23 June 1725: The Malt Tax riots break out across Scotland
Rioting erupted in Hamilton and spread across Scotland after excise officials arrived to implement the Malt Tax on this day in 1725.
What with the West Lothian question', the Barnett Formula and English votes for English laws', we've all become familiar with the endless bickering over whether or not Scotland pays its way in the Union.
But these arguments are nothing new. In fact, they go right back to the early 18th century when the Union was still very much in its infancy. And it was one such attempt in 1725 to get the Scots to pay more that threatened to break up the Union when it was just 18 years old.
That year, a group of English MPs pressured the government to extend the Malt Tax north of the border at a rate of 3d a bushel. (Malt, for those who don't know, is a vital ingredient in whisky.)
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The idea was to harmonise duties across the country, and raise an extra £20,000 in Scottish revenue for the Treasury. Imposing the tax, it was hoped, would also help to crack down on the smuggling and illicit distillation of whisky, and make the industry more accountable.
But from a Scottish perspective, it was just another example of English meddling, and many suspected the money collected would simply end up in London. So it wasn't too surprising that when, on 23 June, the excise commissioners arrived with their clipboards, they weren't welcomed with open arms.
The commissioners, reported the Daily Courant newspaper, "were threatened to be stoned if they should attempt to take an account of the stock of malt in the hands of any person there; and that some of the town's people [in Glasgow] had laid at the door of every malt-house great heaps of stones to convince the officers they were in earnest".
The town's people were very much in earnest. Erupting in Hamilton, in the Scottish central lowlands, the protests quickly turned into running battles with soldiers dispatched to quell the rioting. The next day, the violence spread to Glasgow, where the fallout became known as the Shawfield Riots. During the unrest in that city, the home of MP Daniel Campbell was plundered by an angry mob, and the soldiers battling the rioters were forced to beat a hasty retreat.
Throughout the rest of the summer, the rioting continued across Scotland. Together with the threat from Jacobite uprisings, it looked to many in England that the very survival of the Union was at stake.
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Chris Carter spent three glorious years reading English literature on the beautiful Welsh coast at Aberystwyth University. Graduating in 2005, he left for the University of York to specialise in Renaissance literature for his MA, before returning to his native Twickenham, in southwest London. He joined a Richmond-based recruitment company, where he worked with several clients, including the Queen’s bank, Coutts, as well as the super luxury, Dorchester-owned Coworth Park country house hotel, near Ascot in Berkshire.
Then, in 2011, Chris joined MoneyWeek. Initially working as part of the website production team, Chris soon rose to the lofty heights of wealth editor, overseeing MoneyWeek’s Spending It lifestyle section. Chris travels the globe in pursuit of his work, soaking up the local culture and sampling the very finest in cuisine, hotels and resorts for the magazine’s discerning readership. He also enjoys writing his fortnightly page on collectables, delving into the fascinating world of auctions and art, classic cars, coins, watches, wine and whisky investing.
You can follow Chris on Instagram.
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