International Review of Scottish Studies
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Richard Oram, Domination and Lordship, Scotland 1070-1230.
No full textRichard Oram, Domination and Lordship, Scotland 1070-1230. The New Edinburgh History of Scotland, Volume 3. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2011. Pp. 430. ISBN 978-0-7486-1497-4. £85.00
To Converse with the Devil? Speech, Sexuality, and Witchcraft in Early Modern Scotland
No full textIn early modern Scotland, thousands of people were accused and tried for the crime of witchcraft, many of whom were women. This paper examines the particular qualities associated with witches in Scottish belief – specifically speech and sexuality – in order to better understand how and why the witch hunts occurred. This research suggests that the growing emphasis on the words of witches during this period was a reflection of a mounting concern over the power and control of speech in early modern society. In looking at witchcraft as a speech crime, it is possible to explain not only why accused witches were more frequently women, but also how the persecution of individuals – both male and female – functioned to ensure that local and state authorities maintained a monopoly on powerful speech
John McCallum, Reforming the Scottish Parish: The Reformation in Fife, 1560-1640.
No full textJohn McCallum, Reforming the Scottish Parish: The Reformation in Fife, 1560-1640. St. Andrews Studies in Reformation History. Farnham, Surrey and Burlington: Ashgate, 2010. Pp. 286. ISBN 978-07546-6910-4. £65.00
Restoring the Nation? Hamilton and the Politics of the National Covenant
No full textAlthough seen as a ‘Nobles’ Covenant’, the National Covenant was always overshadowed by issues surrounding the participation of the vulgar, or the common people, in the process. It was a situation in which social disorder was never far away, both for the Royalists and for the Covenanters. This issue and the wider concerns over law and order help us to understand more clearly the origins of the King’s Covenant and confirms that the King’s Covenant was not inspired by the Aberdeen Doctors but by the continuation of concerns over law and order. From the Covenanting perspective it is interesting to see how, at first, in order to legitimise their cause, they stepped away from the violence committed by their supporters and how, in the end, after being put in a legal corner by the Doctors, violence was justified on religious grounds. It is clear that the strength of the legal attack by the Doctors left the Covenanting leadership reeling and fearful of the King’s Covenant. Perhaps this allows us to see that the success of the Covenanting movement was due in part to Hamilton’s mistake over the Confession and the King’s Covenant was essentially a wasted opportunity to strike at the movement when it was on the defensive. Along with Sir Thomas Hope’s earlier statements, and the Covenanters success in dominating the General Assembly a few months later, the Covenanters were on an assured legal footing
Becoming British? Navigating the Union of 1707
No full textA recent and extensive general literature exists on the acquisition and demonstration of a sense of \u27Britishness\u27 in the aftermath of the union of 1707. However, there are gaps in this literature, with few substantial case studies. This paper will take one Scottish family, the Humes of the Merse (Berwickshire) and use it as a lens through which to view the process of \u27Brittification\u27; the four main areas addressed will be the legal, religious and educational ramifications of union for ambitious Scots and the issue of self-identification
“Ae Thoosand Tongues”: Language and Identity in Psychoraag
No full textSuhayl Saadi’s 2004 novel, Psychoraag, asks important questions about language, nation, and identity in twenty-first century Scotland.This article analyzes the ways in which language and music shape identity in the novel; explores the tensions that exist between the novel’s competing languages; studies the narrator’s personae; and examines his search for psychic, emotional, and linguistic wholeness. It argues that Psychoraag is an effective commentary on the inherent limitations of exclusionary conceptions of Scottishness, for the novel demonstrates that it is only by transcending traditional notions of Scottishness and embracing linguistic disorder that contemporary Scottish identity can be fully articulated
The Rise and Decline of the British “Patriot”: Civic Britain, c. 1545-1605
No full textIn 1586, David Hume of Godscroft recorded a dialogue that he had with his patron Archibald Douglas, the 8th earl of Angus; this dialogue provides one of the earliest instances of the Anglophone neologism “patriot” used to describe either Scottish or English politics. The values associated with it – social solidarity, political activism, and, implicitly, relative equality – became imperative in Scotland, England, France, and the Netherlands as religious upheaval convulsed all of these societies. These values resurfaced powerfully and enduringly in the mid seventeenth century. The Scottish patriot not only loved his country and simultaneously saw himself as part of an international struggle, but also was centrally exercised to construct a British society. Then and later to be Scottish and British – and even in important ways European – did not divide an individual but proved mutually reinforcing
Elizabeth Foyster and Christopher Whatley, eds., A History of Everyday Life in Scotland, 1600 to 1800
No full textElizabeth Foyster and Christopher A. Whatley (eds). A History of Everyday Life in Scotland, 1600 to 1800. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2011. Pp. 352. ISBN 978-07-4861-965-8. £24.99