Editing History of Scotland (section)

==18th century==
[[File:Union flag 1606 (Kings Colors).svg|thumb|left|Union flag, combining the [[St George's Cross|Cross of St George]] of England, with the [[Flag of Scotland|Cross of St. Andrew]] of Scotland.]]
Scotland was a poor rural, agricultural society with a population of 1.3&nbsp;million in 1755. Although Scotland lost home rule, the Union allowed it to break free of a stultifying system and opened the way for the [[Scottish Enlightenment]] as well as a great expansion of trade and increase in opportunity and wealth. Edinburgh economist [[Adam Smith]] concluded in 1776 that "By the union with England, the middling and inferior ranks of people in Scotland gained a complete deliverance from the power of an aristocracy which had always before oppressed them."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Adam Smith |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-25Rh9uxs0UC&pg=PA304 |title=The Wealth of Nations: Representative Selections |date=2003 |publisher=Dover |isbn=9780486425139 |page=304}}</ref> Historian [[Jonathan Israel]] holds that the Union "proved a decisive catalyst politically and economically," by allowing ambitious Scots entry on an equal basis to a rich expanding empire and its increasing trade.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Jonathan Israel |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3xP4l0ug3rAC&pg=PA233 |title=Democratic Enlightenment: Philosophy, Revolution, and Human Rights 1750–1790 |publisher=Oxford U.P. |year=2011 |isbn=9780191620041 |page=233}}</ref>

Scotland's transformation into a rich leader of modern industry came suddenly and unexpectedly in the next 150 years, following its union with England in 1707 and its integration with the advanced English and imperial economies.<ref name="Henry Hamilton 1963">Henry Hamilton, ''An Economic History of Scotland in the Eighteenth Century'' (1963)</ref> The transformation was led by two cities that grew rapidly after 1770. [[History of Glasgow|Glasgow]], on the river Clyde, was [[Tobacco Lords|the base for]] the tobacco and sugar trade with an emerging textile industry. [[History of Edinburgh|Edinburgh]] was the administrative and intellectual centre where the Scottish Enlightenment was chiefly based.<ref>James Buchan, ''Crowded with Genius: the Scottish Enlightenment; Edinburgh's Moment of the Mind'' (Harper Collins, 2003).</ref>

===Union with England===
{{Main|Acts of Union 1707}}
By the start of the 18th century, a [[political union]] between Scotland and England became politically and economically attractive, promising to open up the much larger markets of England, as well as those of the growing English Empire. With economic stagnation since the late 17th century, which was particularly acute in 1704, the country depended more and more heavily on sales of cattle and linen to England, who used this to create pressure for a union.<ref name="Smout1964">T. C. Smout, "The Anglo-Scottish Union of 1707 I: The Economic Background", ''Economic History Review'', vol. 16, April (1964), pp. 455–467.</ref><ref name="Smout1963">T. C. Smout, ''Scottish Trade on the Eve of the Union, 1660–1707'' (Oliver & Boyd, 1963).</ref> The Scottish parliament voted on 6 January 1707, by 110 to 69, to adopt the [[Treaty of Union]]. It was also a full economic union; indeed, most of its 25 articles dealt with economic arrangements for the new state known as "Great Britain". It added 45 Scots to the 513 members of the House of Commons and 16 Scots to the 190 members of the House of Lords, and ended the Scottish parliament. It also replaced the Scottish systems of currency, taxation and laws regulating trade with laws made in London. Scottish law remained separate from English law, and the religious system was not changed. England had about five times the population of Scotland at the time, and about 36 times as much wealth.<ref name="Smout1964" /><ref name="Campbell1964pp469-77">H. Campbell, "The Anglo-Scottish Union of 1707 II: The Economic Consequences", ''Economic History Review'', April (1964), vol. 16, pp. 468–477.</ref>

===Jacobitism===
{{Main|Jacobitism}}
[[File:William Mosman - Prince Charles Edward Stuart, 1720 - 1788. Eldest son of Prince James Francis Edward Stuart - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[Charles Edward Stuart]], known as ''The Young Pretender'' and ''Bonnie Prince Charlie'', who led the '45 rising]]

Jacobitism was revived by the unpopularity of the union.<ref name="Pittock1998p32">M. Pittock, ''Jacobitism'' (St. Martin's Press, 1998), p. 32.</ref> In 1708, James Francis Edward Stuart, the son of James VII, who became known as "The Old Pretender", attempted an invasion with a French fleet carrying 6,000 men, but the Royal Navy prevented it from landing troops.<ref>Pittock, ''Jacobitism'', p. 33.</ref> A more serious attempt occurred in 1715, soon after the death of Anne and the accession of the first Hanoverian king, the eldest son of Sophie, as [[George I of Great Britain]]. This rising (known as ''The 'Fifteen'') envisaged simultaneous uprisings in Wales, Devon, and Scotland. However, government arrests forestalled the southern ventures. In Scotland, John Erskine, [[Earl of Mar]], nicknamed ''Bobbin' John'', raised the Jacobite clans but proved to be an indecisive leader and an incompetent soldier. 

Mar captured Perth, but let a smaller government force under the [[John Campbell, 2nd Duke of Argyll|Duke of Argyll]] hold the Stirling plain. Part of Mar's army joined up with risings in northern England and southern Scotland, and the Jacobites fought their way into England before being defeated at the [[Battle of Preston (1715)|Battle of Preston]], surrendering on 14 November 1715. The day before, Mar had failed to defeat Argyll at the [[Battle of Sheriffmuir]]. At this point, James belatedly landed in Scotland, but was advised that the cause was hopeless. He fled back to France. An attempted Jacobite invasion with Spanish assistance in 1719 met with little support from the clans and ended in defeat at the [[Battle of Glen Shiel]].<ref>{{Harvp|Mitchison|2002|pp=269–274}}.</ref>

In 1745, the Jacobite rising known as ''The 'Forty-Five'' began. [[Charles Edward Stuart]], son of the ''Old Pretender'', often referred to as ''Bonnie Prince Charlie'' or the ''Young Pretender'', landed on the island of [[Eriskay]] in the [[Outer Hebrides]].<ref>[[Moray McLaren|M. McLaren]], ''Bonnie Prince Charlie'' (Dorset Press, 1972), pp. 39–40.</ref>
{{clear}}

===Post-Jacobite politics===
[[File:3rdDukeOfArgyll.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Archibald Campbell, 3rd Duke of Argyll]], and dominant political figure in Scotland, 1720s–1761]]
With the advent of the [[Acts of Union 1707|Union]] and the demise of Jacobitism, access to London and the Empire opened up very attractive career opportunities for ambitious middle-class and upper-class Scots, who seized the chance to become entrepreneurs, intellectuals, and soldiers.<ref>{{Harvp|Devine|1999|pp=22–25}}.</ref> Thousands of Scots, mainly Lowlanders, took up positions of power in politics, civil service, the army and navy, trade, economics, colonial enterprises and other areas across the nascent [[British Empire]]. Historian [[Neil Davidson (historian)|Neil Davidson]] notes that "after 1746 there was an entirely new level of participation by Scots in political life, particularly outside Scotland". Davidson also states that "far from being ‘peripheral’ to the British economy, Scotland – or more precisely, the Lowlands – lay at its core".<ref name="Davidson2000pp94-5">N. Davidson, ''The Origins of Scottish Nationhood'' (Pluto Press, 2000), pp. 94–5.</ref> British officials especially appreciated Scottish soldiers. As the Secretary of War told Parliament in 1751, "I am for having always in our army as many Scottish soldiers as possible...because they are generally more hardy and less mutinous".<ref>Linda Colley, ''Britons: Forging the Nation 1707–1837'' (Yale University Press, 1992), p. 120.</ref> The national policy of aggressively recruiting Scots for senior civilian positions stirred up resentment among Englishmen, ranging from violent diatribes by [[John Wilkes]], to vulgar jokes and obscene cartoons in the popular press,<ref>Colley, ''Britons'', pp. 105–122.</ref> and the haughty ridicule by intellectuals such as [[Samuel Johnson]] that was much resented by Scots. In his great ''Dictionary'' Johnson defined oats as, "a grain, which in England is generally given to horses, but in Scotland supports the people." To which Lord Elibank retorted, "Very true, and where will you find such men and such horses?"<ref>[[William Prideaux Courtney]] and [[David Nichol Smith]], ''A Bibliography of Samuel Johnson'' (1915), p. 47.</ref>

Scottish politics in the late 18th century was dominated by the [[Whig (British political party)|Whig]]s, with the benign management of [[Archibald Campbell, 3rd Duke of Argyll]] (1682–1761), who was in effect the "viceroy of Scotland" from the 1720s until his death in 1761. Scotland generally supported the king with enthusiasm during the [[American Revolution]]. [[Henry Dundas]] (1742–1811) dominated political affairs in the latter part of the century. Dundas defeated advocates of intellectual and social change through his ruthless manipulation of patronage in alliance with Prime Minister [[William Pitt the Younger]], until he lost power in 1806.<ref>B. P. Lenman, ''Enlightenment and Change: Scotland 1746–1832'' (2nd ed. 2009).</ref>

The main unit of local government was the parish, and since it was also part of the church, the elders imposed public humiliation for what the locals considered immoral behaviour, including fornication, drunkenness, wife beating, cursing and Sabbath breaking. The main focus was on the poor and the landlords ("lairds") and gentry, and their servants, were not subject to the parish's control. The policing system weakened after 1800 and disappeared in most places by the 1850s.<ref>{{Harvp|Devine|1999|pp=84–89}}.</ref>

===Collapse of the clan system===
{{main|Scottish clan#Collapse of the clan system}}

[[File:Runrigs - geograph.org.uk - 308174.jpg|thumb|The remains of old run rig strips beside Loch Eynort, Isle of Skye. Run rig was the pre-clearance method of arable farming before agricultural improvements were introduced.]]
The clan system of the Highlands and Islands had been seen as a challenge to the rulers of Scotland from before the 17th century. [[James VI and I|James VI's]] various measures to exert control included the [[Statutes of Iona]], an attempt to force clan leaders to become integrated into the rest of Scottish society. This started a slow process of change which, by the second half of the 18th century, saw clan chiefs start to think of themselves as commercial landlords, rather than as patriarchs of their people. To their tenants, initially this meant that monetary rents replaced those paid in kind. Later, rent increases became common.<ref name="Devine 1994">{{Cite book |last=Devine |first=Tom M. |title=Clanship to Crofters' War: The social transformation of the Scottish Highlands |date=1994 |publisher=Manchester University Press |isbn=978-0-7190-9076-9 |edition=2013 |ol=26826862M |author-link=Tom Devine}}</ref>{{Rp|11–17}} In the 1710s the Dukes of Argyll started putting leases of some of their land up for auction; by 1737 this was done across the Argyll property. This commercial attitude replaced the principle of ''{{Lang|gd|dùthchas}}'', which included the obligation on clan chiefs to provide land for clan members. The shift of this attitude slowly spread through the Highland elite (but not among their tenants).{{R|Devine 1994|p=41}} 

As clan chiefs became more integrated into Scottish and British society, many of them built up large debts. It became easier to borrow against the security of a Highland estate from the 1770s onwards. As the lenders became predominantly people and organisations outside the Highlands, there was a greater willingness to foreclose if the borrower defaulted. Combined with an astounding level of financial incompetence among the Highland elite, this ultimately forced the sale of the estates of many Highland landed families over the period 1770–1850. (The greatest number of sales of whole estates was toward the end of this period.)<ref name="Dodgshon">{{Cite book |last=Dodgshon |first=Robert A. |title=From Chiefs to Landlords: Social and Economic Change in the Western Highlands and Islands, c.1493–1820 |date=1998 |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |isbn=0-7486-1034-0 |location=Edinburgh}}</ref>{{Rp|105–107}}{{R|Devine 1994|pp=1–17}}{{R|Devine 2018|p=37-46, 65-73, 131-132}}

The Jacobite rebellion of 1745 gave a final period of importance to the ability of Highland clans to raise bodies of fighting men at short notice. With the defeat at Culloden, any enthusiasm for continued warfare disappeared and clan leaders returned to their transition to being commercial landlords. This was arguably accelerated by some of the punitive laws enacted after the rebellion.<ref>Stephen Conway, ''War, State, and Society in Mid-Eighteenth-Century Britain and Ireland by Stephen Conway'' (2006), p. 139.</ref> These included the [[Heritable Jurisdictions (Scotland) Act 1746]] ([[20 Geo. 2]]. c. 43), which removed judicial roles from clan chiefs and gave them to the Scottish law courts. [[T. M. Devine]] warns against seeing a clear cause and effect relationship between the post-Culloden legislation and the collapse of clanship. He questions the basic effectiveness of the measures, quoting [[W. A. Speck]] who ascribes the pacification of the area more to "a disinclination to rebel than to the government's repressive measures." Devine points out that social change in Gaeldom did not pick up until the 1760s and 1770s, as this coincided with the increased market pressures from the industrialising and urbanising Lowlands.{{R|Devine 1994|p=30-31}}

The change of clan leaders from patriarchs of their people to commercial landowners gave rise to the first phase of the [[Highland clearances]], with many tenant farmers being evicted and resettled in crofting communities.

In 1846 the [[Highland potato famine]] struck the crofting communities of the North and West Highlands. By 1850 the charitable relief effort was wound up, despite the continuing crop failure, and landlords, charities and the government resorted to encouraging emigration. The overall result was that almost 11,000 people were provided with "assisted passages" by their landlords between 1846 and 1856, with the greatest number travelling in 1851. A further 5,000 emigrated to Australia, through the [[Highland and Island Emigration Society]]. To this should be added an unknown, but significant number, who paid their own fares to emigrate, and a further unknown number assisted by the [[Colonial Land and Emigration Commission]].<ref name="Devine 1995">{{Cite book |last=Devine |first=Tom M. |title=The Great Highland Famine: Hunger, Emigration and the Scottish Highlands in the Nineteenth Century |date=1995 |publisher=Birlinn Limited |isbn=1-904-60742-X |location=Edinburgh |ol=30548121M |author-link=Tom Devine}}</ref>{{Rp|201–202,207,268}}{{R|Devine 2018|p=320}}{{R|Devine 1994|p=187-189}} This was out of a famine-affected population of about 200,000 people. Many of those who remained became even more involved in temporary migration for work in the Lowlands, both out of necessity during the famine and having become accustomed to working away by the time the famine ceased. Much longer periods were spent out of the Highlands – often for much of the year or more. One illustration of this migrant working was the estimated 30,000 men and women from the far west of the Gaelic speaking area who travelled to the east coast fishing ports for the herring fishing season – providing labour in an industry that grew by 60% between 1854 and 1884.{{R|Devine 2018|p=335-336}}

The clearances were followed by a period of even greater emigration from the Highlands, which continued (with a brief lull for the First World War) up to the start of the [[Great Depression]].{{R|Devine 2018|p=2}}

===Enlightenment===
{{Main|Scottish Enlightenment}}
[[File:AdamSmith.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.8|[[Adam Smith]], the father of modern economics]]
Historian [[Jonathan Israel]] argues that by 1750 Scotland's major cities had created an intellectual infrastructure of mutually supporting institutions, such as universities, reading societies, libraries, periodicals, museums and masonic lodges. The Scottish network was "predominantly liberal Calvinist, Newtonian, and 'design' oriented in character which played a major role in the further development of the transatlantic Enlightenment ."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Israel |first=Jonathan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3xP4l0ug3rAC&pg=PA233 |title=Democratic Enlightenment: Philosophy, Revolution, and Human Rights 1750–1790 |publisher=Oxford UP |year=2011 |isbn=9780191620041 |page=233}}</ref><ref name="HermanTwo">A. Herman, ''How the Scots Invented the Modern World'' (Crown Publishing Group, 2001).</ref> In France [[Voltaire]] said "we look to Scotland for all our ideas of civilization", and the Scots in turn paid close attention to French ideas.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Harrison |first=Lawrence E. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Rbqn4RfUMioC&pg=PA92 |title=Jews, Confucians, and Protestants: Cultural Capital and the End of Multiculturalism |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |year=2012 |isbn=9781442219649 |page=92}}</ref> Historian Bruce Lenman says their "central achievement was a new capacity to recognize and interpret social patterns."<ref>R. A. Houston and W. W. J. Knox, ''The New Penguin History of Scotland'' (2001), p. 342.</ref> 

The first major philosopher of the Scottish Enlightenment was [[Francis Hutcheson (philosopher)|Francis Hutcheson]], who held the Chair of Philosophy at the University of Glasgow from 1729 to 1746. A moral philosopher who produced alternatives to the ideas of [[Thomas Hobbes]], one of his major contributions to world thought was the [[utilitarian]] and [[consequentialist]] principle that virtue is that which provides, in his words, "the greatest happiness for the greatest numbers". Much of what is incorporated in the [[scientific method]] (the nature of knowledge, evidence, experience, and causation) and some modern attitudes towards the relationship between science and religion were developed by his protégés [[David Hume]] and [[Adam Smith]].<ref name="Denby">{{Citation |title=The Scottish enlightenment and the challenges for Europe in the 21st century; climate change and energy |date=11 October 2004 |url=http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2004/10/11/041011crat_atlarge |magazine=The New Yorker |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606141619/http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2004/10/11/041011crat_atlarge |archive-date=6 June 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref> Hume became a major figure in the [[Philosophical skepticism|skeptical philosophical]] and [[empiricist]] traditions of philosophy. He and other Scottish Enlightenment thinkers developed what he called a '[[science of man]]',<ref name="Magnusson">{{Citation |last=Magnusson |first=M.  |title=Review of James Buchan, ''Capital of the Mind: how Edinburgh Changed the World'' |date=10 November 2003 |url=http://www.newstatesman.com/200311100040 |work=New Statesman |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606015918/http://www.newstatesman.com/200311100040 |archive-date=6 June 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref> which was expressed historically in works by authors including [[James Burnett, Lord Monboddo|James Burnett]], [[Adam Ferguson]], [[John Millar (philosopher)|John Millar]] and [[William Robertson (historian)|William Robertson]], all of whom merged a scientific study of how humans behave in ancient and primitive cultures with a strong awareness of the determining forces of [[modernity]]. Modern sociology largely originated from this movement<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Swingewood |first=Alan |year=1970 |title=Origins of Sociology: The Case of the Scottish Enlightenment |journal=The British Journal of Sociology |volume=21 |issue=2 |pages=164–180 |doi=10.2307/588406 |jstor=588406}}</ref> and Hume's philosophical concepts that directly influenced [[James Madison]] (and thus the [[United States Constitution]]) and when popularised by [[Dugald Stewart]], would be the basis of classical liberalism.<ref>D. Daiches, P. Jones and J. Jones, ''A Hotbed of Genius: The Scottish Enlightenment, 1730–1790'' (1986).</ref> Adam Smith published ''[[The Wealth of Nations]]'', often considered the first work on modern economics. It had an immediate impact on British economic policy and in the 21st century still framed discussions on [[globalisation]] and tariffs.<ref name="Fry">M. Fry, ''Adam Smith's Legacy: His Place in the Development of Modern Economics'' (Routledge, 1992).</ref> 

The focus of the Scottish Enlightenment ranged from intellectual and economic matters to the specifically scientific as in the work of the physician and chemist [[William Cullen]], the agriculturalist and economist [[James Anderson of Hermiston|James Anderson]],<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Eddy |first=Matthew Daniel |year=2007 |title=The Aberdeen Agricola: Principles and Practice in James Anderson's Georgics and Geology |url=https://www.academia.edu/3667295 |journal=New Narratives in Eighteenth-Century Chemistry |issue=Lawrence Principe (Ed.) |pages=139–156 |doi=10.1007/978-1-4020-6278-0_7}}</ref> chemist and physician [[Joseph Black]], natural historian [[John Walker (natural historian)|John Walker]]<ref>{{Cite book |last=Eddy |first=Matthew Daniel |url=https://www.academia.edu/1112014 |title=The Language of Mineralogy: John Walker, Chemistry and the Edinburgh Medical School, 1750–1800 |date=2008 |publisher=Ashgate |location=Aldershot}}</ref> and [[James Hutton]], the first modern geologist.<ref name="Denby" /><ref name="Repcheck">J. Repcheck, ''The Man Who Found Time: James Hutton and the Discovery of the Earth's Antiquity'' (Basic Books, 2003), pp. 117–143.</ref>

===Beginnings of industrialisation===
{{Main|Economic history of Scotland}}
[[File:Former Head Office of the British Linen Bank, St. Andrew Square Edinburgh.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|Former Head Office of the [[British Linen Bank]] in St Andrew Square, Edinburgh. Now offices of the Bank of Scotland.]]
With tariffs with England now abolished, the potential for trade for Scottish merchants was considerable. However, Scotland in 1750 was still a poor rural, agricultural society with a population of 1.3&nbsp;million.<ref>Henry Hamilton, ''An Economic History of Scotland in the Eighteenth Century'' (1963).</ref> Some progress was visible: agriculture in the Lowlands was steadily upgraded after 1700 and standards remained high.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Devine |first=Tom M. |title=The transformation of rural Scotland: social change and the agrarian economy, 1660–1815 |date=1994 |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |author-link=Tom Devine}}</ref> There were the sales of linen and cattle to England, the cash flows from military service, and the tobacco trade that was dominated by Glasgow [[Tobacco Lords]] after 1740.<ref>{{Citation |last=Robert |first=Joseph C. |title=The Tobacco Lords: A study of the Tobacco Merchants of Glasgow and their Activities |work=The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography |volume=84 |issue=1 |pages=100–102 |year=1976 |jstor=4248011}}</ref> Merchants who profited from the American trade began investing in leather, textiles, iron, coal, sugar, rope, sailcloth, glassworks, breweries, and soapworks, setting the foundations for the city's emergence as a leading industrial centre after 1815.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Devine |first=Tom M. |author-link=Tom Devine |date=February 1976 |title=The Colonial Trades and Industrial Investment in Scotland, c. 1700–1815 |journal=Economic History Review |volume=29 |issue=1 |pages=1–13 |jstor=2594504 }}</ref> The tobacco trade collapsed during the American Revolution (1776–1783), when its sources were cut off by the British blockade of American ports. However, trade with the West Indies began to make up for the loss of the tobacco business,<ref name=Campbell1964pp469-77/> reflecting the British demand for sugar and the demand in the West Indies for herring and linen goods.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Devine |first=Tom M. |author-link=Tom Devine |date=April 1978 |title=An Eighteenth-Century Business Élite: Glasgow-West India Merchants, c 1750–1815 |journal=Scottish Historical Review |volume=57 |issue=1 |pages=40–67}}</ref>

Linen was Scotland's premier industry in the 18th century and formed the basis for the later [[cotton]], [[jute]],<ref>Louise Miskell and C. A. Whatley, "'Juteopolis' in the Making: Linen and the Industrial Transformation of Dundee, c. 1820–1850", ''[[Textile History]]'', Autumn 1999, vol. 30 (2) pp. 176–198.</ref> and woollen industries.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Durie |first=Alastair J. |year=1973 |title=The Markets for Scottish Linen, 1730–1775 |journal=The Scottish Historical Review |volume=52 |issue=153 |pages=30–49 |jstor=25528985}}</ref> Scottish industrial policy was made by the board of trustees for Fisheries and Manufactures in Scotland, which sought to build an economy complementary, not competitive, with England. Since England had woollens, this meant linen. Encouraged and subsidised by the Board of Trustees so it could compete with German products, merchant entrepreneurs became dominant in all stages of linen manufacturing and built up the market share of Scottish linens, especially in the American colonial market.<ref>Alastair Durie, "Imitation in Scottish Eighteenth-Century Textiles: The Drive to Establish the Manufacture of Osnaburg Linen", ''Journal of Design History'', 1993, vol. 6 (2), pp. 71–6.</ref> The British Linen Company, established in 1746, was the largest firm in the Scottish linen industry in the 18th century, exporting linen to England and America. As a joint-stock company, it had the right to raise funds through the issue of promissory notes or bonds. With its bonds functioning as bank notes, the company gradually moved into the business of lending and discounting to other linen manufacturers, and in the early 1770s banking became its main activity.<ref>C. A. Malcolm, ''The History of the British Linen Bank'' (1950).</ref> It joined the established Scottish banks such as the Bank of Scotland (Edinburgh, 1695) and the [[Royal Bank of Scotland]] (Edinburgh, 1727).<ref>R. Saville, ''Bank of Scotland: a History, 1695–1995'' (1996).</ref> Glasgow would soon follow and Scotland had a flourishing financial system by the end of the century. There were over 400 branches, amounting to one office per 7,000 people, double the level in England, where banks were also more heavily regulated. Historians have emphasised that the flexibility and dynamism of the Scottish banking system contributed significantly to the rapid development of the economy in the 19th century.<ref>M. J. Daunton, ''Progress and Poverty: An Economic and Social History of Britain 1700–1850'' (1995), p. 344.</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Cowen |first1=Tyler |last2=Kroszner |first2=Randall |year=1989 |title=Scottish Banking before 1845: A Model for Laissez-Faire? |journal=Journal of Money, Credit and Banking |volume=21 |issue=2 |pages=221–231 |jstor=1992370}}</ref>

German sociologist [[Max Weber]] mentioned Scottish Presbyterianism in ''[[The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism]]'' (1905), and many scholars argued that "this worldly asceticism" of Calvinism was integral to Scotland's rapid economic modernisation.<ref>Callum G. Brown, ''Religion and society in Scotland since 1707'' (1997), p. 178.</ref> More recent scholarship however emphasises other factors. These include technology transfers from England and the appeal of a highly mobile, low-cost labour-force for English investors like Richard Arkwright.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Devine |first=Tom M. |title=Scotland |date=2004 |work=The Cambridge Economic History of Modern Britain |editor-last=Floud |editor-first=Roderick |volume=1: Industrialisation, 1700-1860 |page=406 |author-link=Tom Devine |editor-last2=Johnson |editor-first2=Paul}}</ref> Scotland's natural resources in water power, black-band ironstone and coal were also important foundations for mechanised industry.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Finlay |first=Richard J. |title=Economy |date=2007 |work=Oxford Companion to Scottish History |page=198 |author-link=Richard J. Finlay}}</ref>

===Religious fragmentation===
{{Main|History of Christianity in Scotland}}
[[File:EbenezerErskine.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.8|[[Ebenezer Erskine]], whose actions led to the establishment of the [[Secession Church]]]]
In the 1690s the Presbyterian establishment purged the land of Episcopalians and heretics, and made blasphemy a capital crime. Thomas Aitkenhead, the son of an Edinburgh surgeon, aged 18, was indicted for blasphemy by order of the Privy Council for calling the New Testament "The History of the Imposter Christ"; he was hanged in 1696.<ref>{{Harvp|Devine|1999|pp=64–65}}.</ref> Their extremism led to a reaction known as the "Moderate" cause that ultimately prevailed and opened the way for liberal thinking in the cities.

The early 18th century saw the beginnings of a fragmentation of the [[Church of Scotland]]. These fractures were prompted by issues of government and patronage, but reflected a wider division between the hard-line [[Evangelicals]] and the theologically more tolerant [[Moderate Party (Scotland)|Moderate Party]]. The battle was over fears of fanaticism by the former and the promotion of Enlightenment ideas by the latter. The [[Patronage Act 1711]] was a major blow to the evangelicals, for it meant that local landlords could choose the minister, not the members of the congregation.<ref>{{Harvp|Devine|1999|pp=73–75}}.</ref> Schisms erupted as the evangelicals left the main body, starting in 1733 with the [[First Secession]] headed by figures including [[Ebenezer Erskine]]. The second schism in 1761 lead to the foundation of the independent [[Relief Church]].<ref name="Koch2006p416-7">J. T. Koch, ''Celtic Culture: a Historical Encyclopedia, Volumes 1–5'' (ABC-CLIO, 2006), pp. 416–417.</ref> These churches gained strength in the [[Evangelical Revival]] of the later 18th century.<ref name="Ditchfield1998p91">G. M. Ditchfield, ''The Evangelical Revival'' (Routledge, 1998), p. 91.</ref> A key result was the main Presbyterian church was in the hands of the Moderate faction, which provided critical support for the Enlightenment in the cities.

Long after the triumph of the Church of Scotland in the Lowlands, Highlanders and Islanders clung to an old-fashioned Christianity infused with animistic folk beliefs and practices. The remoteness of the region and the lack of a Gaelic-speaking clergy undermined the missionary efforts of the established church. The later 18th century saw some success, owing to the efforts of the [[SSPCK]] missionaries and to the disruption of traditional society.<ref name="Robb1990">G. Robb, "Popular Religion and the Christianization of the Scottish Highlands in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries", ''Journal of Religious History'', 1990, 16(1): 18–34.</ref> Catholicism had been reduced to the fringes of the country, particularly the Gaelic-speaking areas of the Highlands and Islands. Conditions also grew worse for Catholics after the Jacobite rebellions and Catholicism was reduced to little more than a poorly run mission. Also important was Episcopalianism, which had retained supporters through the civil wars and changes of regime in the 17th century. Since most Episcopalians had given their support to the Jacobite rebellions in the early 18th century, they also suffered a decline in fortunes.<ref name=Koch2006p416-7/>{{Clear}}

===Literature===
{{Main|Literature of Scotland}}
[[File:Robert burns.jpg|thumb|right|[[Robert Burns]] (1759–1796) exalted as Scotland's national poet.]]
Although Scotland increasingly adopted the English language and wider cultural norms, its literature developed a distinct national identity and began to enjoy an international reputation. [[Allan Ramsay (poet)|Allan Ramsay]] (1686–1758) laid the foundations of a reawakening of interest in older Scottish literature, as well as leading the trend for pastoral poetry, helping to develop the [[Habbie stanza]] as a [[poetic form]].<ref>Buchan, ''Crowded with Genius'', p. 311.</ref> [[James Macpherson]] was the first Scottish poet to gain an international reputation, claiming to have found poetry written by [[Ossian]], he published translations that acquired international popularity, being proclaimed as a Celtic equivalent of the [[Classical antiquity|Classical]] [[Epic poetry|epics]]. ''Fingal'' written in 1762 was speedily translated into many European languages, and its deep appreciation of natural beauty and the melancholy tenderness of its treatment of the ancient legend did more than any single work to bring about the [[Romantic movement]] in European, and especially in German, literature, influencing [[Johann Gottfried von Herder|Herder]] and [[Goethe]].<ref>Buchan, ''Crowded with Genius'', p. 163.</ref> Eventually it became clear that the poems were not direct translations from the Gaelic, but flowery adaptations made to suit the aesthetic expectations of his audience.<ref>{{Citation |last=D. Thomson |title=The Gaelic Sources of Macpherson's "Ossian" |year=1952 |place=Aberdeen |publisher=Oliver & Boyd}}</ref> Both the major literary figures of the following century, [[Robert Burns]] and Walter Scott, would be highly influenced by the Ossian cycle. Burns, an Ayrshire poet and lyricist, is widely regarded as the [[national poet]] of Scotland and a major figure in the Romantic movement. As well as making original compositions, Burns also collected [[folk songs]] from across Scotland, often revising or [[Literary adaptation|adapting]] them. His poem (and song) "[[Auld Lang Syne]]" is often sung at [[Hogmanay]] (the last day of the year), and "[[Scots Wha Hae]]" served for a long time as an unofficial [[national anthem]] of the country.<ref>{{Citation |last=L. McIlvanney |title=Hugh Blair, Robert Burns, and the Invention of Scottish Literature |date=Spring 2005 |journal=Eighteenth-Century Life |volume=29 |issue=2 |pages=25–46 |doi=10.1215/00982601-29-2-25 |s2cid=144358210}}</ref>

===Education===
{{Main|History of education in Scotland}}
[[File:Old College quadrangle, Edinburgh.JPG|thumb|left|[[Old College, University of Edinburgh]], rebuilt in 1789 according to plans drawn up by [[Robert Adam]]]]
A legacy of the Reformation in Scotland was the aim of having a school in every parish, which was underlined by an act of the Scottish parliament in 1696 (reinforced in 1801). In rural communities this obliged local landowners (heritors) to provide a schoolhouse and pay a schoolmaster, while ministers and local [[Presbyterian polity|presbyteries]] oversaw the quality of the education. The headmaster or "dominie" was often university educated and enjoyed high local prestige.<ref>William F. Hendrie, ''The dominie: a profile of the Scottish headmaster'' (1997).</ref> The kirk schools were active in the rural lowlands but played a minor role in the Highlands, the islands, and in the fast-growing industrial towns and cities.<ref>{{Harvp|Devine|1999|p=99}}.</ref><ref>{{Harvp|Anderson|1995}}.</ref> The schools taught in English, not in Gaelic, because that language was seen as a leftover of Catholicism and was not an expression of Scottish nationalism.<ref>{{Harvp|Anderson|1995|p=217}}.</ref> In cities such as Glasgow the Catholics operated their own schools, which directed their youth into clerical and middle class occupations, as well as religious vocations.<ref>Francis J. O'Hagan, ''The Contribution of the Religious Orders to Education in Glasgow During the Period, 1847–1918'' (2006).</ref>

A "democratic myth" emerged in the 19th century to the effect that many a "lad of pairts" had been able to rise up through the system to take high office and that literacy was much more widespread in Scotland than in neighbouring states, particularly England.<ref name="Anderson2003">{{Cite book |last=Anderson |first=Robert |title=The history of Scottish Education pre-1980 |date=2003 |work=Scottish Education: Post-Devolution |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |isbn=978-0-74-861625-1 |editor-last=Bryce |editor-first=T. G. K. |edition=2nd |pages=219–228 |ol=9885324M |editor-last2=Humes |editor-first2=W. M.}}</ref> Historical research has largely undermined the myth. Kirk schools were not free, attendance was not compulsory and they generally imparted only basic literacy such as the ability to read the Bible. Poor children, starting at age 7, were done by age 8 or 9; the majority were finished by age 11 or 12. The result was widespread basic reading ability; since there was an extra fee for writing, half the people never learned to write. Scots were not significantly better educated than the English and other contemporary nations. A few talented poor boys did go to university, but usually they were helped by aristocratic or gentry sponsors. Most of them became poorly paid teachers or ministers, and none became important figures in the Scottish Enlightenment or the Industrial Revolution.<ref>{{Harvp|Devine|1999|pp=96–100}}.</ref>

By the 18th century there were five universities in Scotland, at [[Edinburgh University|Edinburgh]], [[Glasgow University|Glasgow]], [[St. Andrews University|St. Andrews]] and [[King's College, Aberdeen|King's]] and [[Marischal College|Marischial]] Colleges in Aberdeen, compared with only two in England. Originally oriented to clerical and legal training, after the religious and political upheavals of the 17th century they recovered with a lecture-based curriculum that was able to embrace economics and science, offering a high quality liberal education to the sons of the nobility and gentry. It helped the universities to become major centres of medical education and to put Scotland at the forefront of Enlightenment thinking.<ref name=Anderson2003/>{{Clear}}