RESTLESS LA ND A radical journey through Scotland’s history Volume One (500A D–1914) Alan McCombes & Roz Paterson Alan McCombes was the founding editor of the Scottish Socialist Voice , and was a founding member of both the Scottish Socialist Party and the Scottish Independence Convention. He has written a number of books and booklets including Downfall (Birlinn, 2011); Two Worlds Collide (SSP, 2005); Reclaim Our Railways (RMT, 2004); Imagine (Canongate, 2000) and How to Fight the Poll Tax (SML, 1988). Roz Paterson is a teacher and writer. She has written for the Sunday Herald , the Daily Record , The Scotsman and Scotland on Sunday, and writes regularly for the Scottish Socialist Voice and Red Pepper. She lives in the Highlands with her husband and children. For Robbie First published in July 2014 by Calton Books 159 London Road, Glasgow G1 5BX • www.calton-books.co.uk © Alan McCombes 2014 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form without the express permission of the publisher ISBN 978-0-9928983-1-1 The right of Alan McCombes and Roz Paterson to be identified as the authors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Typeset and cover design by Simon Whittle • @revolbiscuit Distributed by AK Press & Distribution 33 Tower Street, Edinburgh EH6 7BN • www.akuk.com Printed and bound by Forward Graphics 100 Elderpark Street, Glasgow G51 3TR • www.forwardgraphics.co.uk CONTENTS Acknowledgements ................................................................................. v Foreword ............................................................................................... vi 1 BIRTH OF A MONGREL NATION ........................................... 1 The misty millennium • Creeping feudalism • Hammer of the Scots 2 CRY FREEDOM ............................................................................. 11 Enigmatic outlaw • From pariah to saviour 3 THE CALVINIST REVOLUTION .............................................. 21 Culture wars • The rose against the thistle • Knox and the Queen of Scandal • Burning times 4 UNDER ONE KING ....................................................................... 31 The invention of Britain • Celtic colony 5 FIRE AND SWORD ....................................................................... 38 Countdown to civil war • Which side are you on? • Drenched red with blood 6 THE KILLING TIMES .................................................................. 50 A terrible beauty • Misery under the Merrie Monarch • With God on our side 7 THE HOUSE OF ORANGE ......................................................... 61 ‘An intensely conservative revolution’ • A battle of two halves • Slaughter in the snow 8 THE END OF A WRETCHED CENTURY ............................... 75 Poured down the Panama • The dying dynasty 9 SURRENDER .................................................................................. 80 A monarchist mission • Cash, titles and riots • Better together? 10 UNDER THE UNION FLAG ....................................................... 93 ‘The Grand Masters of corruption’ • An unlikely William Wallace • The spectre haunting Britain 11 THE POPULIST REBELLION .................................................... 104 Flamboyant messiah • For honour, liberty and independence • 500 miles – and 500 more 12 DISGRACE OF THE VICTORS .................................................. 116 Massacre on the moor • Revenge • The road not taken 13 THE EMPIRE STATE ................................................................... 125 Out of the night? • ‘The dread and envy of them all’ • Scotland’s empire? 14 REASON IN REVOLT ................................................................... 137 The Rights of Man • The unique flavour of Scottish radicalism • Tyranny of the wigs and gowns 15 OUT OF THE DEPTHS ............................................................... 150 No conscription! • The United Scotsmen • The thistle and the shamrock • Broken by an emperor 16 THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE ............................................... 162 Roots of ruination • Year of the Sheep • Sutherland no more 17 DARK SATANIC MILLS ............................................................... 176 The weaving of the working class • Strikes, martyrs and intrigue • Ablaze with rebellion • Trickery and treachery • From pleas to pikes 18 THE RADICAL WAR .................................................................... 189 Manchester massacre • ‘Lured out of their lairs’ • The Battle of Bonnymuir • ‘Scotland free or a desert’ • The summer of retribution 19 DAYS OF HOPE ............................................................................. 206 Whiggery pokery • Capital against labour • Chartism in Scotland • Days of desolation 20 CELTIC CONNECTIONS ........................................................... 221 Famine exodus • The land that time forgot • The orange and the green 21 WATER, BLOOD AND ALE ........................................................ 237 Municipal socialism • ‘Justice for Scotland’ • People of the Abyss 22 STRUGGLE FOR THE SOIL ...................................................... 247 Bridge over troubled waters • Battle of the Braes • The Glendale Martyrs • From battleground to ballot box 23 HOME RULE ALL ROUND ........................................................ 260 ‘A step backwards towards darkness’ • ‘A Celtic Protestant of the Irish race’ • The boundary of a nation 24 DREAMS ON THE ROAD TO HELL ....................................... 270 Guru in a cloth cap • Labour with a tartan tinge • Forward together • Suffragette socialism 25 FLOO’ERS O’ THE FOREST ....................................................... 288 Armageddon • Reverberations Selected Bibliography ............................................................................. 296 Index .................................................................................................... 299 Acknowledgements Many, many thanks to the following for their time and effort in helping us get this book out. Simon Whittle, who has handled the typography and design with his customary quiet professionalism. Robert Rae and Brian Lewis, who run the best bookshop in Glasgow, Calton Books, for taking on the publishing of this book. Carolyn Leckie for her astute observations after reading various drafts of the manuscript, and her organisational support. Shona McCombes for final proof-reading and skilful honing of the manuscript. Katie McCombes for her adept work in creating the index. Malcolm McDonald for his strength and support. Susan Wright for some valuable insights and marketing expertise. Tony Philipsz and the rest of the team at Forward Graphics in Govan, for stepping in at the last minute (following a technical crisis elsewhere) to get this book printed at lightning speed. Foreword It’s October 2001, and I’ve just arrived in the Pakistani frontier city of Pe - shawar to report on the political and social repercussions of the bombing of Afghanistan. A short drive away, up beyond the Khyber Pass, American B52 bombers roar over the Hindu Kush mountains of Eastern Afghanistan, turning villages into mass graves at the flick of a switch. Down here in the crowded market - place of the Sadaar Bazaar, I’m startled by a magazine front cover on sale on the book and newspaper stalls. It’s a familiar image from back home – Braveheart actor Mel Gibson, glow - ering defiantly from the front cover of a Pashtun magazine, his sword flashing, his face daubed with blue and white warpaint. Except for one detail. Courtesy of Photoshop, William Wallace has a black Taliban-style turban wrapped around his head. Every nation has its legends, its heroes and its villains, its glories and tragedies. Scotland may be a small country – 0.07 per cent of the world’s pop - ulation at the last count – but from the Wars of Independence to the melo - drama of Mary Queen of Scots, from the massacre of Glencoe to the Parcel of Rogues, from Bonnie Prince Charlie to Red Clydeside, we have an almost embarrassing surplus of colourful, if not garish, history. Great storybook stuff. But as Scotland stands on the threshold of the biggest decision the people of the nation have ever taken, what does it matter? In one sense, it doesn’t. The debate electrifying Scotland right now is not about the battles or betrayals, the triumphs or the injustices of centuries past. It is about the years, the decades and the centuries to come. For good or ill, the decision made by the people of Scotland at the ballot box will affect not just the generations who live in this country, but the generations yet to be born. Yet history does matter. Just as individual human beings are shaped by their own accumulated experiences, so societies and nations are moulded by their past. The repercussions of events in one period don’t just stop dead. They re - verberate down through the years, the generations, the centuries even, influ - FOREWORD vii encing politics, culture and ideology far into the future. To even begin to un - derstand Scottish politics today, our relationship with the United Kingdom, and our sometimes obsessive focus on matters of nationhood and identity, it is helpful to first try to make some kind of sense of our history. All history, however, is controversial – even the recent, two-hours ago variety. Just tune into any Saturday evening radio phone-in during the football