1. Sources
2. Reasons for the Union
3. Evidence of Dirty Deeds
4. Speeches For and Against

Free-Standing Activities:

5. Bias on the Web
6. Interpreting Burns

Requirements

Programme-Specific Activities

1. Review programme.
2. Review first half of programme.
3. Review second half of programme.
4. Review section towards end of programme on the debate in the Scottish parliament.

Free-Standing Activities

5. Website: http://forscotland.com/aou.html
6. Lyrics of 'Parcel of Rogues' (supplied).

Answers

Programme-Specific Activities

Activity 1

Activity 2

Union of the Crowns:

• loss of money from Scottish Court
• king far away in another country
• Scotland's interests neglected especially trade

State of the Scottish Economy:

• people thought Scotland was getting poorer
• decline in overseas trade
• collapse of the Darien Scheme

The Protestant Succession:

• worry about who would succeed Anne
• worry that Scotland would choose a different king
• fear of return of Catholic Stuarts and Jacobites

Threats From England:

• Aliens Act banning trade with Scotland
• English troops ready to invade Scotland

Personal Interest:

• nobles receive bribes, pensions or back pay
• nobles promised titles and jobs in British government
• might get a share of compensation from London

Activity 3

• Espionage: use of spies and double agents such as Daniel Defoe.
• Corruption: honours and money used to buy votes in Scottish Parliament.
• Public Disorder: Edinburgh mob brought about execution of English crewmen.

Activity 4

• (a) True
• (b) False
• (c) False
• (d) True

Activity 5

Comment on any three biased remarks about the Treaty of Union on the website.

Activity 6

Comment on three points in the lyric, eg

• Title: explanation of meaning of song title
• Lines 1 & 2: reference to passing of Scottish name and reputation
• Line 4: description of Scotland as 'England's province'
• Line 6: description of those who voted for Union as 'a coward few'
• Line 6: reference to pensions, bribes etc as 'hireling traitor's wages'
• Line 9: description of Union as 'treason'

Activities

Programme-Specific Activities

Activity 1 - Sources

Historians have used many different kinds of source to find out about Scotland in the Union period.

Review the programme. Look for and think about the kinds of historical source which are used in it. What are they? What are their value to a historian? Are there any problems in using these sources to find out what really happened at the time?

Note the sources down under the headings below. Try to comment on the value and the possible problems of using each source. Try to find at least four different kinds of source.

• Type of Source (eg Burns' Song)
• Value of Source (eg expresses the feelings of many Scots about the Union)
• Problems With Source (eg written over 80 years after the event)

(25 minutes)

Activity 2 - Reasons for the Union

Review the programme. Think about the different reasons why the Union between Scotland and England came about. Find and note evidence in the programme and the programme notes that help to explain why the Scottish Parliament voted for Union with England. Use the key headings below to help you.

• Union of the Crowns
• State of the Scottish Economy
• The Protestant Succession
• Threats From England
• Personal Interest

Try to write a paragraph which links these different reasons.

(35 minutes)

Activity 3 - Evidence of Dirty Deeds

One historian wrote that 'Between 1704 and 1707, Edinburgh was a hotbed of espionage, corruption and public disorder'.

Review the programme. Find and note down three pieces of evidence in the programme which support this statement.

• Espionage
• Corruption
• Public Disorder

(10 minutes)

Activity 4 - Speeches For and Against

Find the section of the programme which describes the debates about the Treaty of Union in the Scottish Parliament. Listen carefully to the speeches made by Lord Belhaven and Lord Roxburgh. Then decide which of the following statements are true or false.

• (a) Lord Belhaven wanted Scotland to keep its independence.
• (b) Lord Belhaven believed that the Treaty would have an equal effect upon the government of England and Scotland
• (c) Lord Roxburgh wanted the Union so that Scotland's trade with Hanover would increase
• (d) Lord Roxburgh hoped that Scotland would be better governed after the Union.

(10 minutes)

Free-Standing Activities

Activity 5 - Bias on the Web

Look at the website http://forscotland.com/aou.html

This website has a one-sided, biased view of the effects of the Union upon Scotland and the Scottish people.

Find and note down three examples of this bias.

Use the information in the programme, in the programme notes and your own knowledge of this topic to explain why these are examples of a biased opinion.

(30 minutes)

Activity 6 - Interpreting Burns

The poet Robert Burns wrote a song about the Union called 'Parcel of Rogues'. Lines from this song are used in the programme.

Read the text of the song lyrics below. In the song, Burns expresses his sadness that Scotland lost its independence in 1707. Find and explain three points in the lyrics which prove this.

Fareweel to a' our Scottish fame, Fareweel our ancient glory
Fareweel ev'n to the Scottish name, Sae famed in martial story
Now Sark rins over Solway sands, An' Tweed rins to the ocean
To mark where England's province stands, Such a parcel of rogues in a nation!

What force or guile could not subdue, Thro' many warlike ages
Is wrought now by a coward few, For hireling traitor's wages
The English steel we could disdain, secure in valour's station
But, English gold has been our bane, Such a parcel of rogues in a nation!

O would that I had seen the day, that treason thus could sell us
My auld grey head had lien in clay, Wi Bruce and loyal Wallace
But, pith and power, till my last hour, I'll make this declaration,
We're bought and sold for English gold, Such a parcel of rogues in a nation!

wrought = made
bane = destruction

(10 minutes)