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No description available.

The period 1573 to 1603 offers a unique opportunity for the study of power politics in Scotland and an assessment of the place of these politics in the lives of those who mattered most politically, the nobility. When the forces of the government of Scotland, under the leadership of Regent Morton on behalf of the infant king', James, succeeded in capturing the castle of Edinburgh from the remnant of Queen Mary's party in Scotland, the long struggle between kingsmen and queensmen was over. It was, indeed, more than the kingsrnen/queensmen struggle which was thus ended, for Edinburgh Castle had been captured only with English aid, so that the split from France and the turning towards England which had both been occasioned by and had helped to occasion the Reformation in Scotland, were confirmed. Despite English fears, Scotland never fell under French influence to any great extent hereafter and the likelihood of her so doing was diminished by the union of the crowns in 1603. With the drawn-out struggle of the civil war years behind them, those who governed Scotland, essentially kingsmen, had to illustrate whether or not they were able for the task of restoring peace to the divided country. It also remained to be seen whether their government would be impartial or whether the; would use their position of authority to prosecute the more effectively, quarrels, both private and public which had their origins in the divisions of the civil war years. This situation lands itself to an investigation of how the nobility, in particular, had aligned themselves in the events of these past civil war years. In assessing the impartiality of the new government it will be necessary to investigate how far such disputes as inevitably came into being arose from the earlier divisions and how far from actions undertaken after peace had been restored. The starting point of this study, then, is taken to be the fall of Edinburgh Gastlo in May 1573, which completed the process of establishing peace which the pacification of Perth of February in the same year had more than adequately began. This pacification had ended the immediate allegiance to Queen Mary of many of her most powerful supporters, others of whom drifted over to the government in the months before the fall of the castle. The oastle indeed held only a handful of important men by the time of its surrender. Of these men, Maitland of Lethington soon died, perhaps by his own hand, Kirkcaldy of Grange and others were executed while such as Lord Hume were warded. This meant that the hard core of the Marian party formed a section of the nobility with grievances against the government but it remained to be seen whether the irreconcilables would be limited to this small number, who consequently would be unable to do anything about the grievances, or would be enlarged to include more of those who had been in the queen's party. Clearly, then, the continuation or otherwise of the strife and divisions of the civil war years would have a fundamental bearing on the success and continence of the new government. The reason;for the selection of the closing date for this study are obvious, of course, for with the union of the crowns and the establishment of the king in London, Scotland was without a resident monarch and court, at least on any permanent basis. Consequently this period of thirty years provides the last possible opportunity for a study of the actions and motives of the Scots nobility on their soil with reference to almost purely Scottish problems and in company with, if occasionally in opposition to, their resident monarch. The period is thus uniquely wedged between a civil war and the ending of the residence of the monarchy in Scotland.

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No description available.

A study of the background to the career of Cosmo George, third Duke of Gordon, 1720-52, whose short life illustrates a period of change in the life of Scottish nobility, and a shift in emphasis from Edinburgh to London. The first chapters give a short sketch of the history of the Gordon family, and a description of the estate at the beginning of the 18th century. The duke's residence, Gordon Castle, is described, the building and alterations, along with the contents - furniture, silver, pictures and books, horses and stables, gardens and park. Details are given of the household, its size, organisation, discipline, duties and wages, and the supply and consumption of food and drink. The duke's occupations in the country are discussed, along with female pursuits, the making of clothes, illness and medicine, and visiting neighbours. The next section deals with the duke's visits to Edinburgh, the journey from Gordon Castle, purchases, occupations, food and drink. Much of the duke's adult life was spent in England, and the accounts afford a comparison with life at Gordon Castle. This section begins with an account of the journey from Edinburgh to London, details of the household, what was eaten and drunk, both at home and in taverns, the London house, the purchase of furniture for it, and life at Enfield, the duke's country house. His occupations in London are detailed, attendance in the House of Lords, and entertainments, along with purchases, both for immediate use and to be sent home to Scotland, medicines and visits to spas. Finally the duke's foreign tours are discussed, in Holland, the Low Countries and France. Comparisons are used to show up similarities or differences, from the lives of other Scottish peers, mainly the Breadalbanes, Hopetouns, Seafields and Marchmonts.

This thesis sets out to record and explain the opposition to the use of alcohol in 19th century Scotland and its implications for social attitudes and legislation. Section I (three chapters) explains the nationalpreference for spirits and emphasises the importance of qualitative changes in alcohol use such as the divergence in the drinking habits of the middle and working classes. The motivation for working class drinking is explored by means of a comparison of two occupational groups, the miners and fishermen. Section II (three chapters) considers society's awareness of the drink question and the reaction of different social groups to it. Indifference to the problem in the 1830s gave way to widespread concern in the 1840s manifested among working people by support for total abstinence societies and among the middle classes by demands for stricter legislative controls. Section III (three chapters) examines the progress of the temperance movement in the second half of the century. The division between licensing reformers and prohibitionists is explained in terms of different views about the social orientation of the movement. It is shown how political involvements after 1868 led to the gradual reconciliation of former rivals. Section IV (one chapter) traces the change in the position of the Churches on the temperance question from an attitude of indifference to a leading role in the campaign for temperance reform by the end of the century. Section V (two chapters) looks at the extent and social basis of support for the temperance movement and the activities of temperance organisations. It indicates that support for the movement had not yet begun to decline by 1900 and that the movement received much of its support from groups at the margin of the middle and working classes. The activities of temperance societies provide an interesting example of the use of recreation and the arts in the service of social reform.

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This study identifies, and takes issue with, a trend of idealism within traditional Scottish history. This trend causes the explanatory objects of most comments on the Scottish Poor Law to be constructed in terms of the criteria, largely unquestioned, of twentieth century welfare. By contrast, the explanatory object of this work locates the Scottish Poor Law, as it was amended in 1845, outwith the terrain of 'Social Welfare' and attempts instead, to understand the operation of the 'new' Poor Law as both an ideological, and an institutional dimension of the State's organisation of life and labour in the late nineteenth century. I shall argue that much Scottish history is fettered by a consideration of the 'omissions' of the New Scottish Poor Law, and, as a result, fails to consider important aspects of Poor Relief. At an empirical level, I shall suggest, from an analysis of the data from a 'corner' of Scottish Poor Relief, that, in its daily practice, the New Poor Law did engage with at least an important section of the urban proletariate. From this, the emphasis of my study is to examine, firstly, the way in which, in its operation, the Poor Law gained some 'consensus' in the face of the harsh facts of poverty. I shall argue that a crucial element in this was the way in which the practice of Poor Relief 'organised' two powerful images in Victorian Scotland: the 'family' and the 'parish'. Secondly, I shall suggest that in its day-to-day practice, Poor Relief in Victorian Scotland can be understood as 'discipline' for paupers.

No description available.