The presence of black people in Scotland has a long and complex history. Records show that black people have been living in Scotland since at least the 12th century, although their numbers and experiences have varied greatly over time.
Determining exactly when the first black person arrived in Scotland is difficult, given the limitations of historical records. However, through existing evidence we can piece together an overview of the early history and presence of black people in the country.
Roman Britain
The first potential recorded instances of black people in what is now Scotland come from the Roman occupation of Britain. Beginning in 43 AD, the Romans controlled most of what is now England and Wales, and parts of southern Scotland, for nearly 400 years. Ancient Rome was a highly diverse civilization that spanned much of Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. Its empire included people of many different ethnicities and skin colors, including black Africans.
It is likely that some black soldiers, traders, slaves and freedmen lived in Roman Britain. Black Romans are known to have been stationed along Hadrian’s Wall, which marked the northern frontier of Roman Britain in what is now northern England. It is possible that some black Romans could have ventured as far north as the Antonine Wall, the Roman empire’s brief northernmost frontier in southern Scotland. However, concrete evidence has yet to be found.
Slavery in Early Medieval Scotland
The collapse of Roman rule in Britain around 410 AD was followed by many centuries of migration and upheaval. Slavery continued in Scotland during the early medieval period, although details on who was enslaved are scarce. Slavery decreased but still existed under the Norman and English feudal systems introduced to Lowland Scotland starting in the 11th century.
Historical accounts indicate that Scottish kings occasionally had black servants, slaves, or small numbers of black people at court in the 12th to 14th centuries. However, their origins are not always clear. The first potential record of an African in Scotland is an African servant at the court of King William I of Scotland, also known as William the Lion, in the 1160s. Some historians believe this servant may have been freed from slavery after being captured during the Crusades, as Scottish nobles fought in the Crusades in the 12th century.
A later example is that King James IV of Scotland (r.1488-1513) paid for a black dancer named Tomás to be freed from slavery in Cyprus and brought back to Scotland in 1504. Such records remain too sparse to make definitive conclusions about the presence of black Africans in early medieval Scotland.
16th Century Developments
It was not until the 16th century that clearer evidence begins to emerge of black people living in Scotland. This reflects the growth of the African slave trade and increased Scottish trade and colonial activity under the expanding early British Empire.
One of the first definite records of a black person living in Scotland is in 1507, when the Scottish royal court paid for the upkeep of a ‘moor’ in the service of James IV. The term ‘moor’ referred to black Africans. Another black servant named Peter joined the court in 1528. Black people were also noted in the courts of King James V and his daughter Mary Queen of Scots in the 1540s and 1550s, usually referred to as servants, slaves or Africans.
African slaves began arriving in Portugal and Spain from the mid-1400s. Some were brought back to England, where they became fashionable as exotic servants for the wealthy. It appears this trend reached Scotland by the early 1500s, which explains the presence of slaves or servants referred to as ‘moors’ or ‘Ethiopians’ at the Scottish court.
While present, black Africans appear to have been relatively rare in Scotland compared to England in the 16th century. African slaves were an expensive luxury. Most Scots likely had little experience seeing black people in person during this period.
Other Developments
Aside from African slaves and servants, black sailors working on English trading ships may have visited Scottish ports by the early 1500s. Scottish traders were also venturing to parts of West Africa from around this time. It is possible that free black Africans could have come to Scotland through these maritime links.
There was also some direct Scottish activity in the Atlantic slave trade by 1600. This included failed attempts to establish Scottish colonies in the late 1500s on islands near Panama and off the coast of modern Guyana, where slaves would have been used. While these colonies failed quickly, they indicate emerging Scottish interest in exploiting African slave labor.
Overall, scattered records make it clear there was a small black presence in Scotland by the late 16th century, centered around Scottish royal courts and trading ports. However, the population would remain small into the following centuries.
17th Century
References to black people living and working in Scotland grew more common as the 17th century progressed. Many were slaves, while some were free blacks working as servants, sailors, or skilled workers. Concentrations remained highest in major port cities, particularly Edinburgh and Glasgow.
As the African slave trade boomed, more slaves were brought back to Britain from colonies in the Caribbean and Americas. Some were sold on to wealthy Scottish households, leading to a gradual increase in Scotland’s black population. Runaway slave advertisements in newspapers provide evidence of small numbers of black slaves and servants across Scotland’s central belt by the late 17th century.
There are also notable examples of free and accomplished black immigrants in Scotland from this period. One is the minister John Mohun, who worked in Edinburgh from about 1660 to 1680 and apparently achieved some fame for his preaching. Another is the teacher Thomas Sanders, who ran a school in Edinburgh from about 1680 onward that taught English and mathematics to black children living in Scotland. These indicate opportunities did exist for some exceptional free blacks to establish lives and careers in Scotland at the time.
Events in the Americas
The most significant event relating to black history in 17th century Scotland was the failed attempt to establish a Scottish colony at Darien on the Isthmus of Panama from 1698-1700. The Darien Scheme was meant to expand Scottish overseas trade and establish Scotland as a global imperial power. However, poor planning, disease and attacks from Spanish forces led to its rapid collapse, at great financial cost to many Scots.
If the colony had succeeded, Scotland would have participated directly in the transatlantic slave trade, as African slave labor was used in Spanish colonies in the Americas. The Darien Scheme showed that many Scots held no moral objections to slavery, viewing African slaves primarily as economic assets. This foreshadowed later Scottish involvement in the plantation slavery economies of the British Empire during the 18th century.
18th Century
The black population of Scotland grew substantially during the 1700s. This was connected to increased Scottish participation in British colonial ventures following the Acts of Union in 1707, which merged Scotland and England into Great Britain. Scottish merchants profited from trading goods produced by slaves in the American colonies, while Scots established their own slave-run plantations in the Caribbean.
Wealth from these activities allowed more Scottish families to afford black servants and slaves, evidenced by the growing frequency of runaway slave ads. Glasgow became the preeminent hub of Scotland’s tobacco and sugar trade, built on American slavery. By 1750, around 80 black people lived in the city, with many more passing through its port. Scottish newspapers also ran advertisements for luxury goods targeted at colonial planters that featured black figures, reflecting the new image associations between black people and Scottish commercial ambitions.
Despite this growth, Scotland’s overall black population likely still only numbered a few hundred during the 18th century. Some black people were able to rise to positions of respect; James McGill Buchanan became the first known black physician in Glasgow in the 1790s. But most faced discrimination, restricting their social and economic opportunities.
Abolitionism
The 18th century Scottish Enlightenment included some influential anti-slavery thought, centered around figures like the philosopher Francis Hutcheson. But prior to the 1760s, few Scots actively opposed the country’s growing colonial slave economy.
This changed with the emergence of abolitionism, inspired by human rights arguments from activists like Anthony Benezet. Scotland produced some of the most vocal British abolitionists, including James Ramsay and Zachary Macaulay, who co-founded the first British abolitionist organization in 1787. Popular abolitionist works like the poem The Slave’s Lament by Robert Burns in 1792 made many Scots consider the human cost of slavery.
These efforts contributed to legislative milestones like Britain’s 1807 Slave Trade Act ending the country’s official slave trading, though full emancipation would wait until the 1830s. This shows how a small but influential abolitionist movement arose in Scotland by the late 18th century.
Conclusion
Records confirming the presence of black people in Scotland begin to emerge around the 12th century, but populations appear to have remained very small into the 1500s. Clear evidence of black communities only develops by the 17th century, consisting both of slaves and free black people. Scotland’s black population then expanded over the 18th century as the country engaged heavily in colonial slavery. But the total number of black residents remained quite low compared to England, likely still under 1,000 by 1800.
While a few black people reached positions of note, racial prejudice was widespread in Scottish society. The early black presence was also largely transient, due to the small population and the fact many black people in Scotland, even free blacks, remained seen as outsiders. It would not be until the 20th century that black communities put down enduring roots in Scotland’s society and culture. But they built on foundations established by the small black populations that developed after the 16th century amid Scotland’s growing Atlantic empire.