The links between Scotland and the countries lying along the southern shore of the Baltic can be traced back as far as the Medieval period, when Scottish knights accompanied the Teutonic knights on their Baltic Crusade against the Letts. Since then, various economic links encouraged merchants to settle in the main seaports, such as Danzig alias Gdansk. The main period of Scottish settlement, however, occurred from around 1560 to about 1650. Many of the Scots who settled initially along the shores of the Baltic had arrived as soldiers of fortune and later settled on lands given for service rendered, or as itinerant peddlers. By the 1640s about 30,000 Scots were resident in Poland. This volume is based on numerous primary and secondary sources found in the British Isles and continental Europe.
