Thursday, June 09, 2005

But I didn't mean to vote for the Viscount Buchanan!


The electoral map of 1708 as seen on the Haggis News Channel.


I met up with the nearly Dr. Campbell today at the national archives in Edinburgh. He is working on an article on the election of the Scottish peers in 1708, following the Union of Scotland and England in 1707. It is a spin off from another article nearly ready for publication on the Earl of Breadalbine. We spent the day looking over a few of records of the election, the only three that he has found in existence. Turns out that no one has looked at them in a very long time. We compared two of the documents, identifying several discrepancies. The documents appear contemporary, which means that they are about seventy years older than the US. The discrepancies of course gave way to election 2000 humour. I reckon they had a map of Scotland with red and blue Tory and Whig lordships. Perhaps given the discrepancies, the Tories should have demanded a recount, appealing to Queen Anne. They could then spend the next four years whining about Whig illegitimacy which, given the Glorious Revolution of twenty years earlier and the rightful Stewart heirs threatening to return from the continent, may not have won them any favour at court (as the Rev. Jackson discovered when his illegitimate child was discovered).

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1 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi Ryan & Morag,
Sorry we couldn't make your wedding. My surgery stopped us from coming. We will be in Scotland Oct. 4 thru Oct. 9 approx. Hope to see you then. My e-mail address is oakviewone@juno.com. If you have e-mail drop me a line and I will be more complete. Saw your great wedding pictures, hope to see you soon!. Paul and Aldine

9/02/2005 5:29 am  

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