Scottish Society Research Articles

Therapeutic potential of S-nitrosothiols as nitric oxide donor drugs.

Dr. Megson was awarded the Sir James Black young investigator award at the November 1996 meeting of the Scottish Society of Experimental Medicine. This manuscript is a brief review of the work presented at the meeting.

A National Treasure? The Scotichronicon of Walter Bower

Walter Bower was born at Haddington in 1385. The church at Hadding ton had close links with the cathedral monastery at St Andrews which was staffed by Augustinian canons, and Bower was trained there as a young man under Prior James Bisset, whom he came to regard as a model superior for a community of religious. In particular, the young canons were encouraged to acquire higher learning in the disciplines of Canon Law and Theology; and it was in association with this vibrant intellectual community that the bishop of St Andrews founded the first university in Scotland in 1410. Bower became a student there in his later twenties and was among the earliest graduates, certainly in Canon Law and possibly also in Theology. Thus equipped, he was himself promoted in 1417, at the age of thirty-two, to be abbot of the Augustinian community on the island of Inchcolm (in the Firth of Forth, off the Fife coast near Aberdour). He remained at Inchcolm for over thirty years. The appointment brought with it the status of a magnate in Scottish society, politics and government. Quite apart from his primary duties as a religious superior and churchman, he was active in the royal council of James I between 1424 and 1437, and was employed as an administrator in the collection of taxes and as a judge in cases brought before Parliament. After the murder of the king in 1437, however, things were more disturbed, as a consequence of the ambitious rivalries of political groups during the subsequent minority of the young James II; Bower did not withdraw entirely from the political scene, but he clearly spent much more time back at Inchcolm from about 1440 onwards, when he half-unwillingly devoted himself to composing the most elaborate work of literature to survive from pre Reformation Scotland, the Scotichronicon. He spent ten years revising it up to the time of his death in 1449. In sum, we are on the one hand considering the literary achievement of a man who was the product of the traditional university system of medieval Europe as it was transferred to Scotland at St Andrews; and on the other hand we are

Clive Hollands OBE (1929–1996): The Compassionate Bugler

Clive Hollands, former Director of the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Vivisection, Secretary of the Committee for the Reform of Animal Experimentation, former member of the Animal Procedures Committee, and member of the Farm Animal Welfare Council, died in November 1996 at the age of 67. His many contributions to human and animal welfare are reviewed by some of his many friends and colleagues.

“Intellectual instruction is best left to a man”: the feminisation of the scottish teaching profession in the second half of the nineteenth century

Abstract This paper builds on the work of Helen Corr concerning the gender division of labour in the Scottish teaching profession. Whereas Corr's focus is on the patriarchal nature of Scottish society, this discussion centres on the interaction of gender and nationality. The nineteenth century saw a crisis of national identity in Scotland, reflected in widespread fears of declining educational standards and the undermining of what was essentially a masculine myth of the democratic intellect. The debate on the state of education in Scotland, and fears of what were regarded as inferior English practices, led to a strong defence of the male-dominated profession, which by the end of the nineteenth century had become feminised in numbers only. Yet although in a subordinate position, the Scottish schoolmistress considered herself to be an essential part of the teaching profession, a partner, albeit junior, in preserving the traditional educational ideal of universality and meritocracy.

“Intellectual instruction is best left to a man”: the feminisation of the scottish teaching profession in the second half of the nineteenth century

This paper builds on the work of Helen Corr concerning the gender division of labour in the Scottish teaching profession. Whereas Corr's focus is on the patriarchal nature of Scottish society, this discussion centres on the interaction of gender and nationality. The nineteenth century saw a crisis of national identity in Scotland, reflected in widespread fears of declining educational standards and the undermining of what was essentially a masculine myth of the democratic intellect. The debate on the state of education in Scotland, and fears of what were regarded as inferior English practices, led to a strong defence of the male-dominated profession, which by the end of the nineteenth century had become feminised in numbers only. Yet although in a subordinate position, the Scottish schoolmistress considered herself to be an essential part of the teaching profession, a partner, albeit junior, in preserving the traditional educational ideal of universality and meritocracy.

Hemostasis-altering drugs and central neural block. A survey of anesthetic practice in Scotland and the United Kingdom.

There is debate regarding the use of central neural block in the presence of hemostasis-altering drugs. This study aims to examine current practice. A survey was made of the members of the Scottish Society of Anaesthetists and the U.K. branch of the European Society of Regional Anaesthesia to determine the pattern of use of central neural block in patients who are receiving drugs known to alter hemostasis. Spinal anesthetics were considered safer than single epidural injections (P < .05) and single epidural injections safer than infusions via epidural catheters (P < .05). There is general agreement regarding contraindication of central neural block in the presence of full anticoagulation with either heparin or warfarin, but there is less consensus about the use of central neural block in the presence of low-dose subcutaneous heparin. There is some confusion about the role of aspirin and its duration of action.

The impact of emigrant remittances on Spanish and Scottish society in the second half of the twentieth century

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Integration or assimilation? Scottish society, football and Irish immigrants

Integration or assimilation? Scottish society, football and Irish immigrants

Review: Books about the Highlands

Such is our fascination with the Highlands and Islands, and their cultural significance for Scottish society and beyond, that there has always been and continues to be a massive volume of material published about the area. It is possible to discern some trends in recent publications: a concern with ownership and management of land and how this relates to those who actually live on it (Jedrej and Nuttall 1996, Cramb 1996, Wightman 1996), an increasing emphasis on the accounts of 'ordinary people' rather than the more traditional academic approach to history (MacArthur 1990, Jamieson and Toynbee 1992, Craig 1990), and, related to this, a move towards publications which are 'good reads' although not at the expense of good scholarship. Jim Hunter is one of the foremost in this school of writing. It was said of his last book that it 'will be able to feed back into the society it sprang from and take its place on the shelves of a thousand homes as well as in the libraries of academe' (Craig 1995).

Moray: Province and People. Edited by W. D. H. Sellar. Pp. vi, 264. Edinburgh: Scottish Society for Northern Studies. 1993. £10.99.

<i>Moray: Province and People</i>. Edited by W. D. H. Sellar. Pp. vi, 264. Edinburgh: Scottish Society for Northern Studies. 1993. £10.99.

Why Is There A Need For Racial Equality Activity In Scotland?

There is increasing opposition to racism in many sections of Scottish society. This opposition is, however, often accompanied by a disclaimer to the effect either that there is no racism in Scotland or that racist activity is much less serious than that found in, say, London or Johannesburg. We would agree that experiences of racism in Scotland are often but not always different from experiences of racism in other countries. However, there is nothing to be gained by seeking to place Scotland on a league table of racism. Understanding the particular formations of racism in Scotland has a value in that it can assist us in developing an anti-racist strategy that acknowledges and builds upon the experiences of Scottish history and society.

Reviews and Short Notices: Late Modern

Re‐creating Authority in Revolutionary France. Edited by Bryant T. Ragan, Jr, and Elizabeth A, Williams. Representing the French Revolution: Literature, Historiography, and Art. Edited by James A. W. Heffernan. The Backbone: Diaries of a Military Family in the Napoleonic Wars. Edited by Alethea Hayter. French Historians and Romanticism: Thierry, Guizot, the Saint‐Simonians, Quinet, Michelet. By Ceri Crossley. Creating the Nation in Provincial France: Religion and Political Identity in Brittany. By Caroline Ford. Ballots and Barricades: Class Formation and Republican Politics in France, 1830–1871. By Ronald Aminzade. Legitimism and the Reconstruction of French Society 1852–1883. By Steven D. Kale. Boris Chicherin and Early Russian Liberalism, 1828–1866. By G. M. Hamburg. Feminism and Motherhood in Germany, 1800–1914. By Ann Taylor Allen. The Rise of Modern Police and the European State System from Metternich to the Second World War. By Hsi‐Huey Liang. The Liberal Ideal and the Demons of Empire: Theories of Imperialism from Adam Smith to Lenin. By Bernard Semmel. Outsiders: Class, Gender and Nation. By Dorothy Thompson. Weathering the Storm: Working‐Class Families from the Industrial Revolution to the Fertility Decline. By Wally Seccombe. Historic New Lanark. By Ian Donnachie and George Hewitt. The Victorian Governess. By Kathryn Hughes. Sophia Jex‐Blake: A Woman Pioneer in Nineteenth‐century Medical Reform. By Shirley Roberts. Popular Anti‐Catholicism in Mid‐Victorian England. By D. G. Paz. Agricultural Trade Unionism in Gloucestershire 1872–1950. By Nigel Scotland. Scottish Emigration and Scottish Society. Edited by T. M. Devine. Witness of a Century: The Life and Times of Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught, 1850–1942. By Noble Frankland. Public and Private Doctrine: Essays in British History Presented to Maurice Cowling. Edited by Michael Bentley. The Imagined Slum: Newspaper Representation in Three Cities, 1870–1914. By Alan Mayne. Leaders and Teachers: Adult Education and the Challenge of Labour in South Wales, 1906–1940. By Richard Lewis. The Jews of South Wales: Historical Studies. Edited by Ursula R. Q. Henriques. The Diaries of Edward Lee Hicks, Bishop of Lincoln, 1910–1919. Edited by Graham Neville. Stefan Stambolov and the Emergence of Modern Bulgaria, 1870–1895. By Duncan M. Perry. 14–18: The Final Word. By Terry Cunningham. North of Gallipoli: The Black Sea Fleet at War 1914–1917. By George Nekrasov. A Heart for Europe. The Lives of Emperor Charles and Empress Zita of Austria‐Hungary. By Joanna and James Bogle. Lenren aus dem Krieg? Deutsche Nachkriegszeiten 1918 und 1945. Edited by Gottfried Niedbart and Dieter Riesenberger. Survival and Consolidation: The Foreign Policy of Soviet Russia 1918–1921. By Richard K. Debo. Welmar 1918–1933: die Geschichte der ersten deutschen Demokratie. By Heinrich August Winkler. Rural Protest in the Weimar Republic: The Free Peasantry in the Rhineland and Bavaria. By Jonathan Osmond. The Nazi Dictatorship: Problems and Perspectives of Interpretation, 3rd edn. By Ian Kershaw. Inside Hitler's Greece: The Experience of Occupation, 1941–44. By Mark Mazower. Holocaust Remembrance: The Shapes of Memory. Edited by Geoffrey H. Hartmann. Courage under Siege: Starvation, Disease and Death in the Warsaw Ghetto. By Charles G. Roland. The Second World War: A Guide to Documents in the Public Record Office. By John D. Cantwell. Aegean Adventures 1940–1943 and the End of Churchill's Dream. By Michael Woodbine Parish. A Harmony of Interests: Explorations in the Mind of Sir Winston Churchill. By Manfred Weidhorn. Hitler's Englishman: The Crime of ‘Lord Haw Haw’. By Francis Selwyn. The Internment of Aliens in Twentieth Century Britain. Edited by David Cesarani and Tony Kushner. Labour's High Noon: The Government and the Economy 1945–51. Edited by Jim Fyrth. Conscription and the Attlee Governments: The Politics and Policy of National Service, 1945–1951. By L. V. Scott. Nuclear Triangle: Relations between the United States, Great Britain and France in the Atomic Energy Field 1939–1950. By Gunnar Skogmar. Engaging the Enemy: Organization Theory and Soviet Military Innovation, 1955–1991. By Kimberly Marten Zisk. Intellectuals In Twentieth‐century France: Mandarins and Samurais. Edited by Jeremy Jennings. The Republic of de Gaulle 1958–1969. By Serge Berstein. A Certain Idea of France: French Security Policy and the Gaullist Legacy. By Philip H. Gordon. The May 1968 Events in France: Reproductions and Interpretations. By Keith A. Reader with Khursheed Wadia. Yugoslavia: The Process of Disintegration. By Laslo Sekelj. The Khrushchev Era: De‐Stalinisation and the Limits of Reform in the USSR, 1953–1964. By Donald Filtzer. Putsch: The Diary. Three Days that Collapsed the Empire. By the Russian Information Agency et al.

Out of bounds: women in scottish society 1800-1945

Out of bounds: women in scottish society 1800-1945

Book Reviews

Book review in this article:Natalie Zemon Davis and Arlette Farge (eds) Renaissance and Enlightenment Paradoxes, vol. 3 of A History of Women in the WestRoger Sawyer, ‘We are but Women’: Women in Ireland's HistoryEsther S. Cope, Handmaid of the Holy Spirit: Dame Eleanor Davies, Never Soe Mad a LadieEsther Breitenbach and Eleanor Gordon (eds) Out of Bounds: Women in Scottish Society 1800–1945Patricia Crawford, Women and Religion in England 1500–1720Phyllis Mack, Visionary Women. Ecstatic Prophecy in Seventeenth‐Century England.Esther S. Cope, Handmaid of the Holy Spirit: Dame Eleanor Davies, Never Soe Mad a Ladie

Matrimonial politics and core-periphery interactions in twelfth- and early thirteenth-century Scotland

The medieval kingdom of Scotland was an amalgam of diverse ethnic elements which included Gaels, Britons, Anglo-Saxons, Scandinavians and Normans. This paper explores one mechanism which is generally considered to have been of tremendous importance in fostering accommodation and understanding between cultures in medieval society: matrimony. An examination of the marriage alliances of prominent members of the native nobility of eastern Scotland demonstrates that matrimony played a crucial role in binding Scottish families to Anglo-Norman newcomers, to the Normanophile Scottish monarchs, and to one another. However, the marriage alliances of the powerful west-coast princes contrast sharply to those of the eastern nobility and demonstrate how matrimonial alliances also served another purpose: namely, building up and maintaining an alliance of princes in the upland margins of the kingdom who opposed Anglo-Norman ways and the extension of feudalism into these regions. This in turn suggests that there existed a fundamental dichotomy in Scottish society between the feudal kingdom of Scotland and those regions ringing the Irish Sea. Close examination of the matrimonial patterns of the twelfth-century Scottish nobility therefore reinforces some long-held convictions about the fabric of Scottish society, while calling others into question

Scottish Emigration and Scottish Society: Proceedings of the Scottish Historical Studies Seminar, University of Strathclyde, 1990–91. Edited by T. M. Devine. Pp. vii, 178. Edinburgh: John Donald. 1992. £20.00.

<i>Scottish Emigration and Scottish Society: Proceedings of the Scottish Historical Studies Seminar, University of Strathclyde, 1990–91</i>. Edited by T. M. Devine. Pp. vii, 178. Edinburgh: John Donald. 1992. £20.00.

T.M. DEVINE (ed.), Scottish Emigration and Scottish Society. (Edinburgh, John Donald, 1992, pp. vii and 178, £20,00).

T.M. DEVINE (ed.), <i>Scottish Emigration and Scottish Society.</i> (Edinburgh, John Donald, 1992, pp. vii and 178, £20,00).

T.M. Devine (ed.), Scottish Emigration and Scottish Society

T.M. Devine (ed.), <i>Scottish Emigration and Scottish Society</i>

Irish Women - Organising for Change

Engender was launched as a membership organisation in February 1993 and since that time has attracted a membership of over 300 women. During the first year, the women in Engender have achieved a great deal. They have raised money through a variety of fundraising activities and campaigned for a Women's Committee in Glasgow District Council. Engender produces a Newsletter for members and published its first Gender Audit in 1993. The second Gender Audit, which includes key information and statistics on the position of women in Scottish society, will be available in April of this year. Local groups have been established in Glasgow and Edinburgh and they have organised public events including talks, social evenings and performances. Engender also works with other women's organisations in Scotland to raise the profile of issues of gender and equality. In conjunction with the University of Edinburgh, it has completed a Research Review of publications covering Equality Issues in Scotland. This project was funded by the Equal Opportunities Commission and the Research Report will be available later this year.

Scotland in the Twentieth Century: In Defence of Oligarchy?

The historian of twentieth-century Scotland faces a number of problems, not least of which is the difficulty of analysing historical trends that have not yet had time to mature into a coherent form or pattern. The massive shifts in Scottish politics, society, economy and culture in the last twenty years or so have frequently caught out the Scottish historian who has been denied the security of a relatively stable perspective from which to observe the contours of the past. A striking example of this can be taken from the study of Scottish political history. In the early 1960s one could say without much fear of contradiction that the founders of the Scottish National Party were of little significance to Scottish historical development. In the heady days of the mid-'70s, however, the history of Scottish nationalism, reflecting the topical interests of the day, became a major focus of historical attention and a number of unfortunate souls were caught out in their historical analyses by second-guessing the future and overrating the potential of the nationalist movement.1 Today we are probably more ambivalent and guarded about the history of Scottish nationalism, knowing that the phenomenon has all the predictable qualities of the Victorian trade cycle. Even the latest one-volume history of Scotland is forced to end with a historical question mark.2 Whether we like it or not, the historical agenda is largely dictated by the demands of the present. History works at its best when there are clear lines of demarcation,