Hi Linda, Thanks for your reply. It does sound like an interesting episode in Scottish history that has been all but forgotten. Carol

For what they are worth here are some notes I made about the 1820 uprising: References: 1 A History of Australia Manning Clark Volume 1 page 92 2 The Rising of 1820 by Francis A Sherry published by William McClellan Glasgow 1974. This book provided the information for the preceding paragraphs on the rebellion. 3 A History of the Scottish People 1560-1830 by TC Smout published by Fontana Press 1998 first published by William Collins & Sons 1969 4 I first heard this phrase from Anne Burgess on the genealogical bulletin board Moray@rootsweb. She is very sceptical about many of the traditions and clan stories that became very popular in the nineteenth century when Sir Walter Scott's books were best sellers. For example, tartan designs mainly developed during this period. 5 About one man in seven got the vote Situation at the end of the 18th century Whatever the political and economic situation the fact remains that advocating repeal of the Union was sedition. Conviction meant transportation and many were found guilty. Often these trials were either in England or before stacked juries. It was illegal to try Scotsmen in England for crimes committed in Scotland according to the Act of Union. However, the English realised that few convictions would result if the prisoners were tried in Scotland. The expectation of few convictions was due to two factors. Firstly, Scotsmen were unlikely to punish their compatriots for saying what many thought. The union was, and remains, unpopular with many of the people. Hence, in the eyes of many the action of the "rebels" was a legitimate protest against tyranny. Secondly, the Scottish law was much less harsh than the law of England. In the late 18th Century, the English were hanging 10 to 12 people a day whilst the Scots might hang six per year. Scottish sentences were milder and the judges had much more discretion. If used, transportation usually was for only three, five or ten years as opposed to seven or fourteen years or life (Ref 1) . For example, there were few Scots in the First and later Fleets transporting convicts to NSW; there were however many Irish and Ireland was governed by English law. Finally, there was the 1820 Radical rebellion. The authorities hanged three and transported a number to Botany Bay. On 1st September 1820, a weaver from Strathaven, James Wilson, was publicly executed and then beheaded at Glasgow Green in front of a crowd of some 20,000 people. He was in part a victim of Government hysteria at a long- running unrest in the working classes. Their wages were miserable and work was ever harder to find, especially during the post- Napoleonic war period. His daughter and niece secretly took Wilson's remains from the paupers' grave in the Glasgow High Church. They interred him in a family plot in Strathaven, where there is now a monument to his martyrdom. In Stirling, the authorities publically hanged two others, Hardie and Baird. There are not many books about the 1820 rebellion but Sherry's book (Ref 2) is interesting. It deals primarily with the fate of the ringleaders and does not provide much background to the causes. Smout (Ref 3) states that there were "mass meetings, rioting and violence. culminating in the so called Radical war of 1820 which has more of the characteristics of the proletarian disturbances of contemporary England." The last uprising of the clans was reportedly in Elgin Moray in 1820 when the Grants marched on Grant Castle to protect Lady Anne Grant during an election dispute. This story may owe more to the "Brigadoon Industry" (Ref 4) than historical fact but Moray Council published it on its web site. Finally, in 1832, Parliament passed the first Reform Bill and the people stared to gain more power (Ref 5). HTH Peter Ferguson ----- Original Message ----- From: "Carol Wood" <nanawood@bigpond.com> To: <aus-convicts@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, April 07, 2009 8:47 AM Subject: Re: [AUS-CON] Scottish convicts/martyrs > Hi Linda, > > Thanks for your reply. It does sound like an interesting episode in > Scottish history that has been all but forgotten. > > Carol > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > AUS-CONVICTS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message >