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The king's jaunt: George IV in Scotland, August, 1822, "one and twenty daft days"
From the mock pageantry of the Highlanders to the carefully stage-managed rediscovery of the Scottish Regalia, this trip was a key event in the creation of romantic Scotland. Behind it all lay the great stage manager, Sir Walter Scott. This was the first visit of a British monarch to Scotland for nearly two hundred years, following only two years after the grim horror of the Radical Insurrection, which saw the last armed rebellion in British history when sixty thousand workers went on strike. The Highland clans that Scott called to Edinburgh were, even as they marched, the subjects of eviction and persecution in their homeland. And yet in this stirring blend of pomp and pageantry, Scott was able to override the grim reality of day-to-day life in a surge of support for a monarch and monarchy, even in England, the subject of ridicule and derision. Prebble brilliantly reveals the rotten heart of corruption, betrayal, and intrigue at the heart of the ceremony of this great occasion, and from it all emerges a vision of Scotland that remains with us today.
399 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1988
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About the author
John Prebble
49 books28 followersJohn Edward Curtis Prebble, FRSL, OBE was an English/Canadian journalist, novelist, documentarian and historian. He is best known for his studies of Scottish history.
He was born in Edmonton, Middlesex, England, but he grew up in Saskatchewan, Canada, where his father had a brother. His parents emigrated there after World War I. Returning to England with his family, he attended the Latymer School. He joined the Communist Party of Great Britain but abandoned it after World War II.
He was born in Edmonton, Middlesex, England, but he grew up in Saskatchewan, Canada, where his father had a brother. His parents emigrated there after World War I. Returning to England with his family, he attended the Latymer School. He joined the Communist Party of Great Britain but abandoned it after World War II.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
October 28, 2019
John Prebble makes no bones about his affiliations, and his books on the Clearances and Culloden are classics. I picked this up expecting a lot of bias, but I should have known better. Though this is not without its opinions (which I really like) it's also as 'fair' an interpretation of a bizarre political stunt as you're likely to get.
George IV came to Scotland by default, due to a host of other political goings on and some issues with his current mistress's acceptability. And he didn't actually visit 'Scotland', he visited Edinburgh. And though he was there for just over two weeks, he spent the greater part of it hanging out in Dalkeith House, and very little of it on display. He was a comical figure in a variety of costumes, from admiral to Highland chieftan, and yet he seems to have had some kingly dignitas that endeared a great many people to him and brought the people of Scotland, high and low, to the capital to take a look at him.
Prebble chronicles the visit from beginning to end in glorious colour, giving a blow by blow account of each of the events and (for me more fun) the many and varied participants. There are any number of eccentric Highlanders vying for a key role, but Glengarry, who disrupted a few of the set pieces with his demands to be given precedent, was my favourite (and I'm definitely giving him a walk-on role in my own story set in Edinburgh at the time). There's tragedy, for the whole thing took place against a backdrop of clearances and residual bitterness over the last failed Jacobite uprising. Prebble draws a poignant and impossible to refute conclusion, that it wiped the slate clean, by presenting (with Walter Scott's conniving) George IV as a true Jacobite king, and that the vast array of tartanalia and so-called Highland traditions allowed the landowners doing the clearing to salve their conscience with the preservation of the culture, if not the people.
I like Prebble's style, and I enjoy his penchant for a good spectacle. Sadly, the edition of the book I got (second hand from Amazon) was missing about 50 pages, which included the Caledonian Hunt ball, and which I was looking forward to reading on account of it being the pinnacle of the tartan-fest. So I'll need to get another copy.
But that aside, this was an excellent read, and it's given me an appetite for going back and finding out a great deal more about the various characters, not least the Sutherlands, leaders of the Clearances.
George IV came to Scotland by default, due to a host of other political goings on and some issues with his current mistress's acceptability. And he didn't actually visit 'Scotland', he visited Edinburgh. And though he was there for just over two weeks, he spent the greater part of it hanging out in Dalkeith House, and very little of it on display. He was a comical figure in a variety of costumes, from admiral to Highland chieftan, and yet he seems to have had some kingly dignitas that endeared a great many people to him and brought the people of Scotland, high and low, to the capital to take a look at him.
Prebble chronicles the visit from beginning to end in glorious colour, giving a blow by blow account of each of the events and (for me more fun) the many and varied participants. There are any number of eccentric Highlanders vying for a key role, but Glengarry, who disrupted a few of the set pieces with his demands to be given precedent, was my favourite (and I'm definitely giving him a walk-on role in my own story set in Edinburgh at the time). There's tragedy, for the whole thing took place against a backdrop of clearances and residual bitterness over the last failed Jacobite uprising. Prebble draws a poignant and impossible to refute conclusion, that it wiped the slate clean, by presenting (with Walter Scott's conniving) George IV as a true Jacobite king, and that the vast array of tartanalia and so-called Highland traditions allowed the landowners doing the clearing to salve their conscience with the preservation of the culture, if not the people.
I like Prebble's style, and I enjoy his penchant for a good spectacle. Sadly, the edition of the book I got (second hand from Amazon) was missing about 50 pages, which included the Caledonian Hunt ball, and which I was looking forward to reading on account of it being the pinnacle of the tartan-fest. So I'll need to get another copy.
But that aside, this was an excellent read, and it's given me an appetite for going back and finding out a great deal more about the various characters, not least the Sutherlands, leaders of the Clearances.
July 1, 2020
I expected a lot of pomp and circumstance and was surprised at the fatal falling scaffolds, references to the Highland Clearances and many events that would today require extra security to prevent an assassination. It appears Sir Walter Scott's efforts to impress the monarch were successful and King George IV enjoyed wearing his Scottish outfits.
I will have to refer to Scott's journal to review his commentary but he definitely was fatigued by his efforts.
I would say a definite read but don't expect any romance.
I will have to refer to Scott's journal to review his commentary but he definitely was fatigued by his efforts.
I would say a definite read but don't expect any romance.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews