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This not counted out yet episode of History Daily originally aired on July 14th, 2022.

It's July 14th, 1698, in the port of Leith, just north of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland.

A long boat cuts through the sea on its way to meet a fleet of five large ships lying at anchor

offshore. Wedged into the benches on board are several dozen men, among them a 40-year-old soldier

named Thomas Drummond. He drips a sack filled with his few possessions and looks back at the shoreline.

He doesn't expect to see Scotland again in his lifetime. Drummond is part of an expedition of more

than a thousand men, women and children about to leave Scotland and set up the country's first

colony abroad. The voyage will be long and dangerous, and everyone in the long boat knows that

not all in their party will survive, but to them the potential riches waiting for them are worth

the risk. Soon the long boat bumps alongside one of the large ships. It's brand new,

her powers freshly painted in gold, scarlet and blue. Drummond grabs a rope platter and

clamors up the side. Ships deck is alive with activity, sailors stow supplies and prepare

sails as officers march about barking orders to men crawling through the rigging high above.

Drummond hats his bag onto his shoulder and strides toward the hatch that leads to the lower decks.

It's time to find his birth, his home for the long and dangerous journey ahead,

but though Drummond is abandoning all he's ever known, the fleet now leaving Edinburgh

carries the hopes of all of Scotland.

The five ships that set sail this day are part of a national endeavor known as the Darians'

scheme, a plan to establish a Scottish empire overseas. It promises to make the country and all

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