Scottish expatriates in the United States have established a charity to commemorate the Highland Clearances and support from American descendants of cleared families is rolling in.

The Highland Clearances Memorial Fund aims to establish a scholarship to support research into the clearances. Writer Steve Blamyres, who emigrated from Arran to California four years ago, is the fund's organiser. He said: ''We will be targeting the hundreds of Highland games which take place across the US.''