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21st January 22, 10:28 AM
#6
My own copy is a two-volume set, an 1876 facsimile reprint of the original, complete with the maps, illustrations and archaic spellings and grammar which I think add to the 'period authenticity' of the books.
Much of what Burt has to say is very subjective (from a southern Englishman's point of view) but in may respects his views on matters are not a great distance from our own today.
He acknowledges his motivation in writing the letters is A journey through Scotland (1723) by John Macky, which Burt thinks paints too rosey a picture of Scotland to be taken at its word, and, personally, I find he is both accurate and fair, even if we do not allow for certain English prejudices of the period.
It must be remembered that the English felt they had the Union thrust on them against their will, just the same as the Scots did, after a century of somewhat bigotted Stewart monarchy, which brought about horrific and bloody civil war, a virtual reign of terror under Cromwell's Commonwealth, and the installation of a German monarchy to replace the Stewarts.
For almost 1,000 years now, the English have been subject to minority rule. Since Harold lost his eye, his life and his kingdom at Hastings in 1066, the English have been ruled by foreigners - 450 years by the French, then the Welsh Tudors, then Scots Stewarts, and then Germans who are still in place. There has been no English king since Harold. But despite a little local difficulty, the Tudors had brought a degree of peace and stability to England, along a boom in foreign trade, the establishment of New World colonies and the opportunity for commercial and industrial growth and prosperity.
The arrival in London of James VI in 1603 was, by James' own declaration to Holyrood, meant to be a three year stint of asset-stripping of his new English possession, but by the time Burt was writing 120 years later, there was a strong feeling in England that the Stewart-impossed equality of the two realms would never work in practice. The English felt (and some still do) they would be much better off if they were free of their Celtic neighbours. The question of Scottish, Welsh or Irish independance will never be asked in England, for the answer is already known.
The Scots generally, and Highlanders in particular, were already a familiar feature of London life - Burt describes the appearance of Lairds in the Highland Garb, buts adds it is readily seen in London, and some of the western clans had been in the pay of the Tudors.
But despite having reservations about Scotland as a people and a nation, Burt is fair. What criticisms he makes are those of a middle-ranking officer who is used to polite society, and could easily be applied to any of the provincial regions of England at the time. Many of them still are..!
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