The Jacobite Risings

The most important municipal developments have been the inclusion of the burghs of Govan, Partick, Pollokshaws, and some suburban districts within the city of Glasgow by an act of 1912, and a further extension of Glasgow municipal boundaries by an act of 1925; the amalgamation of Edinburgh with Leith, and the absorption of the suburban districts of Liberton, Colinton, Cor storphine and Cramond by the city of Edinburgh in 1920; and the amalgamation of Motherwell with Wishaw in 1920. There has been a remarkable series of gifts of historical buildings to the nation, including Dryburgh abbey by the late Lord Glenconner; Melrose abbey by the duke of Buccleuch; the farm of Ellisland (occupied by Robert Burns from 1788-91) ; and Duddingston Loch, near Edinburgh. Other buildings, including Kelso abbey, Inchcolm abbey and Restenneth priory, have also been placed under national custody.

The National Library.

The greatest of these gifts was made by the Faculty of Advocates in 1925. The library of the Faculty of Advocates, founded in the reign of Charles II., was given the copyright privilege of the Copyright Act of Queen Anne, and it became one of the great public libraries of the United Kingdom. It was open to the public, but the members of the faculty, whose property it was, bore the whole responsibility for maintenance and upkeep. Even before the World War, this burden was too heavy for a small body of professional men, and the subsequent rise in prices rendered it impossible to maintain the library on the old scale and to continue the facilities given to the public. In 1922 the faculty offered to transfer the library, with the excep tion of the collection of legal books, to the nation, but the Gov ernment replied that in the existing state of the national finances it could not undertake the responsibility of maintenance, and it was not until June 1923, when Sir Alexander Grant, Bt., intimated a gift off 100,000, the sum for which the Treasury had stipulated, that the project became feasible. Negotiations with the Govern ment were at once resumed, but arrangements for the transfer, and two changes of Government, delayed the passage of a bill which became in 1925 the National Library of Scotland Act. The great library is now administered by a body of trustees, some of whom are ex officio, and others are appointed by the Crown or by administrative and educational authorities, or are co-opted by the trustees. The books continue meanwhile to be housed in the premises belonging to the Faculty of Advocates, which has in cluded in its gift such portions of the buildings as are not needed for its own administrative purposes.

BiBuoGRAPHY.—General Histories. The best general histories of Scotland are those of Patrick Fraser-Tytler (1841-43), John Hill Burton (1867-70), Peter Hume Brown (1899-1909) and Andrew Lang (Igoo-07). Tytler's History, which ends in 1603, is based on thorough

research in mss., but many documents now available, such as the re ports of diplomatic agents were not accessible when he wrote. Hill Burton's ends in 1746 and is of unequal merit, being best in points of development of law, but his anti-Celticism, and scepticism with regard to archaeology make his work inadequate in the earlier parts. Hume Brown's original work ended with the Disruption of 1843, but an illustrated edition (191I) brings the story down to the date of publication. It is a judicious narrative, critical and cautious in its use of evidence and brings out the factors which affected the political development of the country. Lang, who carried his narrative down to 1746, was deeply interested in controversial issues and in secret history, and he described his book as a "study of spies and traitors." See also Sir Walter Scott's Tales of a Grandfather, which, in spite of its date, remains an excellent introduction to Scottish history.

Special Periods. For the period up to the death of Alexander III., 1286, W. F. Skene, Celtic Scotland (1876-80) and Highlanders of Scotland (ed. A. Macbain, 1902) are still standard works, though Skene's conclusions have been subjected to considerable criticism; e.g., in Rhys's Celtic Britain (1884). E. W. Robertson, Scotland under her Early Kings (5862), is invaluable for the later portion of the period and especially for the discussion of the relations of the Crowns of Scotland and England. For the War of Independence, Joseph Bain, The Edwards in Scotland 0900, and E. M. Barron, Scottish War of Independence (1914), should be read; the last mentioned supplies in formation which has not yet been incorporated in the general his tories about the attitude of the Highlands to the war. John Knox, History of the Reformation, should be studied in conjunction with Lang's John Knox and the Reformation (1905) and with Hay Flem ing, Reformation in Scotland (19I0). W. L. Mathieson, Politics and Religion: a Study in Scottish History (1902), treats the period 1695 from a modern and moderate standpoint, covering the whole Covenanting period. The Union is discussed in Prof. James Mac Kinnon's Union of England and Scotland (2nd ed. 1907) ; Hume Brown, Union of England and Scotland (1914) ; Dicey and Rait, Thoughts on the Scottish Union (192o) ; and W. L. Mathieson, Scot land and the Union (1905), which covers the period 1695-1747. For the 18th century see W. L. Mathieson, Awakening of Scotland, (19I0), and Sir Henry Craik, Century of Scottish History (19o1), which gives an acute analysis of the factors in the making of the nation from before the Rising of 1745 to the Education Act of 1872 and includes the Disruption controversy.