Representation of the shires does not begin till 1593; but between that date and 1617, we find nearly all the counties represented. Argyleshire, however, does not appear till 1628, Sutherland not till 1633, and Kinross not till 1681.
It gradually became usual for each burgh to send two members; but, in 1619, the Convention of Royal Burghs reduced the number to one, except in the case of Edinburgh. Under the Protectorate, Scotland was represented by twenty members for the shires and ten for the burghs, which, with the exception of Edinburgh, were divided into nine groups, each returning one member. Edinburgh, alone, returned two representatives. At the union of the Parliaments in 1707, Scotland received forty-five members. The burghs, except Edinburgh, were divided into fourteen groups, returning one member each, and one member was allotted to Edinburgh. It is to be remembered that only Royal Burghs had any representation in Scotland up to 1832, except in so far as burghs of barony were represented by the county members, along with the other freeholders of the country. When the town of Cromarty ceased to be a Royal Burgh, in 1672, it was excised from the parliamentary records. Of the remaining thirty members, each shire, except six, returned a member each. These six were divided into three groups, Bute and Caithness, Clackmannan and Kinross, and Nairn and Cromarty. The two shires which each group contained were given the right to return a member to alternate parliaments, e.g. Bute, Clackmannan, and Nairn in 1708, and Caithness, Kinross, and Cromarty in 1710.
From these facts, various interesting conclusions can be drawn. The meagre nature of the evidence prevents our making any inferences of a constitutional nature; but the rise of the small burghs on the East coast in the end of the fifteenth century, throws considerable light upon the economic history of Scotland. It is also suggestive that the burgh of Inverary was not represented till 1660, and Argyleshire not till 1628. But such matters as these belong rather to the domain of political history, and do not fall within our province.
| Blackie & Son's Publications | The Warwick Library of English Literature |
The Warwick
Library of English Literature
General Editor—Professor C. H. HERFORD, Litt.D.
Each volume deals with the development in English literature of some special literary form, is illustrated by a series of representative specimens, slightly annotated, and preceded by a critical analytical introduction.