This thesis is concerned with the government, the State, and the Highlands and Islands. At the core of the research are the changing attitudes of the Scottish Office to a comprehensive Highland development agency during the period, starting with such hopes in the mid-1930s which were not recognised by the government. The thesis will show there was a long term evolution towards a Highland Development Board in 1965, and that the Board was not just an innovation by the new Labour government of October 1964. It will especially cover the work of John Rollo, his early association with Tom Johnston, and his later success with Lord Malcolm Douglas-Hamilton in creating the Highland Fund Ltd which demonstrated their successful approach to encourage ‘small’ rather than ‘big’ business development in the Highlands & Islands. The role of the Highlands & Islands Advisory Panel will also be shown to be more influential than previously recognised. Concerns were expressed by the Highland Committee at the Scottish Office in 1961 of a lack of emphasis towards Highland development following publication of the Toothill Report and resulting administrative changes, which suggested a preference towards ‘Lowland’ development. On the other hand, with the appointment of Michael Noble as Secretary of State in 1962, the thesis will show a renewed and detailed approach to highland development, especially for transport, Noble’s support for the electricity boards’ merger (later abandoned), and his surprising invitation to Rollo’s Highland Fund to contribute to the government’s policy in 1963 with the Treasury Loan Scheme. By August 1964, the Scottish Office had an ‘excellent foundation on which to build’, if a Highland Board was to be required, but this Conservative development was interrupted by the Labour Party’s electoral success in October. This thesis will show how the Labour government took the pre-election work forward to the statute book.

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The thesis first examines the link between nutrition and disease, focusing on the poor of Edinburgh during the 184Os, a time of economic depression and food shortage. The development of nutritional science and the level of dietary knowledge amongst the medical profession are considered in the light of current nutritional guidelines. An assessment is made of the relationship between the 1947 scurvy epidemic and nutritional deficiency amongst the poor whose diet is then analysed. Institutional diets from contemporary tables of nutrition are subjected to computer analysis and their significance in terms of nutritional status discussed. There follows a description of the living conditions of the poor in the Old Town, emphasising the degree of overcrowding from inward migration and loss of housing stock following the demolition of streets and wynds in the course of city improvements and industrial developments. The history of the city’s water supply is explored and the absence of sewage provision is described in conjunction with an account of the foul bum controversy stressing the fact that the lack of water in the Old Town was critical in creating the fetid and hazardous environment where only the most primitive and inadequate methods of sanitation existed. Finally epidemic disease is studied, concentrating on the fever epidemics of 184 1- 44, 1847-49 and the cholera outbreak of 1848-49 but reviewing also the lesser epidemics of measles, whooping cough and scarlet fever. The history of the identification of typhus fever, relapsing fever and typhoid fever and their causation is described and the contagion-miasma debate is examined, assessing the contribution of Edinburgh physicians to the question. The lack of statistical information on Edinburgh’s morbidity and mortality is one of the factors discussed in a critical appraisal of the reaction of the medical profession and the city administration to these epidemics and to the social conditions in the midst of which they worked but few lived. In studying the cholera outbreak a database of 740 cholera victims has been prepared from the cholera returns maintained by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh and the information contained therein evaluated.

The intellectual legacy of Andrew Melville (1545-1622) as a leader of the Renaissance and a promoter of humanism in Scotland is as complex as the man himself.  In an effort to reassess Melville’s role in the intellectual life of late sixteenth and early seventeenth century Scotland, this thesis situates him within the broader context of the northern European Renaissance in general and French humanism in particular.  A careful and in-depth analysis of Melville’s early years in Scotland, his time in Paris, Poitiers, and Geneva is conducted to determine the ways his intellectual and religious culture shaped his life, relationships, literary productions, and subsequent academic career.  In addition, this work places Melville within his vast network of humanist associates in Scotland during his time in Glasgow and St. Andrews and offers new insights into the 1577 <i>nova erectio</i> as well as his other literary compositions. Furthermore, an evaluation has been offered of his humanist associations and writing during his imprisonment in the Tower of London and his years of banishment in Sedan.  By thoroughly exploring the elite humanist culture in which he was trained and in which he laboured from his early days in Montrose to his final days in Sedan, a fresh evaluation has been made of his role as a purveyor of the New Learning in Scotland, a promoter of the <i>studia humanitatis </i>of the Renaissance, and a cultivator of <i>bonae litterae</i>.  This work also provides a new look at the primary historical source on the life and work of Andrew Melville, namely James Melville’s <i>Autobiography and Diary</i>, as well as an examination of the largely overlooked <i>Melvini epistolae</i>, a collection of Melville’s own correspondence with his nephew and other authors.

Historiographical understanding of the Convention of the Royal Burghs of Scotland in the late seventeenth century has advanced little since a spate of interest in the institution in the early twentieth century. This is despite the development of research in other, related areas of Scottish history in the same period. This thesis helps to resolve this problem in demonstrating the importance of the convention in the period 1651- 1688 in two main areas whilst having much wider significance for understanding later seventeenth-century Scotland. Firstly, it shows that the royal burghs were committed to cooperative action. Although the crown was increasingly assuming responsibilities previously held by the convention, the burghs continued to see the importance of membership and participation in it, despite its inability to respond decisively to their increasing economic difficulties, a situation on which this thesis sheds much light. Their collective stance protected their relative independence, despite losing some of their privileges to an aggressively acquisitive landowning class. The burghs carefully used and regulated Edinburgh’s dominant position within the convention to ensure that they could be as effective as possible in these areas without allowing Edinburgh to always have its own way. Secondly, the thesis demonstrates that the convention played an important part in national politics despite an apparent decline in influence. Under the English occupation in the 1650s it was one of the very few national institutions to survive and it was successful in lobbying for the burghs’ interests and also as a consultative body for the regime. It continued to play an important role in national politics after the Restoration, enabling the burghs to present a single voice in parliament and before the king and his privy council, officers of state and commissioner. Although it was not always successful, it was even willing to take a stance in direct opposition to the crown, and its influence is demonstrated as increasing crown intervention in burgh affairs, often taken as a sign of royal absolutism, was accompanied with concessions aimed at ensuring urban support for royal policy.

This thesis examines the origins and development of Scottish parliaments between 1124 and 1329. Previous historians have judged that parliaments formed no place within Scotland before 1290 and no frequent roIe until the reign of Robert I. By examining the membership, business and frequency of early governmental bodies, a more thorough portrayal of their growth has been constructed. Chapter 1 directly compares the minority governments for Alexander III, and for Lady Margaret and the guardianship. This highlights the influence of the absence of an adult king over developing parliaments, countering the portrayal of actual parliaments held extensively during Alexander Ill's minority while showing how the guardians defined their institution due to a closer relationship with England. Chapter 2 examines English influences on the Scottish parliament, from Henry III' s involvement as father-in-law of Alexander III, to Edward I's overlordship between 1296 and 1306. Chapter 3 examines the role of parliament under John, showing the frequent meetings used to re-establish the kingship and resist Edward I's encroachment. Chapter 4 looks at the sporadic use of parliaments during the second guardianship, and how they were employed to counter the English administration and maintain Scottish authority. Chapters 5, 6 and 7 look at the reign of Robert I, who made parliaments an essential part of government, held with increasing frequency, expanded business and a more defined membership. In conclusion, there is significant evidence to show that parliaments not only developed across this period, but also held an important role within government and national identity well before the reign of Robert 1. This was where the king took consent and support for his policies, issued judgements or rewarded supporters, and where the community gathered during the absence of an adult monarch to maintain unity and political cohesion.