tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11135493.post-78060823275608631662008-03-23T23:32:00.000Z2008-03-23T23:32:00.000ZSimon,<BR/><BR/>You write:<BR/><BR/><I>'Doesn't (the modern re-writing of) Scottish history contain an inference that the act of Union between Scotland and England was an act of force?'</I><BR/><BR/>In the 'Concise Oxford Dictionary' one of the definitions of force is -<BR/><BR/><I>'coercion backed by the use or threat of violence'.<BR/><BR/>1. 'England, in 1701, had settled the succession on the Hanoverian line, but no such provision had been made in Scotland...The Scottish Parliament which met in 1703...passed acts which contained threats that Scotland would pursue an independent foreign policy and might appoint a different successor from the successor to the English throne. England retaliated in 1705 with the Alien Act,'<BR/><BR/>SOURCE: 'Scottish Historical Documents' by Professor Gordon Donaldson, pp. 265-266, ISBN 1 897784 41 4<BR/><BR/>2. 'The draft of the Treaty was presented to the Scots Parliament on October 12. During the three months it was under debate Scotland was in ferment, and English regiments were marched to the Border, to be called across it should the Queen's Commissioner believe there was a need for them.'<BR/><BR/>SOURCE: 'The Lion in the North' by James Prebble, p.284, ISBN 0 1400 3652 0</I><BR/><BR/>3. All of the Scottish commissioners to negotiate the Treaty of Union were appointed by Queen Anne and all were supporters of union with England.<BR/><BR/><I>4. 'But the theories of English constitutional lawyers prevailed, and the union has proved to have no more sanctity than any other statute. From time to time attempts have been made to appeal to the terms of union, but always without success. The list of violations of the treaty is already a long one and always growing longer...The fact is that contrary to the beliefs and hopes of those who framed it, the treaty of union has proved to be a mere scrap of paper, to be torn up at the whim of any British government.'<BR/><BR/>SOURCE: 'Scotland: The Shaping of a Nation' by Gordon Donaldson, pp. 58-59, ISBN 0 7153 6904 0</I><BR/><BR/>6. There were two Acts of Union, one by the English Parliament and one by the Scottish Parliament. They were the ratifying instruments of the Treaty of Union of 1707.<BR/><BR/>7. The point you make about no consultation with the people of the Orkney Islands is rather irrelevant - democracy as we understand it today did not exist at that time. It was the prerogative of monarchs to determine the fate of the people over whom they ruled and the land on which they lived.<BR/><BR/>What do you mean by <I>'(the modern re-writing of) Scottish history'.</I>Michael Follonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09240836734238072216noreply@blogger.com