The Galloway Levellers: a study of the origins, events and consequences of their actions
The purpose of this study is to cast fresh light on the uprising of the Galloway Levellers in 1724. To achieve this objective, the study takes as its starting point patterns of land use and land ownership in Galloway as they evolved through from the late sixteenth to the beginning of the eighteenth century. The important influence of the plantation of Ulster on the development of Galloway's cattle trade is discussed in this part of the study. Since the society of Galloway in 1724 was still deeply influenced by the religious and political conflicts of the later seventeenth century, this background is then considered. Local responses to the Jacobite rebellion of 1715 are discussed within this context since there was an anti-Jacobite element within the rhetoric and actions of the Galloway Levellers. From these foundations, and having established a chronology for the events of 1724, much of the confusion which previously surrounded the actions of the Galloway Levellers and responses to their actions can be clarified. It has been possible to identify and provide a history for most of the people and places involved, including some of the Levellers themselves. This evidence in turn has revealed that the actions of the Galloway Levellers did have an impact on the later eighteenth century development of Galloway through a more cautious approach to agricultural improvement and the creation of industrial settlements to provide employment for surplus labour. Finally, a previously unrecognised connection between late eighteenth century Galloway and the theory and practice of the industrial revolution is explored.
The Survival of Witch Belief in South West Scotland: A Case Study
At the time of Robert Heron’s travels through Galloway in 1792, legal prosecutions for witchcraft had long since ceased and the Kirk had turned its attentions towards other matters. Interest in witches, however, had not yet abated. In previous chapters it was argued that witch belief, as opposed to witch-hunting, has had a much longer and more complex history than was previously assumed by most scholarly inquiry. In this chapter, focus will be directed toward one area of Scotland, the South West — encompassing Dumfriesshire, a county in its own right, and Galloway, which combines the shires of Wigtown and Kirkcudbright. The county of Ayrshire will be included to a lesser extent, for although there is evidence to suggest that witch belief was still present into the eighteenth century, and possibly beyond, official action against witches was mainly over after the 1680s, ending several serious bouts of witch-hunting. Though the incident is poorly documented, what is claimed to be “the last trial for witchcraft by the Court of Justiciary in Scotland” occurred at Dumfries in 1709 when Elizabeth, or Elspeth, Rule was accused of cursing her neighbours and “corresponding with the Devil.” She was condemned to be branded on the cheek with a red-hot iron: “People living in 1790 have been told by their parents, that the smoke caused by the torturing process was seen issuing out of the mouth of the unhappy woman.”2
Die wisselwerking tussen ekonomiese en konstitusionele hervormings in Suid‐Afrika
Abstract This article deals with the interplay between economic and constitutional reforms in South Africa. Historical and contemporary forces which obtain in these spheres are taken into consideration after which a number of conclusions are drawn.