Bought and sold for English gold?
It has been a long-held and popular view that the Act of Union, in which Scotland renounced its independence and its Parliament, was secured by bribing Scottish politicians on a major scale.
Glossary
- Lord High Commissioner
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The Queen's personal representative to the Scottish Parliament. The post was established in 1603 when James VI, king of Scotland, became king (as James I) of England. The Commissioner usually maintained a vice-regal court at the Palace of Holyroodhouse, Edinburgh, for the duration of the parliamentary session. Besides the ceremonial, his chief role was to manage the Scottish Parliament in line with royal policy. This political function ceased in 1707. Since then the sovereign's lord high commissioners have presided over the annual General Assembly of the Church of Scotland (which meets annually in Edinburgh for 10 days in May).
Family Tree
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Family tree of the English and Scottish royal dynasties.
• © Scottish National Portrait Gallery
"a coward few,
for hireling traitors' wages ...
we're bought and sold for English gold -
such a parcel of rogues in a nation!"
The words of the Scottish poet, Robert Burns, have often been quoted. The assumption was that the English ministry was able, first, to obtain the terms that it wanted, and secondly, to have the terms - the Articles of Union - approved by the Scottish Parliament through handouts of cash. Those involved in negotiating the Union and who supported it in the Edinburgh Parliament were the 'parcel of rogues' referred to by Burns. Those who stood firm and opposed it were seen as patriots. Arising from this, of course, was the implication that the Union itself was not universally popular, nor was it wanted.
Bribes - or repayments of debt?
Much attention has focused on a sum of £20,000 (sterling) - more than £2.5 million today - that the Duke of Queensberry asked for and received from Lord Godolphin in August 1706, two months before the Scottish Parliament was due to consider the Articles. The traditional view was that this money was used to parcel out bribes, an allegation first made in 1714.
But modern research has shown that much of it was used legitimately to pay debts of pensions or salaries owing to government servants, including a number of Scottish nobles. The reason these debts had not been paid before was because the Scottish treasury was nearly bankrupt.
The largest amount, £12,325, was paid to Queensberry himself in respect of his arrears of salary and expenses in recent years as the Queen's Lord High Commissioner. (In fact Queensbury's recorded arrears amounted to a staggering £26,756, though it is not known how such a sum was incurred.) He, of course, was already a firm supporter of union.
However other payments were made to supporters of union that appear not to have been overdue salaries. At least four payments were made to people who were not even members of the Scottish Parliament.
Payments for past service, not future support
It is now believed that payouts from the fund of £20,000 may have directly influenced the votes of no more than four or five members of the Scottish Parliament. Most of the other payments were for services already provided, rather than purchases of future support.
Most historians today, though not all, agree that many Scottish politicians and MPs saw union of some kind as a necessary solution to Scotland's dire economic predicament. On this basis, wholesale bribery was not needed to secure the Union.
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