“OUR OWN CATHOLIC COUNTRYMEN”: RELIGION, LOYALISM, AND SUBJECTHOOD IN BRITAIN AND ITS EMPIRE, 1755-1829 By Mary Louise Sanderson Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Vanderbilt University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in History May, 2010 Nashville, Tennessee Approved: Professor James A. Epstein Professor Katherine B. Crawford Professor Matthew Ramsey Professor Peter Lake Professor Catherine A. Molineux Professor Bridget E. Orr i TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS................................................................................................iv LIST OF FIGURES..........................................................................................................viii ABBREVIATIONS............................................................................................................ix INTRODUCTION...............................................................................................................x Chapter I. CATHOLICS, JACOBITES AND THE ILLUSION OF PROTESTANT UNITY.................................................................................................................................1 The Seven Years War..................................................................................................10 Reform and Revolution................................................................................................31 Catholic Relief in Ireland.............................................................................................50 Conclusion...................................................................................................................61 II. QUEBEC AND THE RESHAPING OF EMPIRE.......................................................65 Quebec after the Conquest...........................................................................................72 The Quebec Act.........................................................................................................105 Quebec and Ireland....................................................................................................131 Conclusion.................................................................................................................139 III. CATHOLIC RELIEF AND LOYALTY IN THE TIME OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION................................................................................................................142 Catholic Relief Acts in England and Scotland...........................................................149 Catholic Relief in Ireland...........................................................................................173 Catholics in the French Revolutionary War...............................................................190 Conclusion.................................................................................................................206 IV: THE PROMISE OF UNION.....................................................................................210 Making the Union......................................................................................................218 Early Years of the Union...........................................................................................242 The Beginning of Irish Catholic Nationalism............................................................260 Conclusion.................................................................................................................278 ii V: WAR AND THE REINVENTION OF THE HIGHLANDS.....................................280 Wartime for Scotland.................................................................................................286 Highlandism and the Romanticization of Scottishness..............................................300 Alexander MacDonnell and the Glengarry Fencibles: A Case Study..........................................................................................................................316 Conclusion.................................................................................................................331 CONCLUSION................................................................................................................335 BIBLIOGRAPHY............................................................................................................346 iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS In the process of writing this dissertation, I have received the help and support of numerous people. First and foremost, I need to thank my academic advisor, Dr. James Epstein, both for helping me shape my topic and for providing much needed criticism and direction throughout the entire process. His support has been vital to my graduate career as a whole, and I am deeply appreciative of the effort he invested in me. I also need to thank the chair of my dissertation committee, Dr. Katherine Crawford. In addition to her service on my committee, Dr. Crawford has consistently made herself available to discuss a variety of professional issues. I also want to extend my appreciation to the rest of my dissertation committee. Prof. Peter Lake provided me with useful feedback on my work by encouraging me to consider my study in a broader early modern context. Dr. Matthew Ramsey helped me to develop my ideas for my prospectus back when I was first beginning the whole dissertation process. Dr. Catherine Molineux also supplied useful commentary on my dissertation. I was glad to have her input. Finally, although I had not worked with her before, Dr. Bridget Orr of the English Department agreed to be my outside reader. She recommended numerous books that helped me explore representations of Catholics in eighteenth century literature. I also need to thank Vanderbilt University, and all those who have provided me with the funding to carry out my research and sustain myself through the writing process. I want to thank that College of Arts and Sciences for awarding me the Social Science Dissertation Fellowship for the 2007-2008 school year. This fellowship enabled me to go to Britain and spend the time I needed to complete much of my research. I also want to iv thank the Vanderbilt History Department for granting me numerous fellowships and grants, such as the William Campbell Binkley Grant and the Herbert and Blanche Henry Weaver Grant. These fellowships and grants made my work possible. I would also like to thank all of the scholars I met while researching in Britain. During my time in London, I received a friendly welcome from the scholars at the University of London history seminar series. I am particularly grateful to Prof. John Wolfe and Ultan Gillian for their suggestions on my research. Likewise, I appreciate the scholars at the University of Edinburgh for inviting me into their community. Dr. Ewan Cameron and Prof. Thomas Devine graciously offered their advice on my search for Scottish Catholics. Post-graduate Mark Dziennik allowed me to read his unpublished paper on Highland emigrants and loyalism during the American Revolution. Furthermore, both Mr. Dziennik and Dr. Frank Cogliano invited me to attend the seminar at which Mr. Dziennik’s paper was discussed. However, I would particularly like to thank Dr. Donald Meek, who met with me several times to share his thoughts on uncovering Gaelic sources and to refer me to other scholars whom he thought would be of help. He is a generous scholar, and I deeply appreciate the friendship and patience he demonstrated. Besides the professors and students I met in Edinburgh and London, I would also like to thank those with whom I corresponded. Although I did not meet them face to face, Andrew Mackillop, Bernard Aspinwall, and D. W. Stewart shared their knowledge with me, and I appreciate it. I would also like to thank all of the archivists and staff who helped me with my research. The Scottish Catholic Archives in Edinburgh was one of the nicest archives I have ever worked in. The staff were always helpful and efficient, and the Keeper of the v Archives, Andrew Nicholl, went out of his way to direct me to materials that I would find useful. I also appreciated the opportunity to research at the Westminster Diocesan Archives. Father Nicholas Schofield and his assistant were very helpful and professional. Likewise, I was glad for the chance to visit the Dublin Diocesan Archives. The Diocesan Archivist, Noelle Dowling, was courteous and helped me find the papers I needed for my work. I would also like to thank the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland, the Archdiocese of Westminster, and the Archdiocese of Dublin for making these archives available to me. I would also like to thank the archivists and staff of the Highland Council Archives in Inverness, the Sheffield Archives, the Newberry Library, and the Cambridge University Library. I want to express my appreciation for the staff of the William L. Clement Library at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, particularly the curator of manuscripts, Barbara DeWolfe. I also want to extend a general thanks to the staff of the National Archives at Kew, the National Archives of Scotland, the British Library, the National Library of Scotland, the National Archives of Ireland, the National Library of Ireland, and the Library and Archives of Canada. I want to thank the organizers of the NECBS and the WCBS for allowing me to present papers based on my work. I particularly wish to thank Dr. Stephen Schloesser for his thoughts on my paper “‘No Common War’: British Catholics and the Conflict with Revolutionary France,”