This Day in Jacobite History: The Acts of Union - 1 May 1707

On this day 300 years ago - 1 May 1707, the Acts of Union - went into effect.

The effect of the Acts was that the political entity known as Scotland ceased to exist, and a new state, the Kingdom of Great Britain, was created. Scotland's Parliament was abolished, and the new "united" Parliament was based in the former home of the English Parliament in Westminster. Most of the pre-Union traditions of Westminster continued, while those of Scotland were forgotten or ignored.

Other provisions of the Acts of Union included the creation of a customs union and monetary union, as well as a restatement of the Act of Settlement 1701 and the ban on Roman Catholics from taking the throne.

A Parcel of Rogues in a Nation

by Robert Burns

Fareweel to a' our Scottish fame
Fareweel our ancient glory
Fareweel e'en to the Scottish name
So famed in martial story
Now Sark runs to the Solway sands
And Tweed runs to the ocean
To mark where England's province stands
Such a parcel o' rogues in a nation.

What force or guile could not subdue
Through 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 o' rogues in a nation.

O would ere I had seen the day
That treason thus could sell us
My auld grey heid had lien in clay
Wi' Bruce and loyal Wallace
But pith find power till my last hour
I'll mak this declaration:
We're bought and sold for English gold
Such a parcel o' rogues in a nation.

The "rogues" concerned are the members of the Scottish parliament who signed the Act of Union with England in 1707... Recorded by Dick Gaughan; by Steeleye Span on Parcel of Rogues; also by the Corries and the Dubliners

Hear samples of this and other Jacobite songs as recorded by Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger at the Smithsonial Global Sound website.

UPDATE
While we're on the subject, let's call the Act of Settlement (1701) and the Acts of Union (1707) exactly what they are (and they're still in effect, so I say "are" rather than "were"): they are brazen acts of anti-Catholicism, meant to ensure that no Catholic monarch ever again sits on any throne, English or Scottish, in the scepter'd isle of Britain.


UPDATE #2
What's being said in the British press about today's tercentary:

A troubled marriage (The Herald)

Tartan takeover: The rise of the Scotocracy (The Independent)

Watch out, I can see Braveheart on the march (The Times)

The SNP are a 'parcel of rogues' (The Telegraph)

Previous Pro Ecclesia posts on this subject:
This Day in Jacobite History: Mary Queen of Scots Deposed - 24 July 1567

This Day in Jacobite History: The Battle of Killiecrankie - 27 July 1689

This Day in Jacobite History: Death of Queen Anne; George, Elector of Hanover, Becomes King - 1 August 1714

This Day in Jacobite History: Proscription Act Introduced, Banning Tartan and Carrying of Weapons - 1 August 1747

This Day in Jacobite History: Latin Mass Outlawed in Scotland - 11 August 1560

This Day in Jacobite History: Raising of the Jacobite Standard at Glenfinnan - 19 August 1745

This Day in Jacobite History: Marriage Ceremony of James Francis Edward Stuart and Princess Maria Clementina Sobieska - 1 September 1719

This Day in Jacobite History: Death of King James II and VII - 16 September 1701

This Day in Jacobite History: Charles Edward Stuart Arrives in Edinburgh, Proclaims His Father Rightful King - 17 September 1745

This Day in Jacobite History: Lochaber No More - 20 September 1746

This Day in Jacobite History: Charlie Stuart's Finest Hour, the Battle of Prestonpans - 21 September 1745

This Day in Jacobite History: Birth of King James II and VII - 14 October 1633

This Day in Jacobite History: Charles Edward Stuart's Entry into Derby, England - 4 December 1745

This Day in Jacobite History: Jacobite Retreat from Derby - 6 December 1745

This Day in Jacobite History: Charles Edward Stuart Born in Rome - 31 December 1720

This Day in Jacobite History: Martyrdom of Mary, Queen of Scots - 8 February 1587