Stitcher: Elvyra Skeivienė
Under the protection of the powerful Radziwills the Scottish community in Kėdainiai flourished. In 20th century the poet Algimantas Kaminskas described the arrival of the Scots to Kėdainiai in the seventeenth century as follows: ‘the Scots are still arriving, and settle near the Big Market; they settle for a long time, as walls of a house; are thick, strong and smell of stability.’ It is hard to know the exact numbers of the Scottish community but it was clearly sizeable. Many rose to high office and exerted considerable influence, even becoming mayors and court members. The Protestant enclave could not survive the Counter-Reformation however, and many Scots chose to leave Kėdainiai during the eighteenth century.
LT02 Tha na h-Albannaich a’ tighinn fhathast
Fo chùram Radziwills chumhachdach, shoirbhich leis a’ choimhearsnachd Albannaich ann an Ke˙dainiai. Sgrìobh an teachdaire Algimantas Kaminskas, ‘Tha na h-Albannaich fhathast a’ tighinn, agus a’ tuineachadh faisg air a’ Mhargaid Mhòir; tha iad a’ tuineachadh airson ùine mhòr coltach ri ballachan taighe; tha iad tiugh, làidir agus neo-thuisleach.” Tha e duilich a ràdh dè na hàireamhan a th’ anns a’ choimhearsnachd Albannaich ach gu follaiseach tha i mòr. Dh’èirich mòran dhiubh gu dreuchd àrd agus thug iad buaidh nach robh beag, fiù ’s a’ tighinn gu bhith nan àrd-bhàillidhean agus nam buill den chùirt. Cha b’ urrainn don iadhtag Phròstanaich an Fhrith-Ath-leasachadh a shoirbheachadh ge-tà, agus roghnaich mòran de na h-Albannaich Kedainiai fhàgail san ochdamh linn deug.