Overview
Scots in London in the Eighteemh Century is an interdisciplinary collection of essays that explores, through the experiences of individuals and groups ranging from James Boswell and his circle at one end of the social spectrum to highland folk musicians at the other, the reasons why Scottish men, women, and children made the long journey south to London and their reactions to the great metropolis once there. Through the varied approaches of historians and art historians, and literary critics and musicologists, this book addresses a series of interconnected themes including the group dynamics that gave rise to periodic "Scotophobia" but also generated a distinct form of Scottish social capital and eventual integration; patronage, as a type of social relationship particular to the age and to the capital city; cultural production, both high and popular; and the making of Scottish identity in London, along with the impact of London forged Anglo-Scottish identity on Scotland and on evolving notions of "Britishness."