Northern Lights

The Arctic Scots

Edward J. Cowan

• Publisher: Birlinn
• Year: 2023
• Print ISBN:
  9781780277875
• eBook ISBN:
  9781788855266
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Military & Maritime History
• Index: History

Surprisingly, the remarkable story of the Scottish role in the discovery of the Northwest Passage – a long desired trade route connecting the Atlantic and Pacific – has not received a great deal of attention. This book charts the extensive contribution to Arctic exploration made by the Scots, including significant names, such as John Ross from Stranraer, veteran of three Arctic expeditions; his nephew, James Clark Ross, the most experienced Arctic and Antarctic explorer of his generation and discoverer of the Magnetic North Pole; John Richardson of Dumfries, a medical doctor, seasoned explorer and engaging natural historian; and Orcadian John Rae, who discovered evidence of the grisly demise of John Franklin and his crew. The book also pays tribute to many others too: the Scotch Irish, the whalers and not least the Inuit, with whom the Scottish explorers cooperated and generally enjoyed good relations, relying on their knowledge of the environment in many crucial cases.The awakening of the Scots to the magnificence and dread of the hyperborean regions – as places of discovery, of inspiration and, regrettably, of exploitation – is traced, with particular emphasis on the first half of the nineteenth century until the search for the missing Franklin expedition mid-century.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of Plates
• Preface
• Editor’s Note
• A Note on Terminology
• List of Abbreviations
• Maps
• 1 The Arctic Scots: Hyperborean Awakenings
• 2 John Ross’s Expedition of 1818
• 3 The Arctic Apprenticeship of James Clark Ross: The William Parry Expeditions of the 1820s
• 4 The Trials and Tribulations of Dr John Richardson: The Coppermine Expedition of 1819–1822
• 5 Boreal Naturalist: John Richardson’s Role in the Franklin Expedition of 1825–1827
• 6 The Longest Winter: The Ross Expedition, 1829–1833
• 7 The Scots and the Inuit
• 8 Thomas Simpson: Uniting the Arctic with the Great Western Ocean: The Dease and Simpson HBC Expedition of 1836–1839
• 9 Men for all Seasons: John Rae’s Expedition of 1846–1847
• 10 A Gallimaufry of Arctic Scots: Early Rescue Missions for Franklin’s Lost Expedition
• 11 The Lions in Winter: The Searches by William Penny and William Kennedy, 1849–1851
• 12 The Search Continues: Expeditions of the 1850s and Charles Dickens’s Role in Lady Franklin’s Campaign
• 13 Discovering the Northwest Passage
• Appendix: Timeline of Key Events and Expeditions
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index