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History page
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The town of Veere is in Zeeland, near Middelburg on the - former - island of Walcheren. It has a small picturesque harbour which once gave direct access the the North Sea, with sheltered waterways for vessels to proceed north-east to Dordrecht (near Rotterdam) on the R. Maas or south-east to Antwerp on the R. Schelde. Old fortifications have decided its lay-out, dominated by the huge bulk of the Church of Our Lady (or 'Grote Kerk'), which once provided barrack-space for Napoleon's troops, and graced by the elegant spire of its late-Gothic Town Hall.
The great North Sea tidal surge of 1953 overran the sea-defences of Walcheren, which lies mostly below sea-level, and flooded Veere to a depth of several meters. (The south-west coastline of the Netherlands was then very different from what it had been in the 16th. century, partly because channels between the islands have silted-up over the centuries but mainly because of the many dams which reclaimed large areas of land from the sea). The goverment's response was the "Delta Plan", aimed to prevent any future flooding. Massive sea-walls were built around Walcheren and linked by new roads and bridges northwards along the coast as far north as Rotterdam. Some of these sea-walls were severely tested by floods in 1995, and many dikes had to be raised and strengthened as far inland as Nijmegen, near the border with Germany. As part of this plan a sea-wall was built in 1961 to seal off the Veersegat inlet which had for centuries given Scottish seamen access to Veere and it ceased to be a seaport. (The sandbank which was a hazard at the harbour mouth is still marked on the chart by its old name: The Scotsman). Veere has now become a holidayresort for visitors, who come to these inland waters from many parts of Europe. It is, however, still linked to the sea by canal through Middelburg to Flushing (‘Vlissingen) and the mouth of the River Schelde in the west. Non-tidal waterways to the north also enable bargetraffic and pleasure-craft to navigate through the Netherlands and enter the Rivers Maas and Rhine (with a new canal link with the Danube and the Black Sea).
Founded 700 years ago in 1296, Veere's history was caught up in the militairy,
religious and commercial rivalries of the Middle Ages (like many Scottish towns). Its first link with Scotland
was formed before its foundation, when the Cistercian Abbot of Melrose received from the Count of Flanders the
right to export Scottish wool into Flanders dutyfree. Soon after, Ada, sister of William the Lion of Scotland,
married Floris III, Count of Zeeland. (The arms of Zeeland depict a lion rampant, rising from the waters with the
motto "I struggle and emerge" ("Luctor et emergo"), supported by two lions rampant). From 1282
to 1486 the Heer (Lord) of Veere came from the van Borsele family, which was allied to the Dukes of Burgundy, then
rulers of Flanders. In 1444 Wolfert, son of Henry van Borsele, married Mary Stuart, daughter of James I and the
Countess of Buchan. Many came to the wedding in Zeeland and Wolfert was given the Earldom of Buchan as a wedding-present.
Mary Stuart died 0n 20 March 1465 on Sandenburgh Castle near Veere and was burried in the Grote Kerk in Veere. Relations with the Royal House of Scotland didn't end with Mary's death. Regular mail and gifts were exchanged between Scotland and the Low Countries. Henry of Borselen, Lord of Veere, sends a letter (in Latin) in January 1474 to the Scottish king. He gives the king "unem iuvencullum leonem, regium animal, bene mansuetum" (a young lion, a royal animal, real tame).
This kind of gift was rare and very valuable and it shows that there was more to the relation than just merchandising.
This link between the Stuarts and the Netherlands continued with the marriage of the Prince of Orange to the daughter
of James VI, while Elizabeth of Bohemia (another of his daughters) was to take refuge at the Hague after her husband
Frederick had lost his kingdom by allowing his people to practise Protestantism.
In the 12th. century woolproduction in Scotland and England began to outstrip the needs of the people. It was this
that caused the monks of Melrose to seek to export Scottish wool dutyfree into Flanders. This right was formalised
in 1407 by a decree of the Duke of Burgundy which created the office of Conservator of Scottish Privileges in the
Low Countries. More and more wool was exported for manufacture into cloth in the Low Countries, France, and German
towns on the North Sea and the Baltic. While Calais was for long the staple-port for English wool, Scottish wool
was exported to Bruge, which thus became the first staple-port, and was already the greatest tradingcentre in Western
Europe. (It also became the major centre for English wool after France recaptured Calais in 1558 and put an end
to English occupation of het territory). Bruges' prosperity began to wane, however, with silting up along the western
channel of the River Schelde (the Zwin) caused by landreclamation along its banks. Its ports-of-entry at Damme
and Sluis became unnavigable, and Antwerp took its place for a while as the centre of commerce for Flanders and
Brabant, mostly water-borne along the Schelde. (Veere's own access to Antwerp via the East Schelde had remained
unimpeded, to her advantage).
Despite all the efforts of Bruges to retain the Scottish woolstaple Sir Alexander
Napier, the Conservator of Scottish Privileges, wisely transferred his office and staple-court to Middelburg in
1518. It provided usefull revenu to the Scottish Crown, with payment of 8.000 golden crowns for the monopoly of
Scottish trade for the next twenty years. This move of the Conservator's office from Bruges to Middelburg was influenced
buy growing French and Spanish pressure to assert the Roman Catholic rite in Flanders. When it began to be felt
in Middelburg the staple was moved again in 1541 to Veere, where the local people were in sympathy with the Calvinist
views of the Scottish trading community. A staplecontract was drawn up which set out the priviliges to be enjoyed
by Scottish traders (who came mainly from Edinburgh, Perth, Culross, St. Andrews, Dundee and Aberdeen). And in
1612 an agreement between James VI and the Duke of Burgundy gave the Scots community their own kirk, manse, courthouse
and lock-up, and an elegant washhouse which still remains. Its watersupply was stored in a cistern on the roof
of the Grote Kerk nearby, and it continued to supply the needs of the people of Veere until 1931.
At first mainly a fishingport, Veere thus became in the 16th. century the main (or "staple") port for
Scottish commerce with Flanders, Holland and Brabant. Wool was the major import (to be woven and then exported
as fine cloth), and coal, tiles, leather, brassware, wines and spirits and, after 1630, shiploads of arms
and ammunition for the Scottish and English armies - purchased with credit from the brothers Lampsin at Middelburg
- were exported from Veere in Scottish ships to Leith, Culross and Newcastle.
(The tiles were used for ballast in the ships that travelled to Scotland to collect freight. In Culross many roofs still
give evidence to this fact and some of the inhabitants still order them from the Netherlands to this day.
Culross still has an exhibition on Veere to remember the contacts from old they had with the Dutch town. Even
a small close is named after Veere in Culross: "Veere Park".
There are two houses on the quayside at Veere today, still known as the Scottish
Houses and built in the 16th. century in late-Gothic style. They are named "Het Lammeken" (the Lambkin),
and "De Struys" (the Ostrich), and bear their emblems. "Het Lammeken" was probably built in
1539 by a Scot named Joos Olivers. They were built as twins, but "De Struys" lost its upper gables and
the window spacing has been changed. "De Struys" was the Conservator's residence, and "Het Lammeken",
the Conciergery or office. The quay itself was known as the Scottish Quay at which 
Scottish vessels had priority; outside the harbout
there is a shoal which is still marked on marine charts as "De Schottsman". With the ending of the Scottish
Staple Veere's importance and prosperity declined; with the invasion of the Netherlands by the French Republican
army at the end of the 18th. century the Scottish community dwindled to fifteen souls, and the kirk was closed
and finally demolished. The last minister, the Rev. James Likly of Aberdeen was ejected. The elders wrote the the
Presbytery in Edinburgh: "How much we now regrate the loss of Public Worship in our own language, the dispersion
of our congregation and the loss of our Pastor, so justly esteemed and respected by us, the Reverend Presbytery
can better conceive than we can express". The kirk's four communion
cups passed finally from the custody of one of the elders to his son.
After his death his widow confessed to the minister at Middelburg that, instead of passing them on to him as het
husband had directed, she had sold them. They were not recovered. On 23 July 1875 the four cups were offered for
sale as "old silver" by a firm of jewellers in London and bought by Lord Egerton of Tatton, a wealthy
Cheshire landowner and Ecclesiastical Commissioner of the Church of England. In 1893 he presented them to Manchester
Cathedral, where they still remain. In 1896 "De Struys" was bought for 1,200 guilders by an Englishman
named Oakes (possibly Henry Oakes, Keeper of Foreign Papers at the Foreign Office and an authority on European
Treaties). His daughter, Miss Alma Oakes, inherited it and presented it to the Netherlands Government in 1947,
on condition that the State would preserve "De Struys" and "Het Lammeken" and use them as museums.
("Het Lammeken" became State-property in 1907 through the gift of the owner at that time, Jonkheer Mr.
Victor de Stuers).
Untill 1847 the Conservator of Scottish Privileges was the British Consul in Rotterdam, but in 1996 Winnifred Ewing (member of the European Parliament for the Highlands and Islands of Scotland
and chair-person of the Scottish National Party) was made Honourary Conservator of Scottish Privileges in Veere.
It is hoped that the museum, which is in dire straits with regard to finance and staff, will
still be in use when we commemorate the forced end by the French invaders of a long and fruitful connection between
Scotland and Veere: it will be 200 years ago in 1999.
