:50,880 --> 00:06:54,960 Speaker 3: of the action. And we do literally mean everyone, Scotland 113 00:06:55,000 --> 00:06:55,839 Speaker 3: being no exception. 114 00:06:56,360 --> 00:07:01,880 Speaker 1: Yeah. Back in sixteen ninety eight, the Scots made a 115 00:07:02,000 --> 00:07:05,080 Speaker 1: trading colony in the Darien Gap and this was part 116 00:07:05,120 --> 00:07:09,040 Speaker 1: of something they called the Darien Venture, which is routinely 117 00:07:09,120 --> 00:07:14,960 Speaker 1: described optimistically as the most ambitious colonial scheme attempted in 118 00:07:15,000 --> 00:07:17,840 Speaker 1: the seventeenth century. And we want to give credit where 119 00:07:17,840 --> 00:07:19,960 Speaker 1: it's due. We're getting a lot of this from an 120 00:07:20,000 --> 00:07:24,160 Speaker 1: awesome book by John Prebble called The Darien Disaster. 121 00:07:24,800 --> 00:07:28,680 Speaker 3: And this was not cheap and it required, i mean 122 00:07:29,000 --> 00:07:31,360 Speaker 3: buy in from regular folks. 123 00:07:31,480 --> 00:07:31,720 Speaker 1: You know. 124 00:07:31,800 --> 00:07:34,920 Speaker 3: This was something that needed to be crowdsourced in order 125 00:07:35,000 --> 00:07:35,800 Speaker 3: to pay for it. 126 00:07:36,400 --> 00:07:41,280 Speaker 1: Yeah, this is where we introduce our flawed protagonists. There's 127 00:07:41,320 --> 00:07:46,360 Speaker 1: a pretty successful Scottish guy named William Patterson Clan Patterson, 128 00:07:47,080 --> 00:07:50,840 Speaker 1: our buddy Willie was born in Tinwall in sixteen fifty 129 00:07:50,920 --> 00:07:54,000 Speaker 1: eight and he would later go on to found the 130 00:07:54,120 --> 00:07:58,200 Speaker 1: Bank of England. So he made his first fortune doing that, 131 00:07:58,440 --> 00:08:02,760 Speaker 1: and he also traveled extent throughout the Americas and West Indies. 132 00:08:03,240 --> 00:08:07,000 Speaker 1: Dude was a big deal. And when he came back 133 00:08:07,040 --> 00:08:11,720 Speaker 1: to Scotland from his aventions abroad, Uh, he said, I'm 134 00:08:11,720 --> 00:08:15,440 Speaker 1: gonna make a second fortune. You see, I heard a 135 00:08:15,520 --> 00:08:17,239 Speaker 1: story from a sailor. 136 00:08:18,240 --> 00:08:18,440 Speaker 3: Ah. 137 00:08:18,560 --> 00:08:23,200 Speaker 1: Yes, a yarn, a ripping yarn. Yeah. He was in 138 00:08:23,320 --> 00:08:26,040 Speaker 1: London before he came back to Scotland and he met 139 00:08:26,080 --> 00:08:30,960 Speaker 1: a sailor. This is his real name, Lionel Wafer, and 140 00:08:32,200 --> 00:08:35,440 Speaker 1: he's a big fan of that hard tack. It's doesn't 141 00:08:35,440 --> 00:08:37,559 Speaker 1: it sound like one of the fake names we would 142 00:08:37,559 --> 00:08:40,160 Speaker 1: make up and improv. Oh my gosh, you know what 143 00:08:40,240 --> 00:08:41,600 Speaker 1: ELSEO reminds me of them? 144 00:08:42,240 --> 00:08:45,840 Speaker 3: A name that you might find in the fantastic Seminole 145 00:08:45,880 --> 00:08:48,319 Speaker 3: British television series Toast of London. 146 00:08:48,200 --> 00:08:53,040 Speaker 1: One hundred percent. Yes, good call there. Our buddy Lionel 147 00:08:53,360 --> 00:08:58,360 Speaker 1: tells r. Pal Willie about this wonderful paradise on Earth, 148 00:08:58,480 --> 00:09:03,400 Speaker 1: located in distant exotic Panama. Lionel says, this has a 149 00:09:03,440 --> 00:09:07,520 Speaker 1: sheltered bay, the natives are friendly, the land is rich 150 00:09:07,559 --> 00:09:12,319 Speaker 1: and fertile. It's a place called Darien. Sounds nice, doesn't it? 151 00:09:12,600 --> 00:09:16,480 Speaker 1: Again on paper? Yeah, again on paper, especially if you're 152 00:09:16,520 --> 00:09:18,520 Speaker 1: from Scotland. No offense Scotland. 153 00:09:18,920 --> 00:09:21,640 Speaker 3: Well no, I mean they not to say that Scotland 154 00:09:21,640 --> 00:09:24,920 Speaker 3: doesn't have lush, rolling hills and all that good stuff, 155 00:09:25,120 --> 00:09:31,559 Speaker 3: but nothing resembling this type of potentially flourishing ecosystem. 156 00:09:32,520 --> 00:09:38,320 Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah. And Willie immediately just something about this story 157 00:09:38,360 --> 00:09:41,800 Speaker 1: hooks it the idea that Darien could be the future 158 00:09:41,920 --> 00:09:45,719 Speaker 1: of Scotland. He says, Look, everybody is getting into this 159 00:09:46,080 --> 00:09:50,960 Speaker 1: colonialism game. Why not us? Why not us? Yeah? What 160 00:09:51,040 --> 00:09:54,680 Speaker 1: if we start a trading colony right there at the 161 00:09:54,760 --> 00:09:58,160 Speaker 1: crossroads of the Atlantic and the Pacific. And he was 162 00:09:58,320 --> 00:10:01,400 Speaker 1: already thinking about how how much money you could make, 163 00:10:01,480 --> 00:10:04,600 Speaker 1: because this could get This is pre Panama Canal, right, 164 00:10:04,840 --> 00:10:10,000 Speaker 1: so this could give you a shortcut through these continents. 165 00:10:10,160 --> 00:10:13,920 Speaker 1: Otherwise you have to sail around Cape Horn at the 166 00:10:14,040 --> 00:10:17,840 Speaker 1: very bottom of South America, at the deer of South America. 167 00:10:17,880 --> 00:10:20,840 Speaker 1: And that's just a bummer. It takes forever. Oh my gosh, 168 00:10:20,880 --> 00:10:22,360 Speaker 1: what a hassle. Yeah, it's true. 169 00:10:22,440 --> 00:10:26,720 Speaker 3: So Peterson has dollar signs in his eyes, and he's 170 00:10:27,000 --> 00:10:29,120 Speaker 3: looking at the big picture of all of this, and 171 00:10:29,200 --> 00:10:33,720 Speaker 3: perhaps he's so kind of enamored by the whole idea 172 00:10:33,840 --> 00:10:35,640 Speaker 3: of this, and he used the word that's going to 173 00:10:35,679 --> 00:10:39,040 Speaker 3: come up later scheme that he might have overlooked some 174 00:10:39,160 --> 00:10:41,080 Speaker 3: of the potential drawbacks. 175 00:10:41,600 --> 00:10:44,520 Speaker 1: Yeah, he was super hype. Like if you have ever 176 00:10:44,600 --> 00:10:48,840 Speaker 1: been brainstorming with your friends on a great idea and 177 00:10:48,880 --> 00:10:52,680 Speaker 1: you get crazy optimistic, it's tough to be the person 178 00:10:52,679 --> 00:10:55,440 Speaker 1: who says no or the person who says, hey on, 179 00:10:55,720 --> 00:10:59,760 Speaker 1: let's really think about this. He didn't have anybody like 180 00:10:59,800 --> 00:11:04,600 Speaker 1: that bringing him back to Earth. He didn't have any 181 00:11:04,679 --> 00:11:07,800 Speaker 1: no men only yes, yeah, yeah, yeah, he was straight 182 00:11:07,880 --> 00:11:10,920 Speaker 1: up thinking they could pull a wicked and defy gravity. 183 00:11:11,600 --> 00:11:14,720 Speaker 3: I was waiting for that reference just in general, just 184 00:11:14,800 --> 00:11:18,240 Speaker 3: in life, just expecting let's hold some space with those lyrics, 185 00:11:18,360 --> 00:11:19,960 Speaker 3: with a good ridiculous story. 186 00:11:21,040 --> 00:11:26,040 Speaker 1: And our buddy Willie says, he writes this down when 187 00:11:26,080 --> 00:11:29,120 Speaker 1: he's describing the possibility of a Scottish colony in the 188 00:11:29,200 --> 00:11:31,960 Speaker 1: dairy and Gap. He says, this could be the door 189 00:11:32,000 --> 00:11:35,560 Speaker 1: to the seas and the key of the universe. Okay, wow, 190 00:11:36,480 --> 00:11:38,960 Speaker 1: you know what it is. The door to the seas. 191 00:11:39,200 --> 00:11:41,559 Speaker 1: That doesn't seem very practical. I could see the key 192 00:11:41,600 --> 00:11:43,480 Speaker 1: to the universe, but door to the seas is a 193 00:11:43,480 --> 00:11:46,880 Speaker 1: bit of an odd metaphor. Key to the Universe is 194 00:11:46,920 --> 00:11:50,040 Speaker 1: the one that freaks me out a little. But I 195 00:11:50,040 --> 00:11:53,959 Speaker 1: think we could both agree this is if nothing else, 196 00:11:54,080 --> 00:11:58,319 Speaker 1: this is a bit ambitious, bit pie in the sky 197 00:11:58,440 --> 00:12:03,319 Speaker 1: and a bit highlandery. Yes he was experiencing the quickening, 198 00:12:03,440 --> 00:12:07,360 Speaker 1: it seems so. Yes. Yeah. It's sixteen ninety three and 199 00:12:07,640 --> 00:12:11,319 Speaker 1: Willie helped set up something called the Company of Scotland 200 00:12:11,360 --> 00:12:15,640 Speaker 1: Trading to Africa and the Indies in Edinburgh descriptive. I 201 00:12:15,640 --> 00:12:16,480 Speaker 1: get what they're about. 202 00:12:16,960 --> 00:12:20,280 Speaker 3: Their purpose you couldn't clock it from the name was 203 00:12:20,280 --> 00:12:23,559 Speaker 3: to establish a Scottish foothold there on the Isthmus of 204 00:12:23,679 --> 00:12:27,120 Speaker 3: Darien in South America, right on top of that famous 205 00:12:27,360 --> 00:12:30,240 Speaker 3: gap which they would also need to. 206 00:12:30,240 --> 00:12:36,280 Speaker 1: Mind they mind the gap they fall in, which they 207 00:12:36,360 --> 00:12:41,240 Speaker 1: kind of did. And he and his partners and this 208 00:12:41,360 --> 00:12:45,520 Speaker 1: became an international affair. They said, look, our company is 209 00:12:45,559 --> 00:12:49,200 Speaker 1: going to prosper with all this foreign trade, right, we're 210 00:12:49,240 --> 00:12:53,960 Speaker 1: going to we're going to control the passage. And you, 211 00:12:54,360 --> 00:12:59,400 Speaker 1: fellow local Scottish residents, you can travel with us to 212 00:12:59,559 --> 00:13:03,559 Speaker 1: this far flung remote spot. You can settle down there. 213 00:13:03,760 --> 00:13:06,960 Speaker 1: You can have your own fortune, your own pursuit of happiness. 214 00:13:07,080 --> 00:13:09,839 Speaker 1: You can establish a new life a world away, your 215 00:13:09,880 --> 00:13:14,360 Speaker 1: own copy of the Key to the Universe. Mm hmm, yeah, your. 216 00:13:16,040 --> 00:13:20,200 Speaker 3: It really is a massive sales pitch, oh h to 217 00:13:20,280 --> 00:13:22,839 Speaker 3: the Scottish people. Like like we were saying earlier, this 218 00:13:22,920 --> 00:13:26,080 Speaker 3: is an early example of kind of crowdfunding something because 219 00:13:26,120 --> 00:13:28,120 Speaker 3: they certainly you know, were putting out He was putting 220 00:13:28,160 --> 00:13:29,960 Speaker 3: up his own money, of course, but it was going 221 00:13:30,040 --> 00:13:33,680 Speaker 3: to be such an expensive proposition that they needed some 222 00:13:33,720 --> 00:13:34,480 Speaker 3: serious help. 223 00:13:34,679 --> 00:13:38,000 Speaker 1: In order to do that, they had to sell this idea, 224 00:13:38,120 --> 00:13:41,680 Speaker 1: and sell they did. Big shout out to Ben Johnson 225 00:13:41,760 --> 00:13:45,200 Speaker 1: over at Historic UK dot com who breaks down some 226 00:13:45,320 --> 00:13:50,000 Speaker 1: of the blow by blow here to be completely crystal clear, 227 00:13:50,720 --> 00:13:52,320 Speaker 1: this is a crazy. 228 00:13:51,920 --> 00:13:57,320 Speaker 3: Idea, absolutely bonkers. After a certain threshold, As you point out, 229 00:13:57,320 --> 00:14:00,920 Speaker 3: Ben and your in your outline here going to paraphrase, 230 00:14:01,040 --> 00:14:06,199 Speaker 3: this ambition often meets with some diminishing returns and it's 231 00:14:06,360 --> 00:14:09,800 Speaker 3: very important at this point in our story to wrap 232 00:14:09,840 --> 00:14:12,479 Speaker 3: our heads around that. I think we've been teasing this already, 233 00:14:12,520 --> 00:14:16,800 Speaker 3: but Scotland was in a state of massive national crisis 234 00:14:16,840 --> 00:14:20,400 Speaker 3: and this was almost being presented as. 235 00:14:20,280 --> 00:14:23,760 Speaker 1: A path forward. One hundred percent. Yeah, if we go 236 00:14:23,840 --> 00:14:28,320 Speaker 1: to doctor Mike Ibiji, writing for the BBC. Then we 237 00:14:28,480 --> 00:14:33,440 Speaker 1: get a sense of just how dire the situation had 238 00:14:33,480 --> 00:14:35,600 Speaker 1: become at home. This is a little bit of a 239 00:14:35,640 --> 00:14:39,040 Speaker 1: longer quote, so let's round robin it. Here we go. 240 00:14:39,440 --> 00:14:42,400 Speaker 1: Decades of warfare had combined with seven years of famine 241 00:14:42,520 --> 00:14:45,440 Speaker 1: to drive people from their homesteads and choke the cities 242 00:14:45,480 --> 00:14:48,760 Speaker 1: with homeless vagrants starving to death in the streets. The 243 00:14:48,840 --> 00:14:53,160 Speaker 1: nation's trade had been crippled by England's continual wars against 244 00:14:53,200 --> 00:14:57,920 Speaker 1: continental Europe, and its homegrown industries were withering on the vibe. 245 00:14:58,240 --> 00:15:00,560 Speaker 3: Something had to be done, Some way had to be 246 00:15:00,600 --> 00:15:04,040 Speaker 3: found to revive Scotland's economic fortunes before it got swallowed 247 00:15:04,080 --> 00:15:07,119 Speaker 3: up by its much richer neighbor south. 248 00:15:06,920 --> 00:15:15,840 Speaker 1: Of the border. And then, I mean not only did 249 00:15:15,840 --> 00:15:20,400 Speaker 1: they need this economically, I mean morale was super low. 250 00:15:21,080 --> 00:15:23,440 Speaker 3: This would be a way to kind of regain some 251 00:15:23,800 --> 00:15:27,200 Speaker 3: national pride after all of this misfortune. 252 00:15:28,240 --> 00:15:31,520 Speaker 1: And now we see that there's not just a need 253 00:15:31,560 --> 00:15:34,160 Speaker 1: for this, but there's a time window. The clock is 254 00:15:35,640 --> 00:15:38,960 Speaker 1: ticking down, so this had to work. This could be 255 00:15:39,040 --> 00:15:41,800 Speaker 1: a life saving move for Scotland. And more and more 256 00:15:41,800 --> 00:15:45,480 Speaker 1: people were saying, do we have any other options. Our 257 00:15:45,640 --> 00:15:50,280 Speaker 1: friends at the Company of Scotland. They go to some 258 00:15:50,920 --> 00:15:55,280 Speaker 1: associates who are English and Dutch, and half of the 259 00:15:55,480 --> 00:16:01,000 Speaker 1: capital for the crazy plan here comes from English Dutch investors, 260 00:16:01,040 --> 00:16:05,760 Speaker 1: the other half entirely from Scotland. However, things went sour 261 00:16:06,040 --> 00:16:09,360 Speaker 1: almost immediately, and to be fair, they went sour due 262 00:16:09,360 --> 00:16:13,680 Speaker 1: to forces outside of Scottish control. A big company conspired 263 00:16:13,720 --> 00:16:14,480 Speaker 1: against them. 264 00:16:14,680 --> 00:16:17,280 Speaker 3: Oh yeah, one of the big ones, the big big 265 00:16:17,320 --> 00:16:23,560 Speaker 3: bads of history, the infamous East India trading company Boom Max. 266 00:16:23,640 --> 00:16:34,000 Speaker 1: Give us a boo here a louder one. Yeah, for sure. 267 00:16:34,280 --> 00:16:36,600 Speaker 3: They were putting a ton of pressure on England to 268 00:16:36,680 --> 00:16:38,160 Speaker 3: pull out of this investment. 269 00:16:38,840 --> 00:16:41,840 Speaker 1: The scheme, oh yeah, and we should point this out 270 00:16:41,880 --> 00:16:45,480 Speaker 1: because we mentioned it a few times. Scheme has a 271 00:16:45,760 --> 00:16:50,760 Speaker 1: sinister or sleazy connotation here in American English or US English, 272 00:16:51,160 --> 00:16:53,920 Speaker 1: but in European English. 273 00:16:53,720 --> 00:16:57,440 Speaker 3: Scheming plans plan Yeah, yeah, And I mean I think 274 00:16:57,440 --> 00:16:59,280 Speaker 3: when I was pointing out the kind of I think 275 00:16:59,320 --> 00:17:03,320 Speaker 3: I was definitely leaning into the English connotations around that 276 00:17:03,440 --> 00:17:04,440 Speaker 3: at the top of the show. 277 00:17:04,720 --> 00:17:06,440 Speaker 1: But that's not what they were going for here. 278 00:17:06,600 --> 00:17:11,280 Speaker 3: Though, looking back on it in history, that English interpretation 279 00:17:11,840 --> 00:17:13,640 Speaker 3: kind of tracks a little better than plan. 280 00:17:14,440 --> 00:17:17,720 Speaker 1: They Yeah, that's the thing. There is a conspiracy here. 281 00:17:18,000 --> 00:17:22,040 Speaker 1: The East India boys had this monopoly on trade and 282 00:17:22,080 --> 00:17:24,800 Speaker 1: they were very serious players in the game. They wanted 283 00:17:24,840 --> 00:17:30,720 Speaker 1: to eradicate all possible competition as soon as possible. Yeah, 284 00:17:30,760 --> 00:17:33,639 Speaker 1: by any means necessary. They've got bodies they can claim, 285 00:17:34,080 --> 00:17:36,879 Speaker 1: just like the just like the Big Mule Lobby and 286 00:17:36,920 --> 00:17:38,000 Speaker 1: the US Cable Core. 287 00:17:38,400 --> 00:17:43,840 Speaker 3: Okay, maybe a little worse, but fair enough, arguably a 288 00:17:43,840 --> 00:17:47,239 Speaker 3: bit worse that. You know, there's tons of fiction that 289 00:17:47,359 --> 00:17:50,639 Speaker 3: involves the East India Training Company as well, just as 290 00:17:50,720 --> 00:17:56,159 Speaker 3: like these sinister Illuminati type pullers of the strings of 291 00:17:56,240 --> 00:17:57,919 Speaker 3: commerce and history. 292 00:17:57,960 --> 00:18:03,280 Speaker 1: One of the first most dangerousnational corporations right and inherently 293 00:18:03,359 --> 00:18:07,520 Speaker 1: tied into the politics of the Crown at the time. 294 00:18:07,840 --> 00:18:11,040 Speaker 1: So it came to pass that they used their monopolistic 295 00:18:11,160 --> 00:18:16,119 Speaker 1: leverage to force all of the English funding out of 296 00:18:16,160 --> 00:18:18,680 Speaker 1: the game at the last minute, at the eleventh hour. 297 00:18:18,760 --> 00:18:22,040 Speaker 1: The Dutch dipped out as well, so Scotland is left 298 00:18:22,080 --> 00:18:26,000 Speaker 1: holding the bag. They become the soul investors. But they 299 00:18:26,080 --> 00:18:28,840 Speaker 1: feel they're too far along, Like you were saying earlier, 300 00:18:29,040 --> 00:18:31,960 Speaker 1: they need a win, so they just had to keep 301 00:18:32,040 --> 00:18:34,840 Speaker 1: selling the play and sort of pray that it worked 302 00:18:34,880 --> 00:18:35,640 Speaker 1: out in the end. 303 00:18:36,160 --> 00:18:40,520 Speaker 3: Yeah, So they just onward and hopefully upward. It was 304 00:18:40,600 --> 00:18:43,679 Speaker 3: their trajectory at this point. At first it seemed like 305 00:18:43,800 --> 00:18:47,720 Speaker 3: it might be salvageable. They had been, of course betrayed, 306 00:18:48,720 --> 00:18:52,040 Speaker 3: you know one time of many by England and their 307 00:18:52,080 --> 00:18:55,480 Speaker 3: corporate entities or extensions of the Crown in the East 308 00:18:55,560 --> 00:18:59,160 Speaker 3: India Company. Scotland was able to lean on its own 309 00:18:59,520 --> 00:19:05,880 Speaker 3: native kind of businessmen and politicians I luminaries for more support. 310 00:19:06,520 --> 00:19:10,639 Speaker 3: This included we're getting to now extending the offer to 311 00:19:10,960 --> 00:19:16,080 Speaker 3: thousands of ordinary Scottish people who were invited to invest 312 00:19:16,119 --> 00:19:21,040 Speaker 3: in the expedition. I think around five hundred thousand pounds 313 00:19:21,640 --> 00:19:25,159 Speaker 3: of Scottish people's money went into this. And since we 314 00:19:25,200 --> 00:19:27,439 Speaker 3: don't know the exact year, unfortunately we can't give that 315 00:19:27,480 --> 00:19:30,239 Speaker 3: one a boop. But what we do know is that 316 00:19:30,320 --> 00:19:35,959 Speaker 3: this comprised about half of the national capital available like overall. 317 00:19:36,640 --> 00:19:41,440 Speaker 1: Yeah, it's for modern comparison, folks, it's as though everybody 318 00:19:41,600 --> 00:19:45,320 Speaker 1: in the United States got a clarion call. They took 319 00:19:45,480 --> 00:19:48,119 Speaker 1: all the extra money they had and they put half 320 00:19:48,160 --> 00:19:51,520 Speaker 1: of it into making a space mission. So we are 321 00:19:51,560 --> 00:19:56,520 Speaker 1: not exaggerating. This is not hyperbole. Literally, almost every Scottish 322 00:19:56,520 --> 00:20:00,919 Speaker 1: person who had five pounds to spare invested in this scheme. 323 00:20:01,200 --> 00:20:06,760 Speaker 3: Somehow two tuppens to rub together got thrown into this scheme. 324 00:20:07,520 --> 00:20:10,800 Speaker 3: A quote from the BBC article that we mentioned before 325 00:20:11,200 --> 00:20:14,760 Speaker 3: by Ben Johnson. The money was used to fit out 326 00:20:14,840 --> 00:20:17,720 Speaker 3: five ships for the expedition. The Unicorn, great name for 327 00:20:17,760 --> 00:20:20,480 Speaker 3: a ship. Saint Andrew Caledonia also. 328 00:20:20,320 --> 00:20:21,000 Speaker 1: Really cool name. 329 00:20:21,080 --> 00:20:24,000 Speaker 3: A couple cool names coming up too, Endeavor like that 330 00:20:24,040 --> 00:20:27,160 Speaker 3: one very spacelike. We have a spaceship called the Endeavor 331 00:20:27,359 --> 00:20:30,439 Speaker 3: and the Dolphin, which I just dig Despite efforts by 332 00:20:30,480 --> 00:20:33,760 Speaker 3: the English authorities to block them, the English ambassador to 333 00:20:33,800 --> 00:20:37,520 Speaker 3: Holland even threatened to embargo any merchants who traded with 334 00:20:37,560 --> 00:20:38,560 Speaker 3: the new company, so. 335 00:20:39,160 --> 00:20:41,360 Speaker 1: Really really continuing to. 336 00:20:41,480 --> 00:20:43,880 Speaker 3: Ratchet up the pressure there and make sure that nobody 337 00:20:44,000 --> 00:20:46,000 Speaker 3: was going to come to the aid of Scotland. 338 00:20:47,280 --> 00:20:51,439 Speaker 1: And we know that thousands, as you mentioned, thousands of 339 00:20:51,440 --> 00:20:56,359 Speaker 1: Scottish people volunteer to travel on these five ships. And 340 00:20:56,440 --> 00:20:59,800 Speaker 1: they said, look, we're a lot of these people honestly 341 00:21:00,080 --> 00:21:03,200 Speaker 1: are fighting with famine at home. There are a lot 342 00:21:03,200 --> 00:21:07,960 Speaker 1: of disaffected veterans of previous wars and they're looking for 343 00:21:08,200 --> 00:21:11,399 Speaker 1: the next chapter in their lives. So thousands of people 344 00:21:11,840 --> 00:21:15,399 Speaker 1: are moving to the tune of William Patterson and his 345 00:21:15,600 --> 00:21:19,840 Speaker 1: founders or his co founders. And it was all inspired 346 00:21:19,880 --> 00:21:23,760 Speaker 1: by a single guy, by the toll tales of a sailor. 347 00:21:23,880 --> 00:21:27,040 Speaker 1: If Lionel Wafer was not lying, he was at least 348 00:21:27,040 --> 00:21:30,080 Speaker 1: in Belisheet a little bit. These guys had a wildly 349 00:21:30,160 --> 00:21:34,600 Speaker 1: optimistic view of what they would find in the Darien Gap. 350 00:21:34,720 --> 00:21:37,280 Speaker 1: And you know, you can tell they have big plans 351 00:21:37,320 --> 00:21:42,000 Speaker 1: by going to the manifest, the cargo manifest of the 352 00:21:42,080 --> 00:21:47,359 Speaker 1: first expedition. They weren't bringing well, they were obviously bringing 353 00:21:47,400 --> 00:21:50,359 Speaker 1: some survival equipment, but they also brought a lot of 354 00:21:50,480 --> 00:21:53,560 Speaker 1: chochke's that they thought they could sell to the native people, 355 00:21:55,400 --> 00:21:59,320 Speaker 1: not particularly clued in to the lay of the land. 356 00:21:59,359 --> 00:22:01,000 Speaker 1: There wigs. 357 00:22:01,200 --> 00:22:03,200 Speaker 3: What are you going to do with boxes of wigs? 358 00:22:03,480 --> 00:22:05,960 Speaker 3: What are the native people going to do with wigs? 359 00:22:06,520 --> 00:22:08,880 Speaker 3: Even like I don't know it does it's very very 360 00:22:08,920 --> 00:22:12,400 Speaker 3: tone deaf, the whole thing. And you know, another thing 361 00:22:12,440 --> 00:22:16,080 Speaker 3: to think about too, is that these Scott's, these you know, 362 00:22:16,440 --> 00:22:19,240 Speaker 3: normal citizens who went along for this right, they'd already 363 00:22:19,280 --> 00:22:22,480 Speaker 3: lost so much and experienced so much hardship and lost 364 00:22:22,560 --> 00:22:26,960 Speaker 3: that even the unknown of this to them was worth 365 00:22:27,280 --> 00:22:33,440 Speaker 3: the risk. However, it was being sold to them as this, 366 00:22:33,720 --> 00:22:37,360 Speaker 3: you know, new world kind of adventure, you know, finding 367 00:22:37,520 --> 00:22:40,480 Speaker 3: this like paradise, you know in the Darien Gap. 368 00:22:40,680 --> 00:22:42,600 Speaker 1: And I don't know, Ben, do you think this was. 369 00:22:44,560 --> 00:22:47,439 Speaker 3: Like an active grift or was it really just an 370 00:22:47,520 --> 00:22:49,800 Speaker 3: example of like putting the cart before the horse and 371 00:22:49,880 --> 00:22:54,920 Speaker 3: kind of overly optimistic outlook on what was maybe to come. 372 00:22:55,400 --> 00:22:59,200 Speaker 1: Yeah, the latter Patterson very much believed in this and 373 00:22:59,440 --> 00:23:02,320 Speaker 1: as a as a patriot, he was being sincere in 374 00:23:02,400 --> 00:23:06,120 Speaker 1: genuine in that he honestly believed this would work. And 375 00:23:06,160 --> 00:23:10,720 Speaker 1: so the Darien scheme now is more than an exciting 376 00:23:10,920 --> 00:23:14,159 Speaker 1: business venture. It is a matter of national pride. It 377 00:23:14,280 --> 00:23:20,040 Speaker 1: is patriotism. It's everybody chipping in to save Scotland, that's right. 378 00:23:20,160 --> 00:23:25,360 Speaker 3: So the first expedition begins, sets forth and arrives. Writing 379 00:23:25,400 --> 00:23:30,040 Speaker 3: for BBC History, doctor Mike Ebeggie puts it this way. 380 00:23:30,280 --> 00:23:33,120 Speaker 3: The ship sets sail from Leith Harbor on fourth July 381 00:23:33,240 --> 00:23:36,280 Speaker 3: sixteen ninety eight, under the command of Captain Robert Penachem. 382 00:23:36,880 --> 00:23:39,520 Speaker 3: Of the twelve hundred settlers in the first expedition, only 383 00:23:39,600 --> 00:23:43,320 Speaker 3: he and William Patterson knew of their destination, which was 384 00:23:43,359 --> 00:23:46,840 Speaker 3: outlined in sealed packages to be open only once the 385 00:23:46,840 --> 00:23:50,200 Speaker 3: ships were on the open sea. They're protecting their what 386 00:23:50,359 --> 00:23:53,439 Speaker 3: their investment here. They're making sure that there's no espionage 387 00:23:53,440 --> 00:23:56,199 Speaker 3: that like clocks the location and beats them to it. 388 00:23:56,640 --> 00:23:59,399 Speaker 1: Part of it. And we remember those Spanish forces are 389 00:23:59,520 --> 00:24:02,520 Speaker 1: very active at this point in time as well. But 390 00:24:02,640 --> 00:24:05,840 Speaker 1: another part is they already have the English opposition, so 391 00:24:06,119 --> 00:24:10,560 Speaker 1: if they let word get out about their destination, things 392 00:24:10,640 --> 00:24:14,960 Speaker 1: may get complicated. So it takes a while to travel 393 00:24:15,000 --> 00:24:17,840 Speaker 1: across the ocean at this time. They don't land until 394 00:24:17,960 --> 00:24:24,399 Speaker 1: November two. Seventy people die on the way. Okay, not 395 00:24:24,520 --> 00:24:25,320 Speaker 1: a great start. 396 00:24:26,359 --> 00:24:30,479 Speaker 3: However, those that did arrive remained optimistic and they named 397 00:24:30,640 --> 00:24:34,000 Speaker 3: the peninsula that they landed on in New Caledonia and 398 00:24:34,080 --> 00:24:37,720 Speaker 3: started the work of building a series of homesteads, you know, 399 00:24:37,720 --> 00:24:38,280 Speaker 3: a settlement. 400 00:24:39,440 --> 00:24:42,280 Speaker 1: And this is where we go to some primary sources. 401 00:24:43,080 --> 00:24:48,280 Speaker 1: Our pal Willie Patterson is pretty honest about this in retrospect. 402 00:24:48,320 --> 00:24:51,320 Speaker 1: He by the way, just spoiler. He later goes on 403 00:24:51,480 --> 00:24:57,960 Speaker 1: to repair his reputation by giving a very objective, unforgiving 404 00:24:58,200 --> 00:25:02,840 Speaker 1: review of the events. But they arrive at this initial site, 405 00:25:02,960 --> 00:25:07,000 Speaker 1: he describes it as quote Emir Morass, neither fit to 406 00:25:07,000 --> 00:25:10,159 Speaker 1: be fortified, nor planted, nor indeed for the men to 407 00:25:10,240 --> 00:25:13,240 Speaker 1: lie upon. We were clearing and making huts upon this 408 00:25:13,359 --> 00:25:17,399 Speaker 1: improper place near two months, in which time Experience the 409 00:25:17,480 --> 00:25:21,520 Speaker 1: school Master of Fools convinced our masters that the new place, 410 00:25:21,600 --> 00:25:24,840 Speaker 1: now called Fort Saint Andrew, was a more proper place 411 00:25:24,880 --> 00:25:27,679 Speaker 1: for us. And I want to take a second and 412 00:25:27,920 --> 00:25:32,040 Speaker 1: just say how beautiful that writing is. Experience the school 413 00:25:32,119 --> 00:25:32,720 Speaker 1: Master of. 414 00:25:32,720 --> 00:25:37,240 Speaker 3: Fools indeed, and the idea of an improper place neither 415 00:25:37,320 --> 00:25:42,600 Speaker 3: fit to be fortified nor planted. So within the fort 416 00:25:42,680 --> 00:25:45,360 Speaker 3: they started to build the huts of what would. 417 00:25:45,160 --> 00:25:49,120 Speaker 1: Then be named New Edinburgh. Makes sense they were still 418 00:25:49,160 --> 00:25:51,440 Speaker 1: putting new in front of all the names. 419 00:25:51,200 --> 00:25:53,600 Speaker 3: That's right, of course, And yeah, like you do when 420 00:25:53,600 --> 00:25:55,760 Speaker 3: you're I mean, they're trying to again, they're trying to 421 00:25:55,800 --> 00:25:59,680 Speaker 3: extend their home to this new land, and so it 422 00:25:59,840 --> 00:26:03,160 Speaker 3: may sense that they would use familiar city names, kind 423 00:26:03,160 --> 00:26:06,520 Speaker 3: of like a sister city situation. However, they soon found 424 00:26:06,560 --> 00:26:10,680 Speaker 3: that the land was also completely unsuited for the kind 425 00:26:10,720 --> 00:26:14,320 Speaker 3: of agriculture they were familiar with, and the native people 426 00:26:14,359 --> 00:26:19,680 Speaker 3: there were super not down for combs, wigs and mirrors. 427 00:26:20,640 --> 00:26:23,520 Speaker 1: Yeah, and the weather was rough because this is the 428 00:26:23,600 --> 00:26:29,520 Speaker 1: Darien Gap. So spring of sixteen ninety nine we're talking delugious, 429 00:26:29,680 --> 00:26:33,600 Speaker 1: torrential rain, biblical rain. And with that came a lack 430 00:26:33,640 --> 00:26:36,919 Speaker 1: of sanitation and of course disease. So if you go 431 00:26:37,000 --> 00:26:41,120 Speaker 1: to March of sixteen ninety nine, more than two hundred 432 00:26:41,320 --> 00:26:44,760 Speaker 1: of the original colonists have died and things are just 433 00:26:44,840 --> 00:26:48,439 Speaker 1: getting worse. The death rate is now over ten people 434 00:26:48,440 --> 00:26:51,800 Speaker 1: a day. So you wake up and you wonder which 435 00:26:51,880 --> 00:26:54,760 Speaker 1: ten of the folks you know are now dead. Yeah, 436 00:26:54,800 --> 00:26:55,960 Speaker 1: really bad news. 437 00:26:56,040 --> 00:26:59,520 Speaker 3: And to add insult to injury, the trade ships that 438 00:26:59,560 --> 00:27:02,800 Speaker 3: were sent out to retrieve supplies came back with the 439 00:27:02,800 --> 00:27:08,400 Speaker 3: news that all English ships and colonies surprise, surprise, were 440 00:27:08,440 --> 00:27:12,399 Speaker 3: forbidden from trading with the Scots by order of the 441 00:27:12,480 --> 00:27:13,520 Speaker 3: king himself. 442 00:27:14,119 --> 00:27:17,440 Speaker 1: Yeah, so the other European outposts that you could ask 443 00:27:17,520 --> 00:27:21,359 Speaker 1: for help, they can't mess with you. And one ship 444 00:27:21,480 --> 00:27:25,080 Speaker 1: doesn't one ship doesn't make it off the sea at all. 445 00:27:25,160 --> 00:27:29,880 Speaker 1: The dolphin was captured by the Spanish over there the Spanish. 446 00:27:29,560 --> 00:27:36,840 Speaker 3: Main and it's its crew imprisoned. So it's likely that 447 00:27:36,880 --> 00:27:39,439 Speaker 3: the folks who never made it to the gap in 448 00:27:39,480 --> 00:27:43,480 Speaker 3: the first place. However, may have actually had an easier 449 00:27:43,560 --> 00:27:53,399 Speaker 3: going than one member of the first expedition, a young 450 00:27:53,480 --> 00:27:59,280 Speaker 3: man named Robert Oswald, wrote a very graphic and detailed 451 00:27:59,320 --> 00:28:03,760 Speaker 3: account of his experience in the colony, and ben, maybe 452 00:28:03,800 --> 00:28:06,600 Speaker 3: we should do a little round robin of this one. 453 00:28:06,640 --> 00:28:08,320 Speaker 3: I think it's worth beating the whole thing because it 454 00:28:08,359 --> 00:28:09,879 Speaker 3: really does paint quite the picture. 455 00:28:10,359 --> 00:28:12,760 Speaker 1: Yeah, when I was doing the research for this, this 456 00:28:12,840 --> 00:28:15,520 Speaker 1: really stood out to me because it's long and it's graphic, 457 00:28:15,600 --> 00:28:18,520 Speaker 1: but it's important to hear it. Oswald begins by noting 458 00:28:18,600 --> 00:28:22,240 Speaker 1: the settlers lived on less than a pound of flour 459 00:28:22,680 --> 00:28:27,880 Speaker 1: per week per person. And get this, the flower was moldy. 460 00:28:27,960 --> 00:28:31,520 Speaker 1: It was gross. So he goes into detail. He goes 461 00:28:31,560 --> 00:28:38,000 Speaker 1: into detail about his terrible experience. And he here's what 462 00:28:38,040 --> 00:28:39,960 Speaker 1: he says, What don't you pop the top on this one? 463 00:28:40,120 --> 00:28:40,560 Speaker 1: Sure thing? 464 00:28:40,600 --> 00:28:44,000 Speaker 3: But when boiled with a little water without anything else, 465 00:28:44,240 --> 00:28:47,840 Speaker 3: big maggots and worms must be skimmed off the top. 466 00:28:48,280 --> 00:28:51,480 Speaker 3: In short, a man might easily have destroyed his whole 467 00:28:51,480 --> 00:28:56,080 Speaker 3: week's rations in one day and have but one ordinary 468 00:28:56,280 --> 00:29:00,560 Speaker 3: stomach neither Yet for all this short allowance, every man 469 00:29:00,880 --> 00:29:03,920 Speaker 3: let him never be so weak. Daily turned out to 470 00:29:04,000 --> 00:29:08,520 Speaker 3: work by daylight, whether with the hatchet or wheelbarrow, pickaxe, shovel, 471 00:29:08,800 --> 00:29:11,840 Speaker 3: fore hammer, or any other instrument the case required. 472 00:29:12,400 --> 00:29:16,240 Speaker 1: And so continued until twelve o'clock, and to two again, 473 00:29:16,520 --> 00:29:19,720 Speaker 1: and stayed till night, sometimes working all day up to 474 00:29:19,760 --> 00:29:22,840 Speaker 1: the headbands of the breeches and water at the trenches. 475 00:29:23,160 --> 00:29:26,479 Speaker 1: My shoulders have been so war with carrying burdens that 476 00:29:26,560 --> 00:29:30,840 Speaker 1: the skin has come off them and grew full of boils. 477 00:29:31,160 --> 00:29:35,040 Speaker 1: If a man were sick, Oswald continues, and obliged to 478 00:29:35,120 --> 00:29:38,800 Speaker 1: stay within no victuals for him that day, which just 479 00:29:38,840 --> 00:29:41,520 Speaker 1: to step out here means if you took a sick day, 480 00:29:42,040 --> 00:29:46,040 Speaker 1: you would starve here, he continues. Our counselors, all the while, 481 00:29:46,240 --> 00:29:50,200 Speaker 1: lying at their ease, sometimes divided into factions, and being 482 00:29:50,280 --> 00:29:55,160 Speaker 1: swayed by particular interest, ruined the public. Our bodies pined 483 00:29:55,200 --> 00:29:59,160 Speaker 1: away and grew so macerated with such allowance that we 484 00:29:59,160 --> 00:30:03,240 Speaker 1: were like so many skeletons, so many skeletons. 485 00:30:03,800 --> 00:30:09,400 Speaker 3: Also excellent writing, great find there Ben. The Darien disaster 486 00:30:09,920 --> 00:30:15,160 Speaker 3: by John Prebble you've mentioned previously is an excellent account 487 00:30:15,320 --> 00:30:17,680 Speaker 3: of this, and I believe that's where that quote came. 488 00:30:17,480 --> 00:30:23,320 Speaker 1: From Yeah, and we also know we also know that Patterson, 489 00:30:23,760 --> 00:30:27,280 Speaker 1: like despite the fact that clearly Oswald is saying the 490 00:30:27,360 --> 00:30:31,560 Speaker 1: people at the top were not putting in the same effort. 491 00:30:31,800 --> 00:30:34,360 Speaker 1: You know, he says, they're lying at ease, they're fighting 492 00:30:34,400 --> 00:30:38,960 Speaker 1: with themselves. Patterson is the leader of this group and 493 00:30:39,480 --> 00:30:42,000 Speaker 1: he still has a terrible time even though he's at 494 00:30:42,000 --> 00:30:47,040 Speaker 1: the top. He loses his wife, his dreams clearly go wrong. 495 00:30:48,040 --> 00:30:49,960 Speaker 3: You're right, and he really was a true believer in 496 00:30:50,000 --> 00:30:52,080 Speaker 3: this plan. I mean, he wasn't trying to builk anybody 497 00:30:52,120 --> 00:30:52,720 Speaker 3: to his credit. 498 00:30:53,240 --> 00:30:57,160 Speaker 1: Yeah, there's a final straw. There's news that the Spanish 499 00:30:57,200 --> 00:30:59,760 Speaker 1: are going to plan an attack on the colony. So 500 00:30:59,800 --> 00:31:03,600 Speaker 1: this settlers run off to the sea panicking. They abandoned 501 00:31:03,680 --> 00:31:07,440 Speaker 1: the settlement. There are four ships that fled the colony 502 00:31:08,160 --> 00:31:11,200 Speaker 1: and only one made it back to Scotland with. 503 00:31:11,240 --> 00:31:15,320 Speaker 3: Less than three hundred folks on board. And you'd think 504 00:31:15,360 --> 00:31:19,440 Speaker 3: this was the end of the whole mess. Unfortunately there 505 00:31:19,600 --> 00:31:23,120 Speaker 3: is more. There was, in fact, a second expedition that 506 00:31:23,200 --> 00:31:27,240 Speaker 3: left Scotland in August of sixteen ninety nine, and they 507 00:31:27,240 --> 00:31:30,680 Speaker 3: didn't know what they were in for, you know, with 508 00:31:31,160 --> 00:31:34,320 Speaker 3: the distance and the arduousness of the expedition. 509 00:31:34,400 --> 00:31:37,520 Speaker 1: There was no way of getting word back. It reminds 510 00:31:37,520 --> 00:31:41,560 Speaker 1: me a bit of the Russian fleet that was traveling 511 00:31:41,680 --> 00:31:44,760 Speaker 1: in our earlier episode about the Japanese or the Russo 512 00:31:44,880 --> 00:31:48,400 Speaker 1: Japanese War. That's right, because they were sailing for months 513 00:31:48,400 --> 00:31:52,480 Speaker 1: and they had no idea what happened to the first folks, Oh, Noel, 514 00:31:52,560 --> 00:31:56,280 Speaker 1: the second expedition, we've got three ships, their flagship is 515 00:31:56,320 --> 00:32:02,640 Speaker 1: the Rising Sun. Altogether they carry thirteen hundred and two people. 516 00:32:03,760 --> 00:32:06,240 Speaker 1: One hundred and sixty of those folks are never going 517 00:32:06,320 --> 00:32:08,680 Speaker 1: to make it across the ocean. They die on the way. 518 00:32:08,640 --> 00:32:10,680 Speaker 3: Now, and this is all too common with these kinds 519 00:32:10,720 --> 00:32:13,240 Speaker 3: of sea expeditions. I mean, it's just there's no way 520 00:32:13,280 --> 00:32:15,320 Speaker 3: around it. It really is a bit of a roll 521 00:32:15,360 --> 00:32:18,160 Speaker 3: of the dice as to who's going to make it 522 00:32:18,200 --> 00:32:24,160 Speaker 3: to the destination. Finding the colony completely abandoned, they started 523 00:32:24,200 --> 00:32:28,080 Speaker 3: to go about the process, the arduous task of rebuilding it. 524 00:32:28,760 --> 00:32:31,520 Speaker 3: But the second colony didn't do a whole heck of 525 00:32:31,560 --> 00:32:34,880 Speaker 3: a lot better than the first. Understandably, the conditions were 526 00:32:35,000 --> 00:32:39,160 Speaker 3: just not conducive to settlement m hm. 527 00:32:39,640 --> 00:32:42,920 Speaker 1: And we know that everybody was looking for someone to blame. 528 00:32:43,600 --> 00:32:49,040 Speaker 1: One Presbyterian minister in the second expedition immediately said the 529 00:32:49,080 --> 00:32:53,000 Speaker 1: harsh conditions had driven the colonists away from God and 530 00:32:53,080 --> 00:32:57,120 Speaker 1: said it's your fault. He specifically wrote, our land has 531 00:32:57,200 --> 00:33:00,840 Speaker 1: spewed out its scout. We could not veiled to get 532 00:33:00,840 --> 00:33:04,520 Speaker 1: that wicked diss restrained, all the growth of its stopped. Ooh, 533 00:33:04,640 --> 00:33:08,680 Speaker 1: spewed out its scum. He was like, you guys are barbarians. 534 00:33:09,120 --> 00:33:13,520 Speaker 1: You've become monsters, and that's why everybody is sick and dying. 535 00:33:13,840 --> 00:33:16,600 Speaker 1: You are damn need a lot of you. 536 00:33:17,680 --> 00:33:21,719 Speaker 3: He felt that the disease and all of the harsh 537 00:33:21,760 --> 00:33:26,160 Speaker 3: conditions were a it's like a Sodom and Gomorra type situation. 538 00:33:25,880 --> 00:33:26,400 Speaker 1: Or something like. 539 00:33:26,480 --> 00:33:31,480 Speaker 3: This was a form of divine punishment rained down from 540 00:33:31,520 --> 00:33:32,080 Speaker 3: the heavens. 541 00:33:33,880 --> 00:33:37,400 Speaker 1: And add to that the constant, very real and actionable 542 00:33:37,440 --> 00:33:40,720 Speaker 1: threat of Spanish attacks no support from any of the 543 00:33:40,760 --> 00:33:46,280 Speaker 1: English colonies. This inspires one officer, a young guy named 544 00:33:46,360 --> 00:33:52,200 Speaker 1: Captain Alexander Campbell, to organize a pre emptive strike against 545 00:33:52,360 --> 00:33:56,800 Speaker 1: Spanish forces that are massing along the mainland. Their attack 546 00:33:57,040 --> 00:34:01,360 Speaker 1: is successful, It's a surprise attack, but all it does, 547 00:34:02,000 --> 00:34:05,720 Speaker 1: all this victory does is piss off the Spanish, and 548 00:34:05,840 --> 00:34:09,000 Speaker 1: the Spanish finally say okay, we're going to come down 549 00:34:09,239 --> 00:34:10,839 Speaker 1: with a hammer now, that's right. 550 00:34:10,920 --> 00:34:15,360 Speaker 3: And they're led by Governor General Pimento. That's how it's 551 00:34:15,960 --> 00:34:21,840 Speaker 3: waiver and Pemiento, like a delightful snack led this massive 552 00:34:21,920 --> 00:34:26,160 Speaker 3: fleet and an army that besieged Fort Saint Andrew. 553 00:34:27,440 --> 00:34:31,960 Speaker 1: And Fort Saint Andrew, outmatched, out gunned, they finally surrender 554 00:34:32,120 --> 00:34:36,600 Speaker 1: in March of seventeen hundred. As a condition of the surrender, 555 00:34:36,719 --> 00:34:41,840 Speaker 1: the surviving Scottish colonists are permitted to leave the fort peacefully, 556 00:34:42,239 --> 00:34:45,560 Speaker 1: to board their ships and make it back to Scotland. 557 00:34:45,680 --> 00:34:50,520 Speaker 1: Only a handful do, and the blow of Scottish morale 558 00:34:50,760 --> 00:34:56,200 Speaker 1: is incalculable. The colonists who did return, they were pariahs 559 00:34:56,239 --> 00:35:00,239 Speaker 1: in their own land. They were now living representations of 560 00:35:00,280 --> 00:35:02,560 Speaker 1: this amazing plan that went so wrong. 561 00:35:02,760 --> 00:35:06,319 Speaker 3: What was meant to be a way to regain some 562 00:35:06,520 --> 00:35:13,000 Speaker 3: national sense of pride and also financial stability had the 563 00:35:13,080 --> 00:35:16,480 Speaker 3: exact opposite effect, really set them back even further. 564 00:35:16,640 --> 00:35:22,880 Speaker 1: It's really sad. Yeah. Some years later, Patterson was granted 565 00:35:23,080 --> 00:35:26,719 Speaker 1: a pension, a pretty good pension for the time, but 566 00:35:26,800 --> 00:35:29,359 Speaker 1: he died a broken man. Despite having done so many 567 00:35:29,440 --> 00:35:35,000 Speaker 1: astonishing things in his life. The Darien scheme shipwrecked the 568 00:35:35,040 --> 00:35:41,120 Speaker 1: Scottish economy overall, like people had lost their lives, savings 569 00:35:41,880 --> 00:35:46,200 Speaker 1: left and right. Scotland was incapable of continuing as an 570 00:35:46,200 --> 00:35:49,919 Speaker 1: independent nation. You have to wonder was England steepling its 571 00:35:49,920 --> 00:35:53,000 Speaker 1: fingers the whole time? Was this their endgame? I think 572 00:35:53,080 --> 00:35:55,000 Speaker 1: so very. 573 00:35:55,280 --> 00:35:58,399 Speaker 3: I mean, look, we know that they can be some 574 00:35:58,440 --> 00:36:04,359 Speaker 3: pretty calculating beat me here, Max, of course, But yeah, 575 00:36:04,440 --> 00:36:07,440 Speaker 3: I don't know, man, I think it's certainly whether or 576 00:36:07,520 --> 00:36:09,319 Speaker 3: not it was the ultimate end game. 577 00:36:09,680 --> 00:36:12,960 Speaker 1: They certainly weren't mad about it. That's a good That's 578 00:36:13,080 --> 00:36:15,160 Speaker 1: very diplomatic, that's a good way to put it. They 579 00:36:15,160 --> 00:36:19,160 Speaker 1: were at the very least opportunistic because seven years after 580 00:36:19,200 --> 00:36:24,719 Speaker 1: everything goes terrible in Darien, Scotland is forced to concede 581 00:36:25,040 --> 00:36:28,040 Speaker 1: to the Active Union to sign the Treaty of Union, 582 00:36:28,760 --> 00:36:33,280 Speaker 1: becoming the junior partner in the United Kingdom of Great Britain. 583 00:36:33,719 --> 00:36:36,359 Speaker 1: So they had to take the back seat. As part 584 00:36:36,440 --> 00:36:40,200 Speaker 1: of the deal, England pays off Scotland's debts. Was something 585 00:36:40,239 --> 00:36:43,960 Speaker 1: they call the equivalent and I just love that term, 586 00:36:45,200 --> 00:36:45,480 Speaker 1: you know. 587 00:36:45,800 --> 00:36:49,719 Speaker 3: Very diplomatic in and of itself, right, you should have 588 00:36:49,760 --> 00:36:51,160 Speaker 3: the equivalentnes indeed. 589 00:36:51,440 --> 00:36:55,640 Speaker 1: Yeah. This also led to the establishment of. 590 00:36:55,960 --> 00:36:59,880 Speaker 3: The Royal Bank of Scotland as an entity to administer 591 00:37:00,440 --> 00:37:03,440 Speaker 3: and you know, distribute and invest this money. 592 00:37:03,760 --> 00:37:07,240 Speaker 1: And not to sound too cynical here, but Noel riddled 593 00:37:07,280 --> 00:37:10,160 Speaker 1: me this. Why do the banks always seem to come 594 00:37:10,160 --> 00:37:13,600 Speaker 1: out on top? Can't fight city hall? Can't fight city hall. 595 00:37:14,440 --> 00:37:17,040 Speaker 1: That that is our show for today. That is the 596 00:37:17,120 --> 00:37:22,719 Speaker 1: true ridiculous story of how Scotland lost its independence due 597 00:37:22,800 --> 00:37:25,560 Speaker 1: to the Darien scheme. We can't thank you enough for 598 00:37:25,719 --> 00:37:29,120 Speaker 1: tuning in, fellow ridiculous historians, but here we go. Thank you. 599 00:37:29,400 --> 00:37:30,800 Speaker 1: We're gonna try. Yeah. 600 00:37:30,920 --> 00:37:34,279 Speaker 3: Huge thanks to you ridiculous historians, Yes, you, as well 601 00:37:34,320 --> 00:37:37,960 Speaker 3: as to super producer Max the Hagis Williams. 602 00:37:38,160 --> 00:37:40,120 Speaker 1: Yes, I was hoping you would do it all right. 603 00:37:41,600 --> 00:37:44,680 Speaker 3: Max long Shanks Williams remember that character. He was the 604 00:37:44,680 --> 00:37:50,160 Speaker 3: big bad in Braveheart. Sorry, I'm coming back to Braveheart, Williams. 605 00:37:50,239 --> 00:37:52,759 Speaker 3: I kind of think that Scottish people don't like Braveheart 606 00:37:53,200 --> 00:37:55,640 Speaker 3: because I think there's I think there were some like 607 00:37:55,960 --> 00:37:57,120 Speaker 3: liberties taken with the. 608 00:37:57,080 --> 00:38:00,359 Speaker 1: Depiction of that whole Absolutely, I think that's right. Sorry, 609 00:38:00,440 --> 00:38:02,920 Speaker 1: I keep bringing it. Have you seen have you, guys, 610 00:38:02,920 --> 00:38:06,560 Speaker 1: ever seen a film made about US history that is 611 00:38:06,640 --> 00:38:10,200 Speaker 1: not made by people from the US. One of the 612 00:38:10,239 --> 00:38:14,600 Speaker 1: Patriot he No, he was in it. Gibson was in it. 613 00:38:14,840 --> 00:38:15,120 Speaker 1: I don't know. 614 00:38:15,239 --> 00:38:20,279 Speaker 2: I'm just trying to name another Mel Gibson pe apocalypto. 615 00:38:20,880 --> 00:38:25,440 Speaker 1: Uh. Speaking of segues. Thank you also to Alex Williams 616 00:38:25,520 --> 00:38:29,520 Speaker 1: who composed this bank and track. Christopher hasiotis Eve's jeffcoat 617 00:38:29,800 --> 00:38:32,600 Speaker 1: here in spirit. I was our research associate for their 618 00:38:32,719 --> 00:38:33,759 Speaker 1: work and killer job. 619 00:38:33,800 --> 00:38:36,600 Speaker 3: And also, by the way, you are also as as 620 00:38:36,640 --> 00:38:39,080 Speaker 3: you always are, the research associate for the stuff they 621 00:38:39,080 --> 00:38:42,440 Speaker 3: don't want you to know episode about the Darien Gap, 622 00:38:42,480 --> 00:38:46,200 Speaker 3: which is less about the Scottish aspect and just more about. 623 00:38:47,239 --> 00:38:51,120 Speaker 1: It being kind of this corridor for human trafficking. Yes, 624 00:38:51,320 --> 00:38:53,879 Speaker 1: do check out our episode there, and thank you for 625 00:38:53,960 --> 00:38:57,319 Speaker 1: recommending that. No, we've got other people to thank too, 626 00:38:57,400 --> 00:39:00,880 Speaker 1: like the Rude Dude's a ridiculous crime, big time. And 627 00:39:01,200 --> 00:39:04,200 Speaker 1: of course now we are going to call it a 628 00:39:04,280 --> 00:39:06,440 Speaker 1: day because we're going to hop off the mic and 629 00:39:06,480 --> 00:39:11,600 Speaker 1: have an intense conversation about Haggis. Thanks so much, ah Man, 630 00:39:11,719 --> 00:39:14,840 Speaker 1: to you as well. We'll see you next time, folks. 631 00:39:20,320 --> 00:39:24,120 Speaker 3: For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 632 00:39:24,200 --> 00:39:26,360 Speaker 3: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.