"Ship of the People" is a film which celebrates the liberation of one hundred Scottish slaves who came ashore at Donaghadee almost three hundred years ago. The film is the result of twenty years of work by two researchers, one from Donaghadee and the other from an island from which some of the slaves were kidnapped.
The Scots-Gaelic film "Ship Of the People" tells a story of greed, abduction, conspiracy and human trafficking originating in the highest echelons of 18th century Scottish society. The "SS William", which had a cargo of Gealic speaking men, women and children from the islands of Harris and Skye headed for the cotton plantations in America, was seized in Donaghadee in 1739. They had been snatched from their crofts during the night and herded aboard the "SS William." The islanders were going to be transported to the colonies where they would be sold as indentured labourers.
The ship stopped at Donaghadee to take provisions on board. Whilst that was happening the islanders were imprisoned in a nearby barn. It's still standing at Herdstown House which is about a mile from Donaghadee. According Harry Allen, a local historian, the crew may have felt sorry for them and released them.
The authorities found the islanders wandering around the area. Their case was heard in a local court. The outcome was the disappearance of the ship's Captain, the crew (who had been arrested) were released and the islanders were freed into the countryside. Some headstones in the Donaghadee area bear the surnames of Scottish highlanders. It's not known for certain whether the people interred in those graves are ancestors of the eighteenth century islanders.
The film, which was produced by the Skye television company MacTV for the BBC, is being shown at Donaghadee Library at the end of October.
