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A core component of colonial projects in both the Highlands and Indian North America was to convert the tribal inhabitants, who were assumed to exist at an inferior stage of development. This chapter surveys depictions of tribal life in the Highlands and Indian country to illustrate how contemporaries described tribal peoples on both sides of the Atlantic in almost identical terms. It examines the attitudes and philosophies of the colonizers, their missionary and educational efforts, and the responses of Highland and Indian peoples to such conversion attempts. The Lowland-based Society in Scotland for Propagating Christian Knowledge was active in mission work in both the Highlands and in Indian country. Scottish Enlightenment theories about human development exerted an important influence on emerging American Indian policy and the thinking of Thomas Jefferson.

The 1860s witnessed an increase in the number of Scottish clubs and societies, as well as a surge in the popularity of events such as Highland Games, all over the world, bringing New Zealand in line with developments in the wider Scottish Diaspora. These convergencies notwithstanding, Scottish associationalism was not uniform across the Diaspora; the types of Scottish associations, their structures and objectives varied between the Scots’ places of settlement. With this important point in mind, this chapter explores the evolution of Scottish associational life in New Zealand.

This chapter demonstrates that Queen Victoria had a talent for interpreting and manipulating history, adopting national identities and evoking a significant response. It also discusses the English reaction when the ‘Stone of Destiny’ was (briefly) taken from Westminster Abbey in 1950 by nationalist students from Glasgow University. It specifically explores Scottish perceptions of the monarchy as part of a wider British identity in Scotland. It begins by briefly outlining the ways in which Victoria re-established the notion of monarchy in Scottish society. The contrast between the popular perception of Victoria and her heir, Edward, is examined to illustrate how notions of Scottishness were significant in identifying the attitudes towards the monarchy. It then addresses the period surrounding the coronation of Queen Elizabeth as it took place in 1953, the 350th anniversary of the Union of the Crowns. It further evaluates some of the reasons why the effect of monarchy as a unifying factor in British identity has decreased in Scotland over the last twenty years. There has been a steady decline in the number of Scots who served in the armed forces in the period after 1945.

Sentimental expressions of Scottish identity played their part in the shaping of Scottish associational life. Many of the Scots who chose to become members of associations created a social and celebratory Scottishness in a fully conscious act of manufacture, because they were keen to preserve their homeland culture. They were driven, at least in part, by melancholy, a sense of longing underlying their desire to wallow in memories of ‘auld Scotia’. However, to fully understand Scottish associationalism in New Zealand, it is necessary to move behind the façade of such romantic perceptions of Scottishness, exploring the organisational structures of the different societies that served as vehicles for ethnic expression; their membership bases; and the connections that existed between members within and outside of the associational bounds. While the previous chapter was organised in terms of the periodisation of associational culture, this chapter is thematically arranged.

Robert Bruce secured his own peace treaty with England. The character of the war continued to be shaped by the strategies pursued by the Bruce brothers and by the fragmented nature of the English war effort. Bannockburn had a direct effect on Bruce's hopes of founding a dynasty. It also had a key significance in shifting the character of Scottish political society. Within Scotland, the importance of Bannockburn was in its strengthening of the Bruce dynasty. The significance of Bannockburn was the royal wars and the politics of the English and Scottish realms. It also represented a key turning point in the fortunes and attitudes of many of the aristocratic dynasties. As a symbol of Scotland's status as a fully sovereign and separate realm and community and of the limits to the power of the English crown, Bannockburn captures an era of conflict and competing national identities.

This chapter evaluates the other end of the social spectrum — the people at the lower ranks of Scottish society who experienced unfreedom and servility in the period between roughly 1100 and the middle years of the fourteenth century. It explores the ways in which the changing economic, political, and social landscapes that marked the ‘Anglo-Norman era’ in Scotland affected people of low social rank, especially native Gaels. It argues that the conditions which transformed the social and legal status of a broad spectrum of the indigenous population in Ireland after 1171 were in many respects similar to those which affected peasants in the course of the ‘Normanisation’ of Scotland. It applies the methodologies and findings of Irish historians to Scottish charter texts in an effort to detect the otherwise muted voices of the tillers of the soil.

This chapter investigates the Scottish National Party (SNP)'s evolution from the inter-war period to the mid-1960s. Its early history was dominated by the competing strategies of either seeking a cast-iron electoral mandate by means of a dedicated political party or the pressure group method which was quicker and less costly, but also less secure. The Scots National League, the Scottish National Movement, the Glasgow University Student Nationalist Association and activists in the Scottish Home Rule Association produced the National Party of Scotland. The emergence of the Scottish Party was an opportunity to broaden the appeal of the nationalist movement and extend to the mainstream of Scottish society. The external environment was beginning to change in favour of the SNP by the mid-1960s. The success of the late 1960s and early 1970s were crucial in putting to bed the divisions that had plagued the party in its formative years.

This chapter examines the importance of perambulation in medieval Scottish society. It reviews the work of legal historians on the origins of the royal brieve that, as early as the reign of David I, initiated as a matter of routine the act of perambulating the marches of an estate. It evaluates the steadily increasing popularity of the procedure after 1124, the ways in which it was carried out, and the identity both of the litigants who sought to settle disputes with recourse to perambulation and the witness upon whose expertise they depended. It also discusses the act of perambulation within the wider context of the social and cultural history of ‘Anglo-Norman era’ Scotland, and emphasizes the usefulness of treating the process as a lens through which to explore the ways in which the intermingling of Gaelic and European customs shaped the early development of Scottish law.

This chapter surveys the immigration and identity formation of the Scotch-Irish in America during the nineteenth century. Two ethnic organizations, the Scotch-Irish Society of America and the Loyal Orange Institution of the United States, are analysed as windows to Scotch-Irish ties back to Ireland the involvement in the unionist cause. The chapter explores the ways in which the Scotch-Irish responded to Irish-American calls for Home Rule and independence, attempted to support the unionists, and remained connected to Ireland. The Scotch-Irish were influenced by and remained interested in conditions in Ireland. In addition, the Ulster Scots themselves were affected by the actions and legacy of the Scotch-Irish. They used Scotch-Irish ethnic heritage to help form their own “Ulsterman” identity, which was in turn utilized to unify the unionist movement.

In the six decades before 1357 Scotland had been a land of war. While the ten years from 1322 provided an interlude of relative peace, the overall character of the period was set by conflict. The impact of these wars stretched far beyond the actual campaigning, and meant that much of Scottish society had altered to meet the needs of ongoing warfare. The issues arising from the years of major war would continue to dominate events and attitudes in Scotland throughout the late 1350s and 1360s. The result of the period was to see the working-out of the legacy of war, confirming and making plain the changes to the kingdom and community.

This chapter traces the history of the South African insurance industry. The first South African insurance company to be founded in Cape Colony was the Zuid-Afrikaansche Brand en Levensversekering Maatschappij in December 1835. A decade later this was followed by the formation of the South African Mutual Life Assurance Society in 1945, which modelled itself on the Scottish Equitable Mutual Life Assurance Society, which was later called Old Mutual. The general growth in the sector continued until by 1861, more than twenty insurance companies operated in the Cape. After the mineral discoveries in the late 1860s, many UK companies extended their business to Johannesburg, while Australian, American, and New Zealand insurance concerns also sought benefit from the rapidly growing urban population and the high risks associated with the mining industry. By the turn of the century, more than fifty foreign insurance companies were doing business in the Cape alone.

By late 1314 Robert Bruce's stature and security had grown immensely and allowed him to demand fealty of all Scots on pain of forfeiture of their lands in his realm. Such gains had not lifted the shadow of his usurpation, his seizure of the throne in violation of previous oaths to both King John and Edward I. Robert's task as king of Scots extended beyond meeting and fending off the challenges of war and disputed allegiance. He also needed to forge the structures of government and lordship which would cement the position of his dynasty. While the thirteenth-century monarchy provided a pattern for Bruce's kingship, Robert ruled a realm deeply affected by the impact and continuing needs of war. His success meant not a simple return to past relationships and rules, but a new personal and political balance. It was Robert, far more than Edward I, who had cut a swathe through the Scottish political establishment.

Photography quickly became an important and pervasive part of Victorian society reflecting tastes and interests. In an atmosphere of consumerism there was huge demand to own photographs and commercial photographers responded to this, resulting in an almost industrial level of production. This chapter is about photography as a product, where the purpose was to produce images which would sell and cater to popular demand. This photography was only innovative in improving the efficiency of the means of production, introducing different product lines and responding to changes in taste. Quality and originality in the image produced was not the over-riding consideration. However, among the mass of commercial photographers, there were some very competent practitioners and a few whose work transcended commercial considerations.

Since 2001 the author of this book has tutored a popular course at the University of Edinburgh on the photography of Victorian Scotland. This book is based on the course and has been written because there is no single publication that covers the subject. It provides a multi-faceted insight into Victorian Scotland covering art and science, literature and tourism, religion and industrialisation, colonialism and social conditions, and more, with the direct and tangible contact that photography provides.