Editing History of Scotland (section)

===Economic crisis of the 1690s===
{{Main|Seven ill years|Darien scheme}}
[[File:New Caledonia in Darien.jpg|thumb|right|upright|The colony of New Caledonia on the Isthmus of Darien]]
The closing decade of the 17th century saw the generally favourable economic conditions that had dominated since the Restoration come to an end. There was a slump in trade with the Baltic and France from 1689 to 1691, caused by French protectionism and changes in the Scottish cattle trade, followed by four years of failed harvests (1695, 1696 and 1698–1699), an era known as the "seven ill years".<ref>{{Harvp|Mitchison|2002|pp=291–292, 301-302}}.</ref> The result was severe famine and depopulation, particularly in the north.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Cullen |first=Karen J. |title=Famine in Scotland: The "Ill Years" of the 1690s |date=2010 |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |isbn=978-0-748-64184-0 |ol=37117493M}}</ref> The Parliament of Scotland of 1695 enacted proposals to help the desperate economic situation, including setting up the [[Bank of Scotland]]. The [[Company of Scotland|"Company of Scotland Trading to Africa and the Indies"]] received a charter to raise capital through public subscription.<ref>{{Harvp|Mitchison|2002|p=314}}.</ref>

With the dream of building a lucrative overseas colony for Scotland, the Company of Scotland invested in the [[Darien scheme]], an ambitious plan devised by [[William Paterson (banker)|William Paterson]] to establish a colony on the [[Isthmus of Panama]] in the hope of establishing trade with the Far East.<ref name="Richards2004p79">{{Cite book |last=Richards |first=Eric |title=Britannia's Children: Emigration from England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland since 1600 |date=2004 |publisher=Continuum |isbn=1-852-85441-3 |page=79 |ol=3328899M}}</ref> The Darién scheme won widespread support in Scotland as the landed gentry and the merchant class were in agreement in seeing overseas trade and colonialism as routes to upgrade Scotland's economy. 

Since the capital resources of the Edinburgh merchants and landholder elite were insufficient, the company appealed to middling social ranks, who responded with patriotic fervour to the call for money; the lower classes volunteered as colonists.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hidalgo |first=Dennis R. |date=Summer 2001 |title=To Get Rich for Our Homeland: The Company of Scotland and the Colonization of the Darién |journal=Colonial Latin American Historical Review |volume=10 |issue=3 |page=156}}</ref> But the English government opposed the idea: involved in the [[War of the Grand Alliance]] from 1689 to 1697 against France, it did not want to offend Spain, which claimed the territory as part of [[New Kingdom of Granada|New Granada]]. The English investors withdrew. Returning to Edinburgh, the Company raised 400,000 pounds in a few weeks. Three small fleets with a total of 3,000 men eventually set out for Panama in 1698. The exercise proved a disaster. Poorly equipped; beset by incessant rain; under attack by the Spanish from nearby [[Cartagena, Colombia|Cartagena]]; and refused aid by the English in the [[West Indies]], the colonists abandoned their project in 1700. Only 1,000 survived and only one ship managed to return to Scotland.<ref name=Richards2004p79/>