The Darien Adventure

[Polwarth]

For those in the UK

At 9.00 pm tonight, the BBC are showing a docu-drama about the Darien Adventure.

This event was such a disaster for Scotland - it nearly bankrupted the country and led, in no small part - to the Union of the Crowns.

I'm looking foward to watching this programme.

[Thomas_Martin]

The Union of the Crowns was much earlier than this, I think you mean the Act of Union.

I saw the documentary, and I was irritated by the main archaeologist. Also, they went on and on about how they would have been doomed anyway, but it certainly didn't help them that English ships set up blockades around Scotland at the time to stop trade - resulting in famine and starvation in Scotland, and resulting in the colonists being cut off. No mention of colonists being captured afterwards and sold into slavery to work in English colonies.

The documentary was tainted by a predictable unionist slant.

[Polwarth]

You are right, mea culpa! Cannot explain the mistake - must be the heat!

I thought it was a terrible programme. And not just because of the main archeologist. It only mentioned that one of the consequences of the failure of the Darien Adventure was that Scotland agreed to the Union because England agreed to compensate investors.

The programme concentrated on William Paterson - what about the others who were just as influential?

It glossed over the fact that other countries were bullied into not supporting the venture by both England and Spain.

All in all, it was a waste of an hour of my life to view the thing

[ANDY-J2]

I video taped it but having read your less than enthustic reviews I don't think I'll bother watching it.

[Monco]

Its not actually all that bad, its a kind of half archaeology and half history program. The 'dramatised' scenes were pretty crap though, but seem to be a fixture of contemporary history programs.

And what was wrong with the main archaeologist? I thought it interesting that the program never mentioned Patterson's role in founding the Bank Of England.

But it never gave sufficient weight to Scotland’s lack of colonial experience prior to Darien. It was a case of running to catch up with the rest of the world without giving several factors due consideration. While an excellent idea on paper, it was hardly likely that the Spanish were going to have no objects to a load of Scots moving onto their turf and setting up a trading post.

[ScabbyDouglas]

I'm quite relieved, now.

I was on holiday when this was broadcast, and I was mad that I was going to miss it. I'm not too bothered now.

John Prebble's book "Darien" is heartily recommended. I was vaguely aware of the circumstances surrounding the Dareine Scheme for years, but it was only when I started reading about it, that I began to grasp just how significant it was for Scotland and what a watershed it became in Scottish and British history.

Not only that, but the feverish excitement and enthusiasm that was demonstrated for this ill-thought-out, poorly-executed, and utterly doomed project echo down across the years. How many times have the populace of Scotland been fed pipe dreams of glory, how many times have we fallen for it?

This is not a socialist rant about the "Ruling classes" - it's a question about the Scottish psyche.

Often the Scottish stereotype is of a dour, gruff unimaginative realist. From the Darien scheme, through the Jacobite rebellion(s) to Ally's Tartan Army, I'd suggest that the evidence is to the contrary. Do Scots love to be inspired by the flight of fantasy, or the seemingly impossible goal? Are we just easily fooled?

It's as though there is some sort of need for an uplifting hope, once upon a time it's the prospect of riches in the jungles of South America, another time it's the notion of self-governance with a Scots Parliament. Is it just that we delude ourselves? Or is it that we lack the commitment to close the gap between Potential and Reality? Is it the thought that the reality might not match the dream that causes us to stumble?

Read about Darien and you are not just reading about Scotland's history - it is about Scotland's present and future.

[Polwarth]

Scabby
I've got the Prebble book, too. I read it years ago and was really looking foward the programme.

It certainly wasn't worth my time in watching it - I'd much rather have bin bletherin wi pals...