Whither Scottish History? Preface

Abstract

This special issue of The Scottish Historical Review publishes the five papers and the responses to them which were given at a symposium held in the University of Strathclyde in September, 1993, to launch the newly established Research Centre in Scottish History within the Department of History. The meeting was attended by virtually all the leading figures in the field of Scottish history from early medieval times to the present day, together with a large number of postgraduate students from whose ranks will come those who will take the subject forward into the next generation. The occasion was a unique one because it was the first time in recent years that medieval, early mod ern and modern specialists have come together to discuss and debate the condition of Scottish historical studies. The creation of a new centre of excellence in Scottish history gave the opportunity for the profession to take stock of the last three decades, a period when scholarly publication in Scottish history, both in terms of quality and quantity, has expanded to an unprecedented extent. The symposium, however, was essentially designed to encourage an assessment of the future: how the study of Scottish history might evolve in the next century and so build upon the achievements of the recent past. The authors of the papers which follow were all asked to consider this question for their own special periods and areas of interest and to suggest how the discipline could be sustained and further developed. Their answers recognise the renaissance in Scottish history since the 1970s as a base from which further progress can take place. In doing so, however, it is important also to be aware of the problems associated with that period of remarkable growth. Scholarly publica tion in the subject boomed but, as Alexander Grant points out for the medieval period, there was often too much concentration on the detail of what actually happened, rather than explanation, comparison and debate. Much of the achievement of the last three decades was sound and solid rather than exciting, and thus far has failed to place Scottish history firmly on the map of international historical scholarship. Perhaps this weakness, if it is one, was inevitable. There was so much myth and ignorance about the Scottish past that careful archive-based