United Scotsmen Revisited

George Mealmaker 

The revolutions in America and France found extensive support among the Scottish working classes. Corresponding societies, groups in favour of peaceful but radical constitutional reform, grew in the Scottish lowland cities.  The outlawing of the corresponding societies did not bring an end to radical political activity in Scotland, it merely drove it underground. The main secret society which emerged in the wake of this repression was the Society of the United Scotsmen, formed In the late 18th century and sought widespread political reform throughout Great Britain. It grew out of previous radical movements such as the Friends of the People Society. Their aims were largely the same as those of the Society of the United Irishmen. The aim of the Society was universal suffrage and annually elected parliaments, with a strong streak of republicanism running through it as well.  In fact this was a totally new development in Scottish politics, for it was a truly revolutionary body advocating a French-style armed revolution and the foundation of a Scottish Republic.

By the mid-1790s the society had around 3,000 members, which was then more than the entire electorate of Scotland. This membership continued to grow rapidly beyond that level. Precise membership figures are not available, since the organisation kept no records at all, in the interests of security. Some estimates of as many as 22,000 have been made by modern historians. The two Fife villages of Strathmiglo and Auchtermuchty alone has over 2,000 members. The membership was comprised overwhelmingly of working men; handloom weavers, artisans, small shopkeepers, and the like.

The weakness of the corresponding societies had been their openness and transparency; penetrated by government spies, their compromise had been inevitable. As an illegal organisation and owing to its aims and activities the United Scotsmen had to remain a secret society, and organised themselves into cells of no more than 16 people which would send delegates to larger bodies on occasion. This way it meant the organisation was more difficult to penetrate, but it also meant that many members did not know other members of the organisation. The society was further boosted when the Parliament passed the Militia Act 1797 which allowed for the conscription of young men into the army. This proved vastly unpopular with many ordinary Scots, and in August 1797 there were large protests across the country which were brutally suppressed, with many protesters killed (e.g. Massacre of Tranent). Ordinary people hated the Act.  It was seen as a direct attack on workers because members of the bourgeoisie could always buy their own exemption.  The United Scotsmen got involved and began to foment resistance.  Working class people soon declared that they would "not risk their lives for the gentry and their property."  They would "rather die to a man than be pressed for soldiers." 

The United Scotsmen hoped to get support from the Dutch as well as the French, and there were plans for the Dutch to land in Scotland with some 50,000 troops and to take over the Scottish Central Belt. Such a force would almost certainly have succeeded had they appeared, given the widespread opposition to the Militia Act. However the Royal Navy intercepted a Dutch fleet and defeated them at the Battle of Camperdown in October 1797. Further hopes for French assistance were ruined when a French fleet was dispatched to England in the hope of encouraging English radicals to rise against His Majesty's Government. However, radical activity was not as entrenched there as in Scotland, or Ireland in particular. If they had dispatched the fleet to either of these countries then they may have met with more success. The United Scotsmen still organised a rebellion against the government in 1797, but despite initial successes for the insurrectionists, government troops quickly drafted in from England soon quelled the rebellion.

 The United Scotsmen's aims in the rebellion were to establish a new Provisional Government with Thomas Muir as President. Various leaders of the United Scotsmen were arrested and tried.  The most prominent activist arrested was Dundee weaver who had re-formed the Dundee Sons of Liberty group, George Mealmaker who had published a pamphlet called, "The Moral and Political Catechism of Man."  In it he articulated the United Scotsmen's key demands i.e. universal suffrage and annual parliaments.  He was now regarded as a dangerous revolutionary.  George Mealmaker was sentenced to 14 years transportation to Australia. Others such as Robert Jaffrey, David Black, James Paterson and William Maxwell were all found guilty of seditious activity. The last record of a United Scotsmen member having been tried before the courts was the trial in 1802 of Thomas Wilson.