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Men of Spirit and Enterprise
by Suzanne Rigg
ISBN: 9781906566371
Imprint: John Donald
Publication Date: Aug 2011
Format: Paperback
Price: £25.00
Stock Status: in stock
In the late eighteenth century many Orkneymen temporarily left their homelands to work for the Hudson’s Bay Company in the sub-arctic territory of Rupert’s Land. They were soon accompanied by an assortment of men from the Lowlands, Highlands and Western Isles of Scotland. Fellow Scots worked as rivals in the North West Company but their relations were marred by a fierce trading competition, leading to violence and bloodshed. The Scots’ engagement with the North American fur trade had a far-reaching impact on communities and economies on both sides of the Atlantic. This book tells the remarkable story of how these temporary migrants, men ‘of spirit and enterprise’, endured dangerous work, freezing temperatures and separation from their kin in Scotland with the expectation of making some money and eventually returning to better prospects at home.
Suzanne Rigg was winner of the Forbes Medal in History (undergraduate) at the University of Aberdeen and subsequently gained a PhD in history from the University of Aberdeen. She is currently Museum Manager of the Biggar Museum Trust.
