Barbecue is an
unincorporated community
An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...
located in the
Barbecue Township of
, United States.
It is a part of the
Dunn micropolitan area, which is also a part of the greater
Raleigh–Durham–Cary combined statistical area as defined by the
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...
.
Etymology
An early settler to the area named "Red" McNeill saw steam rising from a nearby creek. It reminded him of the meat-cooking pits he had seen in the
Caribbean
The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...
, and he named the creek Barbecue Creek.
[Michael Newton (2001), ''We're Indians Sure Enough: The Legacy of the Scottish Highlanders in the United States'', Saorsa Media. Page 94.] The name became official in the early 1750s, as
Scottish Gaelic
Scottish Gaelic (, ; Endonym and exonym, endonym: ), also known as Scots Gaelic or simply Gaelic, is a Celtic language native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a member of the Goidelic language, Goidelic branch of Celtic, Scottish Gaelic, alongs ...
-speaking settlers began migrating into the area.
History
An early
minister of the Barbecue Presbyterian Church was Rev. Iain Beutan (
John Bethune), a native of
Glenelg and ancestor of actor
Christopher Plummer
Arthur Christopher Orme Plummer (December 13, 1929 – February 5, 2021) was a Canadian actor. His career spanned seven decades, gaining him recognition for his performances in film, stage and television. His accolades included an Academy Aw ...
, who, around 1773, famously persuaded poet
Iain mac Mhurchaidh
Iain mac Mhurchaidh, alias John MacRae ( 1725 – ), was a Scotland-born bard from Kintail, a member of Clan Macrae, and an early immigrant to the Colony of North Carolina. MacRae has been termed one of the "earliest Scottish Gaelic poets in Nor ...
, a major figure in
Scottish Gaelic literature
Scottish Gaelic literature refers to literary works composed in the Scottish Gaelic language, which is, like Irish and Manx, a member of the Goidelic branch of Celtic languages. Gaelic literature was also composed in Gàidhealtachd communities ...
, to emigrate from
Kintail
Kintail () is a mountainous area sitting at the head of Loch Duich in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland, located in the Highland Council area.
Name
The area is called ''Cinn t-Sàile'' in Scottish Gaelic – which, since the "s" is sile ...
to the
Colony of North Carolina
The Province of North Carolina, originally known as the Albemarle Settlements, was a proprietary colony and later royal colony of Great Britain that existed in North America from 1712 to 1776.(p. 80) It was one of the five Southern colonie ...
.
As in other Gaelic-speaking communities in North Carolina, early
Reformed worship
Reformed worship is religious devotion to God as conducted by Reformed or Calvinistic Christians, including Presbyterians. Despite considerable local and national variation, public worship in most Reformed and Presbyterian churches is governed by ...
at the Barbecue Presbyterian Church continued the 16th-century practice of congregational singing of
exclusive psalmody in Scottish Gaelic, in an ''
a cappella
Music performed a cappella ( , , ; ), less commonly spelled acapella in English, is music performed by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Rena ...
'' form called
precenting the line.
The church's attendees during colonial times included
Flora MacDonald
Flora MacDonald (1722 – 5 March 1790) is best known for helping Charles Edward Stuart evade government troops after the Battle of Culloden in April 1746. Her family had generally backed the government during the 1745 Rising, and MacDonald l ...
, a member of
Clan MacDonald of Sleat, who had famously helped
Prince Charles Edward Stuart
Charles Edward Louis John Sylvester Maria Casimir Stuart (31 December 1720 – 30 January 1788) was the elder son of James Francis Edward Stuart, making him the grandson of James VII and II, and the Stuart claimant to the thrones of England, ...
escape arrest following his defeat at the
Battle of Culloden
The Battle of Culloden took place on 16 April 1746, near Inverness in the Scottish Highlands. A Jacobite army under Charles Edward Stuart was decisively defeated by a British government force commanded by the Duke of Cumberland, thereby endi ...
in April 1746.
Along with Iain mac Mhurchaidh and Flora MacDonald's husband, Rev. Beutan sided with
King George III
George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland, Ireland from 25 October 1760 until his death in 1820. The Acts of Union 1800 unified Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and ...
at the outbreak of the
American Revolution
The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...
and served as a
Loyalist
Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cr ...
military chaplain
A military chaplain ministers to military personnel and, in most cases, their families and civilians working for the military. In some cases, they will also work with local civilians within a military area of operations.
Although the term ''cha ...
during what was later dubbed, "the Insurrection of
Clan Donald
Clan Donald, also known as Clan MacDonald or Clan McDonald ( ), is a Highland Scottish clan and one of the largest Scottish clans. Historically the chiefs of the Clan Donald held the title of Lord of the Isles until 1493 and two of those chiefs a ...
." Rev. Bethune was taken prisoner by
Patriot
A patriot is a person with the quality of patriotism.
Patriot(s) or The Patriot(s) may also refer to:
Political and military groups United States
* Patriot (American Revolution), those who supported the cause of independence in the American R ...
militia following the
Battle of Moore's Creek Bridge
The Battle of Moore's Creek Bridge was a minor conflict of the American Revolutionary War fought near Wilmington, North Carolina, Wilmington (present-day Pender County, North Carolina, Pender County), North Carolina, on February 27, 1776. The v ...
on 28 February 1776 and was imprisoned in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
with the other Loyalist officers. After first fleeing to British-held
Montreal
Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
, Rev. Bethune ultimately settled among his fellow
Gaels
The Gaels ( ; ; ; ) are an Insular Celts, Insular Celtic ethnolinguistic group native to Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man. They are associated with the Goidelic languages, Gaelic languages: a branch of the Celtic languages comprising ...
at
Williamstown, in
Glengarry County, Ontario
Glengarry County, an area covering , is a county in the province of Ontario, Canada. It is still inhabited by the descendants of 18th and early 19th-century Scottish Highland pioneer settlers from Lochaber, was historically a Gàidhealtachd com ...
, where he organized the first Presbyterian Church in
Upper Canada
The Province of Upper Canada () was a Province, part of The Canadas, British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of the Province of Queb ...
.
[Michael Newton (2001), ''We're Indians Sure Enough: The Legacy of the Scottish Highlanders in the United States'', Saorsa Media. Page 165.]
Despite Rev. Bethune's Loyalism, both the church and the local district were known afterward as, "an island of
Whigs in a sea of
Tories
A Tory () is an individual who supports a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalist conservatism which upholds the established social order as it has evolved through the history of Great Britain. The T ...
."
Furthermore, on March 27, 1781, the church was the site of a skirmish between local Patriots from the Cumberland County Regiment of Militia under the command of Captain Daniel Buie and
British Legion
The Royal British Legion (RBL), formerly the British Legion, is a British Charitable organization, charity providing financial, social and emotional support to members and veterans of the British Armed Forces, their families and dependants.
...
dragoons under the command of Lt.-Col.
Banastre Tarleton
General Sir Banastre Tarleton, 1st Baronet (21 August 175415 January 1833) was a British military officer and politician. He is best known as the lieutenant colonel leading the British Legion at the end of the American Revolutionary War. He lat ...
. The skirmish left one patriot dead, with an unknown number wounded, and was a resounding British victory. The surviving Patriots were taken prisoner and placed aboard
prison hulk
A prison ship, is a current or former seagoing vessel that has been modified to become a place of substantive detention for convicts, prisoner of war, prisoners of war or civilian internees. Some prison ships were hulk (ship type), hulked. W ...
s in Charleston Harbor.
See also
*
Barbecue Township
References
{{authority control
Battles of the American Revolutionary War in North Carolina
Unincorporated communities in Harnett County, North Carolina
Unincorporated communities in North Carolina
Populated places established in the 1750s
Scottish-American culture in North Carolina