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Scotland and the Glorious Revolution of 1688

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 July 2014

Robert Paul Barnes
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Extract

While the English Glorious Revolution has been the subject of considerable investigation, the Scottish phase of this vital conflict has been virtually ignored. The purpose of this paper is to look briefly at the degree of Scottish participation in the revolutionary events of 1688. It is not my intention to investigate either the underlying or the immediate reasons for the ousting of James VII & II from the thrones of Scotland and England, for that would necessitate a a detailed consideration of James's policy of political and religious despotism.

It would be a very rash judgment to charge any single person or event with catapulting the Scottish nation into revolution. Yet, if ever one person came close to individually fomenting a revolution, that person was James VII of the ill-fated house of Stuart. In Scotland James's attempts to cajole, bribe, or threaten influential men into lending their support to Roman Catholic relief was without success. His personal policy of religious oppression and arbitrary rule progressively alienated politically important segments of his Protestant kingdom so that by 1688, despite their differences and personal rivalries, they coalesced to a degree that left the king virtually isolated in Scotland. The failure of James's policies had created a situation ripe for revolution. Nevertheless, there is no evidence of any readiness on the part of the Scots to initiate such a revolt. However much one might wish to be able to point to the catalyst of revolution in Scotland, one is still left with the hard fact that from June to October 1688, while Englishmen plotted their revolution and William of Orange prepared his invasion, Scotsmen remained loyal to their native king, and Scottish royal administration continued its rule virtually unchallenged by dissenters. James's rule may have been detested by the majority of Scotsmen, but Scotland was too weak a nation to unilaterally overthrow a monarch who also commanded the superior strength and resources of England. Scottish hesitancy to precipitate a revolution persisted despite the fact that the birth of the Prince of Wales in June 1688 seemed to assure the permanence of the hated Catholic regime.

Type
Research Article
Information
Albion , Volume 3 , Issue 3 , Fall 1971 , pp. 116 - 127
Copyright
Copyright © North American Conference on British Studies 1971

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References

NOTES

1 In studying the political machinations leading up to the Glorious Revolution in Scotland the following sources are among the most informative and useful: Register of the Privy Council of Scotland (third series; Edinburgh, 1932), XIIIGoogle Scholar; Sir John Lauder of Fountainhall, Historical Notices of Scottish Affairs (Edinburgh, 1848), IIGoogle Scholar; Lindsay, Colin, Earl of Balcarres, Memoirs Touching the Revolution in Scotland (Edinburgh, 1841)Google Scholar; Hamilton MSS (London, 1887)Google Scholar; Drumlanrig MSS (London, 1903), IIGoogle Scholar; Ogilvy, James, Earl of Seafield, Seafield Correspondence (Edinburgh, 1912)Google Scholar; Graham, J. Murray, Annals and Correspondence of the Viscount and First and Second Earls of Stair (Edinburgh, 1875), IGoogle Scholar; Mathieson, William Law, Politics and Religion in Scotland, 1550-1695 (Glasgow, 1902), II.Google Scholar

2 Holland swarmed with British refugees at this time; William's court was their asylum. See Garstares, William, State Papers and Letters Addressed to William Carstares (Edinburgh, 1774)Google Scholar; The Marchmont Papers (London, 1831), 3 vols.Google Scholar; SirDalrymple, John, Memoirs of Great Britain and Ireland (second edition; London, 1771–1773), 2 vols.Google Scholar

3 Donaldson, Gordon, Scotland: James V to James VII (Edinburgh, 1965)Google Scholar. Smout, T. C. presents a similar view in his more recent publication, A History of the Scottish People, 1560-1830 (London, 1969).Google Scholar

4 Browning, Andrew (ed.), English Historical Documents (London, 1953), VIII, 120–122.Google Scholar

5 Burnet, Gilbert, History of His Own Time (second edition; Oxford, 1833), III, 141Google Scholar; Balcarres, p. 8; Dalrymple, I, Part I, 134-135.

6 Carstares, p. 32.

7 Since his religious indulgence of July 1687 James had delegated his administrative responsibilities in Scotland to Perth (who was a Roman Catholic) and a small group known as the Secret Committee of the Privy Council. Other members of the Secret Committee at this time were: the Earl of Balcarres, the Marquis of Atholl, Viscount Tarbat, Sir George Lockhart, and the Bishop of Glasgow.

8 Somers' Tracts, ed. Scott, Walter (second edition; London, 1813–1814), XI, 495Google Scholar; Seafield Correspondence, pp. 43-44.

9 The History of the Affairs of Scotland From the Restoration of King Charles the 2d … and The Transactions of the Convention and Parliament to Midsomer 1690 … (London, 1690), pp. 28–39Google Scholar; State Tracts … Collection of Several Choice Treatices Relating to the Government From the Year 1660 to 1689 (London, 1692), pp. 420–425.Google Scholar

10 Wodrow, Robert, The History of the Sufferings of the Church of Scotland (Glasgow, 1830), IV, 467–470Google Scholar; Mathieson, II, 345; Seafield, p. 45.

11 Dickinson, William Croft and Donaldson, Gordon (eds.), A Source Book of Scottish History (Edinburgh, 1954), III, 194–195Google Scholar; Wodrow, IV, 427.

12 Reid, J. M., Kirk and Nation (London, 1960), pp. 100–103.Google Scholar

13 Balcarres, pp. 8-9.

14 Marchmont Papers, III, 73–98Google Scholar. Sir Patrick Hume of Polwarth had written to the Presbyterian ministers that James was not to be trusted due to his religion and politics; while on the other hand William of Orange could be relied upon due to his Calvinist religion (Dutch Reformed), his temperament, and his policy.

15 Balcarres, p. 9.

16 Fountainhall, II, 863; Balcarres, p. 5. The Episcopalian clergy of Scotland had previously denounced the Prince of Wales as an imposter and according to Balcarres were now “extremely overjoyed at the noise of the Prince of Orange's coming over.”

17 Although for reasons of state William later endeavored to incorporate the bishops into a Presbyterian based national church, they resolutely refused to transfer their allegiance on the change of dynasty.

18 Wodrow, IV, 468-469.

19 Balcarres, pp. 7-8, 14.

20 Balcarres, pp. 10-11.

21 Chambers, Robert, History of the Rebellions in Scotland … 1689 and 1715 (Edinburgh, 1829), pp. 26–27.Google Scholar

22 Somers' Tracts, XL 495.Google Scholar

23 Burnet, III, 363-365.

24 Balcarres, pp. xvi. 11.

25 Ibid.

26 Somers' Tracts, XI, 495Google Scholar; Balcarres, pp. 12-13. Chief among the Presbyterian leaders were: Montgomery, the Earls of Crawford, Glencairn, and Tarres, Lords Ross, Bargeny, and Mersington, Sir Patrick Murray, William Lockhart, William Hamilton, and Cockburn of Ormiston.

27 Ibid.

28 Laing MSS (London, 1914), I, 459Google Scholar; Graham, I, 129-130; Balcarres. p. 13.

29 Marchmont Papers, III, 100.Google Scholar

30 Dalrymple, II, Appendix Part I, 341; Somers' Tracts, XI, 508Google Scholar. Shortly after William had landed, James had conferred the title of Viscount of Dundee on Claverhouse in an anxious effort to secure all possible friends to his interest.

31 Balcarres, p. 14.

32 Graham, I, 130.

33 The size of this force is not known, but after it too was disbanded, the Privy Council authorized four new companies consisting of one hundred men each. Register of the Privy Council of Scotland, XIII, lv.Google Scholar

34 Balcarres, pp. 14-15.

35 History of the Affairs of Scotland, p. 22.

36 Mackintosh, John, The History of Civilisation in Scotland (new edition; London, 1895), III, 171–172Google Scholar; History of the Affairs of Scotland, pp. 22-25; Wodrow, IV, 467-470; Balcarres, pp. 15-17; Mathieson, II, 346. The Edinburgh mob, which included college students, proclaimed a reward of £400 sterling for Perth, dead or alive.

37 Seafield, pp. 45-46; Chambers, pp. 27-28.

38 Chambers, p. 28.

39 Supplementary Report on Hamilton MSS (London, 1932), p. 113Google Scholar; Trevelyan, George M., The English Revolution, 1688-1689 (London, 1938), p. 121Google Scholar; Pinkham, Lucile, William III and the Respectable Revolution (Cambridge, Mass., 1954), p. 195.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

40 Even in flight the king was unsuccessful in that he was shortly apprehended by commoners off the Isle of Sheppey while awaiting fair weather.