Scottish military offensives against England from 1369 were largely the product of governmental policy, and involved the participation of much of the political community of the realm. They were launched with careful timing, taking account of international developments and domestic problems in England. In the reign of Robert II they involved close co-operation with France and succeeded militarily, enabling the Scots to regain English-occupied lands in southern Scotland and achieve diplomatic gains. Military success encouraged the Scots to the point where they were willing to engage in attacks on England beyond the ambition of their French allies. Diplomatic gains, however, fell well short of forcing English recognition of Scottish independence. Hopes of achieving this aim by military means were ended in the reign of Robert III when the Scots were heavily defeated in 1402. English hopes of reconquest were similarly dashed in 1403 when victory in the north brought only severe political unrest. Relations between the realms were never to be so consistently conflictual again. War was not fought, however, with only political objectives in mind or other 'rational' factors such as the quest for financial gain. The Scots went to war, and their leaders organised it, for emotive reasons also, such as hatred of the English and enjoyment of martial endeavour for its own sake. There is no sign that the impact of war in the years under consideration led to the development of a distinctive set of attitudes and mode of social behaviour among the Scottish borderers.

Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of Glasgow, 1987. / Ph.D. thesis submitted to the Department of Scottish History, University of Glasgow, 1987. BLL : D90289/90. Includes bibliographical references. Print version also available.

This thesis explores how the people of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland - a rural region of Britain - engaged with the British Empire in a period commonly referred to as the 'Age of High Imperialism'. It does so by exploring civil society activity in the area, and examines how different aspects of domestic life - religion, politics, culture, associational activity - shaped engagement with the Empire or imperial ideas. Scholarship on the place of the Empire back 'home' in Britain has recently stressed the patchwork nature of imperial engagement, with recognition given to the fact that both British society and the Empire itself were never monolithic entities. A 'Four Nations' approach to empire has been one of the most fruitful outcomes of this new focus, and this body of scholarship has explored how each of the four nations of Britain had different relationships with the Empire, and the impact this had on individual national identities. However, both this body of literature and the wider literature on 'imperial Britain' have remained overwhelmingly urban in focus, and have failed to explore whether the models for empire engagement they portray varied outside of Britain's main urban centres. By exploring the place of the Empire in a predominantly rural region, this study therefore breaks new ground, and in 'thinking regionally' about the place of the Empire in British society it provides a clear challenge to much of the conventional literature on the Empire's impact at home in Britain. In particular, by looking at the issue through a regional prism this thesis challenges both the 'Four Nations' and 'British World' models put forward by historians, by showing clearly that local contexts and local factors often mitigated the applicability of these wider ideas. In the former case, Highland contemporaries rarely celebrated the Scottish dimensions of empire, and instead placed to the fore both their local and regional contributions. In the latter case, many individuals rejected the very notion that a Greater Britain existed across the seas, and both class and language emerge clearly as factors separating the region's lower classes from full engagement with this wider idea. Throughout this study it will be shown that local factors were vital to shaping popular engagement with empire, and that often these factors precluded the spread of cultures of empire, or shaped perceptions of empire in highly negative ways.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2008. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Univ., Diss.--Edinburgh, 2005.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Pennsylvania. / Bibliography: p. 120-128.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Pennsylvania. / Bibliography: p. 120-128.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Harvard University, 1929. / Bibliography: p. [314]-324.