Scots were the original hillbillies

THE first American hillbillies were Scots, according to a new BBC documentary.

Thousands of Scottish settlers arrived in America in the 18th century looking for cheap land, and in the southern states they were recruited to help defend the coastal areas.

Barry Vann, professor of geography at the University of the Cumberlands in Williamsburg, Kentucky, said: “They came here for the most part interested in farming, and they wanted to live in strategically important places.

“That’s why we call them today Hillbillies, because they wanted to live up in the hills where they could see the enemy coming.”

Scotland and the Klan is on BBC Two Scotland, Tuesday, October 4 at 9pm.