Hi Sean,
My 8th great-grandfather, Robert MackClaflin or Mackclothlan (various spellings) was believed to have come to Massachusetts in 1652 as a result of being a Scottish prisoner of Cromwell. At first, I found this unbelievable, because his birth year is given as 1639, making him 12 years old during the battle, but I understand that some soldiers were this young. Here is a quote about his time after deportation, when he is believed to have worked off his indenture at the Lynn Iron Works and then married and purchased land in Wenham, Mass:
Some of these prisoners were indentured to the Lynn Iron Works, then the most important industrial enterprise in the country. Wenham is but a few miles from Lynn. The records show that on the same day that Robert Mackclothlan was admitted a townsman, Nov. 16, 1661, Edmund Bridges, who is known to have been connected with the Lynn Iron Works, was granted land at Wenham. The soldierly qualities of Robert are evidenced by his services under Sir Edmund Andros against the French and Indians. All known facts support the theory that Robert was one of Cromwell's Scotch prisoners. Full text of "Genealogy of the Claflin family : being a record of Robert Mackclothlan, of Wenham, Mass. and of his descendants, 1661-1898" BY CHARLES HENRY WIGHT
After a rough start to his young life, Robert had at least 6 children, and now there are untold descendents throughout North America. I consider him one of my more interesting ancestors.
Pamela Byard