Thesis Correspondence XI: How the Scots Invented the Modern World

 Shipping on the Clyde

Dr. _____,

I thought I ought to get through a popular history on Scotland by Arthur Herman, a John Hopkins/George Mason scholar. I'm sure you've heard of How the Scots Invented the Modern World: The True Story of How Western Europe's Poorest Nation Created Our World & Everything in It. After skimming through it, I found it a little too exuberant and celebratory in the modern world for my conservative taste, and its conclusions were rather sloppy. With regards to Jacobitism, he sights good scholarship (Monod and Pittock), but is far too sparse and casual with the research. One particular conclusion seems to fall at the root of my thesis:

"This is another persistent myth: that Highlanders supported Bonnie Prince Charlie out of some ancient mystical loyalty to the Stuarts. The truth was that the alliance between the Crown and the clan chieftains was one of mutual self interest. The Crown recognized the chieftain's life-and-death power over his tenants, reinforced the privileged status of his family members and supporters, and protected his children's rights to his land by formal law. In exchange, the chiefs gave the king a rough version of law and order in a remote and largely inaccessible part of his kingdom. It also allowed him to play one clan against another, when it suited his own political purposes."

This is completely a false dilemma. First, I take issue with his premise that myth and economic/political motives stand apart. The entire premise of my thesis will be that cultural traditions informed political opinion. Herman skims over the vital significance of the Scottish nobles. Mystical loyalty and the traditional law over land went hand-in-hand. The vast majority of correspondence between king and country during the exile focused on unifying the kingdom along "ancient" lines of noble pedigree and monarchical inheritance, while Scottish epic poetry in Classical form reinforced the same emphasis on hereditary right. Only rarely might the dynasty successfully pit clan against clan without suffering divisive results which might contradict his pageantry for the kingdom of Scotland as a whole.

I am still in the middle of the Brus, but I am going to put the main emphasis on perfecting my prospectus. I'll send you a copy by the end of the week, and hopefully schedule a time next week to discuss it in person.

Wesley

Thesis Correspondence X: The Brus

Dear Dr. _____,

Well, I'm tackling Robert the Bruce's epic poem written by John Barbour, Archdeacon of Aberdeen in the 1300s. I think it will make sense of the Grameid for me, as there's much about dynastic succession, personal inheritance, title, nobility, free domains, and Classical imagery in it. It's a little heavy going (I've attached a page for you to take a quick look). [Click into the image above to read some of it.] I am in a world of knights in shinning armor without any 19th century Romantic intermediary interpretations! It is every bit as glamorous this way. This may take me a bit. More updates to come...

Wesley

Thesis Correspondence IX: Stuart Papers, Vol. II

 Pettie - Jacobites, 1745

Dear Dr. _____,

I found the second volume of the Stuart Papers to be very informative regarding cultural references. The universal understanding of the Highlanders is one of loyalty without sufficient means to achieve Stuart restoration. A definite resource problem plagued the administrative side of organizing a successful attempt. Clan Ranald in particular is describes as possessing family ties to loyalty, but many other clan leaders are so linked with the attempt that it is obvious the Highlanders had vested interest in the Noble hierarchy of the Stuart cause in Great Britain. James' main action towards raising support among both the British nobility and populace is through the heraldic pageantry of Standard Raising, and he invariably links that particular heraldry with Scottish ancient appeal, choosing Scotland as his preliminary and primary place to raise his Standard. I have chased down various systems of codes regarding the names of places and people in order to discover cultural meanings in the texts. For instance, Highlanders in one place are referred to as "Heathcoats," Holland is "Milflower," and Scotland is quite often "Mr. Woods." Other codes do not necessarily imply cultural specificity, and I want to be very careful in my inferences, but these few were almost certainly obvious characterizations of cultural ideals. My only disappointment is that the correspondence does not proceed further than 1716, and I will need to look elsewhere for correspondence during Prince Charles' attempt. I have noted extensively as usual.

Wesley

Thesis Correspondence VIII: Stuart Papers, Vol. I

 The Bookkeeper by Van Dijk

Dear Dr. _____,

I just finished the first volume (over 500 pg.) of the Stuart Papers with Royal Stuart correspondence from 1579 to 1716. As I briefly reviewed with you yesterday, it confirmed the importance of the Scottish and English nobility to the Jacobite movement. James II was blatantly Catholic and unabashedly formed the basis for legitimacy upon his Catholic connections with Christendom. James III briefly imitates his father, but comes into his own character with the 1715 attempt. Instrumental to his pageantry of restoration is heraldic standard raising in Scotland and sending Royal declarations of loyalty to the “ancient foundation” of the realm. Interesting interplays with the political concepts of “states,” “kingdom,” and “country” bearing on the usage of “citizens” and “subjects.” There's a lot of meaning going on here, and I have noted appropriately so that I can unpack when writing. Noble promotion and preservation of titles really hold the transnational connections between court and Britain together.

I'll leave you with that for now. Next week, I'll get into Prince Charles correspondence in the second volume.

Wesley