A double dose of Darien, Georgia

My fellow contributor to this journal, Pat Foster-Turley, also likes this little Georgia town, 69 miles north of Amelia Island. It is nestled on the Darien River, a 10-mile-long tidal river. It connects to the much larger Altamaha River, which empties into the ocean. Coincidentally, we also enjoy the same hotel for its scenic location and convenient dining. (Oaks on the River, and see Pat’s photos from May 29.)

I had a working draft prepared when I opened my computer on Friday. Pat wrote about Darien, too! What to do? I could say “she scooped me.” That’s not true. She and Bucko have been going there long before it was on my radar. She can also speak knowledgeably about its natural habitat and inhabitants. My idea was to write about its historical roots, then extrapolate from there, as I usually do. Therefore, readers, you are getting a double dose of Darien!

I call my contribution: From the Highlands to the Lowlands

If you have read the series of books entitled “Outlander,” by Diana Gabaldon or watched the television series based on those books, you know about the northwest area of Scotland called “the Highlands.” The region has a sparse, rugged beauty, but not much arable land. The islands off its shore are included, most notably, the Isle of Skye.

Inhabitants of the Highlands differed from their neighbors to the south in language, religion and culture. The Highlanders descended more directly from the Celts and spoke Scottish Gaelic rather than Scots English. Their society was organized into clans led by a lord. Clans wore tartans to distinguish themselves. Due to mountainous geography and relative isolation, they were hardy folk. The men were considered aggressive, intrepid warriors.

Now here is a historical twist: a band of 177 Scottish Highlanders, men, women and children, were recruited by General Oglethorpe to replace a failed fort and to form a community to protect English holdings from the Spanish. This occurred 9 years after the fort was abandoned. The new settlement was founded in 1736. Can you imagine the shocking change in environment from the Scottish Highlands to the lowlands of the coast?

The backstory is that General Oglethorpe disbanded Fort King George, saying it “offended” the Spanish. The reality was the soldiers assigned there hated it. They were hot, bored, sick, and hungry. Many died.

Enter the band of intrepid Highlanders. They made it stick. I don’t know what, if anything, they were told about their future home. I can’t imagine they could possibly realize what awaited them. They settled on Barnwell Bluff on the site of the abandoned Fort King George. They named their new community New Inverness, after the city in their homeland. What we now know as Darien was born there in 1736. It is the second-oldest city in Georgia.

It was a surprise to me to learn of Darien’s Scottish origin. Here is a plaque dedicated to those brave settlers who made it when the soldiers could not.

I watched the Outlander series. I wonder how long it was before the settlers found out about their fellow Highlanders' crushing defeat at the Battle of Culloden, 10 years after they immigrated to the colonies? That bloody battle lasted only about an hour, but took many Highlanders' lives. Maybe the settlers were too busy surviving to know or care. Maybe they were relieved not to witness the grief and death or to feel the cultural blow of the death of the clan way of life.

Neither the English, nor the Spanish, nor the French were the first inhabitants of that part of coastal Georgia. We know this from the history of our island, too. The indigenous peoples of the Timucuan nation had fished, farmed, traded and traveled through there for centuries. The indigenous peoples were made up of Guale, Mocama and Yamasee tribes. They had interacted with European people since the first contacts in the 1560s and more so through their area being carved into various Spanish mission territories. The indigenous peoples were decimated by the diseases brought by outsiders. I hope you avail yourselves of the wonderful learning opportunities about the history of our area through the Amelia Island Museum of History.

The indigenous peoples could not publicly shame new arrivals on social media, telling them to “… go back where they came from.” They may have wanted to. They cooperated with them, traded with them and fought with them. The Spanish, French and English were competitors for the vast resources there for the taking, in their understanding. The Scottish Highlanders of New Inverness, later Darien, got a toehold in the region and kept it. For them, there was no going back. Their way of life in Scotland was over.

Darien today has only 2,000 residents. It is more like the Fernandina of 50 years ago. I think it would help all of us living here now to realize none of us were here first. It would serve us well to be curious about how things used to be, as well as how things are now and how we would like them to be in the future. Instead of complaining and criticizing, we could attempt to build bridges of communication and mutual interest and benefit. We could participate, to the degree we are able, in growing a mutual respect and tolerance that welcomes difference, while preserving what matters.