My higher history issue 2 experience of immigrants in Scotland

Irish Catholics - slums

They arrived poor and stuck together to support one another and settled in the slums where the rent was cheap. As a result, distinct Irish Catholic communities began to develop in the slums of Glasgow and Dundee.

Irish Catholics - slum conditions

Conditions in these areas were terrible, with poor sanitation and overcrowding often leading to outbreaks of typhus and cholera.

Irish Catholics - unskilled

Irish Catholics were largely uneducated and unskilled, they could only find work in low skilled manual jobs such as coal mining, textiles or as navvies on the railways and canals.

Irish Catholics - competition for work

Scots often resented the Irish Catholic as they viewed them as competition for low skilled work so did not welcome them to Scottish society.

Irish Catholics - disease

Irish Catholics were blamed for the spread of diseases and poverty in Scotland.

Irish Catholics - football

Established football teams such as Hibernian FC, Celtic FC and Dundee United, allowed Irish Catholics to engage with sport in Scotland with other Catholics.

Irish Catholics - football clashes

These football clubs also led to clashes with 'Protestant' teams where violence often broke out and Sectarianism.

Irish Catholics - violent battles

Violence and conflict was a part of the Catholic Irish experience in Scotland, there were often battles between Catholics and Protestants on the streets of Glasgow.

Irish Catholics - schools and churches

Irish Catholics established Catholic schools and more churches. This allowed them to gain a religious education in Scotland, similar to their experience in Ireland.

Irish Protestants - assimilation

They had a lot in common with the average Scots- they had an easy assimilation into Scottish society due to their religion.

Irish Protestants - skilled and educated

Job opportunities opened up for Protestant Irish, they were more skilled and educated. As a result of this, these immigrants moved into better paid, skilled roles, taking on jobs as engineers in iron-making firms and as train drivers or signal workers in Glasgow.

Irish Protestants - Orange Order

The Irish formed the Orange Order in Scotland. This allowed Protestant Irish to meet with one another and create a sense of community.

Italians - ice cream parlours

Italians established ice cream parlours and fish and chip shops across Scotland. Such as Lucas in Musselburgh. These were successful businesses as the Scots enjoyed the new delicacies.

Italians - not a threat in the labour market

As Italians were not a threat in the labour market, they were welcomed to society by Scots, working class Scots loved their fish and chip shops and ice cream parlours.

Italians - family run businesses

The cafes and ice cream parlours were family run, with new relatives often arriving from Italy to work in them. Italians often worked long hours in their businesses so assimilation was slow and on their own terms.

Italians - open late and on Sundays

The cafes were also places where young Scots could meet late into the evening when other businesses had shut. This led some to claim that the cafes were immoral and that they encouraged the young to get together and misbehave. For these Scots, many of whom were religious, the fact that Italian establishments opened on a Sunday also made their existence unacceptable causing tension between the two groups.

Italians - hairdressing

Another successful business avenue was in hairdressing, in 1928 Italians established the College of Italian Hairdressers in Glasgow. Italian barbers can also be found in various towns and cities in Glasgow.

Italians - long hours and marry within their community

Italian immigrants worked long hours that didn't allow them to socialise a great deal with Scots outside work. Also, at home Italian was spoken, food was Italian and children were expected to marry within the Italian community. Again, this led to a slow assimilation.

Italians - Scottish names

Some second generation Italians may have adopted names to sound more Scottish, turning Giuseppe into 'Joe' for example, but on the whole Italians maintained a distinct identity in Scotland, maintaining tradition, language and close family ties.

Italians - discrimination

Some discrimination and prejudice did take place due to Italians being Catholic and individuals had to endure name calling in the streets and at school.

Jewish - cheap accomodation

By 1914 there were around 10,000 Jews living in Glasgow alone with most living in the Gorbals area where the accommodation was cheap.

Jewish - couldn't speak English

Most could not speak English but, as the Jewish community began to grow, so Yiddish was spoken in the streets along with English.

Jewish - small numbers

The numbers of Jewish immigrants was relatively small and the communities self-contained, they could keep their traditions alive.

Jewish - not competition in the labour market

Jews did not compete with Scots in the labour market, being generally self-employed, and they were therefore not seen as a threat.

Jewish - businesses

Jews opened businesses like bakeries and butchers, and were successful in the tailoring trade and cigarette industry. They made good money for themselves.

Jewish - paying low wages

Some Scots accused Jews of paying low wages and operating 'sweatshops'.

Jewish - anti-semitism

Jews did experience some anti-Semitism in Scotland, but it was very rarely violent and was certainly nothing like the persecution that existed in certain areas of Europe in this period.

Jewish - legal and medical professions

By 1939, Jews had begun to make a significant impact on the legal and medical professions in Scotland and many were moving from the Gorbals to more middle class, affluent areas of Glasgow.

Jewish - politics

Many Jews were making strides in left wing Scottish political parties, showing that they had assimilated well in Scotland.

Jewish - discrimination (bowling clubs)

Jews were still discriminated against in some areas, for example some bowling clubs refused to allow them as members, but on the whole they had managed to maintain their identity, establish strong communities and integrate well into Scottish life.

Lithuanians - coal mining

Many Lithuanians arrived in Scotland poor and keen to work. As a result they settled in areas where they could easily find jobs, such as the coal mining areas in Lanarkshire.

Lithuanians - strikebreakers

Scots workers who believed that the migrants had been brought in to break strikes and drive down wages in the mines, they were not welcomed into the workplace by Scots.

Lithuanians - trade unions

Lithuanians miners began to join trade unions themselves, and in 1912 they even took part in the national strike, thereby reassuring their Scottish colleagues of their loyalty.

Lithuanians - trade unions and politics

Lithuanians became increasingly active in the trade union movement and in left wing politics.

Lithuanians - Catholic

Lithuanians were often Catholic, which led to discrimination from Protestant Scots.

Lithuanians - lacking moral fibre

Also, some Scots accused Lithuanians of lacking moral fibre and indulging in too much heavy drinking. This stemmed from a misunderstanding of the Lithuanian tradition of having weddings, birthdays and festivals that went on for days.

Lithuanians - kept their traditions

Lithuanians established strong distinct communities which kept their traditions alive from home. They tended to live in the same cluster of streets as one another, spoke their own language at home and clearly had a strong sense of national pride and togetherness.

Lithuanians - businesses and shops

They opened businesses and shops, published newspapers in their language, held dances and concerts and attended church.

Lithuanians - changing names and intermarriage

Some Lithuanians sought to integrate more firmly into Scottish life by changing their names to Scottish sounding names like Black or Smith. Also, intermarriage with Scots became more common and, as second generation Lithuanians began to enter higher education, so they left the language and the values of the Lithuanian schools in which they had grown up.

Lithuanians - returned to Russia

Some Lithuanians returned to Russia to fight during WW1 and those that had stayed had integrated more and more into Scottish society. This made maintaining a distinct identity increasingly difficult.