January 2026 Newsletter
Scottish Heritage USA Member News & Updates
December 2025 Issue #10
America’s Best Outlander Walking Tour is a Must See
Outlander fans along with Scottish American Colonial history buffs are in for a special treat, starting at the Burgwin-Wright House & Gardens in Wilmington, North Carolina, with their fascinating Outlander Walking Tour. You too can walk the streets and see many of the sights that greeted novelist Diana Gabaldon’s fictional characters Jamie and Claire Fraser when they arrived in America via the Cape Fear River.
After researching and recording a series of Cape Fear Unearthed podcasts featuring Wilmington’s Colonial history, Burgwin-Wright Assistant Director, Hunter Ingram, expanded the series with his Outlander in the Cape Fear Region tales and tie-ins woven into its fabric. With a global cadre of podcast fans in dozens of countries and across the US, Ingram recently launched a series of Outlander walking and riverboat tours that are both entertaining and exceptionally researched in relation to actual colonial North Carolina history, particularly in Wilmington.
Ingram’s walking tour begins at the Burgwin-Wright House & Gardens, whose ballast stone walls of the 1744 jail became the foundation of John Burgwin’s circa 1770 Revolutionary War home. Ingram is quick to note at the top of the tour that Outlander’s fourth season kicks off with Claire and Jaime observing the brutal hanging of their friend, Gavin Hayes, on the street that would have been beside Wilmington’s jail, and thus the site of the Burgwin-Wright house museum. The real life stories of colonial sites, events and historic figures like Brunswick Town, Royal Governor William Tryon, Scottish-American heroine Flora MacDonald, Colonial apothecaries, Cape Fear pirates and Rev War spies and many more are tantalizingly conveyed as you walk the historic streets of Wilmington and listen to Ingram relate how they appear in scenes from the Outlander television series and in the novel.
In fact, like the Outlander series depicts, thousands of real Scottish immigrants arrived in the Cape Fear region during the Colonial period. Donors from the Scottish American diaspora came together to create a Scottish Immigration Memorial at Brunswick Town’s state historic park this November (see story below).
Saved and restored by the National Society of The Colonial Dames of America- North Carolina, a visit to the Burgwin-Wright House & Gardens is a must-stop for both a house
tour and one of their Outlander Tours. For more information and tickets, visit www.Burgwin-WrightHouse.com.
Please Note Beginning January 1, 2026
New and renewal Scottish Heritage USA membership cards are going digital and will be sent to the email address provided at sign up. Your Scottish Heritage USA membership card may be presented at our tent at the Grandfather Mountain Highland Games in July in order to enjoy a complimentary lunch on Saturday and to use the private “loo.”
A Firm First Footing for the Scottish Trek
(Left: Michelle Lanier, Director of the NC Division of State Historic Sites was a featured speaker at the Scottish Immigration Memorial dedication. Right: Leaders of the Cape Fear Scottish Immigration Memorial gather around the Cairn at Brunswick Town during the dedication on November 14.)
From the 1730’s until the American Revolution, more than 20,000 Scottish Highlanders arrived at Brunswick Town, part of the Cape Fear River Basin near Wilmington, North Carolina. Almost all of this wave of immigrants was due to the Highland Clearances in Scotland. They traveled up the Cape Fear River and settled in the Sandhills region comprised of Moore, Cumberland, and Scotland Counties, and beyond into the mountains.
As the first stop of a planned “Scottish Trek” through the state from Brunswick Town to Grandfather Mountain, a Scottish Immigration Memorial Cairn was dedicated on November 14, 2025 by the Cape Fear Scottish Immigration Memorial Fund. Working closely with the North Carolina Division of State Historic Sites and its Director Michelle Lanier, the Cairn is located within Brunswick Town/Fort Anderson State Park. It is made of ballast stones believed to have come from the ships that transported the immigrants from Scotland. The Cairn is surrounded with signage explaining the meaning of this spot and pointing to other important locations in the state. The path leading to the Cairn contains commemorative stones purchased by donors. The Cairn itself is less than six hundred yards from the location of the colonial wharfs where the immigrants landed.
The project was funded by a number of private sponsors, including the Dunvegan Foundation of Clan McLeod USA, the St. Andrews Society of North Carolina, the Wrigley Foundation, additional Scottish societies, and individual and family donors. As the Scottish Trek develops, there will be informational markers at places that were impacted by pre-Revolutionary Scottish immigrants. The Scottish Immigration Memorial Fund is led by Robert McLeod, President. Visit www.CapeFearScotsMemorial.org
for more information and to follow the Scottish Trek development.
Seasons Greetings from Peter Wilson, Scottish Heritage USA Board President
This year we celebrated the 60th anniversary of Scottish Heritage USA at our annual buffet dinner at the Grandfather Mountain Highland Games in July. We honored board member, Betty Johnson, the founder of the Scottish Cultural Village event held at the Games for the past 10 years. Each year we have had engaging speakers from the National Trust for Scotland. I myself have had the privilege of being a speaker on a number of occasions. We also honored Jacki and Mike Trotter as our 2025 Volunteers of the Year.
Our membership continues to grow with members from 41 states and Canada, and we encourage members to find others to join us—maybe a gifting opportunity this holiday season? Our members love getting SCOTLAND magazine. We thank every member for their support. Ten percent of subscription revenue provided scholarships for tuition in piping and drumming and Scottish fiddling summer camps. This year we supported the National Trust for Scotland with funding for two historic properties associated with Robert Burns: Souter Johnnie’s Cottage and The Bachelor’s Club.
I wish to thank Susie Thomas, our Administrator, and Robin Duff, our Membership Manager, for their amazing dedication to Scottish Heritage USA.
We have an exciting year ahead in the development of a new strategic plan that will set the course for several exciting new initiatives.
I wish you all the Season’s Greetings and a great Hogmanay celebration.
Scottish Shortbread
1 pound salted butter (not margarine)
4 cups plain flour, divided
1 cup powdered sugar
Additional powdered sugar
Let butter stand at room temperature for about one hour to soften slightly.
Cream butter with hands, then mix in, with your hands, two cups of the flour and the one cup of powdered sugar, Mix well, then add the other two cups of flour. Mix all ingredients well.
Coat a cutting board with generous amount of powdered sugar. Divide the dough into two or three balls. Work enough sugar into dough so that it is not sticky. Roll out dough until it is about 3/8″ – 1/2″ thick. Cut dough into “fingers” and place on cookie sheet. Prick each cookie four times with a fork to prevent bubbles from forming.
Cover dough with wax paper or plastic wrap and refrigerate for three hours or place in freezer for 1-1/2 hours.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Bake cookies for 25 minutes. Watch cookies carefully. Remove any cookies when the bottom of the cookie is tan, but not brown on top. Do not overbake. Cool cookies before packaging.
Yield: Four to five dozen. These freeze well.
Welcome New & Renewing Members!
William Jarrett, Raleigh, NC * K Murphy, Falls Church, VA * John Anglin, Canton, GA *
Mark Atkins, Marietta, GA * Cheryl Bergstrom, St. Paul, MN * Jack & Luz Butler, Winter Garden, FL * Joyce Chase, Versailles, KY * Clan Guthrie, Maitland, FL * Daniel & Martha Clark, Lawrenceville, GA * Joseph & Gail Cook, Rock Hill, SC * Mark Davison, Simpsonville, SC * Gale Douglas, Woodstock, GA * Shauna & Tom Eastlake, Ormond Beach, FL * Kenneth & Virginia Ferguson, Roanoke, VA * Stephanie & Scott Floyd, Chapel Hill, NC * Leon & Janet Folsom, Atlanta, GA * Steven & Jackie Fortson, Danielsville, GA * Terry & Crystal Gerberg, Nichols, SC * James & Linda Glover, Suttons Bay, MI * George & Debra Grinton, Aiken, SC * Wendy Grubb, New Orleans, LA * William Guffin, Birmingham, AL * Susan Haines, Hoschton, GA * Peggy Hamilton Waverly, IA * Paula Hardesty, Indianapolis, IN * Amanda Hazard, Falkland, NC * Robert & Leona Hillsgrove, Melbourne, FL * Megan & Austin Hudson, Moreno Valley, CA * Sam & Better Johnson, Dahlonega, GA * Linda & Roland Kidwell, Pompano Beach, FL * Fred & Marian Kilgroe, Athens, AL * James Kirk, Dexter, MI * Juliana & Benjamin Lee, Atlanta, GA * David MacDonald, Newnan, GA * Mart Martin, Atlanta, GA * Jim McLaughlin, Moravian Falls, NC * Richard McPhatter, Jefferson, NC * Ted & Robin Merritt, Fredericksburg, TX * Thomas & Lynn Mitchell, Greer, SC * Andrew Morrison, San Antonio, TX * Michael & Ginger Otis, Venice, FL * David & Rebecca Pickens, Knoxville, TN * Charles & Patricia Pierce, Melbourne, FL * Laura Pincock & John Sprague, Damascus, MD * Robert Radon & Lawrence Cline, Cincinnati, OH * Patricia Robertson, King City, CA * James & Linda Sartain, Chattanooga, TN * Sylvia & Bill Schneider, Culpeper, VA * Jennifer Schwenker, Austin, TX * Bruce & Rickie Simpson, Manassas, VA * Micheil & Stella Smith, Las Vegas, NV * Robert & Sharen St. John, Valrico, FL * Jon & Ruth Turner, Hoover, AL * Richard Tyers, Jupiter, FL