SOCIAL LIFE OF SCOTLAND IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY (1909)

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AUTHOR

Graham, Henry Grey, 1842-1906.

PUBLISHED
London, ADAM AND CHARLES BLACK (1909) First Edition, in two volumes, published October 1899 ; reprinted February 1900. Second Edition, in one volume, published February 1901; reprinted October 1901, October 1906, February 1909
DESCRIPTION
Preface:

In Scotland during the eighteenth century there were only two outstanding events which, after the Union, specially belong to its history—the Rebellion of '15 and the Rebellion of '45. Besides these rebellions, we find as State affairs of Scotland chiefly obscure intrigues of factions, Whig and Tory, Presbyterian and Jacobite; measures managed by leaders of Scottish business, who were servile followers of English ministries; manoeuvres of Scots nobles and placemen who travel southwards on horseback or in coach to win favour with great statesmen at Westminster or courtiers at St. James's—figures not very real to us to-day as they flit across the stage, " transient and embarrassed phantoms." To the end of the century—when Henry Dundas was " uncrowned King" of Scotland, pulling every political wire, and making local magnates and voters in town and country obsequiously move like puppets at his will —political life in North Britain was virtually non-existent.

This book, however, does not treat of stirring and striking episodes such as the Rebellions, with their elements of high romance not unalloyed with dingy intrigue: for these a sketch would be too little, and here a history would be too much. Still less does it concern itself with the ways of politicians, who often mistook state craftiness for statecraft, from the pettifogging schemers at the beginning of the century to the dictatorship and despotic party domination at the close: these interested the country a little at that time, but they interest us very little to-day. The following pages treat of the social condition of the country—chiefly in the Lowlands—and the internal changes through which it passed during a hundred years, with details which the historian dismisses with impatience as unconsidered trifles marring the dignity of his theme and disturbing the flow of his narrative. Yet, after all, it is in the inner life of a community that its real history is to be found—in the homes, and habits, and labours of the peasantry; in the modes, and manners, and thoughts of society; what the people believed and what they practised; how they farmed and how they traded; how the poor were relieved; how their children were taught, how their bodies were nourished, and how their souls were tended. On this last subject it may be thought that too much has been said—that the religious and ecclesiastical state of Scotland has been dealt with on a scale too large and disproportionate. It must, however, be remembered that such a part—too large and disproportionate—it also formed in the existence and concerns of the people. No doubt many of the religious ways and habits, the old-world theology, have long ago vanished, leaving only memories, humorous, pathetic, or bitter, behind them; curious convictions that once were charged with dangerous force in sectarian polemics are now cold and harmless, like exploded shells on an old battlefield. But it is impossible to understand the character and conduct of the Scottish people without knowing those bygone customs and beliefs which were once full of intense vitality. Nowhere were Church spirit so keen, Church influence so far-reaching, and Church affairs so intimate, as in Scotland. Probably no period was so quietly eventful in shaping the fortunes and character of the country as the eighteenth century. Others are more distinguished by striking incidents, others are more full of the din and tumult and strife which arrest attention and are treated as crises, although they may neither stir the depths nor affect the course of a people's life; but in that century there was a continuous revolution going on—a gradual transformation in manners, customs, opinions, among every class; the rise and progress of agricultural, commercial, and intellectual energy, that turned waste and barren tracts to fertile fields—stagnant towns to centres of busy trade—a lethargic, slovenly populace to an active, enterprising race—an utterly impoverished country to a prosperous land. These facts constitute the real history of the Scots in the eighteenth century.
The literature of the period, which developed so marvellously after the middle of the century, is only slightly indicated in this study of the time. It is a subject full of interest and importance; but, though it came within the scope of this work, it could not be put within the bounds of its space.

Contents:
COUNTRY SOCIETY AND COUNTRY LIFE, 1700-1750
COUNTRY SOCIETY AND COUNTRY LIFE, 1750-1800
TOWN LIFE—EDINBURGH
TOWN LIFE—GLASGOW
THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE, 1700-1750
THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE, 1750-1800
THE POOR OF SCOTLAND
RELIGIOUS AND ECCLESIASTICAL LIFE—PART I.
RELIGIOUS AND ECCLESIASTICAL LIFE—PART II.
THEOLOGICAL OPINIONS AND TEACHING
EDUCATION IN SCOTLAND—SCHOOLS AND SCHOOLMASTERS
EDUCATION IN SCOTLAND—THE UNIVERSITIES—THEIR LIFE AND LEARNING
EDUCATION—MEDICAL ART AND MEDICAL PRACTICE
CRIMES AND PUNISHMENTS
PROGRESS OF INDUSTRY AND TRADE
LANGUAGE: English
SAMPLE
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PROVISION
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