Graeme Morton – författare

Why did large numbers of Scots leave a temperate climate to live permanently in parts of the world where greater temperature extreme was the norm? The long nineteenth century was a period consistently cooler than now, and Scotland remains the coldest of the British nations. Nineteenth-century meteorologists turned to environmental determinism to explain the persistence of agricultural shortage and to identify the atmospheric conditions that exacerbated the incidence of death and disease in the towns. In these cases, the logic of emigration and the benefits of an alternative climate were compelling. Emigration agents portrayed their favoured climate in order to pull migrants in their direction. The climate reasons, pressures and incentives that resulted in the movement of people have been neither straightforward nor uniform. There are known structural features that contextualize the migration experience, chief among them being economic and demographic factors. By building on the work of historical climatologists, and the availability of long-run climate data, for the first time the emigration history of Scotland is examined through the lens of the nation’s climate. In significant per capita numbers, the Scots left the cold country behind; yet the ‘homeland’ remained an unbreakable connection for the diaspora.

Why did large numbers of Scots leave a temperate climate to live permanently in parts of the world where greater temperature extreme was the norm? The long nineteenth century was a period consistently cooler than now, and Scotland remains the coldest of the British nations. Nineteenth-century meteorologists turned to environmental determinism to explain the persistence of agricultural shortage and to identify the atmospheric conditions that exacerbated the incidence of death and disease in the towns. In these cases, the logic of emigration and the benefits of an alternative climate were compelling. Emigration agents portrayed their favoured climate in order to pull migrants in their direction. The climate reasons, pressures and incentives that resulted in the movement of people have been neither straightforward nor uniform. There are known structural features that contextualize the migration experience, chief among them being economic and demographic factors. By building on the work of historical climatologists, and the availability of long-run climate data, for the first time the emigration history of Scotland is examined through the lens of the nation’s climate. In significant per capita numbers, the Scots left the cold country behind; yet the ‘homeland’ remained an unbreakable connection for the diaspora.

Using recent work on loyalism in Britain, Ireland, and the British Atlantic as a foundation, this book offers a pioneering exploration of Scottish loyalism and explores the many ways in which Scottish loyalists shaped the British Atlantic world in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

Scots have yet to be examined as a particular ethnic group in the context of loyalism in the British Atlantic world. However, like many other Britons and other imperial subjects, Scots demonstrated their support for Crown and empire in myriad ways and for myriad reasons. What often united Scottish loyalists was a commitment to counterrevolution and constitutionalism. Yet the story is not so simple. Scottish loyalties, like others, were complex and often antithetical to perceptions about Scots invented by outsiders. Many Scottish loyalists challenged the traditional narrative as they included those who were assumed to be enemies of the Crown such as Highlanders, Catholics, and people for whom neutrality was a failed political strategy. Through a detailed examination of Scottish loyalism, the chapters in this volume highlight the multifaceted nature of Scottish political engagement and identity in an increasingly volatile political age. By examining these different strands of Scottish loyalism, this volume reveals the new histories of Scots and those of Scottish heritage and the contributions they made to a broad and popular political movement on both sides of the Atlantic.

The book will be relevant for students and researchers of Scottish history, British imperial studies, loyalism, and Atlantic history. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue in Atlantic Studies and are supplemented by a new Preface and Conclusion.

Using recent work on loyalism in Britain, Ireland, and the British Atlantic as a foundation, this book offers a pioneering exploration of Scottish loyalism and explores the many ways in which Scottish loyalists shaped the British Atlantic world in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

Scots have yet to be examined as a particular ethnic group in the context of loyalism in the British Atlantic world. However, like many other Britons and other imperial subjects, Scots demonstrated their support for Crown and empire in myriad ways and for myriad reasons. What often united Scottish loyalists was a commitment to counterrevolution and constitutionalism. Yet the story is not so simple. Scottish loyalties, like others, were complex and often antithetical to perceptions about Scots invented by outsiders. Many Scottish loyalists challenged the traditional narrative as they included those who were assumed to be enemies of the Crown such as Highlanders, Catholics, and people for whom neutrality was a failed political strategy. Through a detailed examination of Scottish loyalism, the chapters in this volume highlight the multifaceted nature of Scottish political engagement and identity in an increasingly volatile political age. By examining these different strands of Scottish loyalism, this volume reveals the new histories of Scots and those of Scottish heritage and the contributions they made to a broad and popular political movement on both sides of the Atlantic.

The book will be relevant for students and researchers of Scottish history, British imperial studies, loyalism, and Atlantic history. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue in Atlantic Studies and are supplemented by a new Preface and Conclusion.