Remembering the Past in Nineteenth-Century Scotland

Download or read book Remembering the Past in Nineteenth-Century Scotland written by James Coleman and published by Edinburgh University Press. This book was released on 2014-07-16 with total page 209 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: At a time when the Union between Scotland and England is once again under the spotlight, Remembering the Past in Nineteenth-Century Scotland examines the way in which Scotland's national heroes were once remembered as champions of both Scottish and British patriotism.Whereas current, popular orthodoxy claims that 19th-century Scotland was a mire of sentimental Jacobitism and kow-towing unionism, this book shows that Scotland's national heroes embodied a consistent, expressive and robust view of Scottish nationality. From the potent legacy of William Wallace and Robert the Bruce, through the controversial figure of the reformer, John Knox, to the largely neglected religious radicals, the Covenanters, these heroes once played a vital role in the formation of the virtues that made 19th-century Britain great. Examined through the prism of commemoration, this book uncovers a reading of Scotland's past entirely opposed to the now dominant narratives of medieval proto-nationalism and Calvinist misery.