Tartan Poles

Since 2000 Maclean artist Linda El Mir has been decorating the power poles of Maclean with the traditional tartan patterns of the clans. There must be now hundreds of these plaid poles around the main street and on the roads that lead into town. There is a small cost involved.

The history of the Scots in Maclean is linked to the Highland Clearances of the 1860's when thousands were forced off the land as the Agricultural and Industrial Revolutions gained pace. Most arrived in Australia on a free or assisted passage with nothing and were given land under the Free Selectors Act.
There is of course the irony of the poor and dispossessed of Caledonia building new lives on land that was stolen off the local Aboriginal clans.

Linking to the Ruby Tuesday2 meme.

Linking to the Our World Tuesday meme.