North Britons : Patriotism and identity in Eighteenth-century ...

Florian D.

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North Britons : Patriotism and identity in Eighteenth-century Scotland

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From the Wars of Independence and the exploits of William Wallace (and even before) to the debates about the Act of Union and the fierce opposition of Andrew Fletcher of Saltoun, it is needless to say that Scottish and English histories have been most closely linked. Though, their relationship, most confrontational for several centuries, had hardly ever been so close as from the time James VI of Scotland succeeded Elisabeth I on the throne of England onwards, or even more obviously from the time of the Union of Parliaments in 1707. Indeed, within a single century (1603-1707) Scotland lost both her distinct King and Parliament in an institutional and political union with her powerful southern neighbour. In this particular context, how could such a significant shift in the course of its history not affect the conscience Scottish society had of itself ?
?Far from experiencing an identity crisis, most eighteenth-century Scots positively welcomed the Anglicization of their institutions?. Once the terms of the discussion have been laid down, it appears at first sight that the interrogation which stands behind this statement is twofold, the main two questions emerging being : Can we really talk about a crisis of identity to characterize best the state of post-Union Scottish society ? Did the latter accept with open arms the Anglicization of its own native institutions ?
Make an attempt at answering such questions is a delicate yet crucial task for whoever wants to understand eighteenth-century Scotland in all its complexity.
Indeed, from the second half of the XVIIth century onwards, the ?Northern Kingdom? experienced a series of such tremendous changes on the political, social, economic as well as cultural levels that a reflection on the existence of an identity crisis within the Scottish people in that period is worth a try. Similarly, and in order to go further into the analysis, one must wonder how the Scots did react to their integration into what was from then on called Great Britain, and above all how they lived through the almost inevitable movement of Anglicization which deeply marked Scottish life throughout the XVIIIth century. It seems obvious to say that these two interrogations are highly interwoven. In the last analysis, these two questions merge to form the key-question which stands out as the ultimate one : did a brand new Scottish identity emerge within Great Britain in the course of the XVIIIth century ?

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[...] Devine, Edinburgh T.M. Devine, The Scottish Nation 1700-2000, Penguin Herbert Atherton, Political prints in the age of Hogarth T.M. Devine, The Scottish Nation 1700-2000, Penguin T.M. Devine, The Scottish Nation 1700-2000, Penguin P.Womack, Improvement and romance: constructing the myth of the Highlands, London Kenneth Simpson, The Protean Scot, The crisis of identity in eighteenth-century Scottish literature, Aberdeen University Press Chapter 2. T.C. Smout, Problems of nationalism, identity and improvement in later eighteenth-century Scotland in Improvement and Enlightenment, Ed. T.M. [...]

[...] Though these two statements must not mislead us: ?patriotic indignation and wounded pride were unlikely to disturb the union by this period[12]?. The Scottish nobility merchant classes as well as the Intelligentsia had too much to lose to afford to protest against the English antipathy: the Union had brought wealth and the opportunity to pursue more than provincial careers and most Scots were well aware of that. As a result, T.M. Devine suggests that the Scottish elites gradually developed a dual allegiance: on the one hand they showed political loyalty to Britain (we may think of James Thomson's ?Rule Britannia? but also of the streets' names in Glasgow and Edinburgh . [...]

[...] In order to deal with this problem, the ?Select Society? proposed to import qualified English elocution teachers to provide instruction[10]: the ultimate goal of such an approach was the ironing out of the barbarous Scotticisms, as they called it, that might have betrayed a provincial origin. What was at stake for these upper and middle class Scots is crystal clear: it deals with the lucrative career opportunities the integration of Scotland into Great Britain and its vast Empire had brought. Those who could get reliable connections in London were likely to earn a lot of money and make huge profits. [...]

[...] Smout, A History of the Scottish People 1560-1830, Fontana T.M. Devine, The Scottish Nation 1700-2000, Penguin T.M. Devine, The Scottish Nation 1700-2000, Penguin Rosalind Mitchinson is quoted in T.M. Devine, The Scottish Nation 1700- 2000, Penguin T.M. Devine, The Scottish Nation 1700-2000, Penguin T.M. Devine, The Scottish Nation 1700-2000, Penguin T.C. Smout, Problems of nationalism, identity and improvement in later eighteenth-century Scotland in Improvement and Enlightenment, Ed. [...]

[...] In this particular context, how could such a significant shift in the course of its history not affect the conscience Scottish society had of itself? from experiencing an identity crisis, most eighteenth-century Scots positively welcomed the Anglicization of their institutions?. Once the terms of the discussion have been laid down, it appears at first sight that the interrogation which stands behind this statement is twofold, the main two questions emerging being: Can we really talk about a crisis of identity to characterize best the state of post-Union Scottish society ? Did the latter accept with open arms the Anglicization of its own native institutions? [...]

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North Britons : Patriotism and identity in Eighteenth-century Scotland

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Derniers documents en histoire contemporaine : XIXe, XXe et XXIe