,
Scottish National Party MSP, and former Minister for Culture Arguably the first people from
Italy to reach Scotland were the
Romans in and around 40AD, although the modern nations of Italy and Scotland did not exist at the time, and the Roman Empire was a cosmopolitan institution, with some
Roman Emperors from the
Iberian Peninsula and
North Africa. Still, at least some of the Romans in Scotland were probably from what is now Italy and their constructions in Scotland of the
Antonine Wall and other, mostly military installations, provide some insight into the period. No Roman or Romano-Celtic identity appears to have existed in Scotland at this time and it was not until the end of the 19th century that any form of an Italian-Scots identity ever began to take shape. Many Italian-Scots can trace their ancestry back to the 1890s, when their forefathers escaped
drought,
famine and
poverty in their homeland for a better life in Scotland; yet it was not until
World War I that a sizeable population of Italian-Scots—over 4,000—began to emerge, with
Glasgow hosting the third largest community in the
United Kingdom. The family members that were left behind were forced to cope with mistrust and
discrimination. Of those imprisoned many men found themselves held in
Northern Ireland and the
Isle of Man. A number of others were employed in
Orkney, at
Scapa Flow, to construct a barrier against
Nazi U-boats. These men additionally constructed the
Chapel of Lambholm from scrap metal and junk. Nowadays, this Chapel is one of Orkney's most popular tourist attractions. Today, Italian Scots can be found working in all manner of
professions. However, a large proportion of the community have plied their trade in the
catering industry, working in the
chip shops,
ice-cream parlours,
pizzerias and
restaurants across Scotland. In Edinburgh, The Italo-Scottish Research Cluster (ISRC) aims to study Italian immigration in Scotland and promote relations between Scotland and Italy. == Notable Italian Scots ==