the new edinburgh history of scotland · the new edinburgh history of scotland volume 9 industry,...

17

Upload: others

Post on 04-Jul-2020

2 views

Category:

Documents


0 download

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: The New Edinburgh History of Scotland · The New Edinburgh History of Scotland VOLUME 9 Industry, Reform and Empire 66222_Hutchison.indd i222_Hutchison.indd i 002/01/20 10:14 AM2/01/20
Page 2: The New Edinburgh History of Scotland · The New Edinburgh History of Scotland VOLUME 9 Industry, Reform and Empire 66222_Hutchison.indd i222_Hutchison.indd i 002/01/20 10:14 AM2/01/20

The New Edinburgh History of Scotland

VOLUME 9

Industry, Reform and Empire

6222_Hutchison.indd i6222_Hutchison.indd i 02/01/20 10:14 AM02/01/20 10:14 AM

Page 3: The New Edinburgh History of Scotland · The New Edinburgh History of Scotland VOLUME 9 Industry, Reform and Empire 66222_Hutchison.indd i222_Hutchison.indd i 002/01/20 10:14 AM2/01/20

The New Edinburgh History of Scotland

General editor: Roger Mason, University of St Andrews

Advisory editors: Dauvit Broun, University of Glasgow; Iain Hutchison, University of Stirling; Norman Macdougall, University of St Andrews; Nicholas Phillipson, University of Edinburgh

1 From Caledonia to Pictland to 795 James Fraser, University of Edinburgh

2 From Pictland to Alba 789–1070 Alex Woolf, University of St Andrews

3 Domination and Lordship 1070–1230 Richard Oram, University of Stirling

4 The Wars of Scotland 1214–1371 Michael Brown, University of St Andrews

5 The First Stewart Dynasty 1371–1488 Steve Boardman, University of Edinburgh

6 Scotland Re-formed 1488–1587 Jane Dawson, University of Edinburgh

7 Empire, Union and Reform 1587–1690 Roger Mason, University of St Andrews

8 Nation, State, Province, Empire 1690–1790 Ned Landsman, State University of New York, Stony Brook

9 Industry, Reform and Empire: Scotland, 1790–1880 I. G. C. Hutchison, University of Stirling

10 Impaled Upon a Thistle: Scotland since 1880 Ewen A. Cameron, University of Edinburgh

edinburghuniversitypress.com/series/nehs

6222_Hutchison.indd ii6222_Hutchison.indd ii 02/01/20 10:14 AM02/01/20 10:14 AM

Page 4: The New Edinburgh History of Scotland · The New Edinburgh History of Scotland VOLUME 9 Industry, Reform and Empire 66222_Hutchison.indd i222_Hutchison.indd i 002/01/20 10:14 AM2/01/20

Industry, Reform and EmpireScotland, 1790–1880

I. G. C. Hutchison

6222_Hutchison.indd iii6222_Hutchison.indd iii 02/01/20 10:14 AM02/01/20 10:14 AM

Page 5: The New Edinburgh History of Scotland · The New Edinburgh History of Scotland VOLUME 9 Industry, Reform and Empire 66222_Hutchison.indd i222_Hutchison.indd i 002/01/20 10:14 AM2/01/20

To Rose and Patrick, the Future

Edinburgh University Press is one of the leading university presses in the UK. We publish academic books and journals in our selected subject areas across the humanities and social sciences, combining cutting-edge scholarship with high editorial and production values to produce academic works of lasting importance. For more information visit our website: edinburghuniversitypress.com

© I. G. C. Hutchison, 2020

Edinburgh University Press Ltd The Tun – Holyrood Road 12 (2f) Jackson’s Entry Edinburgh EH8 8PJ

Typeset in 11/13 Ehrhardt MT byIDSUK (DataConnection) Ltd, andprinted and bound in Great Britain

A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN 978 0 7486 1512 4 (hardback)ISBN 978 0 7486 1513 1 (paperback)ISBN 978 0 7486 2848 3 (webready PDF)ISBN 978 1 4744 6294 5 (epub)

The right of I. G. C. Hutchison to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and the Copyright and Related Rights Regulations 2003 (SI No. 2498).

6222_Hutchison.indd iv6222_Hutchison.indd iv 02/01/20 10:14 AM02/01/20 10:14 AM

Page 6: The New Edinburgh History of Scotland · The New Edinburgh History of Scotland VOLUME 9 Industry, Reform and Empire 66222_Hutchison.indd i222_Hutchison.indd i 002/01/20 10:14 AM2/01/20

Contents

Tables and Illustrations viAcknowledgements viiAbbreviations viiiGeneral Editor’s Preface ix

Introduction 1

Chapter 1 The Agrarian Economy and Society 7Chapter 2 The Manufacturing Economy 37Chapter 3 Urban Society 64Chapter 4 Urban Social Conditions 95Chapter 5 The Presbyterian Churches 122Chapter 6 Assimilation and Acculturation 148Chapter 7 Politics in the Era of Revolutions, c. 1780–1815 183Chapter 8 Politics in the Last Years of the Unreformed System, 1815–32 212Chapter 9 Politics in the Age of the First Reform Act, 1832–c. 1865 237Chapter 10 Inching towards Democracy: Politics, c. 1865–80 267Conclusion: Approaching Niagara? 297

Guide to Further Reading 300Bibliography 305Index 334

6222_Hutchison.indd v6222_Hutchison.indd v 02/01/20 10:14 AM02/01/20 10:14 AM

Page 7: The New Edinburgh History of Scotland · The New Edinburgh History of Scotland VOLUME 9 Industry, Reform and Empire 66222_Hutchison.indd i222_Hutchison.indd i 002/01/20 10:14 AM2/01/20

Tables and Illustrations

Table 4.1 Death rates per 1,000 living, 1861 and 1881 96Table 4.2 Scottish housing stock by room size, 1861–1901 99Table 4.3 Population in house sizes, 1861–1901 99Table 4.4 Overcrowding in Scottish houses, 1861–1901 99Table 7.1 General Election results, England and Scotland, 1784–1812 190Table 9.1 Conservative MPs, Scotland and England, 1832–59 241Table 10.1 Scottish and English Conservative MPs, 1865–80 287

Figure 1.1 Farm workers at Phantassie Farm 17Figure 2.1 Camperdown Jute Works 40Figure 3.1 Furnacemen at Dalmellington Iron Works 82Figure 4.1 Close no. 80, High Street, Glasgow 98Figure 5.1 Rev. Thomas Chalmers 127Figure 6.1 A Premonstratensian priest with schoolchildren, Whithorn 150Figure 7.1 Henry Dun das, 1st Viscount Melville 202Figure 8.1 Francis Jeffrey 217Figure 9.1 Kirriemuir weavers’ banner celebrating the repeal of

the Corn Laws, 1846 248Figure 10.1 West Calder reception committee for Gladstone, 1879 285

6222_Hutchison.indd vi6222_Hutchison.indd vi 02/01/20 10:14 AM02/01/20 10:14 AM

Page 8: The New Edinburgh History of Scotland · The New Edinburgh History of Scotland VOLUME 9 Industry, Reform and Empire 66222_Hutchison.indd i222_Hutchison.indd i 002/01/20 10:14 AM2/01/20

Acknowledgements

I am indebted to the British Academy, the Carnegie Trust for the Universi-ties of Scotland, the Strathmartine Trust and Stirling University Faculty of Arts for generous financial support of the research for this book. I wish to thank the following owners of manuscripts who kindly gave me permission to quote from their papers: Mr K. Adam (Blair Adam MSS), Mr J. H. Crawford (Naughton House MSS), Lord Mansfield (Mansfield MSS), Sir Robert Clerk (Clerk of Penicuik MSS) and Mrs P. MacNeil (Kennedy of Dunure MSS). The staff at the National Register of Archives (Scotland) are thanked for their efficiency and courtesy in dealing with my requests for permission to consult manuscripts held in private hands. Staff at various university, national and local government archives were invariably helpful and friendly. David Lonergan and Sarah Foyle at Edinburgh University Press supported and advised me with great tolerance. Professor R. A. Mason and an anonymous reader read my draft chapters, and their comments greatly improved the final version. I am, of course, responsible for all errors of fact and oddities of opinion that remain. My wife Pat has patiently borne the interminable gestation of this book, for which I owe her an incalculable debt of gratitude.

6222_Hutchison.indd vii6222_Hutchison.indd vii 02/01/20 10:14 AM02/01/20 10:14 AM

Page 9: The New Edinburgh History of Scotland · The New Edinburgh History of Scotland VOLUME 9 Industry, Reform and Empire 66222_Hutchison.indd i222_Hutchison.indd i 002/01/20 10:14 AM2/01/20

Abbreviations

BL British LibraryCSU Complete Suffrage UnionGCA Glasgow City ArchivesIRSS International Review of Scottish StudiesJSHS Journal of Scottish Historical StudiesMOH Medical Officer of HealthNAVSR National Association for the Vindication of Scottish RightsNLS National Library of ScotlandNRS National Records of ScotlandNSA New Statistical AccountNSWS National Society for Women’s Suffrage NYRO North Yorkshire Record OfficePP Parliamentary PapersRSCHS Records of the Scottish Church History SocietyScot. Trad. Scottish TraditionSCRAN Scottish Cultural Resources NetworkSESH Scottish Economic & Social HistorySGM Scottish Geographical MagazineSHR Scottish Historical ReviewSLHSJ Scottish Labour History Society JournalSPBA Scottish Permissive Bill AssociationSWTA Scottish Women’s Temperance AssociationUFC United Free ChurchUP(C) United Presbyterian (Church)USC United Secession Church

6222_Hutchison.indd viii6222_Hutchison.indd viii 02/01/20 10:14 AM02/01/20 10:14 AM

Page 10: The New Edinburgh History of Scotland · The New Edinburgh History of Scotland VOLUME 9 Industry, Reform and Empire 66222_Hutchison.indd i222_Hutchison.indd i 002/01/20 10:14 AM2/01/20

General Editor’s Preface

The purpose of the New Edinburgh History of Scotland is to provide up-to-date and accessible narrative accounts of the Scottish past. Its authors will make full use of the explosion of scholarly research that has taken place over the last three decades, and do so in a way that is sensitive to Scotland’s regional diversity as well as to the British, European and transoceanic worlds of which Scotland has always been an integral part.

Chronology is fundamental to understanding change over time and Scot-land’s political development will provide the backbone of the narrative and the focus of analysis and explanation. The New Edinburgh History will tell the story of Scotland as a political entity, but will be sensitive to broader social, cultural and religious change and informed by a richly textured understanding of the totality and diversity of the Scots’ historical experience. Yet to talk of the Scots – or the Scottish nation – is often misleading. Local loyalty and regional diversity have more frequently characterised Scotland than any perceived sense of ‘national’ solidarity. Scottish identity has seldom been focused primarily, let alone exclusively, on the ‘nation’. The modern discourse of nationhood offers what is often an inadequate and inappropriate vocabulary in which to couch Scotland’s history. The authors in this series will show that there are other and more revealing ways of capturing the distinctiveness of Scottish experience.

The astonishingly rapid and wide-ranging changes that Scotland experi-enced in the century after 1790 were not only without precedent, but trans-formed the country beyond all recognition. What was in the late eighteenth century a relatively under-populated rural society was by the 1880s densely populated, highly urbanised and heavily industrialised. The first part of Iain Hutchison’s compelling study of these decades charts the demographic, economic and social changes that lay at the heart of these seismic develop-ments, capturing the experience of Scots of all backgrounds – Lowlanders and Highlanders, landowners, tenants, artisans and entrepreneurs – as they were buffeted by the revolutionary changes that were taking place around them,

6222_Hutchison.indd ix6222_Hutchison.indd ix 02/01/20 10:14 AM02/01/20 10:14 AM

Page 11: The New Edinburgh History of Scotland · The New Edinburgh History of Scotland VOLUME 9 Industry, Reform and Empire 66222_Hutchison.indd i222_Hutchison.indd i 002/01/20 10:14 AM2/01/20

x I N D U S T RY , R E F O R M A N D E M P I R E

and analysing the high social costs that so often accompanied them. As with the New Edinburgh History of Scotland in general, however, the politics of the period – broadly conceived – lies at the heart of the volume. Thus issues of political identity within an expanding imperial framework come under the author’s close and insightful scrutiny, while the extension of the franchise and the emergence of class politics, the great schism in the established kirk known as the Disruption and the impact of Catholic emancipation all fall under his purview. Covering an era that witnessed the rise of revolutionary nationalism across Europe, this volume engages with Scotland’s self-perceptions as at once a historic nation and a ‘partner’ in British imperial expansion in ways that are as nuanced as they are enlightening. One could ask for no richer or more satis-fying introduction to a transformative century of Scottish history.

6222_Hutchison.indd x6222_Hutchison.indd x 02/01/20 10:14 AM02/01/20 10:14 AM

Page 12: The New Edinburgh History of Scotland · The New Edinburgh History of Scotland VOLUME 9 Industry, Reform and Empire 66222_Hutchison.indd i222_Hutchison.indd i 002/01/20 10:14 AM2/01/20

Introduction

O N T H E E V E: S C O T L A N D , C . 1750– C . 1780

Population statistics offer a striking manifestation of the extent of the changes which Scotland underwent in the period of this study. In 1755,

there were 1,265,380 people in Scotland, and the first official census, taken in 1801, recorded a total of 1,608,420. By 1881, the population had leapt to 3,735,573. Moreover, in 1755, the great preponderance of the population was not urbanised, with around 9 per cent living in towns with 10,000 or more inhabitants, placing Scotland well down the table of European urbanisation, while England was at the top, with 17 per cent.

The demographic data underline the fragile economic condition of Scotland in three decades after 1750. Low population growth in part reflected an agri-cultural system which struggled to do more than, at best, provide basic food-stuffs, and indeed was frequently afflicted by dearth. Compared to England, there were few signs of proto-industrialisation before the 1780s, apart from the manufacture of linen, whose output value by the 1770s was four times greater than in the later 1720s. There were in the 1760s around 20,000 men and women engaged on a full-time basis in the sector, all in domestic production mode. The success of linen signposted a key element of Scotland’s economic strength in the nineteenth century, namely, foreign trade: by the start of the 1770s, linen consti-tuted 40–50 per cent of Scotland’s total exports, with North America and the West Indies the main markets. Another instance of overseas trade was tobacco: in 1760, 40 per cent of the total UK trade was funnelled through Scotland, much of which was exported to France and the Netherlands.

Linked to this, the tradition of Scots seeking to better themselves by moving overseas was solidly established by the third quarter of the eighteenth century. Scots swarmed over the West Indies, some owning or managing the sugar and cotton plantations which exploited slave labour, and others providing ancillary support, such as medical and legal services. Many Scots settled in both the

6222_Hutchison.indd 16222_Hutchison.indd 1 02/01/20 10:14 AM02/01/20 10:14 AM

Page 13: The New Edinburgh History of Scotland · The New Edinburgh History of Scotland VOLUME 9 Industry, Reform and Empire 66222_Hutchison.indd i222_Hutchison.indd i 002/01/20 10:14 AM2/01/20

2 I N D U S T RY , R E F O R M A N D E M P I R E

future United States and also in Canada, while India was another major target for Scotsmen on the make; as early as 1750, they comprised about 30 per cent of the East India Company’s workforce in Bengal.

The social structure of the country around the accession of George III remained quite traditional. Ownership of land was more concentrated than in England, and the dominance of the great proprietors in political and social affairs was virtually unchallenged. In towns, many tradespeople and profes-sionals depended on the neighbouring gentry for custom and trade. Urban craftsmen were protected from competition by the monopoly powers of their trade incorporations, but this protection was creaking in several occupations, notably in tailoring and handloom weaving, where it was easy to pick up the basic skills and demand for these products was growing.

The overwhelming defeat of Jacobitism in 1746 entrenched the command-ing position of Presbyterianism, for both Episcopalianism and Roman Catholi-cism were tainted with pro-Stuart sympathies. From the 1760s, the Moderates were the dominant grouping in the Church of Scotland. They were theo-logically liberal and relaxed about religious diversity, but quite conservative in social and political affairs. The Moderates were intimately involved in the Scottish Enlightenment, the great intellectual and cultural phenomenon of the third quarter of the eighteenth century. The Enlightenment stressed the centrality of reason and science, and highlighted the importance of the civic responsibilities of engaged townspeople and the desirability of both economic and moral improvement, as well as of progression towards social stability and the optimisation of human potential.

After the collapse at Culloden of the Jacobite rising, the challenge for Scot-tish politics was to establish a firm commitment to the Hanoverian dynasty. From 1746 until his death in 1761, Lord Ilay, later the third duke of Argyll, maintained the dominant influence which the political faction centred on his family, known as the Argathelians, had exercised from the 1720s. Ilay used the power of his political bloc to induce the government to promote Scottish inter-ests, such as the linen trade, fishing and the building of Edinburgh New Town. He also ensured that the best talents were appointed to the judiciary and avoided perpetuating the rancid divide which Jacobitism had created, by eschewing any vindictive persecution of erstwhile supporters of the Stuart cause. But for the fifteen or so years following his death, there was no clear overall manager of Scottish politics, until the emergence of Henry Dundas in the 1780s.

O U T L I N E O F C O N T E N T S

The core objective of the series of studies which comprise the New Edinburgh History of Scotland is to pay special attention to the political developments occurring in the relevant time span, and this volume follows this prescription.

6222_Hutchison.indd 26222_Hutchison.indd 2 02/01/20 10:15 AM02/01/20 10:15 AM

Page 14: The New Edinburgh History of Scotland · The New Edinburgh History of Scotland VOLUME 9 Industry, Reform and Empire 66222_Hutchison.indd i222_Hutchison.indd i 002/01/20 10:14 AM2/01/20

I N T RO D U C T I O N 3

The first six chapters, however, seek to outline the complex set of social, eco-nomic and cultural contexts which shaped the politics of the era, while the last four consist of a survey of the political developments.

Chapter 1 examines the diverging experiences of agricultural change in the Lowlands and the Highlands. In the former, there was a remarkable transfor-mation, as the area moved from a rather static mode of subsistence farming to becoming one of the most highly advanced regions in the United Kingdom. Although the initial impetus for improvement stemmed from landowners, motivated in part by Enlightenment ideals of economic and social advance-ment and in part (for some) by financial pressures, the forward momentum was quite soon taken up by tenant-farmers, who became a prosperous, sturdily independent class. The Highlands, in contrast, failed to achieve such a posi-tive outcome, and instead endured serious economic, demographic and social dislocation, which scarred the region for generations.

Chapter 2 charts the process by which Scotland became a significant indus-trial power. Initially, this took place in textiles, and then in the last third of the period, the country established a major world presence in heavy industry. The key aspects of the later phase included the international dominance of the Clyde in shipbuilding, along with several engineering specialisms, and the associated exponential growth in the production of coal and iron. The reasons for these achievements are discussed in both material and cultural terms, but it is also noted that many people were still engaged in traditional occupations, and that most firms employed only a handful of workers.

The changes in social structure flowing from developments in industry and commerce are analysed in Chapter 3. The solid middle classes – the professions and businesspeople – expanded greatly, and these cadres were self-confident and assertive of the values of competitiveness, laissez-faire and meritocracy. As such, they assumed virtually full control of the social institu-tions of towns, and shaped them in order to fulfil the goals of social status and good order. The lower middle classes, mostly shopkeepers and master crafts-men, were less assured than these comfortable middle-class people. Their economic circumstances were much more precarious, and their social activi-ties were more circumscribed. The new economic order presented challenges to many of the working classes, for several established occupations were swept away, de-skilling was imposed, and employers’ control of the workplace was entrenched. On the other hand, new skills and job opportunities were forged, especially in the heavy industries. One upshot of these forces was the forma-tion of a gulf between those in skilled and those in semi- or unskilled occupa-tions, which was evidenced in income levels, employment prospects and social differentiation.

The consequences of the processes outlined in Chapters 2 and 3 are exam-ined in Chapter 4, mostly as they impacted on urban areas. In places like Glasgow, health standards fell from about 1820, and did not return to that

6222_Hutchison.indd 36222_Hutchison.indd 3 02/01/20 10:15 AM02/01/20 10:15 AM

Page 15: The New Edinburgh History of Scotland · The New Edinburgh History of Scotland VOLUME 9 Industry, Reform and Empire 66222_Hutchison.indd i222_Hutchison.indd i 002/01/20 10:14 AM2/01/20

4 I N D U S T RY , R E F O R M A N D E M P I R E

level in the succeeding sixty years. Urban housing conditions were easily the worst in Britain; two-thirds of properties in the 1860s consisted of one- or two-roomed houses. Sanitary provision was quite inadequate, and there was severe air and water pollution. The prevailing doctrine of laissez-faire meant that no serious attempt to interfere with market conditions occurred until the very last decades of the period. The operation of the Poor Laws was similarly shaped in conformity to unfettered free market principles, which were applied more stringently than in England. Because all of these problems were interlinked, institutional efforts to reduce their extent were largely vitiated.

Chapter 5 surveys the turbulent trajectory of the Presbyterian churches. The rise of Evangelicalism gravely challenged the Church of Scotland’s dominant Moderate wing in two respects. Firstly, from the later eighteenth century, there were substantial secessions from the established church, and secondly, from the early 1830s there was a bitter tussle within the state church which resulted in over a third of its clergy and laity breaking away to form the Free Church in 1843. This rift affected not just the different Presbyterian denominations, for it carried important social and political implications, which ramified for the rest of the period.

In Chapter 6, the varieties of identities in Scotland are outlined; the gradual assimilation of Highlanders into mainstream Scottish society is explored, as is the integration of Scots into a British identity, where the role of empire played a prominent part. The obstacles which Irish Roman Catholic immi-grants encountered in blending into the host community included a marked guardedness by the latter about absorbing these newcomers. But also, there was a strong impulse among the incomers to adhere to their faith, which required withdrawing engagement with public agencies that they regarded as deeply permeated with Presbyterian values. In place of these bodies, the Irish Catholic community established parallel institutions, but in the case of education, this involved providing a significantly lower standard of instruction, thereby ren-dering the goal of social mobility harder to achieve.

Chapters 7 to 10 cover the political history of the period in chronologi-cal segments, with the underlying theme being the gradual erosion of the dominance of the Tory party and the establishment after the 1832 Reform Act of an unassailable Liberal hegemony. The latter party won all twelve gen-eral elections in Scotland held between 1832 and 1880, whereas in England, the Conservatives won five times. Chapter 7 explains the unreformed elec-toral system and charts responses to the French Revolution, which included the break-up of the opposition Whigs and the consequent consolidation of the Tories’ grip on Scottish politics under the masterful direction of Henry Dundas. The eclipse of the emerging reform currents under the stress of events in the 1790s was mirrored by the sizeable volume of loyalist opinion

6222_Hutchison.indd 46222_Hutchison.indd 4 02/01/20 10:15 AM02/01/20 10:15 AM

Page 16: The New Edinburgh History of Scotland · The New Edinburgh History of Scotland VOLUME 9 Industry, Reform and Empire 66222_Hutchison.indd i222_Hutchison.indd i 002/01/20 10:14 AM2/01/20

I N T RO D U C T I O N 5

across a broad social spectrum. Chapter 8 studies the last years of the unre-formed system, covering the challenges of working-class radical movements in the immediate period after the end in 1815 of the wars with France; the continuing Tory grip on power; and the emergence of a new generation of Whigs. These last were influenced by the economic and social ideals of the Scottish Enlightenment, which they expounded in the Edinburgh Review. By the later 1820s, there had emerged a rising tide of support for parliamentary reform, yoking together solid bourgeois progressives, working-class radicals and the rejuvenated Whigs. This alliance cohered around demands to reduce taxes, to end obstacles to free trade, pre-eminently the Corn Laws, and to reform local government.

Chapter 9 looks at the new electoral dispensation and its impact. The Reform Act largely enfranchised middle-class men, with few workingmen qualifying. The initial post-Reform Act euphoria of Whigs and Radicals was derailed by the Disruption of 1843, which resulted in internal faction-fighting among the Whigs until a degree of unity was restored in the later 1850s under Palmerston’s premiership. The Whigs were greatly assisted by the problems dogging the Tories, who were tarnished by their implacable resistance before 1832 to every proposed measure of reform. This reactionary image was rein-forced by Tory opposition to the abolition of the Corn Laws, a widely sup-ported demand in Scotland – even among farmers. The party was further contaminated by the Disruption, which occurred during a Conservative administration that declined to accede to Free Church demands.

Chapter 10 discusses the evolving political landscape under the impact of a much broader electorate created by the Second Reform Act of 1868, which in many burgh constituencies meant that a majority of voters were drawn from the artisanal working class. Although there was an initial degree of har-mony in the Liberal party between the new electors and the more middle-class adherents, this came under strain in the early 1870s. Middle-class Evangelicals pressed for morality-grounded social reforms, such as teetotal-ism. Working-class Liberals, however, focused on reform of labour legisla-tion, but middle-class Liberals resisted such demands as being in conflict with pure laissez-faire principles. Fractious disagreements between the two camps grew, until Gladstone suppressed them in his Midlothian election campaign late in 1879 by dint of focusing almost exclusively on the mistakes of the Conservative government. Thus, the Liberal triumph in the 1880 general election revealed a reunited party. For the Tories, the years between 1868 and 1880 offered few comforts. The alliance of the Free Church and Seceder Presbyterians ensured that barely any burgh seats went over to the party, unlike in England. But Scottish Tories faced a further challenge. The party essentially relied on county seats to return the great preponderance

6222_Hutchison.indd 56222_Hutchison.indd 5 02/01/20 10:15 AM02/01/20 10:15 AM

Page 17: The New Edinburgh History of Scotland · The New Edinburgh History of Scotland VOLUME 9 Industry, Reform and Empire 66222_Hutchison.indd i222_Hutchison.indd i 002/01/20 10:14 AM2/01/20

6 I N D U S T RY , R E F O R M A N D E M P I R E

of its MPs, but from 1865 tenant-farmers revolted against the power exer-cised over them by landowners. This protest movement resulted in several Tory seats being lost at successive general elections, and it persisted until remedial legislation was passed in 1880. But six years later, the mould of Scottish Victorian politics was irreparably shattered by the Irish Home Rule question.

6222_Hutchison.indd 66222_Hutchison.indd 6 02/01/20 10:15 AM02/01/20 10:15 AM