John Edmonstone, born on plantation in Guyana, Mbiri Creek, was a black taxidermy teacher at the University of Edinburgh working at its zoological museum. He is well-known for being Charles Darwin’s tutor who learnt the art of preserving animal skins from John that later informed the development of the theory of evolution. Edmonstone first arrived to Glasgow and later lived Edinburgh, at Lothian Street, where he also run a store selling stuffed birds and animals to the Victorian-era collectors.

In the period of the so-called Scottish Enlightenment, many accomplished scholars debated humanity and shaped arguments surrounding the societal rights and wrongs. The song entitled ‘The Dark Side of the Enlightenment’ explores the concepts that were introduced to the socio-political debate of the time, including empiricism, sociology and race ideology by philosophers, including David Hume.

Joseph Knight and Ann Thompson were no ordinary couple. Their case against Mr Wedderburn, a Scottish landowner who made a fortune in slave sugar in the West Indies, turned the tide on slavery in Scotland. Knight vs Wedderburn is considered a historic legal battle that led to the abolishment of slavery granting freedom not only to Joseph Knight, who was brought to Scotland from Jamaica, but also making it illegal for anyone in Scotland to own slaves.

There are many celebrated men named David in Scotland, including David Hume, David Lindsay, David Livingstone, and David Dobson all of whom were the key contributors to the colonial era in Scotland, Britain and beyond. Their impact on the shaping of the colonial narratives and practices cannot be underestimated. From race ideologies, to exploitative explorations, to colonial cruelties, often hidden from the public eye, many men called David defined that period in Scottish and world history.

The Abolition of the Slave Trade Act was passed in 1807, until then the Scottish plantations continued their operations exploiting enslaved people and working them to death. One of the most known revolts against the British colonial rule was the Demerara rebellion of 1823. It was started at the Gladstone plantation called ‘Success’ and led by the enslaved father and his son, Quamina and Jack Gladstone. Guyana-born Quamina was a carpenter. They both lived and worked at a Scottish merchant's, Sir John Gladstone, plantation who was born on King Street in Leith, north of Edinburgh.

Glorified stories of overseas explorations undertaken as part of the growing British Colonial Empire often missed any mentions of the impact of the oppression, cultural erosion and plunder inherent in colonial system.

Romanticised stories captured in songs, stories and books propagating a positive image of colonialism obscured its true nature and legacy.  Many were lured by the prospect of wealth and riches beyond the seas without fully understanding the cost paid by the colonised and enslaved.