By Jaimie Julia Winters
Along the river in Wallace Glen, Kearny, stands a cairn, a monument of stones reminiscent of those found in Scotland, honoring the contributions of the Scots who came to America and called Kearny home in “Little Scotland.”
The Scots began seeking a community in the late 19th century when the Clark Thread Company of Scotland opened mills in Kearny in 1875 and 1890. Another Scottish company, Nairn Linoleum, built a factory in 1887 on the Passaic River. These mills brought thousands of Scottish immigrants to Kearny, according to the township’s history on its website. The Clark Thread Company also formed the first official soccer league in the area, giving employees an opportunity to play and watch their favorite sport from back home.
Some say that one of the founding families, the Caldwells of Scotland, gives Kearny even deeper Scottish roots.
The area along the river became known as Little Scotland. At one time, four Scottish butcher shops offered meats and prepared foods. There was Mary Stewart’s school, owned by the renowned highland dancer and teacher, who taught the highland fling and sword dance. Three restaurants brought in diners from miles away for Scottish fare and fish and chips. And The Piper’s Cove carried kilts and bagpipes.
Today, only The Piper’s Cove and Stewart’s Market remain.
The Pipers Cove, owned by mother and son Joan and Colin Nesbit, and Stewarts Market, run by Aleska Teixeira, are proud reminders of Kearny’s Scottish legacy.
“At one time 70% of all the Scots in New Jersey lived in Kearny. Today it’s about 7%,” says Teixeira, the step-daughter of Alastair Stewart, Stewart’s Market long-term owner.
According to a 2010 article in The Herald, by the 1960s, 21,000 Scots were living in Kearny with a population of 37,472.
How about some Haggis?
Teixeira says her stepfather was deeply connected to both his heritage and his community.
“Food was his way to connect,” she says.
He was “known for his warm spirit, hard work, and friendly demeanor,” according to his obituary, after passing away on Jan. 28.
On a recent hot August day, Aleska worked at the shop filling orders of haggis, a Scottish delicacy that includes lamb kidneys, livers, and hearts; blood sausage; shortbread; and meat pies, all made on premises. The walls are adorned with photos of her stepfather, whose grandparents opened the shop two years after arriving from Scotland in 1931. The family crest and Scottish flag are hung on the walls.
There’s a rendering of the famous Scottish poet Robert Byrnes who made haggis famous. The infamous 18th-century poet wrote hundreds of poems and songs known even today, such as “Auld Lang Syne” and ”My Love is Like a Red, Red Rose.” The week before the anniversary of his Jan. 25 birthday will be busy at the market as orders for haggis come in from all over the U.S. The celebration features bagpipers and highland dancers, a presentation of the haggis with a recitation of Burns’ “Address to the Haggis,” and, of course, plenty of Whiskey toasts. Scots will argue that Burns supper or “Burns Nicht” is more widely celebrated than St. Patrick’s Day.
Scotland the brave
Down the street is The Piper’s Cove, Colin Nisbet helps Patrick McClintock, a bagpiper with the NYPD Pipes and Drums, pick a bagpipe part. McClintock crosses the river about twice a month to meet with Colin for parts, reeds, sheet music, or clothing.
“I feel at home here,” says McClintock. “Bagpiping, it’s a niche instrument. It’s like a fraternity.”
The Piper’s Cove is the oldest continually operating family-owned bagpipe and kilt shop in the U.S. Owners, John and Joan Nisbet, immigrated to the USA from Scotland and Ireland, respectively. John came over to work in the Clarks Thread Company. Joan, a registered nurse and midwife in the U.K., was hired at St. Barnabas in Livingston. They met on St. Patrick’s Day at a Scots American Club Dance in 1972. John, from Musselburgh, Scotland, was an award-winning competitive bagpiper and was one of the original members of the award-winning Kearny Caledonian Pipe Band. Joan is from County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland, is very knowledgeable in the kilt department, and also speaks fluent Gaelic. Opening the store was a way to honor both their passions and cultures. Colin was raised behind the counter and began playing the bagpipes at an early age with his father as his teacher.
The couple also opened the famous Argyle Restaurant, serving fish and chips, meat pies, sausage, and shepherd’s pie, and holding the biggest Burns celebration in the area. John passed away in October 2019 and after 50 years, they closed the restaurant in January 2020, but wanted to keep the bagpipes and Scottish attire going.
Colin, also a Hoboken firefighter, handles all bagpipe maintenance and sales and is compiling a bagpiper’s music book of familiar folk songs to bring bagpiping to the masses. The kilts aren’t just for bagpipers. Joan can help customers track down their clan’s tartan, which can date back as far as feudal times, and she has created Irish (typically solid) tartans as well.
“So many people today are going back to their roots and want to include their Scottish lineage and culture in special events,” says Joan about the many wedding and special events rentals they do. She said that the younger Scottish generation is now proudly wearing kilts to proms.
Serving up Glenfiddich and Guinness
Over at the Scots American Club, club president Andrew Pollock and barkeep Eddie Duffy are sitting at the bar, enjoying a cold Guinness and reminiscing about days when it was five deep at the bar and the halls were filled with monthly dances. Opened in 1931, it was one of the first stops after emigrating from Scotland to the U.S., Pollock says, about the club formed to foster social connections as well as athletic programs.
Duffy came in 1977 mainly because of the “more pleasant weather,” he says. Although he had a background in engineering, he was driving buses in Scotland for a living, and America offered him more opportunities.
“One night, a woman came on my bus and told me to go to America. That same night, my wife’s maid of honor called from America to tell me there were jobs for engineers,” Duffy says. “I took it as a sign.”
He first worked at a plastic factory in Kearny and then moved on to network systems, which he still works in today.
Pollack has deep roots in the area. After coming to the U.S. in the early 20th century, Pollock’s grandparents went back to Scotland during the depression. But his father came back in the 1950s and met his mother. He first worked in a butcher shop with an uncle and was later recruited by PSEG, where he worked the rest of his career.
“We came to Kearny because we felt connected to the Scottish community. The butcher shop and restaurants, and even my pediatrician was here,” Pollock says.
The club was a popular way to socialize and network about jobs and needs here, or what was going on back home, Duffy says. Many couples met at a dance or dinner held at the club, just as Joan and John did.
The pub in Scotland was also a community center of the town, a place to catch up after work or at the end of the day. That’s what the Scots club in Kearny was to the many who crossed its threshold.
“It was like a pub back home and the club was considered safer than bars. We had the games on the old school TVs and dances,” Duffy says.
The club still offers the games from the UK on large HD screens at the bar (at one time, the club was the only way to catch the games live from Glasgow); shuffleboard, darts, and pool; and Scottish Belhaven, Tennents, and Guinness on tap.
When Scottish comedian Billy Connolly traveled through the U.S. shooting his 2019 series “Billy Connolly’s Great American Trail,” he spent days at the club in Kearny highlighting the importance it played in nurturing Scottish culture in America.
Duffy recalls a phone call coming into the bar during one of those games from a famous Scottish actor – Sean Connery. The bartender hung up on him, thinking it was a prank. Connery called back and convinced him it wasn’t a hoax. Connery spent the night at the club watching the game, says Pollock, pointing to a photo of Connery hanging on the wall marking the occasion.
Soccer has always been a big part of Kearny and the club, which is credited with forming the Kearny Scots team and joining the National Association Football League in 1895. Famous players hailing from Kearny include: Santiago Formoso, Tommy Brisco, John Harkes, Tony Meola, Pete Miller, and Tab Ramos. Photos of soccer teams and legends line the bar.
The Scots Club is affiliated with the New York Red Bulls, along with supporting local teams, the Kearny High Kardinals and the Kearny Thistle United boys’ and girls’ teams.
The club also hosts watch parties for the U.S. National Team, Scotland National Team, SPL matches, Old Firm, Euros, World Cup, and Champions League.
Today, the club’s membership is down to about 150 people, but it holds the largest annual Robert Burns celebration in the area.The club now offers membership to anyone who is interested in Scottish culture – and soccer and a good draft.
Scots throughout the U.S still seek Haggis from Stewart’s Market and kilts and bagpipe equipment through The Pipers Cove. Diners seeking fish and chips now head to The Thistle Restaurant, two towns over in Lyndhurst. In April, the Scots American Club and the town honor its Scottish residents with an annual naming of Scottish persons-of-the-year and a flag raising. And the cairn monument still stands as a reminder of the Scots who chose to make Kearny their home, looking for a better life in America.
