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Life in Scotland
181 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1978
About the author
Rosalind Mitchison
21 booksRosalind Mary Mitchison FRSE) was a 20th-century English historian and academic who specialised in Scottish social history. She was affectionately known as "Rowy" Mitchison.
She was educated at Dragon School in Oxford then studied history at Lady Margaret Hall and went to the University of Manchester as an assistant lecturer, working under Sir Lewis Namier, in 1943.
In 1953 her husband was appointed to a professorship at the University of Edinburgh and they moved to Scotland. Mitchison taught history, initially part-time, at Edinburgh until 1957. In 1962 she began teaching at the University of Glasgow where she remained until 1967, latterly as a full-time lecturer. Her first work, Agricultural Sir John (1962), broke new ground in the history of 18th-century Scotland, hitherto mainly studied, when studied at all, from the perspective of the Acts of Union 1707 or the Scottish Enlightenment.
She returned to the University of Edinburgh in 1967 as a Reader, and was by 1981 Emeritus Professor of Social History, a post she held until 1986.
She was educated at Dragon School in Oxford then studied history at Lady Margaret Hall and went to the University of Manchester as an assistant lecturer, working under Sir Lewis Namier, in 1943.
In 1953 her husband was appointed to a professorship at the University of Edinburgh and they moved to Scotland. Mitchison taught history, initially part-time, at Edinburgh until 1957. In 1962 she began teaching at the University of Glasgow where she remained until 1967, latterly as a full-time lecturer. Her first work, Agricultural Sir John (1962), broke new ground in the history of 18th-century Scotland, hitherto mainly studied, when studied at all, from the perspective of the Acts of Union 1707 or the Scottish Enlightenment.
She returned to the University of Edinburgh in 1967 as a Reader, and was by 1981 Emeritus Professor of Social History, a post she held until 1986.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 5, 2020
Who will like this book: writers composing historical fiction, Scots seeking to understand current politics in a historical context, non-Scots who want to delve past the gloss of Scots tourism into a serious look at Scotland.
Mitchison was an academic historian who brought a different world view to Scots history with her first book -- in a landscape where historians had focused on the act of union, the Scots reformation, and the bonny prince. She continued to shake things up for the rest of her career. This particular book takes a broad historic sweep of Scots history by breaking up time into 2 basic before/after pictures and 6 lenses to inspect Scotland from the early 1600s to the time of the book (1978) -- e.g. "Money Moving." Her particular areas of expertise show up in detailed work: women in Scots society (not pretty), the Poor Laws and the impact of grinding poverty, the class systems through time, starvation and malnutrition across decades in the Highlands and in the Glasgow of the Industrial Revolution. There are little fillups of insight in every page: for instance, I was struck with her observation that national myth shapes the national polity. As a historian, Mitchison sees the Clearances in a more factual light than the popular versions, but she also sees how pervasive Scots myth surrounding the Clearances affects current grievances and convictions (e.g., the English burned out the Highlanders to create hunting preserves). Her final chapter delves into the messy frames and views of current Scots life and is worth the price of the book by itself.
As far as style -- expect indirect verbs, long sentences, and paragraphs that imply multiple conclusions -- this is not a writer that condescends or drops into soundbites.
Mitchison was an academic historian who brought a different world view to Scots history with her first book -- in a landscape where historians had focused on the act of union, the Scots reformation, and the bonny prince. She continued to shake things up for the rest of her career. This particular book takes a broad historic sweep of Scots history by breaking up time into 2 basic before/after pictures and 6 lenses to inspect Scotland from the early 1600s to the time of the book (1978) -- e.g. "Money Moving." Her particular areas of expertise show up in detailed work: women in Scots society (not pretty), the Poor Laws and the impact of grinding poverty, the class systems through time, starvation and malnutrition across decades in the Highlands and in the Glasgow of the Industrial Revolution. There are little fillups of insight in every page: for instance, I was struck with her observation that national myth shapes the national polity. As a historian, Mitchison sees the Clearances in a more factual light than the popular versions, but she also sees how pervasive Scots myth surrounding the Clearances affects current grievances and convictions (e.g., the English burned out the Highlanders to create hunting preserves). Her final chapter delves into the messy frames and views of current Scots life and is worth the price of the book by itself.
As far as style -- expect indirect verbs, long sentences, and paragraphs that imply multiple conclusions -- this is not a writer that condescends or drops into soundbites.
August 22, 2012
An interesting historical look at the basis and development of Scotland's social welfare community.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews