In Scotland, the Duke of Queensberry was largely responsible for the successful passage of the Union act by the Parliament of Scotland. In Scotland, he was greeted by stones and eggs but in England he was cheered for his action.[51] He had personally received around half of the funding awarded by the Westminster Treasury.[citation needed] In April 1707, he travelled to London to attend celebrations at the royal court, and was greeted by groups of noblemen and gentry lined along the road. From Barnet, the route was lined with crowds of cheering people, and once he reached London a huge crowd had formed. On 17 April, the Duke was gratefully received by the Queen at Kensington Palace and the Acts came into effect on 1 May 1707.[51] A day of thanksgiving was declared in England and Ireland but not in Scotland, where the bells of St Giles rang out the tune of “why should I be so sad on my wedding day”.[52]
The Parliament met until “prorogued sine die” following months of intense debate, with 110 voting in favour for the treaty to 67 against. It is notable that 123 of the 300 members of Parliament were missing from one of the most controversial votes of the age.
After the negotiations ended on 22 July 1706, separate acts of parliament were drafted by both parliaments to implement the agreed Articles of Union. The Scots proponents of union believed that failure to agree to the Articles would result in the imposition of a union under less favourable terms, and English troops were stationed just south of the Scottish border and also in northern Ireland as an “encouragement”. Months of fierce debate in both capital cities and throughout both kingdoms followed. In Scotland, the debate on occasion dissolved into civil disorder, most notably involving the notorious “Edinburgh Mob”,[13] which threatened “Destruction to all the Promoters of the Union”.[14]
As the Parliament of Scotland was deliberating on 22 October 1706, the session had to be suspended “because the mob was threatening to break in”;[15] although this did not ultimately occur, they subsequently “attacked the house of Sir Patrick Johnston, a commissioner for union and former Lord Provost of Edinburgh.”[15] “Troops were brought into the city with orders to shoot if necessary, and several regiments were placed at Queensberry’s disposal on the Scottish border and in Ireland in the event of trouble.”[16] The prospect of a union of the kingdoms was deeply unpopular among the Scottish population at large, and talk of an uprising was widespread.[17] However, the treaty was signed and the documents were rushed south with a large military escort. Andrew Fletcher, a prominent Scottish patriot, argued that the ratification of the treaty would see Scotland “more like a conquered province”.[18]
The “Home Rule” movement for a Scottish Assembly was first taken up in 1853 by the National Association for the Vindication of Scottish Rights, a body close to the Conservative Party. A key element in this movement was the comparison with Ireland. The original movement broadened its political appeal and soon began to receive Liberal Party backing.[13][failed verification] In 1885, the post of Secretary for Scotland and the Scottish Office were re-established to promote Scotland’s interests and express its concerns to the UK Parliament.
A Scottish Home Rule bill was first presented to Parliament in 1913, but its progress was soon ended as Parliament focused on emergency measures necessitated by the First World War.[15]
The Scottish Covenant was a petition to the UK Government asking for home rule. It was first proposed in 1930 by John MacCormick and formally written in 1949. The petition “was eventually signed by two million people”[17] (the population of Scotland was recorded as 5,100,000 in the 1951 UK Census[18]). The covenant was ignored by the main political parties.[17] In 1950 the Stone of Destiny was removed from Westminster Abbey by a group of Scottish nationalist students.
A post-legislative referendum was held in Scotland in 1979 to decide whether there was sufficient support among the Scottish electorate for a Scottish Assembly proposed in the Scotland Act 1978. This was an act to create a devolved deliberative assembly for Scotland. A majority (51.6%) of voters supported the proposal, but an amendment to the Act stipulated that it would be repealed if less than 40% of the total electorate voted in favour. As there was a turnout of 64% the “Yes” vote represented only 32.9% of the registered electorate, and the act was subsequently repealed.
A referendum on Scottish independence from the United Kingdom was held in Scotland on 18 September 2014.[1] The referendum question was “Should Scotland be an independent country?”, which voters answered with “Yes” or “No”.[2] The “No” side won with 2,001,926 (55.3%) voting against independence and 1,617,989 (44.7%) voting in favour. The turnout of 84.6% was the highest recorded for an election or referendum in the United Kingdom since the January 1910 general election, which was held before the introduction of universal suffrage.
Awa’ and shite.
13-1600s: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Scottish_Wars
1300s: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wars_of_Scottish_Independence
1400s: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_invasion_of_Scotland_(1482)
1500s: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rough_Wooing
1600s: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Scottish_war_(1650–1652)
1700s:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acts_of_Union_1707
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Union
16-1800s: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacobitism
1800s to today:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottish_independence
1970s:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1979_Scottish_devolution_referendum
2010s:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Scottish_independence_referendum
2007 Scottish elections:
2011 Scottish elections:
2016 Scottish elections:
2021 Scottish elections:
2026 Scottish elections:
Along for the ride, my arse.