Ian McKay
University of Maryland
December 16, 2002

“A Sorry Poor Nation, which lies as full North, as a great many Lands which are wiser,
Was resolv’d to set up for a People of Worth,
That the Loons who laugh’d at Her might prize her.”
-Anonymous Englishman, 1700 1
These were the first words of a book widely read in London during the earliest years of the 18 th
century. Named “Caledonia, or The Peddler Turned Merchant,” the book was a comedy, telling the story of how the pathetic Scots failed spectacularly in their attempt to found a colony called Caledonia (also known as Darien), and attempt to become wealthy in the 1690’s. These words capture the essence of how the English, and most of Europe for the matter, viewed
Scotland at the turn of the 18 th
century. Impoverished and stagnant, Scotland was looked upon as a backward kingdom to the north, having started the 17 th
century as the poorest kingdom in western Europe yet managing to decline through the century. The English actually viewed them in nearly as worse a light as they did the Irish.
But how did Scotland view itself? These years, between the Glorious Revolution in 1688 and the Act of Union of 1707, were among the most momentous in the Scotland’s history. They were to determine whether Scotland would remain as it had since 1603, the far junior member of an unequal regal union with England, or adopt a different monarch than England upon Anne’s death and start its life anew. What they would ultimately choose was a third option, to agree to a union with England and take their chances as part of a new Great Britain. It was certainly a momentous decision, and it was these years that defined to a large extent which choice the nation made.
This study seeks to answer how the Scots viewed themselves in the critical years before union, and what events shaped those conceptions of their nation. Through studying the literature
Ian McKay 2

of this era, in addition to a wide selection of primary sources, the following conclusions become clear: The Scottish identity was strengthened in this era despite national hardships, and based largely on a defiant anti-English sentiment. This nationalistic attitude overshadowed an underlying spirit of self-doubt brought on by the very same national hardships. The Scottish identity consisted of a sense of patriotic pride and a sense of national interest, both of which were strengthened by the events of this era.
It is important to note that Scotland itself in 1688 was split between two very different cultures. The Highland clans were Catholic, spoke Gaelic, and had an ancient social structure based on honor and loyalty, while the Lowlands were Protestant, spoke English, and had a society more like the rest of Europe at the time, with commerce and a system of laws as its base.
2
The two are both part of Scotland and both will be given consideration, but for the most part this study will focus on the Lowland’s sense of the Scottish nation. This is because most Scots in this era were Lowlanders, and it was their society that would soon come to conquer all of
Scotland. Although this study seeks to define the Scottish identity as a whole and for the majority, it will still seek to highlight the ruling class and the highland views of Scottish identity where appropriate.
1 Caledonia, or The Peddler Turned Merchant. A Tragic Comedy as it was Acted by His Majesty’s
Subjects of Scotland in The King of Spain’s Province of Darien . London, 1700, 1.
2 Simon Schama. The Wars of the British: 1603-1776 , vol. 2 of A History of Britain . (New York: Talk
Miramax Books, 2001), 330.
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“The Children, which can but just speak, seem to have a natural Antipathy against the English.”
-Joseph Taylor, 1705
3
The Scottish animosity towards the English, as in the above quote, defined to a large degree how Scotland viewed itself in these years. To see that it was reciprocal one only needs to look at the quote at the beginning of this work. It has been said that, “by the seventeenth century an Englishman who did not look down on a Scotsman would have been only half an Englishman; a Scotsman who did not hate an Englishman would not have been a Scotsman at all.” 4
In fact a large part of the Scottish identity of this era was based in how they viewed their neighbor to the south. Anti-English attitudes would drive the strengthened Scottish identity through this era, as a result of a series of unfortunate events.
The 17 th
century causes of Scotland’s animosity towards England had their beginnings in
1603, when James VI of Scotland inherited the English throne upon the death of Elizabeth I, bringing about the union of the crowns. The two nations were independent and united only in the fact that they shared the same sovereign. However, Scotland’s sense of itself was never the same, as many on both sides of the border felt that after the regal union, creation of a political union would become inevitable.
5
A resentment of this sentiment of inevitability helped to restart a Scottish identity built on defiance towards England. But despite this hostility, the regal union persisted through the century and included a brief period of political union under Cromwell.
3 Bridget McPhail, “Through a Glass Darkly: Scots and Indians Converge at Darien,” Eighteenth Century
Life 18, no. 3 (1994), 133.
4 Michael Hechter, The Celtic Fringe and British National Development: Internal Colonialism . (New
Brunswick: Transaction Publishers, 1975), 31-32.
5 Derek Hirst, “English Republic and the Meaning of Britain,” The Journal of Modern History 66, no. 3
(September 1994).
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By 1688, the English could no longer tolerate the sovereign the two nations shared, a
Catholic James VII of Scotland (James II of England), and deposed the “joint” monarch.
Scotland looked on as its king was sent away to France and a new one was brought in as
England’s monarch. England’s choice of monarchs, William and Mary, were soon adopted as
Scotland’s monarchs as well. This was a significant turning point in Scotland’s history because it ended any illusion that the monarch served both nations equally. Scotland had to choose between accepting England’s choice of monarchs or adopting another Stuart that might seriously threaten England with a Francophile and Catholic monarch on her northern frontier. If it had not been clear already, it was now apparent that under the regal union England had significant influence over Scotland’s sovereign.
Despite the humbling nature of this realization, the Glorious Revolution was not very unpopular in the Calvinist lowlands, as they were discontent with the Catholic James as well.
James had not only filled English positions with Catholics but had also appointed Catholics to govern Scotland.
6
But it did have a very profound effect on the Highlands, one that would come to shape them until 1745 and beyond. The Catholic Highlanders felt a degree of loyalty to
James, and his dethroning led to a very short-lived Highland rebellion which soon lost steam after its leader was killed in battle.
7 The catalyzing event was the Glencoe Massacre in 1692, which still holds a mythical aspect in Scotland today. The massacre was organized by the new king’s minister for Scotland, John Dalrymple, when a Highland clan, the MacDonalds of
Glencoe, were late in swearing allegiance to the new king. After unwittingly providing their attackers with hospitality for two weeks, the MacDonalds, women and children included, were
6 William B. Willcox and Walter L. Arnstein. The Age of Aristocracy: 1688-1830 , vol. 3 of A History of
England. (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2001). 5.
7 Cliff Hanley. History of Scotland . (London: Lomond Books, 1986), 71-72.
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massacred by their guests during the night. It was remarkable not for the number of dead but for the appalling manner in which it was carried out.
8
Word got out by way of some survivors of the “most wicked and execrable design,” and the result was outrage throughout Scotland as well a notable political disaster for the government in Edinburgh.
9
Some anger was directed at the Scottish government and William himself, but it is clear that most Scots at the time did not hold William personally responsible for the massacre and instead blamed his ministers in Scotland.
10 The main significance of this event was to harden the sense of Scottish nationality in the Highlands, and particularly to further endear them to the
Stuart line of James VII of Scotland. This sentiment would play out over the next several decades until it was brutally snuffed out in the Highland Clearances after the Battle of Culloden in 1745.
Aside from issues of the revolution, the 1690’s were still a decade that had a huge impact on how the Scots viewed their nation. To the Scottish at the time their nation seemed on the verge of economic collapse.
11
Its commerce was crippled by England’s Navigation Acts, which severely hampered any trade Scotland might have with England or any of England’s colonies.
Furthermore, England barred on any trade with France during the periodic wars between the two.
12 Scotland’s merchant fleet was thus totally at the will of England’s navy.
13 Scotland was particularly irritated by this factor contributing to their economic problems, because they felt their own king was supporting policies that hurt his Scottish subjects gravely in favor of the
8 Schama, The Wars of the British: 1603-1776 , 329.
9 To the King’s Most Excellent Majesty, the humble Address of the General Assembly of the Church of
Scotland. 1692.
10 Gallienus redivivus, or, Murther will out: being a True Account of the Dewiting of Glencoe . Edinburgh,
1695, 6-7.
11 T.C. Smoot, “The Anglo-Scottish Union of 1707. I. The Economic Background,” The Economic History
Review 16, no.3 (1964).
12 T.M. Devine, The Scottish Nation . (New York: Viking Penguin, 1999), 5.
13 Murray Pittock. Scottish Nationality . Palgrave: New York, 2001, 53.
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English.
14
William pledged, through his ministers, that he cared about their welfare and would work for their foreign policy, but did not have the intention to do so.
15 In actuality he supported polices by the English government that hurt Scotland’s commerce, such as denying Scotland access to England’s mercantilist empire. Scotland’s sovereign ruled them from a foreign capital, with foreign advisors. This frustration gave way to anger towards England, and as a result strengthened the idea of an independent Scotland. This pattern would repeat itself in the coming years.
An even greater problem for the Scottish economy had its roots in agriculture. Near the end of the 17 th
century the people were suffering through the worst famine in Scottish history.
16
Four years of ruined harvests in the 1690’s resulted in five percent of Scotland’s total population dying of starvation.
17
Another ten percent emigrated, and those that were left had trouble making ends meet.
18 The economy was a total disaster as a result. These economic problems caused a feeling of self-doubt among the Scots. They looked to their wealthy neighbor to the south and couldn’t help but compare it to their own miserable state. In addition to the degrading overseas trade and agricultural situation, there was widespread unemployment and a national treasury practically empty of funds. A great part of Scotland, particularly the merchant class, began to criticize itself for having chronic problems with its economic institutions.
19 Some Scots
14 Colin Kidd, “Protestantism, Constitutionalism, and British Identity under the later Stuarts,” in British
Consciousness and Identity , ed. By Brendan Bradshaw and Peter Roberts (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
1998), 331.
15 The Speech of John Marquis of Tweedle, His Majesty’s High Commissioner, to the Parliament of
Scotland, on Thursday the Ninth of May, Edinburgh, 1695 .
16 Schama, The Wars of the British: 1603-1776 , 330.
17 Christopher Harvie, Scotland and Nationalism . (London: George Allen & UNWIN, 1977), 64.
18 Devine, The Scottish Nation , 6.
19 Colin Kidd, “North Britshness and the Nature of 18 th Century British Patriotism,” The Historical Journal
39, no.2 (June 1996), 360.
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even blamed Scotland for not being devout enough, claiming the famine was a punishment from
God.
20
Many of the fears over chronic economic crisis were probably unwarranted, for a famine in a country where eighty to ninety percent of the people work in agriculture is bound to cause major problems in even the most capably run state.
21
On the other hand the famine was detrimental to the nation’s sense of pride because it meant they were failing at what Scots at the time called the, “worthy, noble, and excellent employment,” that is, agriculture.
22 Regardless, it was not only the 1690’s that sent some Scots to bitterly eye the English success, but centuries of poverty. Still, despite the worries such an economic downturn would bring to a nation, the Scots at the time seem to have been remarkably defiant. Common sense dictates that all these problems must have created a sense of self-doubt, and many scholars have noted this as a major cause of Scottish acceptance of union. But the primary sources of this era give evidence to continued defiance on the part of most Scots. Very little was written by Scots at the time that points to an abandonment of Scottish identity.
Just as Scotland was suffering its worst economic plight in history, its saving grace came in the form of a scheme that might somehow give it the economic security the Scots had always dreamed of. At the same time it would give them the power to finally return to complete independence from the meddling English. Their dream came in the form of a risky scheme to create a Scottish colony in the Americas.
20 A Call to Scotland for Threatening Famine , Edinburgh, 1698.
21 T.C. Smoot, The Economic History Review , 331.
22 John Hamilton Belhave. The Country-mans Rudiments, or, an Advice to the Farmers of East Lothian, how to labour and improve their Ground . Edinburgh, 1697.
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“
These doors of the seas and the keys of the universe would of course
be capable of enabling their possessors to give laws to both oceans, and to become the arbitrators of the commercial world.”
-William Patterson, 1701 23
The Darien Venture was an attempt by Scotland to form a colony at the Isthmus of
Panama. William Patterson, the founder of the Bank of England, was a successful Scotsman who dreamed of making Scotland economically wealthy and self-sufficient through this trading post.
24
His expectation was that it would act as the center of east-west trade, as ships would enter on the Pacific side, and their goods would be unloaded and taken to the Atlantic side, where they would be loaded on new ships to take to Europe.
25
It would drastically cut down on the time it took to ship goods from the east to the west and thus revolutionize world trade, making a huge profit for the people who ran it. He, and many other Scotsman, dreamed this would bring Scotland from poverty to the “arbiters of the commercial world” in one step.
26
From the start this scheme was entirely run by the Scottish. Almost all the investment came from Scotland and the company that ran it, “The Company of Scotland for Trading to
Africa and the Indies,” was set up by the Scottish Parliament in 1695. There was great momentum behind the idea in Scotland, as people from all economic ranks and from all corners of the nation were said to be extremely excited and fascinated by the idea.
27
In fact, Darien became so entrenched within the spirit of the Scottish nation that one observer reported that, “the whole nation is so universally in favor of this Indian and African Trade that it has become
23 William Patterson. “A Proposal to Plant a Colony in Darien,” letter to His Majesty, first published in
1701. The Writings of William Patterson Founder of the Bank of England. ed. Saxe Bannister. Vol. 1. (New York:
Augustus M. Kelley Publishers, 1968), 159.
24 Hanley, History of Scotland , 75.
25 Ibid., 75.
26 Patterson, “A Proposal to Plant a Colony in Darien,” 1701.
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dangerous for a man to express his thoughts freely on the matter.” 28
The whole city of
Edinburgh was said to have seen the ships off at the nearby port of Leith.
29
The outcome of this expedition was total disaster. A combination of bad planning, horrendous weather, and brutal diseases resulted in utter failure for two attempts between 1698 to 1700.
30
Because of the widespread enthusiasm for its launch, the complete failure resulted in a national trauma. In addition to the hopes of the nation, it sunk most of its money with it as well.
31 As much of one fourth of Scotland’s entire liquid capital, about £153,000, was lost in the venture.
32
In addition to the practical causes of failure on the ground, there were other causes as well, which Scots seemed to emphasize far more at the time. The actions of England during this affair were called, “full of Treachery and Malice against our Country,” “contrary to the Law of
Nations,” and an, “entrenchment upon the sovereignty of Scotland.” 33
What did England do to deserve such harsh words?
England very much wanted to see the Darien venture fail, partially to protect themselves from competition, but mostly to appease a valuable ally in the Spaniards. Spain was furious that
Scotland would dare found a colony right in the middle of their empire, and attacked the colony several times.
34
Spain was in its last gasp as a world power, but it did contribute significantly to the destruction of Darien through its diplomacy in London. In fact, England’s acceptance of
Spain’s view is shown by the title of the comedy quoted at the very beginning of this study,
27 William Ferguson. The Identity of the Scottish Nation . (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press: 1998),
176.
28 Bridget McPhail, Eighteenth Century Life, 130.
29 George Ellis, “Disaster in Darien,” Americas 46, no. 6 (1994), 37.
30 Schama, The Wars of the British: 1603 - 1776, 132.
31 Schama, The Wars of the British: 1603 – 1776 , 332.
32 Devine. The Scottish Nation , 6.
33 George Ridpath.
Scotland’s Grievances relating to Darien: Humbly offered to the Considerations of the
Parliament . (Edinburgh, 1700), 2.
34 Christopher Storrs, “Disaster at Darien (1698-1700)? The Persistence of Spanish Imperial Power on the
Eve of the Demise of the Spanish Hapsburgs,” European History Quarterly 29, no. 1 (1999), 6.
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which includes the subtitle, “as it was acted by His Majesty’s subjects of Scotland, in the King of
Spain’s province of Darien.” 35
English efforts at hindering the project began when the Scottish were looking for investors. The English Parliament forbade all Englishmen from investing in the venture, and then even threatened the city of Hamburg if anyone there invested, after Scottish merchants went to the city to raise capital.
36
By cutting off the supply of investors, the English Parliament hoped to stop the venture before it ever got off the ground. But most harmful was that England’s
Parliament forbade any English merchant, or merchant from any of England’s colonies, from trading with or supplying the colony at Darien.
37
This doomed any attempt of getting help for the failing colony, as the major powers in the region, England and Spain, were united against it.
38
The failure of the colony, and England’s involvement particularly, made a very profound impression on Scotland. It was said that England harbored a “hatred of the Scottish Nation,” and that “some People in England are justly chargeable with the ruin of that colony.” 39
What really hurt the Scots was that, despite the centuries of warfare and animosity, they thought the English would at worst treat them neutrally now that they had the same sovereign. The Company of
Scotland petitioned William to end the restriction of that trade England had put on their colony by writing that the English policies, “… have been Fatal Consequence to our Company and
Colony, and consequently to the Interests of all Your Majesty’s good Subjects in the
35 Caledonia, or The Peddler Turned Merchant. A Tragi=Comedy as it was Acted by His Majesty’s
Subjects of Scotland in The King of Spain’s Province of Darien , 1.
36 Fletcher. A Short and Impartial View of the Manner and Occasion of the Scots colony’s coming away from Darien.
(1699), 12.
37 Fletcher. A Short and Impartial View of the Manner and Occasion of the Scots colony’s coming away from Darien , 14.
38 Devine. The Scottish Nation , 6.
39 An Inquiry into the Causes of the miscarriages of the Scots colony at Darien: submitted to the consideration of the good people of England , (Glasgow, 1700).
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Kingdom.” 40
There was a sense of desperation in their writing, begging their own king to act in his subject’s interest.
The above quotes can only serve to touch the surface of anti-English sentiment in
Scotland after the disaster. The king issued a proclamation offering a reward for the capture of the author of the before quoted An Inquiry into the Causes of the Miscarriage of the Scot Colony at Darien
, which the king called an attempt to, “create a misunderstanding between our good subjects of England and Scotland.” 41 Englishmen in Edinburgh fled with their families for their lives.
42
However not all of their anger was directed at England. It was reported on June 25,
1700 that news of the failure had reached Edinburgh and the people, “made great Bonfires at
Edinburg, during which the mob committed some disorders.” 43
This anger at England greatly overshadowed any self-doubt that emerged. Out of a sense of patriotic pride the Scots were outraged at their mistreatment, and out of a sense of national interest they were more determined then ever that the joint monarchy could no longer work. Yet there were still those handful of powerful Scots who dreamed of what England had to offer them.
They were racked by feelings of deficiency, and knew Scotland’s national interest would ultimately be best served by union. But regardless of how historians can guess that the nation viewed itself, the fact remains that after the failure of Darien, an independent Scotland had only seven years left.
40 The Council-General of the Indian and African Company’s Petition to His Majesty” (Edinburgh, 1699).
41 By the King, a Proclamation: Whereas We have been informed, That a False, Scandalous, and
Traitorous Libel Instituted, An Inquiry into the Causes of the Miscarriage of the Scotch Colony at Darien , London,
1699.
42 Bridget McPhail, Eighteenth Century Life, 133.
43 Post Man , 25 January 1700, (London: Fr. Leach in Grey Fryers, Newgate Street).
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“If we cannot have such Injuries redress’d, we had as good send our
Coronation Oath and the Claim of Right to His Majesty of England in Present, and tell him, that henceforth we will become his most obedient Slaves and Vassals, and will hang our selves whenever he shall be Graciously pleased to send us a Letter and Bow-String for that end.”
-George Ridpath, 1700
44
Despite the economic hit from Darien, the politics surrounding its failure was worse for the Scottish psyche. The Scots saw front and center that with regal union they could never expect to see their interests represented in an independent foreign policy. Their interests were always going to be subservient to the interests of England in the mind of their own king.
The Scottish king was in England, surrounded by English advisors. In the minds of these advisors Scotland was probably rarely of much interest. Evidence for this can be seen in any
London newspaper of the time. The main bulk of the newspapers consisted of stories from capitals around the Europe, but almost never from Edinburgh.
On one rare occasion when there was a story about Scotland, the Englishman writing from Edinburgh referred to Scotland “as this kingdom,” not with any sense that they might be part of the same kingdom.
45
Scotland certainly had some notion that they were one unit in the international system. Evidence for this comes from a declaration by the Company of Scotland where they proclaimed their work was in the name of “His Majesty of Great Britain.” 46
Yet Scotland still felt strongly nationalistic. The history of William Wallace was well know throughout Scotland and highly esteemed, as he was called, “The Most Famous and
Valiant Champion,” in the introduction to one 1699 printing of the centuries old story by Harry
44 Ridpath,
Scotland’s Grievance’s Relating to Darien
, 9.
45 London Gazette , (1696-1700).
46 Caledonia. The Declaration of the Council, constituted by the Indian and African Company of Scotland for the Government and direction of their colonies, and settlement in Indies , (Boston, 1699).
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the Minstrel.
47
William Wallace was a Scottish hero who led the eventually successful resistance to an attempted English annexation of Scotland in the 13 th century. An angry Scottish pamphlet denouncing England’s involvement in Darien actually began with the following quote attributed to Wallace: “For my part I shall cheerfully Sacrifice my Life to die a Free-Man in my Native
Country, which I have so often defended. Nor will I cease to love it, till I cease to Live.” 48
This strong patriotism would continue through the first seven years of the 18 th
century to the Act of Union of 1707. Yet after Darien the Scots were faced with three daunting problems regarding sovereignty, national interest, and economic rivalry.
49
Their sovereignty was undermined by excessive English influence upon their king, their national interest was compromised by having a foreign policy constrained from such a king, and they were on the losing end of economic rivalries in mercantilist Europe. To some leading Scots, union with
England seemed the answer to all of these problems. Their interests would be aligned with
England, with access to England’s trading empire as the biggest payoff. Now it was union with
England that seemed to be the saving grace for Scotland’s economic problems of the time.
50
This debate was sparked almost immediately after Darien when England passed the Act of Settlement in 1701.
51
It provided for the Hanover Succession of the English throne if the
Stuart line died with Anne. What was so incendiary about this act was that the English assumed that Scotland would decide to adopt the same monarch as England and thus maintain the union of the crowns. The Scottish were outraged, seeing this as final proof that England viewed Scotland as little more than an appendage of the English crown under the regal union.
52
In response,
47 Harry the Minstrel. The Life and Acts of the Most Famous and Valiant Champion, Sir William Wallace .
Glasgow: Printed by Robert Sachs, 1699.
48 Ridpath. Scotland’s Grievances Relating to Darien . 1.
49 David Armitage, “Making the Empire British,” Past & Present 155, (1997), 58.
50 Ibid., 54.
51 Willcox and Arnstein. The Age of Aristocracy 1688-1830 . 12.
52 Kidd. British Consciousness and Identity . 331.
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Scotland’s Parliament passed the Act of Security, in 1704. It provided that Scotland would not choose the same successor as England after Anne’s death, unless substantial reforms were made to the regal union.
53
England was furious over the Act of Security. They passed the Alien Act in 1705, providing that all Scots would be treated as aliens in England, with all their exports excluded from England and its empire unless Scotland embarked on negotiations for union or accepted the
Hanover line for their throne.
54 By this time, England had grown accustomed to having a neutral nation on their northern frontier, and decided they could not tolerate the possible return of a security threat on their own island.
It was the Alien Act that finally pushed the debate among the Scottish ruling class in the direction of union. No other option would be economically viable. Two years later, in a close vote, the Scottish Parliament voted to disband itself and form a political union with England.
But the Scottish public was still dead set against union. There was wide-spread anti-union rioting throughout, Scotland and in the days before the vote, Scots were “coming to Edinburgh in considerable numbers, and tumultuous manner, from several corners of this kingdom.”
55
The
Scottish Parliament passed a proclamation out of apparent nervousness that prohibited, “such unwarrantable and seditious convocating of our leidges.” 56
It is very apparent that the masses of Scotland remained very enthusiastic regarding their
Scottish identity in these years, with a very strong drive for independence. However, the handful of powerful Scots reacted differently. The economic problems pushed them towards England to
53 Ibid., 331.
54 Ibid., 331.
55 Daily Currant . 4 January 1707. London: Printed by Sam Buckley at the Dolphin in Little Briton.
56 Ibid., 4 Jan. 1707.
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adopt an English political and economic identity.
57
The elites rejected the Scottish political and economic institutions and values for having failed them, and instead adopted a English identity.
Yet at the same time they held on intensely to their Scottish cultural, linguistic, and religious identity.
58
It is easy to overemphasize the feelings of self-doubt in the national psyche, because it provides a convenient reason for why Scotland accepted union. But if one is looking for the causes of union they would be better served by looking at other parts of the larger picture such as the political and economic factors. Self-doubt was eclipsed by feelings of national pride in most of Scotland. This era was characterized far more by a fierce sense of nationhood, as the failures sparked a sense of defiance more than a sense of downfall. The facts bear this out as much of
Scotland’s institutions, such as the justice system and education system, remained unique to
Scotland under the political union. It seems unlikely such governance would stay in Scottish hands if Scotland had whole-heartedly accepted the English political and economic identity.
Union remained very unpopular in Scotland for several years after 1707. In fact the
British Parliament, dominated of course by representation from a more populous England, came within four votes of repealing union in 1713 because the Scots remained so adverse to the idea.
59
It was not until Scotland began to prosper, several decades after union that the idea became more popular. As for most Scots in the years 1688 to 1707, union was an unquestionably catastrophic idea.
57 Kidd. The Historical Journal . 359.
58 Ibid., 359.
59 Pittock. Scottish Nationality , 53.
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