Jacobite History Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Words used to describe the Battle of Culloden have always been written with lurid viscerality, from contemporary reports of the dramatic carnage on the moor to scholarly assessments of its enduring effects, still felt both in Scotland and... more
Words used to describe the Battle of Culloden have always been written with lurid viscerality, from contemporary reports of the dramatic carnage on the moor to scholarly assessments of its enduring effects, still felt both in Scotland and amongst the global community today. To many, it was a sacred last dance that played out over hallowed ground, featuring fateful manoeuvres and noble sacrifices that conjure poignant physical and emotional reactions for those who still flock to visit the field. Some consider Cùil Lodair to have been the death knell of the Highland clan system, and to others it forged the seal on the permanence of union. 275 years later, the myths associated with Culloden are nearly indistinguishable from what we consider to be the facts. Accordingly, myth-busting by both academic and popular historians has become a full-time occupation in the wake of the interest ignited by the Outlander books and television series. Scottish tourism has enjoyed a massive swell in its coffers thanks to this phenomenon alone; Culloden, in a way, has therefore once again put Scotland back on the map and at the forefront of broader collective thoughts about the nation’s future. The battlefield and visitor centre remains a site of pilgrimage for tourists, re-enactors, annual commemorators, and those members of the global diaspora who have ‘come home’. Pitched hostilities continue to be waged to either build upon or preserve the land that formed the context of the battle. Many know the story of the action and what took place in the years afterward, but why we do we still care about the Battle of Culloden nearly three centuries on? This short talk will offer some thoughts about our memory of historical Jacobitism and why this windswept moorland still means so much to so many today.
In this paper, I would like to argue that the Duchy of Lorraine was part of the Jacobite network in Europe, and especially during the episode of the 1715 Rebellion. The history of the Duchy of Lorraine and the European context between... more
In this paper, I would like to argue that the Duchy of Lorraine was part of the Jacobite network in Europe, and especially during the episode of the 1715 Rebellion. The history of the Duchy of Lorraine and the European context between 1697 and 1716 favoured the Settlement of a Jacobite Diaspora in Lorraine. Leopold had just returned to his Duchy in 1698 and was leading a polity of reconstruction; he was easily giving favours to loyal followers of the House of Lorraine. In this respect, his Prime Minister Lord Taaffe, Earl of Carlingford played a prominent role in the establishment of Irish Catholics in the Duchy of Lorraine.
The transnational Jacobite networks were supporting the pretention of James II over William III, and after the Glorious Revolution its members fled the UK and sought asylum abroad. The Williamite - and later Hanoverian - governments continuously tried to prevent the return of the exiled Stuarts. However, James III negotiated with Queen Anne to recover his throne, and nearly succeeded after the 1713 treaty of Utrecht was signed. The English government asked France to expel the Old Pretender from his St Germain-en-laye residence as a condition for peace in Europe. As a consequence, the “king over the water” took refuge with his Lorraine cousin - Duke Leopold - from January 1713 to March 1716. After this transnational crossing, James III settled in Bar-Le-Duc with his Jacobite court and fomented the 1715 revolution from there, with the help of Scottish activists. The existing Jacobites diaspora and the Lorraine nobility actively helped the Stuart to prepare his landing in Scotland. The Jacobite network, secret by nature, thus found in Lorraine an opportunity to communicate with the Old Pretender, while the Duke supported the Stuart because of the possibility of a success for the rebellion, which could have changed the position of Lorraine in Europe.
Resumen El propósito de este trabajo es realizar un repaso cronológico a to-das las excavaciones ocurridas en el conjunto catedralicio de San-tiago de Compostela que afectaron de alguna manera al claustro medieval, ubicado bajo el actual... more
Resumen El propósito de este trabajo es realizar un repaso cronológico a to-das las excavaciones ocurridas en el conjunto catedralicio de San-tiago de Compostela que afectaron de alguna manera al claustro medieval, ubicado bajo el actual renacentista, así como hacer una estimación de cómo pudo haber sido en origen dicha construcción presuntamente comenzada por el arzobispo Juan Arias. Además, este trabajo busca señalar de nuevo la necesidad de información sobre toda aquella intervención que afecte al claustro, junto con procurar, por vez primera, una recopilación cronológica sobre qué ha ocurrido en esta área y qué estudios han aportado los datos más relevantes sobre el asunto. Palabras clave: Juan Arias, claustro, excavaciones, arquitectura fu-neraria. Abstract The purpose of this project is to conduct a chronological review related to all the excavation occurred in Santiago de Compostela's Cathedral complex which affected somehow the medieval cloister, placed under the current Renaissance one. Moreover, it is also intended to make just a estimation on how the mentioned construction presumably was started by the archbishop Juan Arias. Furthermore , this text tries to search for pointing again the necessity
This is the life of an English Jacobite who served in the rising of 1745.
The family of John and Charles Wesley, founders of Methodism, attribute their family ghost to a specific political agenda.
In the Jacobite period, the north-east was a geographically and culturally distinct region of Lowland Scotland. It had a well-functioning economy, two universities and a strong Episcopalian heritage. It had the means to raise men and... more
In the Jacobite period, the north-east was a geographically and culturally distinct region of Lowland Scotland. It had a well-functioning economy, two universities and a strong Episcopalian heritage. It had the means to raise men and money for the Jacobite cause and was significantly involved in the risings of 1715 and 1745. It was a major Jacobite centre. In a historiographic context traditionally concerned with Highland militarism and the politics of the Stuart courts of St. Germain and Rome, an analysis of Lowland Jacobitism provides an excellent case-study of the development of Jacobitism in Scotland from 1689-1746.
This thesis focuses on locally-produced research material, chiefly: burgh council records; records produced by provisional Jacobite administrations; church records; and correspondence of churchmen, laymen, merchants and elites. This has been augmented by research of state-papers and government correspondence, contemporary pamphlets and literature. Jacobitism had multiple, sometimes conflicting, stimuli. The Jacobite individual was often dichotomous, where the demands of Jacobite principle and intent had to run in tandem with prospering within an established community in post-Revolution Britain. The Jacobite experience was by no means straight-forward. The dynamic between Jacobitism, Scots Episcopalianism and regional life (including politics, mercantilism, education and culture) is a central concern of this thesis.
This thesis describes and analyses the development of Jacobitism and Scots Episcopacy in the north-east of Scotland, with particular emphasis on the towns of Aberdeen. It assesses the contribution the region made to intellectual, cultural and martial Jacobitism. It re-evaluates the scale and role of Jacobitism in the north-east and, in turn, the development of the Jacobite cause over the course of six decades.
Адаптация гэльских порядков, предпринятая в «Законах…», позволяла в тяжбах с носителями саксонской культуры более-менее верно соотнести личный статус сторон с различным личным законом. Однако, внутриклановые и межклановые отношения свод... more
Адаптация гэльских порядков, предпринятая в «Законах…», позволяла в тяжбах с носителями саксонской культуры более-менее верно соотнести личный статус сторон с различным личным законом. Однако, внутриклановые и межклановые отношения свод не рассматривал, поскольку они (как и предмет канонического права) по умолчанию лежали за пределами его компетенции. Успешно выполнив свою задачу по интеграции древних правопорядков королевства, «Законы между бриттами и скоттами» не претендовали на роль всеобъемлющего свода унифицированных материально-правовых норм.
Горная Шотландия продолжала существовать как обособленный анклав кельтской Ойкумены, однако и там подход к правовому регулированию статуса личности продолжал откочевывать все дальше и дальше от древних ирландских традиций.
Ключевым понятием для определения статуса личности (и вообще для всего общественного устройства) здесь продолжал оставаться клан — однако шотландский клан начиная с эпохи Высокого Средневековья уже нимало не тождествен ирландскому. За исключением таких частных специфических отличий, как порядок наследия власти (выборным вождём в Шотландии, в отличие от Ирландии, могла стать и женщина) и порядок владения клановым имуществом (о чем мы еще скажем несколько слов), шотландский клан был значительно более иерархичен, нежели ирландский, и, вкупе с этой иерархией, играл чрезвычайно важную прикладную роль в жизни шотландского гэльского общества.
This is an important piece of research on Stuart and Jacobite symbolism in the art and architecture of Chiswick House.
The years between 1715 and 1725 saw the British Government alarmed by the rise of two phenomena. Overseas, unemployed sailors were turning in large numbers to piracy while, at home, the peace of the realm was threatened by the growing... more
The years between 1715 and 1725 saw the British Government alarmed by the rise of two phenomena. Overseas, unemployed sailors were turning in large numbers to piracy while, at home, the peace of the realm was threatened by the growing popularity of Jacobitism. In 1715 and 1719 armed rebellions were mounted by Jacobites in England and Scotland with the assistance of troops from France and Spain, but Jacobite activity was not limited to military action. The Jacobite movement attracted supporters from all sections of society, including a number of criminal gangs, and the practitioners of all forms of Jacobite protest have been seen collectively as a ‘subculture’. British mercantile interests were threatened by the number of Anglo-American pirates, first basing themselves at New Providence in the Bahamas, and then expanding their operations throughout the Caribbean, north along the American coast to Newfoundland, across the Atlantic to Africa and round the Cape of Good Hope into the Indian Ocean. At their peak the pirates mustered several thousand men, a significant number of whom were members of the ‘Flying Gang’ that originated in the Bahamas in 1715. This study argues that many pirates were also Jacobites, and that they should therefore be considered a part of the Jacobite subculture. Further, it argues that Jacobitism was not just the political inclination of individual, politically inactive pirates, but that it existed as a definite, cohesive and continuous movement for several years in many pirate crews, each of which was associated with other Jacobite pirate crews in a loose community connected with the Flying Gang. By establishing the nature and extent of pirates’ Jacobitism, and assessing pirates’ place in the Jacobite subculture, this study challenges the stereotype of pirates as politically isolated and disinterested outlaws.
This paper examines the issues that are involved in the study of Jacobite drinking glasses to gain an understanding of the esoteric nature of the Jacobite movement, and points out the difficulties that are involved in the study of a... more
This paper examines the issues that are involved in the study of Jacobite drinking glasses to gain an understanding of the esoteric nature of the Jacobite movement, and points out the difficulties that are involved in the study of a subject that has little documentary evidence for illuminating contemporary understanding. The specially crafted drinking glasses used by the Jacobites during eighteenth-century Britain are useful for illuminating the movement’s esoteric nature in three ways. Firstly, the significance of the glasses’ survival to the present day will be considered in relation to their secretive nature. Secondly, the symbolic design of the glasses will be examined in terms of the esoteric nature of the movement and to gain an understanding of the ideals and modes of recognition that were being communicated. Thirdly, the glasses’ contribution to the range of Jacobite cultural remains will be explored to gain a greater understanding of the workings of their society. In contrast to the usefulness the glasses may provide, the secrecy involved in the designs hinders interpretation. Other contemporary sources will be examined to cross reference interpretations, which, together will further illuminate the esoteric nature of the Jacobite movement.
History of a Scottish Regiment in the French army in the 18th century. The regiment Royal Ecossais was created in 1743 by Lord John Drummond. This study is about the creation of the regiment en 1743, the men in charge, and the history of... more
History of a Scottish Regiment in the French army in the 18th century. The regiment Royal Ecossais was created in 1743 by Lord John Drummond. This study is about the creation of the regiment en 1743, the men in charge, and the history of the regiment during the war between France and Great-Britain from 1744 to 1746, and the military campaign in Scoltland that ended at the battle of Culloden in april 1746.
This article is the first analysis of Gaelic sources relating to the involvement of Scottish Highlanders in warfare in North America from the opening of the French and Indian War to the end of the American Revolution. A careful reading of... more
This article is the first analysis of Gaelic sources relating to the involvement of Scottish Highlanders in warfare in North America from the opening of the French and Indian War to the end of the American Revolution. A careful reading of these primary sources - almost totally unknown to historians - can provide a unique window on the sentiments and reasoning of Highlanders regarding these conflicts. This analysis of contemporary Gaelic poetry demonstrates that there is a high degree of continuity and consistency in the ideological framework of the lines of political argumentation from the Jacobite era through the end of the American Revolution.
This thesis examines the social record of popular Jacobitism during the 1745 Rising as expressed through its plebeian constituency. Such an assessment fills in the gaps largely ignored by scholars of the Jacobite period, who instead tend... more
This thesis examines the social record of popular Jacobitism during the 1745 Rising as expressed through its plebeian constituency. Such an assessment fills in the gaps largely ignored by scholars of the Jacobite period, who instead tend to concentrate upon the elites and the political and doctrinal ideologies espoused by influential gentry. Using a purpose-built database to compile and analyse a large number of resources including lists of prisoners, trial records, muster rolls, and government papers, a prosopographical survey of over 15,000 persona entries is presented. The study looks at four thematic aspects of popular Jacobitism, which describe motivation, constituency, recruitment, and consequences. These combine to provide a social profile of the ‘lesser sort’ of those persons involved in rebellion against the Hanoverian government, whether martial or civilian. The results suggest that practicality was a major influence in drawing the common people into civil war, and that the ideological tenets of Jacobitism, much diluted by 1745, took a backseat to issues of necessity. Widespread ambivalence to the political climate made harsh recruiting methods necessary, and rampant desertion reinforced that need until the army’s defeat at Culloden. Both the willing and unwilling supporters of Charles Edward Stuart’s landing in Scotland represented local, national, and international interests and stretched across class divides. Civilians contributed to the effort along with the soldiers, but limited martial support both domestic and foreign was insufficient to sustain the Stuart-sanctioned coup and the exiled dynasty’s hopes for a subsequent restoration. Understanding that weak punitive measures after 1715 enabled yet another rising thirty years later, the government’s response after Culloden was swift and brutal. Though its campaigns of containment and suppression strained the resources of the judicial system, effective punishment was seen as a necessity, dominating British policy even as the state was involved in a larger war on the Continent. This thesis demonstrates that plebeians used by the Jacobite elites were ill-equipped to support the strategies of the cause, yet they ultimately bore the brunt of the reparations for treasonous expressions, however questionable their commitment may have been.
The reign of Peter the Great (1672-1725) was marked by an unprecedented wave of reform in Russia. This book provides an innovative reappraisal of the Petrine Age, in which hitherto neglected aspects of the tsar’s transformation of his... more
The reign of Peter the Great (1672-1725) was marked by an unprecedented wave of reform in Russia. This book provides an innovative reappraisal of the Petrine Age, in which hitherto neglected aspects of the tsar’s transformation of his country are studied. More specifically, the reforms enacted by the tsar are assessed in light of the religious notion of instauration – a belief in the restoration of Adamic knowledge in the last age – and a historical and cultural analysis of the impact of Western esotericism at the Russian court. This book will appeal to scholars of Russian history and religion, as well as being of wider interest to those studying Western esotericism in Early Modern Europe.
The forthcoming date of 9 June is the annual Feast Day of St. Columba. A pre-Schism, and pre-Reformation saint, he is revered and this date commemorated in most Christian traditions, including Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican, Lutheran, and... more
The forthcoming date of 9 June is the annual Feast Day of St. Columba. A pre-Schism, and pre-Reformation saint, he is revered and this date commemorated in most Christian traditions, including Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican, Lutheran, and Presbyterian. Along with St. Patrick and St. Brigid, he is one of the three patron saints of Ireland. He is also the patron saint of the Benedictine Glenstal Abbey in Ireland, which holds a collection of ancient Orthodox Icons. Saint Columba of Iona, known in Ireland as St. ColmCille (Dove of the Church), is perhaps best known as the missionary from Ireland who spread Christianity in Scotland. He founded many monasteries in these isles, in Derry, Durrow, and Kells, and most notably on the island of Iona, where he died and was buried in 597. Early Scottish kings of the Kingdom of Alba were laid to rest there for many generations.
This study goes beyond the popular depiction of the Scots as tartan-clad Highlanders and rebel rousers, examining the tradition of the Scots separating themselves from other kingdoms, nations, ethnic groups, and even fellow Scots. Either... more
This study goes beyond the popular depiction of the Scots as tartan-clad Highlanders and rebel rousers, examining the tradition of the Scots separating themselves from other kingdoms, nations, ethnic groups, and even fellow Scots. Either through warfare, political maneuvering, or cultural influence, the truest element of the Scottish identity involves the very act of drawing borders to separate one's identity from the rest of the world.
This paper builds on Graham Jefcoate's "Deutsche Drucker und Buchhändler in London, 1680-1811" [German Printers and Booksellers in London, 1680-1811] by providing a more comprehensive historical context for the information Jefcoate... more
This paper builds on Graham Jefcoate's "Deutsche Drucker und Buchhändler in London, 1680-1811" [German Printers and Booksellers in London, 1680-1811] by providing a more comprehensive historical context for the information Jefcoate provided. I identify four German-funded 'active measures' espionage cells operating in London's publishing industry during 1705-1811. Influence on Lord Byron is explored.
Este presente artigo visa a explicação do ideal jacobita, do surgimento do movimento das Rosas Brancas da Escócia e do famigerado sentimento nacionalista escocês, adjunto de sua identidade nacional. Mostramos o surgimento, o adormecimento... more
Este presente artigo visa a explicação do ideal jacobita, do surgimento do movimento das Rosas Brancas da Escócia e do famigerado sentimento nacionalista escocês, adjunto de sua identidade nacional. Mostramos o surgimento, o adormecimento e o ressurgimento desse sentimento de ser escocês.
The Order del Toboso was a Jacobite social order. In this chapter the author argues that they remained committed Jacobites, but adopted a pragmatic approach and actively discouraged their family and friends from losing all in rash... more
The Order del Toboso was a Jacobite social order. In this chapter the author argues that they remained committed Jacobites, but adopted a pragmatic approach and actively discouraged their family and friends from losing all in rash adventures - attempts to restore the House of Stuart being equated to Tilting at Windmills.
An extract from the book The O’Donnells of Tyrconnell – A Hidden Legacy, by Francis Martin O'Donnell, published by Academica Press LLC, London and Washington DC, 2019. The book, reviewed and endorsed by several Irish historians and... more
An extract from the book The O’Donnells of Tyrconnell – A Hidden Legacy, by Francis Martin O'Donnell, published by Academica Press LLC, London and Washington DC, 2019. The book, reviewed and endorsed by several Irish historians and genealogists, documents for the first time the history of the O'Donnell Counts of France, and their Kerry ancestry, originally being emigres of the ruling dynasty of the O'Donnell kings and princes of Tyrconnell, and indeed direct descendants of the last ruling family. This ghost story suggest a paranormal insight, in the great tradition of Irish "story-telling", but without detracting from the principal historical research, rather illustrating a spiritual heritage that lies at the heart of O'Donnell identity.
Thank you to Amanda Charland for creation of this pdf, and Roy Edwards, Kara Kozikowski, Jennifer Novotny, M.R. Wood, Elizabeth Pierce, Ryan K. McNutt, Terence Christian, Marjory Horne, Adrian Maldonado, and Christy McNutt for their help... more
This article examines the connections between the Scottish Enlightenment thinker David Hume (1711-76) and the Jacobites. Many of his friendships with Jacobites are known, but they have rarely been explored in detail, perhaps because they... more
This article examines the connections between the Scottish Enlightenment thinker David Hume (1711-76) and the Jacobites. Many of his friendships with Jacobites are known, but they have rarely been explored in detail, perhaps because they sit uneasily with the now dominant interpretation of Hume as a whig. While he was frequently accused of Jacobitism in his lifetime, this article does not seek to revive the myth that he was committed to the cause of the Stuarts at any stage of his life. However, his balanced treatment of Jacobitism indicates that we should dismiss entrenched dichotomies between enlightenment and progressive whiggism on the one hand, and nostalgic and conservative Jacobitism on the other. Despite his own lack of Jacobite commitments, the case of Hume shows that Jacobitism needs to be better integrated into Scottish enlightenment studies.
This volume deals with the development, implementation and maintenance of Scottish networks in Northern Europe from c.1600-1746. The book contains nine chapters divided into three parts of original and innovative archival reseach. After... more
This volume deals with the development, implementation and maintenance of Scottish networks in Northern Europe from c.1600-1746. The book contains nine chapters divided into three parts of original and innovative archival reseach. After an introduction providing a theoretical overview of the subject, the first section focusses on the associations of kith and kin, place and nation and confessional loyalty tested in the numerous case studies throughout the book.
Section two provides an analysis of Scottish networks in an economic context providing both quantitative and qualitative evidence to describe their success and failures in a variety of situations and locations. The final section provides three meticulously researched case studies of subversive networks including an espionage network operating in Poland on behalf of Sweden, the confessional network of the irenicist John Durie and rounded off with a review of the Jacobite network stretching across Russia, Sweden, Prussia and Rome.
From the sixteenth century onwards, the Syriac Jacobites living in the Ottoman empire were confronted by the propaganda o f Catholic missionaries. As a result o f this propa ganda, a Syriac Catholic patriarchate was established in the... more
From the sixteenth century onwards, the Syriac Jacobites living in the Ottoman empire were confronted by the propaganda o f Catholic missionaries. As a result o f this propa ganda, a Syriac Catholic patriarchate was established in the late eighteenth century, and the Syriac community was divided into two. A merciless conflict ensued between Orthodox Syriacs, aligned with the main Church, and the Catholic Syriacs. While this conflict occurred in all places where Syriacs lived, it was most intense in the city o f Mardin, the location o f the patriarchal centre o f Syriac Jacobites. The Jacobites struggled to prevent both the Catholicization o f their community, and also the Catholic takeover o f their churches, monasteries and cemeteries. At various times and for various reasons, the Ottoman empire and certain European states felt the need to intervene in this conflict. Continuing almost uninterrupted throughout the nineteenth century, this conflict adversely affected the Syriacs, and also precipitated their modernization.
A brief biographical essay on the life and service of the Chevalier Michel O'Donnell of Termoncarragh, County Mayo, in Ireland, serving in the Jacobite Irish Brigade in France, and including his participation in French military campaigns... more
A brief biographical essay on the life and service of the Chevalier Michel O'Donnell of Termoncarragh, County Mayo, in Ireland, serving in the Jacobite Irish Brigade in France, and including his participation in French military campaigns of the Lally Regiment in Malabar and Arcot in India, and in the Clare, later Berwick Regiment. He was made a chevalier of the Royal Military Order of Saint Louis in 1777. Published in The Irish Sword, the Journal of the Military History Society of Ireland, Vol. XXX, no. 119, in Summer 2015
Якобитское движение, вопреки популярным стереотипам о нем, не было ни в основном шотландским, ни в основном гэльским, ни даже в основном католическим. К тому же, не только реальные участники якобитских кампаний идентифицировали себя как... more
Якобитское движение, вопреки популярным стереотипам о нем, не было ни в основном шотландским, ни в основном гэльским, ни даже в основном католическим. К тому же, не только реальные участники якобитских кампаний идентифицировали себя как якобиты, но и те, кто во время восстаний держался в стороне, однако выражал сентиментальное сочувствие побежденным. Такая ситуация требовала создания некой единой, над-этнической и над-конфессиональной якобитской идентичности. Поэтому еще до 1745 г. сформировались несколько типов кодов, маркировавших индивидов с якобитскими симпатиями. Во-первых, в прямом виде, «public transcripts»: шотландская одежда, позволяющая открыто демонстрировать свои политические взгляды. Во-вторых, в скрытом («hidden trascripts» в теории Джеймса Скотта): предметы быта, адаптированные для тайной коммеморации или поддержки изгнанной династии («тайные портреты»; бокалы с надписями); специальные жесты, система эвфемизации и наличие маркированных локусов (якобитские кофейни и клубы).
В 1745-1746 гг. вся эта совокупность скрытых и прямых транскриптов с большим успехом выступили в качестве «официальной» эстетики восстания. И, наконец, с 1746 по 1759 год они маркировали и подпольную якобитскую субкультуру. Отметим, что довод о наличии запретных артефактов является одним из значимых аргументов для сторонников «традиционного» взгляда на якобитские войны. По логике «традиционалистов» наличие вещей в статусе индекса, указывающего на индивида с якобитскими взглядами, должно свидетельствовать о попустительском отношении властей к их изготовителям и хранителям – что едва ли представляется разумной реакцией на реальную угрозу.
This article explores the migration of Scottish mariners into foreign service in the 17th and 18th centuries. It challenges any notion of 'special relationship' between Scotland and a particular maritime nation (as is often claimed) by... more
This article explores the migration of Scottish mariners into foreign service in the 17th and 18th centuries. It challenges any notion of 'special relationship' between Scotland and a particular maritime nation (as is often claimed) by highlighting the migration patterns of senior officers and shipbuilders during particular times of political and economic change. Set against a background of Scotland's relationship with Russia, the paper contextualises the arrival of a group of Scottish admirals into Muscovite service against similar migrations into the maritime forces of other Baltic nations.
The military career of Prince William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland
This essay will focus on a kind of anxiety that Scottish writers felt perhaps more acutely than any others in the mid-eighteenth century: that is, a sense of cultural ambivalence, of trying to participate and distinguish themselves in... more
This essay will focus on a kind of anxiety that Scottish writers felt perhaps more acutely than any others in the mid-eighteenth century: that is, a sense of cultural ambivalence, of trying to participate and distinguish themselves in what was, essentially, an English world of letters, while still bearing in their speech and writing telltale traces of their Scottish origins. To dramatise the power and persistence of this Anglo- Scottish anxiety in mid-eighteenth-century Britain, I will focus first on England's greatestwordsmith, SamuelJohnson, and then on three Scottish writers who distinguished themselves in the very world of English letters that so fuelled their inner tensions: David Hume, James Boswell and Tobias Smollett.