they could demand rent, Selkirk took a decidedly different approach. He believed that if a settlement were to be a success, then it must be populated by like—minded people who shared a common language, culture and religion. The Gaelic speaking Scotch Presbyterians of the Highlands and Islands filled all of those criteria. But perhaps more integral to the success of the Belfast settlement was the fact that Selkirk believed in free-hold rather than tenant settlement. Unlike the vast majority of his fellow land owners, Selkirk was not interested in being a land baron who simply collected his rents. He was interested in develop- ment, and he felt that the best way to achieve development in the new world was to allow settlers to own their land.

These concepts, and other aspects of Selkirk’s philosophy on emigra— tion, were clearly articulated in his book Observations on the S late of the Highlands ofScotland. In effect, Selkirk’s own beliefs on emigration and settlement established an unofficial selection process. Those most at— tracted to his ideas were Highlanders — part of a cultural minority, whose livelihood, culture and language were threatened in their homeland. But as Scottish emigration scholar Jack Bumsted has pointed out, Selkirk’s recruits “were not only the most prosperous and successful in their traditional homes, but those most willing to be adventurous.”1 In fact, Bumsted claims, contrary to the popular myth that the Selkirk settlers were poor Scottish crofters forced off the land and into the emigration boats by the “Highland Clearances,” “... most of the settlers actually gave up leases to join Selkirk, and they were sufficiently prosperous not only to pay their own passages but in many cases to lodge money with the Earl and his agents to buy their land in the New World.”2

Selkirk recruited and led more than eight hundred settlers to Prince Edward Island in the summer of 1803. They came on three ships: the Dykes, the Oughton and the Polly, all arriving within weeks of each other at Charlottetown, Georgetown and Belfast. The Belfast settlers came on board the Polly, which anchored in Orwell Bay, off present-day Lord Selkirk Park, on August 7th, 1803.

Irish Immigration

Thus, the modem—day history of Belfast began. Following the initial settlement of 1803, immigration to the area was more gradual. The next

1. “Lord Selkirk of Prince Edward Island”, The Island Magazine, Number 5, Fall- Winter 1978, p.3 2. Ibid.

2 BELFAST PEOPLE