National opinion and the press in Scotland before the union of 1707

Bowie, K. (2018) National opinion and the press in Scotland before the union of 1707. Scottish Affairs, 27(1), pp. 13-19. (doi: 10.3366/scot.2018.0218)

Abstract

Vigorous extra-parliamentary public debate over the question of union helped to ensure that Scotland brought into the Union of 1707 a sense of itself as a nation with national opinions. Though the parliamentary electorate remained small, a meaningful number of Scots engaged in public political debate on the question of union. Petitions from shires, burghs and parishes spoke for local communities and pamphleteers presented Scottish voices through archetypal figures such as a ‘country farmer’. This allowed opponents to declare that incorporating union was inconsistent with ‘the publickly expressed mind of the nation’. After the Union, extra-parliamentary national opinion continued to be expressed and sustained by the Scottish press and petitions, contributing to the maintenance of Scottish national identity within the United Kingdom.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Bowie, Professor Karin
• Authors: Bowie, K.
• College/School: College of Arts & Humanities > School of Humanities > History
• Journal Name: Scottish Affairs
• Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
• ISSN: 0966-0356
• ISSN (Online): 2053-888X
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2018 Edinburgh University Press
• First Published: First published in Scottish Affairs 27(1):13-19
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher