Please understand, this situation was none of my making. I took the hand I was dealt and made the most of it.

I was born a gentleman of my clan, a certain class, as you understand. In the '45, we stood with the Prince and fought for the Stuart cause, and for our rights as Catholics. My ceann-cinnidh, the chief of my people, was a captain and held in great esteem. In his later years, it is true he got himself into some questionable business, but by then it really was enough. My cousin Scotus and I burned his papers, and enough may be said of that.

But this is where things got bad. His son, his successor, had high tastes and wanted to live like they do in London or on the continent. He mortgaged his holdings to the hilt to compete with these southern grandees. Then he makes that MY problem--my problem and that of the other clan gentlemen. He raised our cash rents so high--all while refusing in-kind--that there is no other choice but to sell our cattle.

Or so he thought. My brothers, John of Leek and Allen of Collachie and I, got together with our cousin John Scotus and several other gentlement and found another way. We sold up. Our cattle, our other livestock, and our land, even though there was more than a century left on the tack! It was time to escape the harsh yoke of our chief and start fresh in the new world. We were gentlemen and veteran soldiers all, with money to our names. We convinced many of our tenants and subtenants to follow us as well, and booked passage to New York.

We were happy there for a time, but the people of New York are ungrateful and rebellious and they turned against British rule. We had no choice but to take arms against them and defend our new land. I served in Johnson's Regiment, and proud to say I served as prisoner to the so-called General Schuyler, along with my brothers. After our release, we had the idea to go North, where we were promised new land in a peaceful corner of Upper Canada that is as yet unsettled. Land to clear, a township to found, or perhaps several.

Surely, after all I've been through--after all WE'VE been through, we are entitled to this land. Perhaps we recreate the Highland structures we left behind, but it's not like how it was in the old country. I've seen my nephews rise to high position here, and have taken back my proper place among the elite. We're not exactly a Family Compact, but we know all the right people. We look after our own--even helping other families from Glengarry to settle here. We look after our own, as it should be. We settlers could never be the assholes.