This thesis explores the notion of gentility among wealthy women in Virginia from 1750 to 1850 by comparing it to Scottish Enlightenment-inspired codes of politeness practiced among the Scottish gentry residing in Edinburgh, the Highlands, and London in the same era. It analyzes how books that taught the codes of polite morality, here referred to as didactic literature, were read by genteel, young women in Scotland and Virginia and the ways in which this literature was applied to their education, courtship practices, and social behaviors. Scots and Virginians in this era were linked through migration patterns, correspondence between families, and a transatlantic book trade, but they were also linked through the interpretation of politeness. The polite manners of genteel individuals in Britain, instilled as a part of Scottish moral philosophy, were adopted by many who aspired to gentility in America, but original, archival research has indicated that this was especially true among the elites of Virginia society from the middle of the eighteenth to the middle of the nineteenth centuries. This comparison serves to emphasize the connection between Virginian and Scottish standards of politeness, indicating similarities in the interpretation of politeness, but also a divergence over time as a result of the influences of the American Revolution and evangelical religion. It has concluded that, by the middle of the nineteenth century, while the standards of didactic literature did not entirely disappear with regards to shaping Scottish manners, the codes taught in conduct books and instructive novels of an earlier era were more widely regarded in Virginia and came to form a uniquely Virginian interpretation of politeness.

The aim of this thesis is to examine the assumption that Norse settlement in western maritime Scotland was substantially less extensive and influential than in more northerly parts of the maritime zone. This assumption is based on comparison of the apparent ratios of Norse to Gaelic farm-names in these areas; and the observation that the inhabitants of the former were Gaelic-speaking in both the Early Historic and Later Medieval periods. In view of the virtual hiatus in the documentary record between c.AD 750 and c.AD 1150 and the unqualified nature of the place-name ratios, it is suggested that such evidence is misleading. The investigation which follows comprises a detailed case-study of the island of Islay. Although use is made of environmental, archaeological, historical and fiscal data, the main focus is on place-names. Emphasis is placed throughout on the processes by which names become implanted in the landscape and the factors which affect their survival afterwards. There are three sections. Background material for the study of Norse settlement is presented in the first. This includes: a detailed examination of the physical environment, an ethno-linguistic profile for the preNorse community and a review of the evidence for Norse activity in Islay specifically within the context of western maritime Scotland generally. Aspects of Dalriadan and Norse society are highlighted which prompt critical re-appraisal of theories on Norse settlement. It is suggested that this process was not without friction. It may have involved a certain amount of violent depopulation and almost certainly led to social dichotomisation between the Norse incomers and remaining natives. Section two comprises a theoretical and methodological introduction to place-name studies. Following an overview of basic theory, Islay sources and previous approaches to Norse settlement, a model is presented for the study of Islay's Norse place-names. While use is made of both habitative and nature names, the framework selected as most appropriate is Stephen MacDougall's map of 1749-51. As this provides typologically uniform coverage of all of the island's farm-districts from a period preceding the agrarian reforms and settlement re-organisation of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, it is more likely to reflect the settlement patterns and nomenclature of the Middle Ages than later yet more detailed sources. The third section, which constitutes the bulk of the thesis, concentrates on analysis of the place-name data presented in Appendices I and II. There are two main parts to this section. The linguistic back-ground, economic potential and spatial characteristics of individual farm-districts are examined in the first. Contrary to previous assumptions, it is noted that farm-districts with Norse names are spread fairly evenly across all land-types on the island. They are not primarily coastal, restricted to enclaves or less likely to include Iron Age fortifications than those with Gaelic names. Analysis of the distribution and linguistic categorisation of the nomenclature in view of post-Norse historical developments suggests that many of the island's Gaelic settlement names are the result of prestige immigration in the It century or later. This hypothesis is supported by linguistic investigation of the more common habitative generics shown on MacDougall's map. Magnus Olsen's User-group theory is then applied to the typology and distribution of ON nature-name material. It is argued that this too supports the idea of widespread Norse language use being replaced by a reintroduction of Gaelic and Gaelic naming practices. The second part of this section comprises an examination of land and territorial divisions. The fiscal 'extents' of later medieval and early modem Islay have long been considered anomalous in a Hebridean context. Examination of the historical and fiscal sources in conjunction with a geometric analysis of the farm-districts on MacDougall's map, suggests that Islay may once have been divided into the 'ounceland' units more familiar from surrounding areas. These findings are then developed in the context of ecclesiastic organisation. While certain aspects of Islay's later medieval parish system appear to reflect the military districts of the Senchus fer nAlban, it is argued that these survived through the intermediary of an Orcadian style leiðangr system of naval defence. It is concluded that while the Norse impact on Islay was less long-lived than in more northerly parts of maritime Scotland, it was not necessarily any less intense or destructive with regards to the pre-existing ethno-linguistic identity.

This thesis seeks to understand and theorise the process of penal transformation, using changes in penal policy within post-devolution Scotland as a case study. It is based on an in-depth analysis of the evolution, passage and implementation of the Management of Offenders etc. (Scotland) Act 2005, including interviews with key players at each stage of the process (politicians, civil servants, practitioner groups) and documentary analysis. The thesis draws on Kingdon’s multiple streams framework to explain how rapid changes in policy can occur. Kingdon argued that the greatest changes occur when a policy window is opened which allows three independent streams which run through policy at any one time, politics, problems and policies, to become joined (1995). However the thesis argues that to account fully for transformation, this framework needs to be developed to incorporate analysis of institutional structures which provide the most compelling explanation for the factors which lead to, escalate and impede change. Although structures are central in this analysis however, this thesis shows how both structure and agency are important in penal change: institutional structure forms the parameters in which political choice is made. Pre-devolution policy-making was carried out in partnership between civil servants and agencies and the rate of change was incremental. Post-devolution criminal justice policy-making has been thrust into a volatile and politicised environment, although this has varied under the different administrations thus far. The primary reason for the accelerated rate of change that occurred following devolution was because of the creation of new democratic structures which provided the means and the incentives to create rapid change but it also involved explicitly political choices by key members of the Scottish Executive. Somewhat paradoxically, once change was instigated, the structure of post-devolution political institutions became critical in mitigating the pace and rate of change. The existence of PR electoral arrangements together with the relative decentralisation of power (in relation to the ownership of criminal justice services) meant that change had to be achieved through negotiation and compromise. Institutional structure is also important in the extent of the Parliament’s ability to form any meaningful veto point on executive power. Overall it was new democratic structures combined with a political capacitybuilding project and the availability of a politicised approach to law and order from England and Wales which could be easily translated to Scotland, which together, explain the period of rapid change in Scotland during this time.

Over the last generation scholars have demonstrated the fundamental importance of astrology in the early modern European worldview. While detailed studies have been undertaken of England and many areas of continental Europe, the Scottish experience has been almost completely overlooked. This thesis seeks to address that gap in the literature and recover a lost dimension of early modern Scottish intellectual life, one that was central and influential for a considerable period of time. The thesis examines the place of, and perceptions about, astrology in Scotland ca. 1560-1726. It demonstrates that despite well-worn arguments against it on theological, theoretical, moral-psychological and effectiveness grounds, astrology was largely accepted throughout all sectors of Scottish society until at least the final quarter of the seventeenth century. Opportunities to learn about it were widespread after the Reformation. As evidenced by student notebooks, it was taught in all of the universities, whose library contents reflect the subject's importance, and it was readily available to a large proportion of the populace through almanacs and other popular literature. Its uses, too, were widespread and various. Medical practitioners, both qualified and non-qualified, drew on it as a diagnostic, prognostic and therapeutic guide and natural philosophers used it to ponder the phenomena and cycles of nature and human chronology. For those involved in negotiating the environment it was an aid to the timing of activities, while individuals interested in predicting future events and conditions could attempt to do so using the rather more suspect judicial astrology. By the last two decades of the seventeenth century, however, astrology was losing credibility among the educated, and the thesis examines and evaluates the factors that contributed to this, which include the ousting of scholasticism from academia by new approaches to understanding the natural world, the increasingly tainted image of the astrologer and the difficulty, if not impossibility, of subjecting astrology to the new experimental methods of the virtuosi.

This thesis is concerned with the heart of Caithness, the northernmost region of mainland Scotland. Based on 18 months participant observation in the coastal village of Lybster and the surrounding area, it explores concepts of kinship and belonging. The thesis examines characters, places, and events in both everyday and ritual settings. I trace the creation and maintainence of community, and the construction and blurring of the boundaries of belonging as well as paths of social transformation. I examine how Caithnessians perceive themselves as 'strangers' in their own nation, thus creating increasingly localized ties that bind. Significant in all of this, in a locality where migration has historically been important, is an analysis of how 'others' and their identities play a constitutive role in the self-identification processes of Caithnessians. I consider ascribed and achieved ways of belonging - the genealogical and performative journeys that are involved in fitting into this locality. I examine the contradictions, nuances, and negotiations that are evident in definitions of selves and others and the constitutive relationship between them. All of this is part of a wider investigation into how people conceptualise themselves and others. I argue that what I have called ‘island-mindedness’ characterises the identities of this mainland population and leads to a side-stepping of national identity. In the context of current research on the nation, such ethnographic illumination of the complexity of notions of identity in specific regions is essential for a rounded anthropological understanding of Scotland. By offering a close exploration of a community based on kinship, this thesis aims to illuminate new ways of approaching the nuances of everyday life. I suggest that it is in the encounters of everyday life - more than in claims and categories - that identity work and kinship are most complex and most meaningful.

National museums are spaces where stories of the past are told through the display and interpretation of material culture. The narratives that are created in this way reflect the ways in which the nation wants to be seen at that particular moment, and are often embedded in the larger political and social contexts of that time. This thesis looks at the National Museum of Scotland as having three levels of narrative: that of the museum as a physical space and national institution, that of the temporary exhibitions it hosts and develops, and, most crucially, as a collection of important and iconic objects. By tracing the artefacts that were given a central role in various exhibitions over the life of the museum, the narratives of nation and history which were most valuable at that time can be uncovered. The two permanent and five temporary exhibitions profiled in this work act as windows into the life of the museum, and the goals and challenges it had at that moment. The thesis begins with the story of museum history in Scotland, from the 1780 formation of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland to the debates in the 1990s about the potential form and contents of a new Museum of Scotland. From there we look at two temporary exhibitions in the 1980s which inspired the Museum of Scotland, before examining some more recent temporary and touring exhibitions – a pair that came to Scotland from Russia, and one that left Edinburgh to travel among other Scottish museums. The final chapter returns to the realm of what it means to have a national museum, as it investigates the 2006 rebranding that changed the Museum of Scotland into the National Museum of Scotland, and what the new nomenclature signals about the objects and narratives within. All together, this work is both the story of a particular national museum and an investigation into the ways in which national history is continuously made and remade for the public through the display of artefacts from the past.

The immense value of the arts has long been recognized by diverse cultures and such recognition has mostly guaranteed their inclusion in educational and school curricula the world over. The arts are considered valuable for numerous reasons, but their inclusion depends on particular interpretations of their merits that may sometimes have failed to realise their full or real potential. Although some ways of valuing the arts date back to antiquity, debates about the value of arts certainly deserve no less consideration in the modern context. Plato was sceptical about the moral value of the arts and regarded them as of dubious educational significance. He thought the arts were more a matter of rhetoric than reason. However, taking a more positive view of the moral power of the arts, Aristotle defended both the arts and rhetoric as potentially contributory to personal formation and the development of moral virtue. At all events, if the arts are to remain educationally defensible, it is arguable that educational theorists and policy makers need to demonstrate their capacity for: (i) objective aesthetic judgement; and (ii) the communication of knowledge and/or truth. Both of these are contentious, as artistic and aesthetic value judgements have often been said to be subjective or personal. In this context, the distinction between judging something as good (which requires reasons) or simply liking it (which does not) is crucial. Here, establishing the objective rational character of the arts seems to be a precondition of demonstrating their potential for knowledge or truth. Arguably, however, there are different respects in which arts may be said to contribute to the development of understanding and appreciation in human agents of themselves, of their relationships with others and of the world, e.g.: (i) aesthetic (sensory) appreciation; (ii) development of imagination; (iii) understanding of aspects of human psychology; (iv) education of the emotions; (v) and moral understanding. In this essay, various philosophical defences of the ‘intrinsic’ (personally formative) educational value of the arts will be drawn from the literature of philosophy and education. Following discussions of ancient arguments for and against the arts, the thesis will discuss at some length defences of the educational value of the arts offered by the American great books tradition, British literary and cultural critics and more recent educational philosophers and theorists. In the final ‘conceptual’ chapter of the thesis, two contemporary works of cinema are discussed to reinforce the key arguments of the thesis. However, having explored the nature and potential of the arts and arts education from a philosophical perspective, this study then seeks to enquire into recent Scottish educational policy developments with reference to the role of arts in arts education and in education more generally through: (i) the exploration of policy documents and official guidelines; and (ii) the voices of interviewees and other research participants involved in Scottish policy making. The thesis will conclude from this enquiry that the educational value and significance of the arts is not adequately appreciated in contemporary Scottish (and perhaps other) educational policy and practice. The study concludes by advocating a return to Aristotle’s conception of the arts as contributory to phronesis (the practical wisdom of virtue), rather than techne (the technical knowledge of skill). Narrow specialisation in forms of training are liable to leave people uninitiated into the wisdom and moral power of the arts –benefits that should ideally be available to all. From the perspective of this thesis, only a broad educational approach that encompasses thorough arts education will result in well-rounded, emotionally intelligent and truly educated human beings.

Making use of knowledge from a wide range of disciplines, this thesis analyses the interactions of culture and economy, particularly regarding the influence of nineteenthcentury historiography, on Shetland’s present-day economic development. Shetland’s local identity concept is strongly influenced by this North Sea archipelago’s Norse history. This is in part the result of the islands’ late nineteenth- and early twentiethcentury national romantic literature, which was inspired by Continental and mainland British trends in anthropology and philology. The theories of fairy origins proposed in the 1890s by the Edinburgh anthropologist David MacRitchie exerted a great influence on Shetland writers. His theories – since shown to be incorrect – led to the historiographic dehumanisation of the islands’ pre-Norse population and permitted the complete valorisation of the Vikings, most notably in the work of the Shetland author Jessie Saxby. Since the 1930s, a variation of MacRitchie’s theory has been repeated in nearly every local book concerning Shetland folk belief. These conceptions of history continue to inform the sense of local identity felt by many Shetlanders. This has come into conflict with the local government’s efforts at place brand, tourism, heritage, and economic development, all of which tie into a broader struggle between fostering Shetland’s national awareness and expanding Shetland’s jurisdictional capacity. Particular attention is paid to how history is used variously by the community to express exclusivity and by the local government to promote inclusivity.

This thesis tackles Presbyterian Church government and the Covenanted interest during the Commonwealth and Protectorate, and for the first time examines the subject in a three kingdoms context.  It reasserts the importance of Presbyterians and their Solemn League and Covenant during the decade.  The first part of the thesis demonstrates that despite their difficult journey during the Commonwealth, Presbyterians in all three kingdoms retained loyalty to the Covenant.  It also highlights Presbyterian attempts to propagate their church government in difficult circumstances. Part two explores these themes further during the Protectorate and argues that Presbyterian Church government was in ascendancy.  The Presbyterian Church in Ulster flourished; there was a revival of Presbyterian Church government in England.  The Scottish kirk, despite English attempts to bring it into line with the Tiers and Ejectors’ system in England, stood and held fast for the traditional practices of the kirk, so much so, it forced a u-turn on certain aspects of English religious policy in Scotland. Lastly and overall, this thesis highlights the continual threat which Presbyterians and their Covenant continued to pose to the English state throughout the 1650s, their relationship with the Royalists in the three kingdoms during the decade, and the confusion of successive regimes over the loyalty of Presbyterians to the English state.  Therefore the thesis constructs a picture whereby Presbyterians and their Covenant were significant elements in religious and political developments in the 1650s.

This thesis investigates past structure and dynamics of native Caledonian pine woodland, representing part of the western fringes of the northern European boreal woodlands. The biogeographical extent and Holocene history of the Scottish pine woods are well studied, yet questions remain at finer scales. This thesis is concerned with two factors over the recent Holocene oceanic period; (i) the long-term ecology within the woods; the spatio-temporal dynamics, the canopy structure, and community composition and continuity; and (ii) the former extent of the woods, especially the temporal pattern of the inferred easterly contraction in woodland over recent history. The importance of these factors - to ecologists, challenged with understanding the theories of equilibrium and non-equilibrium processes in long-lived woodland communities - and to conservation managers - challenged, by policy directives, with implementing the restoration and expansion of native woodlands - is discussed. Equally the identification and quantification of ecological detail over ecologically relevant temporal and spatial scales is an important challenge for palaeoecology. The thesis therefore applies fine spatial resolution pollen analyses over a network of sites, within, and at the western edge of, the extant woodland zone in east Glen Affric. Correlation between these individual site histories develops a detailed view of the grain and extent of woodland within the landscape, previously missing from western pine woods. Careful attention is paid to the interpretive potential and limitations of fine resolution palaeoecology; especially with regard (i) to techniques that can identify and spatially quantify stand-scale structure and community composition via reference to modern analogues; and (ii) to defining chronologies and elucidating rates and patterns of temporal change. The opportunities and limitations of the technique are explored and discussed, to ensure an understanding of the rigour and potential of the palaeoecological contribution to ecological research and to provide an evidence base for conservation. The application of 210Pb dating using the CRS and CIC models is explored. The CRS model is confirmed as suitable for peat deposits, but its use may mask fluctuations in peat sedimentation rate, which may be illustrated by the CIC model. The value of multiple 14C assays for each core and a need for a new approach to chronologies for application to fine-scale palaeecological studies is discussed. The relevant source area around the small basins in this semi-open pinewood is tentatively confirmed at 20 m from the pollen source. Tentative pollen productivity estimates for five key taxa in this ecosystem are presented. The temporal stability of native woodland in Glen Affric is confirmed to the eastern part of the extant woodland zone; but challenged to the west, where the open and semi-open landscape has a long history. Woodland diversity decreased over the last c. 200 years, and past woodland also shows a greater ground flora diversity. The western extent of the Caledonian woodland in this landscape may have changed little in the last c. 4000 years. Fluctuations, some clearly cyclical, in heath, and in woodland, communities are identified in the pollen record. The former may be aligned to changes in grazing regime or climatic shifts; and the latter to autochthonous shifts important in the maintenance of suitable edaphic conditions for the continuity of woodland. Former woodland is confirmed as likely to have been open in structure and mixed in tree species composition. The results presented here suggest that some caution should be applied to use of the term Caledonian, or native ‘pine’ forest: ‘Caledonian forest’ may better reflect the heterogeneity of past forests, particularly the importance, and persistence, of birch. The implications for conservation management and restoration are discussed. It may be difficult to establish a sustainable woodland to the west of the extant stands, and any pine woodland here may need to be mixed with stands of broadleaved trees to maintain or restore soil structure and ecological function. The landscape to the west may have been open for several thousands of years, and consideration of this is required when managing for the future to prevent loss of biodiversity.