The minor title of the House of Selkirk was Daer, and so the young collegian saw one Daer depart, then another, until at last he held the title, becoming in 1799 Earl of Selkirk and was confirmed as the master of the beautiful St.Mary's Isle, near the mouth of the Dee, on Solway Frith.

On his visits to the Highlands, it was not alone the Highland straths and mountains, nor the Highland Chieftain's absolute mastership of his clan, nor was it the picturesque dress--the "Garb of old Gaul"-- which attracted him.

The Earl of Selkirk has been charged by those who knew little of him with being a man of feudal instincts.

His temper was the exact opposite of this.

When he saw his Scottish fellow-countrymen being driven out of their homes in Sutherlandshire, and sent elsewhere to give way for sheep farmers, and forest runs, and deer stalking, it touched his heart, and his three Emigration Movements, the last culminating in the Kildonan Colonists, showed not only what title and means could do, but showed a kindly and compassionate heart beating under the starry badge of Earldom.
Rather it was the case that the fur trading oligarchy ensconced in the plains of the West, could not understand the heart of a philanthropist--of a man who could work for mere humanity.