dden and maligned people. The
emigration, forced by royal persecution and authority, was carried on by
those who desired to improve their condition, by owning the land they
tilled. In a few years large companies of Highlanders joined their
countrymen in Bladen County, which has since been subdivided into the
counties of Anson, Bladen, Cumberland, Moore, Richmond, Robeson and
Sampson, but the greater portion established themselves within the
present limits of Cumberland, with Fayetteville the seat of justice.
There was in fact a Carolina mania which was not broken until the
beginning of the Revolution.[26] The flame of enthusiasm passed like
wildfire through the Highland glens and Western Isles. It pervaded all
classes, from the poorest crofter to the well-to-do farmer, and even men
of easy competence, who were according to the appropriate song of the
day,

"Dol a dh'iarruidh an fhortain do North Carolina."

Large ocean crafts, from several of the Western Lochs, laden with
hundreds of passengers sailed direct for the far west. In that day this
was a great undertaking, fraught with perils of the sea, and a long,
comfortless voyage. Yet all this was preferable than the homes they
loved so well; but no longer homes to them! They carried with them their
language, their religion, their manners, their customs and costumes. In
short, it was a Highland community transplanted to more hospitable
shores.

The numbers of Highlanders at any given period can only relatively be
known. In 1753 it was estimated that in Cumberland County there were one
thousand Highlanders capable of bearing arms, which would make the whole
number between four and five thousand,--to say nothing of those in the
adjoining districts, besides those scattered in the other counties of
the province.

The people at once settled quietly and devoted their energies to
improving their lands. The country rapidly developed and wealth began to
drop into the lap of the industrious. The social claims were not
forgotten, and the political demands were attended to. It is recorded
that in 1758 Hector McNeil was sheriff of Cumberland County, and as his
salary was but L10, it indicates his services were not in demand, and
there was a healthy condition of affairs.

Hector McNeil and Alexander McCollister represented Cumberland County in
the legislature that assembled at Wilmington April 13, 1762. In 1764 the
members were Farquhar Campbell and Walter Gibson,--the former