This photo, taken earlier this evening, is of the Moon and a distant star called Beta Scorpii (formerly known as Acrab), in the constellation of Scorpio. Whereas the light from the Moon takes less than 2 seconds to reach Earth, the light from Beta Scorpii takes just over 400 years. Thus, the glint of light in the sky that I could see this evening began its journey around 1620. In Ireland at that time, the Plantation of Ulster was in full swing. Ireland was under English rule, and the king, James I, decided to pacify Ulster by colonising it with thousands of English and Scottish settlers (once many of the original inhabitants had been slaughtered, deported or otherwise displaced). It was was the foundation of the sectarian strife and conflict that exists in Ulster even to this day. Meanwhile, another journey was in progress in 1620 that would have a bigger legacy. The Mayflower, carrying a large number of Puritan emigrants, was about to make another attempt to sail to America from Plymouth, and would succeed this time. That journey, and subsequent transports of British emigrants, would contribute to an even greater ‘plantation’ of America, with similarly catatropic outcomes for the native inhabitants.