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Lowland Scots in Prussia      PDF (57 K)
Full of Egotism, Diaries of Rev John Hastie      PDF (54 K)

Lowland Scots in Prussia

By G. M. S. Lauder-Frost, F.S.A. (Scot)

Like Ireland, it seems that the bulk of those of Scottish descent no longer live in Scotland. Wherever one goes in the world today, we find Scots or people of Scottish descent. In this article I want to deal briefly with references I have come across regarding Lowland Scots who went to or settled in Eastern and Western Prussia.

The last century has seen two disastrous wars between Great Britain and Germany. But this is a 20th century phenomenon. When the German Empire forces defeated the Emperor Louis Napoleon III in the Franco-Prussian war in 1870 there were great celebrations in Britain. If the Prussian Field-Marshall Prince von Blucher had not marched his men solidly for 17 hours to Waterloo, the British forces under Wellington would have lost the battle to Napoleon I. Prior to that, many Scottish soldiers fought for Prussian and other German Princes against Sweden and then joined the Protestant cause in Germany against the Roman Catholic armies.

The main centres I shall deal with here are Danzig and Konigsberg where there were settlements of Scots. Danzig, a great trading centre, was one of the most important commercial cities in the north. The native population were originally heathen Slavs called Kashubians and the town first appears in history in 997. About 1200 it became the capitol of the Duchy of Pomerellen and in 1308 in came into possession of the Knights of the Teutonic Order. T. A. Fischer (1903) writes “notices are not wanting of the brisk commercial intercourse between Scotland and Danzig and between Scotland and the Teutonic Order, which from a religious society of knights for the defence and spreading of Christianity had rapidly grown not only into a territorial power, but also into a huge trading society.”

In 1358 the citizens joined the Hanseatic League and took an active part in the wars of their allies against the northern Kingdoms and pirates, in which they were aided by the Teutonic knights. After the decline of the latter Danzig, although virtually entirely German, became a Free City. Needing a strong ally it voted to place itself under the protection of the Kings of Poland, now also united with Lithuania.

When the Hanseatic League took part in the English Wars of the Roses, the ships of Danzig frequently returned home laden with booty.
When the Scottish king decided to send his young son, the future James I, to France for his personal safety, it was a ship from Danzig, the Marynknight which called at The Bass to relieve Sir Robert Lauder of his young charge.

Alas, this ship was taken by English pirates off Flamborough Head and the young prince taken into captivity. Between 1474 and 1476 no less than twenty four Scottish ships entered the harbour of Danzig.

The city embraced the Reformation but continued its connection with Roman Catholic Poland. St.Mary’s is the largest Protestant church in the world, with accommodation for 25000 worshippers. During the incessant wars in which Poland became involved in the 16th-18th centuries Danzig was often besieged, being eventually taken by the Russians, in1734, and returned to German sovereignty in 1798. It remained so until 1919 when it once more enjoyed Free City status under The League of Nations for the next 20 years. It rejoined Germany in 1939. Writing in Germany the Rev. J. F. Dickie states “the unique character of Danzig’s architecture impresses the stranger. Looking at the city from the heights of Oliva, Danzig lies before you like a paradise.”

The earliest mention I have come across of Scots in Danzig was that of Lord William Douglas of Nithisdale circa 1391. The Hohe Tor (High Gate) of Danzig was adorned with this nobleman’s Coat of Arms and for centuries it was known as the Douglas Gate, even as late as 1734. About 1440 the magistrates of Edinburgh petitioned the Hochmeister (Grand Master of the Teutonic Order) von Jungingen regarding arrested goods of various Scottish merchants in Danzig, notably James Lauder, James King and Robert Young. In 1448 the Scottish monarch wrote further to the Hochmeister on account of James Lauder.

In 1475 a James Wright made purchases of cloth, velvet and damask for the Grand Master of the Teutonic Order, and in 1544 William Watson wrote from Danzig to the Duke Albrecht of Prussia in Konigsberg offering to procure court dresses and dress material for the Duke.

Just outside of Danzig proper was a settlement named Alt Schottland (Old Scotland) which predated the year 1517. A family named Davidson were in possession of the Schonfeld (beautiful field) estate near Danzig, as well as owning houses in several large towns, especially Danzig and Konigsberg.

In 1577, the Scots together with other citizens of Danzig, “valiantly helped to drive off the King of Poland.” As a result, Andrew Moncreiff, Osias Kilfauns and George Patterson were made Freemen of the city the following year.

In 1580, eight more were made Burgesses for the same reason, including William Lockerbie from Dumfries. He stated in his credentials that he had lived there since 1573, and after serving in the wars in northern Europe, had married and reared children and had been a trader for 20 years.
He and his wife were still alive in 1609 when they were receiving some sort of Guild assistance but it would appear their children had predeceased them.

In his application to be made a Burgess of Danzig in 1592, Jacob Brown “Scotchman” stated that he had lived there for 20 years and earned his living. He also stated that when the wars came, whilst he could have departed to safer places, he did not, but took part in all the skirmishes under Captain Gourlay, and, after he was drowned, under Captain Trotter (d.1653). Mr. Brown mentions that as a consequence of this loyalty to the city he was shot through the leg on one of the city bastions.

In 1597 Scottish merchants there addressed a petition to the magistrates of Danzig. The signatures include; John Trotter, Gilbert Dick, Robert Traquair, Gilbert Dickson, and Alexander Ramsay. In 1615, Patrick Gordon was Consul or Factor at Danzig. It would appear that another member of his family, possibly a son, carried on in that office as in 1655 Francis Gordon, “Consular Agent of Britain” married Margaret, daughter of James Porteous, a late minister in Scotland.

Other Scots who became Burgesses of Danzig were George Cleghorn (1633) and A. Marjoribanks (1705). In order to establish themselves or become citizens of Danzig, Scots often presented Birth Briefs and Letters of Commendation sealed by authorities in Scotland beforehand.
Amongst these were James Jeffrey and W. Flockhart from Duns in Berwickshire (1633) and the abovementioned George Cleghorn. In his brief, George stated that he was “from Edinburgh, son of John Cleghorn of Whitsome, Berwickshire; that his mother was Helen Innerwick. Witnesses of attestation were another George Cleghorn, minister of Darnick, and Alexander Kinnair, minister of Whitsome.
In 1649 we have another birth brief being presented by Robert Ainslie, son of James Ainslie, barber at Jedburgh. Witnesses were James Ainslie, glover and soldier, and Albert Ainslie, a Burgess and silk merchant at Stolp in Pomerania.

In the marriage register from St. Peter & St. Paul’s Presbyterian Church, Danzig, we find the following:
1631 Daniel Ramsay and Sarah Nisbet
1636 Adam Law and Anna Nisbet
1640 Gabriel Maxwell (groom’s name wanting)
1640 Richard Lewis, the Hon. Administrator of the Royal Treasury and Governor of Marienburg. (He is possibly of the Lewis of Manor, Peebleshire, family, members of which are known to have emigrated to Russia and Poland in the 16th century.)

The marriage register of St. Elizabeth’s Presbyterian Church at Danzig contain:
1624 Jacob Scot and Maria Nun
1640 Alexander Cranstoun (see below)
1668 George Lauder
1677 George Nisbett and Miss Littlejohn.

The burial registers from St. Peter & St. Paul’s contain:
1602 George Paterson
1693 Jacob Carmichael and family
1698 Buchan and family

The burial registers from St. Elizabeth’s contain:
1635 Peter Maitland
1635 Gilbert Edgar
1636 Peter Lauder
1640 Elizabeth Duncan, Alexander Cranstoun’s wife.
1653 Jacob Crichton

Amongst the baptisms at St. Peter & St. Paul’s, we find (surnames only):
1599 Ballentine
1599 Scott
1599 Paterson
1625 Paterson
1625 Jacob Meldrum

Clearly these lists are far from exhaustive but are designed to give the reader a flavour of things. St. Elizabeth’s church was badly damaged by Napoleon’s army and was sold and presumably demolished. Danzig suffered terrible damage in the closing stages of World War Two. Up until 1939 the population had remained 98% German but those who did not flee the advancing Soviet Army were expelled by them. The city was then repopulated by Poles. One wonders what happened to those of Scottish descent.

South of Danzig, in West Prussia, lay the great castle called The Marienburg, which the Teutonic order commenced building about 1280 and which was the seat of the Grand Master (until 1466 when he removed to the castle at Konigsberg.) At the foot of this great fortress (still largely extant) lay the township and here we find Scots, A. Johnston, A. Hay and William Hay in 1650. Further to the south lay Posen, an ancient Polish city and here in 1600 we find one of their burgesses is Bernard Bellenden of Lasswade. To the west towards Breslau is Ratisbor, near the Oder river, a city with a fine 13th century Gothic church. In 1508 Hans Maitland swore the Civil Oath here as did Alexander Cunningham in 1506.

East of Danzig is the ancient commercial town of Elbing. The Corpus Christi Church here dates from 1405. Alexander Nisbet (d.1617) from Edinburgh appears as a citizen of Elbing towards the close of the 16th century. He built two houses in the Schmiedegasse next to the Schmiedethor. He married twice, the second time in 1614, on both occasions to daughters of town councillors. His daughter Catherine married Johannes (John) Jungschulz, the Mayor of Elbing and died the year after her father.

We now come to our next principal place of interest, for Scots, Konigsberg (King’s town). The capital of the old province of East Prussia it was originally a fortress of the Teutonic Knights and was named after their ally, King Ottocar of Bohemia (1255). From 1466 The Grand Master was here and from 1525 the castle became the official residence of the Dukes of Prussia. The city was famous for its beautiful architecture (the cathedral was begun in 1333) and old quarter, destroyed by the Soviets in 1945, and also for its famous sons, notably the philosopher Kant.

There was a large Scottish community here. In 1561 Andrew Rutherford lived in Riesenburg, a small town. He had “performed all the duties of a citizen, paying taxes, working at the fortifications and proved his honest birth by providing birth briefs.” The Duke granted Andrew citizenship “to earn his bread by brewing, distilling and the sale of small merchandise.” In 1590 one Jacob Ramsay asked for a passport for his servant whilst also offering to bring fine cloth and silks back to the Duke of Prussia. A Scotsman with the name of Dick obtained rights in Konigsberg in 1624. He had married a daughter of John Mirander, a famous Prussian legal advisor to the Crown.

Also in the 17th century we find at Konigsberg Robert Walker, a Scot, who had a dwelling near the market place, and who also had his own house. It was noted that he kept lodgers and let rooms and had a store and an open shop near the castle. There were also stores at the nearby ports of Fishhausen and Pillau which belonged to someone named Walker, “and whose representatives visited all the estates and villages in the Samland [north of Konigsberg] district.” It is interesting to note that as late as 1904 the Lloyd’s Agents at Pillau were Messrs. E & G Hay.

In 1620 Scottish traders had received the privilege of living upon the Ducal “Freiheiten” (liberties) being the ground surrounding the Castle where most of the Duke of Prussia’s retainers had their dwellings, and so were under his immediate protection. At Tilsit, a large town on the River Memel north of Konigsberg, where the 1807 Peace Treaty was signed between Napoleon I, Tsar Alexander I and Frederick William III of Prussia, we find Thomas Hay, of Tilsit, purchasing a shop for 300 gulden, in 1628, from Thomas Melville, a citizen of Aberdeen. Mr. Melville was present in Tilsit for the sale.

Returning to Konigsberg, Royal Safe-Conducts were issued, in June 1651, to Gilbert Ramsay and Andrew Ritchie “settled in Konigsberg” in order that they may attend the fairs at Elbing and Danzig.

In 1657 two Scotsmen, one of whom was the above Andrew Ritchie, the other Gilbert Ramsay, obtained free-trade and civil rights privileges. Interestingly there appear as members of the Guild of Konigsberg Merchants in 1690 Charles Ramsay, son of Gilbert, and a William Ritchie. The latter gentleman, it is noted, had “gone to the wars in England” at that date. Other Burgesses of Konigsberg who were Scottish settlers were A. Rutherford (1561) and J. and Adrian Hay (1650).

Elsewhere in East Prussia we find an A. Meldrum in Sensburg, and Andrew Geddes in Tapiau (?) (1594); and at Johannisberg near Danzig in 1587, G. Meldrum and A. Robertson. At the northernmost city and port in Prussia, Memel, again founded by the Teutonic Knights in the 1220s, we find Daniel Henderson, a merchant (1589), William Turner “Scotsman”, a resident (1606), and Alexander Murray, described as a citizen of Memel (1656).

For those genealogists attempting to trace relatives in Germany or simply attempting to locate their wider family I hope that this article gives you some encouragement to continue with that search.

Further Reading: The Hansa Towns by Helen Zimmern, London 1889. The Scots in Eastern and Western Prussia by T. A. Fischer, Edinburgh 1903. Northern Germany by Karl Baedeker, London 1904. Germany by Rev. J. F. Dickie, London 1912.

Full of Egotism, Diaries of Rev John Hastie

By Ronald Morrison

This is the text of Ronald's talk to the Society on 21st March.

Whether or not because of television there can be little doubt that these days there is a considerable increased interest in all matters historical and we find ourselves inundated daily by a plethora of new historical material hitting the bookshelves, much of it, though, it has to be said simply a rehash of what has already been written. It is almost therefore a matter of surprise when something completely new at least in the sense of being previously unpublished material emerges.

So it was with me when by the sheerest turn of fortune I came across the previously unpublished diary of one Rev. John Hastie, minister of the Parish of Edrom in Berwickshire for the years 1797 to 1822. The Diary had previously been and remains in the personal possession of the Marjorybanks family descendants of the author on the female side. To the family I am much indebted for making the Diary available and for their fullest co-operation in editing and indexing it and also to Borders Family History Society for agreeing to publish it.

It would be stretching matters somewhat to proclaim the Diary a great work of literature. Like virtually all diaries, apart perhaps from those of some well known politicians, it was written for the diarist’s eyes only and for the most part is a series of short staccato sentences, phrases or even single words - not in some ways the lightest of bedtime reading.
This, though, is not to detract in any way from its value as giving an insight into the live and concerns of a Parish Minister in the Borders of the time with the tremendous added bonus of much previously unrecorded genealogical information.

I suppose in some ways we are all conditioned in our thinking and have our own preconceived notions. For me the idea of a Scottish Minister of the period was perhaps one of dour, sober, Calvinistic censoriousness and this notwithstanding a reading of the fictitious diary of the Rev Balwhidder in Galt’s Annals of the Parish of which this real life Diary so reminds me.

Nothing it would appear could be further from the truth. However he may have presented himself to his Parishioners, and this does not actually come out, the character of the man was in many ways the complete opposite as clearly borne out in the subtitle he himself ascribed to the Diary - "Personal Recollections and Full of Egotism".

Here was a man who much enjoyed life, who in his earlier days was a keen sportsman indeed a founder member of the Friendly Golfing Society of Edinburgh and who enjoyed nothing more that dining, wining and socialising and it has to be said trying to ingratiate himself with those he considered as gentry or at least those he termed the respectable classes. A very human man indeed with whom one can very easily empathise.

To quote but one example shortly after his Ordination at which there were some disturbances a not uncommon occurrence at the time we have the following entry;-


"18th. October 1797 - Gallons 24 of Highland Whisky from William Calder arrived yesterday - 6/6d." Perhaps rather more than we might find in a manse these days - or perhaps not - but then at just over 3d. per gallon even allowing for inflation just that little bit more affordable.

His comeuppance, if comeuppance it is - for what might appear some slight excesses he takes with stoicism indeed almost with a modicum of pride and achievement.

"15th. February 1813 - the writer rising into consequence - a fair formed fit of the gout. It came on instantaneously at Butterdean on the fourth - moderate at first but afterwards most excruciating - no pain like a racking gout. The paroxysms are over but there is a gnawing pain left. I can however walk in flannels about the house and have never been sick or feverish".

Perhaps however for any excess imbibation we should blame the Company he kept.

"9th February 1797 Yesterday paid Mr. Watson a guinea for his own trouble and another for the clerk and forty shillings for wine for the guzzling Presb." Perhaps we must charitably assume the purchase was for communion wine.
Taking the overview what also struck me was that here was a minister not of a proclivity such as we might expect today but rather that of an establishment figure holding his position because of the Patronage system as a placement of the local laird. The Church of England may previously have been described as the Tory Party at prayer which is understandable granted its establishment by the royal decree of Henry VIII for reasons of dynastic continuity. The Church of Scotland though was of a very different clay being almost unique in that it translated itself into the National Church if not exactly by the will of the people certainly in the face of Royal opposition For this reason it has always had a much more radical predisposition.

The Rev. Hastie however did not fall into this mould and we find little if any sympathy in the Diary for the various reform movements which were struggling to express themselves notwithstanding the tremendous hardships which prevailed throughout the land particularly after the end of the Napoleonic Wars.

Hastie, by any yardstick, a true patriot enrolling in the local Cavalry Regiment and taking part in the well documented if slightly ludicrous ‘False Alarm’ of 1804 was at all times and in all things very much opposed to change of any sort, dismissing all radicals and reformers as trouble makers or rabble-rousers.
In Church affairs we see his opposition to the establishment of quoad sacra Parishes, (the creation of other Churches within the Parish), to missionary work - ‘romantic schemes’ and even to Sunday Schools.
The Rev Hastie was not a man who would be found today on the picket lines but was rather as a staunch supporter of the ‘establishment’ It is easy to discern how the climate was appropriate for the sowing of the seeds of Disruption which would eventually burst forth in 1843.

However it is perhaps as genealogy that the book will appeal - it certainly did for me and I can only recount my own experience on opening the Diary for the first time and seeing the name of a distant ancestor jump out at me - there he was with a dozen other farmers pulling together for the purchase of a robe for the minister.

I made a point of indexing the Diary finishing up with no fewer than 774 names, not in fairness all local but a goodly proportion considering the Parish population, at the time of the 1801 census numbering 1355. I also made a point of extracting and detailing separately births, deaths, and marriages of which I found respectively, 30, 78 and 106.

Granted his proclivity to gravitate towards the gentry and the respectable people of the Parish a number of these it has to be said are already recorded in the Old Parish Records. There are however a number, particularly of deaths which I was otherwise unable to locate and must afford a new source of reference for anyone researching their ancestors in the area.

And even where the basic details are already known some meat can perhaps be put on the bone as there are often details of the event which will not appear in the basic records or references to ancestors which might bring out a trait or feature of the personality which might otherwise be lacking.
The Rev. James Aitchison of Berwick is for instance described as "a silly drunken beast" not an aphorism which might appear in the Session Records and I particularly liked the image of one George Drummond who gave Hastie a cow on one occasion only for the Diary to record as an aside "The cow is as poor as he is fat".

This is a diary which I think should appeal to those with an interest in local history, a snapshot of life in a rural Parish and for those with a connection to the area might afford a unique opportunity to ‘meet the ancestor’.

Also, see the review of the author's 122 page book.
Issue 55 - June 2004.
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