The Scots and the Union Then and Now

Headline:

An updated edition on the 1707 Union between Scotland and England bringing the debate into the present

Pitch:

This updated edition of the classic text on the 1707 Union between Scotland and England traces the background to the Treaty and explains why it happened.

Public opinion in Scotland in 1707 was sharply divided, between advocates of Union, opponents, and a large body of 'don't knows'. In 1706-7 it was party (and dynastic) advantage that was the main reason for opposition to the proposed union at elite level. Whatever the reasons now for maintaining the Union, they are in some important respects different from those which took Scotland into the Union, such as French aggression, securing the Revolution of 1688-89 and the defence of Protestantism.

This new edition assesses the impact of the Union on Scottish society, including the bitter struggle with the Jacobites for acceptance of the union in the two decades that followed its inauguration. The book offers a radical new interpretation of the causes of union. The idea that the Scots were bought and sold for English gold is largely rejected. Instead, emphasis is placed upon the international, dynastic and religious contexts in which the union was negotiated. The principles of the Glorious Revolution, and the persistence of key political figures in Scotland in their determination to secure a treaty with England were crucial. Unionists too concerned themselves with Scotland's ailing economy, and aspired to the kind of civic society that Holland had become and that they saw in London and believed that union offered the Scots what they were unable to obtain as a small independent state, with the country's interests defended with what John Clerk called Scotland's 'phantom Parliament', perhaps echoed by Billy Connelly's modern reference to Scotland's 'wee pretendy Parliament'.

Now, as in 1706-7, some kind of harmonious relationship with Scotland's near neighbours, England, has to be settled upon. There exists, on both sides of the border, mutual antipathy but also powerful bonds, of language, kin, and economics. In the case of Scotland there is a strong sense of being 'different' from England - a separate nation. But arguably this was even more powerful in the mid-19^th century when demand grew not for independence but Home Rule. As in 1707, economic considerations are central, even if the nature of these now are different - the Union was forged in an era of 'muscular mercantilism'. Perceptions of economic gain and loss affected behaviour in 1706-7 and continue to affect attitudes to the Union today.

This new edition brings the historical debate up to a vigorous present where we are once again discussing such issues and opinions, lending historical weight to the arguments for and against Union.

Key Features:

• Updated in the light of new research
• Challenges dominant view that the Scots were 'bought and sold for English gold'
• New chapter expands the debate into the present
• Adds historical dimension to the current debate about the Union
• Key background reading for anyone interested in 2014 referendum

Keywords:

Scotland, England, Union, independence, referendum, history, Crown, Treaty, parliament

Subject:

Scottish History