International Scots Lecture

The Centre for Scottish Studies is pleased to share details for the International Scots Lecture on Monday, 30 March at 3:00pm on Zoom. 

Dr. Daniel Arbino (University of Miami Libraries) will present “The desolation of all desolations:” Scottish Shepherds and Imperial Unease in Patagonia.

About the Talk...

This talk explores the experiences of Scottish shepherds in Patagonia and the Falkland Islands in the late nineteenth century, focusing on the letters of George Anderson and the journals of William Blain. Situating their lives within the broader context of British economic dominance in Argentina and the pastoral expansion of Patagonia, the paper examines the region as a liminal space, a “frontier” shaped by imperial ambition, Indigenous loss, and cultural uncertainty. Rather than reading these men solely as agents of empire, Arbino analyzes their writings for moments of anxiety about identity, belonging, and “going native.” Anderson’s reflections on isolation, food, marriage, and domestic life reveal tensions between Scottish respectability and frontier realities, while Blain’s accounts of Indigenous communities expose projections of fear, instability, and asymmetrical power relations. Indeed, it is Britain’s informal imperial approach to Patagonia that exacerbates these very anxieties, ultimately marking Scottish shepherds as doubly foreign. By attending to these nuanced expressions of unease, the presentation argues that Patagonia functioned not only as a site of economic opportunity, but also as a space where Scottish settlers’ sense of self was both constructed and unsettled at the edge of empire. 

All are welcome to attend!