Italian Scots

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Italian Scots

Italian Scots (Italian: italo-scozzesi) are Scottish people of Italian descent. They can either be those whose ancestors emigrated to Scotland or Italian-born people residing in Scotland. This term can also refer to people of mixed Scottish and Italian descent. A recent Italian voter census estimated that there are between 70,000 to 100,000 people in Scotland of Italian descent or having Italian nationality, which is up to 1.9% of the overall Scottish population.

Latest available figures from the

2011 United Kingdom Census show there were 6,048 people born in Italy living in Scotland. This was up from 4,936 in 2001 and 3,947 recorded in 1991.[1] In 2016, Ronnie Convery, secretary of the Italian Scotland charitable organisation and director of communications at the Archdiocese of Glasgow, asserted that a completely new dimension was being added to the Italian Scots community. He said, “There has been a brand new migration over the past two years, and the biggest one we have seen in 100 years."[1]

Migration to Scotland from Italy has been predominantly from the provinces of

Massa-Carrara and Pordenone. The Scottish Italian community settled mostly in the Glasgow area, most of whom are of Tuscan origin. The smaller Italian community in and around Edinburgh is predominantly of Lazian origin.[3]

History

Linda Fabiani, Scottish National Party MSP, and former Minister for Culture

Arguably the first people from

Roman Emperors from the Iberian Peninsula and North Africa. Still, at least some of the Romans in Scotland were probably from what is now Italy and their constructions in Scotland of the Antonine Wall
and other, mostly military installations, provide some insight into the period. No Roman or Romano-Celtic identity appears to have existed in Scotland at this time and it was not until the end of the 19th century that any form of an Italian-Scots identity ever began to take shape.

Many Italian-Scots can trace their ancestry back to the 1890s, when their forefathers escaped drought, famine and poverty in their homeland for a better life in Scotland; yet it was not until World War I that a sizeable population of Italian-Scots—over 4,000[4]—began to emerge, with Glasgow hosting the third largest community in the United Kingdom.[4] Since then, there has been a steady flow of migration between the two countries.

Sharleen Spiteri, singer-songwriter; guitarist; lead vocalist of the Scottish pop-rock band Texas

Italy and the

U-boats. These men additionally constructed the Chapel of Lambholm from scrap metal and junk.[6]
Nowadays, this Chapel is one of Orkney's most popular tourist attractions.

Today, Italian Scots can be found working in all manner of

restaurants
across Scotland.

In Edinburgh, The Italo-Scottish Research Cluster (ISRC) aims to study Italian immigration in Scotland and promote relations between Scotland and Italy.[7]

Notable Italian Scots

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "What impact have Scots-Italians had on Scotland?". www.scotsman.com. Retrieved 2017-11-09.
  2. ^ Scotland is immigrant choice for a new Italian connection Gerry Braiden, The Herald (4 January 2014)
  3. ^ Interactive map of Italians in Scotland in the 1930s barganews.com (16 December 2015)
  4. ^ a b "Italian role in Scotland honoured". BBC News. 3 November 2004. Retrieved 2008-03-16.
  5. ^ "History". ScotsItalian.com. Retrieved 2008-03-16.
  6. ^ "Orkney's Italian Gift". BBC. Retrieved 2008-03-16.
  7. ^ "About us". The University of Edinburgh. Retrieved 2017-11-09.
  8. ^ "Charles Edward, the Young Pretender | British prince".

Further reading

  • Pieri, J. (2005), The Scots-Italians: Recollections of an Immigrant, The Mercat Press
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