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and first selected those ports on the Western coast of
Sweden that seemed to offer the best chances.
Gothenburg, or, as the Swedes call it, Göteborg, lies
in a wild, picturesque surrounding of rock and water
at the mouth of the Göta Elf (river). The distance
between it and the nearest Scotch harbour of Leith would
only be a few hundred miles. Originally the town had
been founded on the neighbouring island of Hisingen in
1603, but it was destroyed by the Norwegians in 1612,
and rebuilt only seven years later by King Gustavus
Adolphus in its present situation. The hope of its rapid
development largely depended on the possibility of
attracting strangers of means and energy, and of persuading
them to settle in the new borough. With this end in
view, letters were written to Germany, France, Holland,
England, and Scotland, inviting immigration and promising
at the same time great advantages and privileges.
Goteborg’s hope was not disappointed. The foreign
element so largely increased that, during the first half of
the XVIIth century, of twenty-five town-councillors
only thirteen were Swedes, the rest Dutchmen, Germans,
or Scots.1
The earliest proof of the presence of Scots in or about
Göteborg, however, is contained in an old tombstone of
the Hospitalkyrka, the inscription of which tells us that
it was erected to the memory of Agneta Gipson, “ sponsa
Jacobi Reid,” and that she died “in die 15 mensis
also refers to the itinerant Scot: “ A hundred years ago the Dutch were
not allowed free * segelation * (sailing) in the Baltic, but commerce lay
entirely in the hands of Liibeck or Danzig, except perhaps that a few
Dutchmen came to Finland and did what the Scots do now, a little
trade, selling here and there a cask of wine or a little spice.” (1643.)
1 Samlingar till Göteborgs historia (Materials towards a history of
Göteborg), by W. Berg, Stockholm, 1886, f. i.
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