Title: Pinkerton Brothers Leave Scotland

General Information about Item:

• Verbal folklore: arrival stories

• Language: English

• Country where Item is from: Scotland/United States

Informant Data:

• Lester Pinkerton, interviewed November 5, 2017 via telephone

Contextual Data:

• Social Context: This story is told frequently by Lester anytime the subject of family history is brought up. The details themselves change a bit with every retelling, but the main points remain the same.

• Cultural Context: This story falls under the category of a departure story, as it focuses on the reasons the Pinkerton brothers and their families left Scotland. Leaving a country to escape persecution for religious or political beliefs is a common reason for immigration to the United States, among other countries.

Item:

“The three Pinkerton brothers, John, Allan, and Robert, were working to promote organized labor in their homeland of Scotland. Their work soon earned them the unfortunate attention of the English government, and they were forced with a choice: they could stay and likely be executed if caught, or flee the country and attempt to start over in the United States. ‘They are going to sack our heads if we stay’, said one brother. John and Robert were ready to leave Scotland, but Allan had met and fallen in love with a singer named Joan Carfrae. He would not leave without her, so Allan and Joan were wed secretly near the port that contained the ship that would take the three brothers to the United States and safety. As the wedding was concluding, a messenger arrived, informing Allan and his brothers that English soldiers had learned where they were and were coming to arrest them. The warning gave them just enough of a head start to make it to the ship and have the captain take off before the soldiers arrived at the dock. The three brothers stood on the deck of the ship, taking one last look at their homeland—and the line of English soldiers that they had narrowly escaped.”

Informant’s Comments:

• This story was most memorably told to Lester by his grandfather, Norris. They are both descended from John Pinkerton.

Collector’s Comments:

• This story involves the paternal branch of my family, and it was interesting for me to learn about the first bearers of my name to enter the country. There is not necessarily evidence supporting this story, but I remember Lester telling me this story for the first time when I was very young. The only part that truly stuck in my mind was that the queen of England wanted to “chop their heads off”.

Collector’s Name: Hannah Pinkerton, ‘19

Tags/Keywords:

Arrival stories, verbal folklore, Scotland, United States