Tragic history but with a happy-ish ending
Today I climbed the Radical road.
You could easily be pardoned for assuming the name comes from the radical steepness of its slopes but that would not be correct. The road, and its name, is the semi-good ending to a quite tragic piece of Scottish history.
After the Napoleonic wars things were rough in Scotland--and in much of the British Empire. War is always expensive and after the euphoria of winning wears off the munitions and damages must be paid for. So wages were dropping while the wealthy were looking for ways to recoup and increase their wealth. Many traditional shepherds and other agricultural workers were moved off their lands and skilled artisans, notably weavers, found that their semi-independent lifestyle was converted into working for a boss for declining wages. By the early 1800's weavers wages were half what they had been just a few years before and trouble came in the form of strikes, and uprisings. The Scottish Insurrection, otherwise known as the Radical War happened in 1820. Since history is written by the victors the truth is hard to tease out, but it is clear that the government, scared of a French Revolution form of insurrection used laws, force and guile to entrap, capture, exile and execute the ringleaders. The insurrectionists themselves were misled by optimism, believing that the vast majority of the population not only agreed with them but were ripe and ready to take to the streets with make-shift weapons to challenge seasoned battle troops. So that chapter ended in sadness and tragedy.
Sir Walter Scott enters the scene at this point. He was, at this time, at the peak of his career and influence among the elite. He was one of the first non-combatants to go to Waterloo and see the scene of the battle that ended Napoleon's career. In fact he was so prompt in arriving at the battlefield that he saw many of the hacked bodies and blood which remained from the recent conflict. It saddened and shocked him and he felt that war, and its inevitable consequences should be avoided at all costs. This politically inclined him away from any form of insurrection. Besides all this he was the most romantic of the romanticists and his novel Waverley was enjoying great success, so much so that it brought him into contact with Prince George and gave him the opportunity to promote Scotland, earning himself a baronetcy along the way. In 1822 he persuaded the then-monarch to visit Scotland and celebrate its glorious Scottishness. Since George had some Scottish ancestors he was even presented as the natural king of Scotland, conveniently ignoring his much more predominant German ancestry. King George bought into this marketing and had a special traditional tartan outfit made for himself. The leaders of the Scottish clans were invited to celebrate with the king and to wear their traditional tartans and outfits. Actually they weren't all that traditional but everyone was pleased to dress up and join in the party. And thus Scottish clan tartans were pushed into the public eye as an ethnic custom and clan identifier, and have been selling strongly ever since. The whole Scottish visit was planned and stage-managed by Sir Walter, including such touches as creating a 'traditional' honour guard from a local Celtic society to welcome the king.
The public relations exercise was successful. One outcome of this was that King George was persuaded to sponsor a public works project to provide employment for the many unemployed and underemployed weavers. So they decided to build a path up and around Salisbury Crag. And so we come back to the Radical Road. A road built by radicals. By all accounts they were glad to have the work and to be able to support their families. And being of good Scottish heritage they built a fine wide road that is still in daily use 200 years later. And thus there was a happy ending, of a sort.
So I climbed the Radical Road and gave thanks to the peace-loving Sir Walter Scott and the hard-working engineers who built the road.
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| Radical Road, climbing Salisbury Crag, Holyrood |
You could easily be pardoned for assuming the name comes from the radical steepness of its slopes but that would not be correct. The road, and its name, is the semi-good ending to a quite tragic piece of Scottish history.
After the Napoleonic wars things were rough in Scotland--and in much of the British Empire. War is always expensive and after the euphoria of winning wears off the munitions and damages must be paid for. So wages were dropping while the wealthy were looking for ways to recoup and increase their wealth. Many traditional shepherds and other agricultural workers were moved off their lands and skilled artisans, notably weavers, found that their semi-independent lifestyle was converted into working for a boss for declining wages. By the early 1800's weavers wages were half what they had been just a few years before and trouble came in the form of strikes, and uprisings. The Scottish Insurrection, otherwise known as the Radical War happened in 1820. Since history is written by the victors the truth is hard to tease out, but it is clear that the government, scared of a French Revolution form of insurrection used laws, force and guile to entrap, capture, exile and execute the ringleaders. The insurrectionists themselves were misled by optimism, believing that the vast majority of the population not only agreed with them but were ripe and ready to take to the streets with make-shift weapons to challenge seasoned battle troops. So that chapter ended in sadness and tragedy.
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| Walter Scott monument, Edinburgh |
The public relations exercise was successful. One outcome of this was that King George was persuaded to sponsor a public works project to provide employment for the many unemployed and underemployed weavers. So they decided to build a path up and around Salisbury Crag. And so we come back to the Radical Road. A road built by radicals. By all accounts they were glad to have the work and to be able to support their families. And being of good Scottish heritage they built a fine wide road that is still in daily use 200 years later. And thus there was a happy ending, of a sort.
So I climbed the Radical Road and gave thanks to the peace-loving Sir Walter Scott and the hard-working engineers who built the road.
It (the steep road up the side of the hill) doesn't look very wide. Is it?
ReplyDeleteCome, come Mitch, it is very wide indeed. At least 6 to 8 feet wide in places. Speaking of wide roads, it took a while this time, but about 6 weeks after we got here, all the roads got themselves magically widened and we could be comfortable driving again. I have come to think of road width in terms of spaces in a parking lot. Could I park in that space without hitting anything? If so, what is to stop me driving through it at 10 or 15 miles per hour? This approach helps me not to panic.
DeleteROTFL! The roads in the UK are very narrow, especially after experiencing USA roads.
DeleteThe Radical Road is currently only used by pedestrians, but we have driven on UK roads that are no wider. And roads that are a little wider but have cars parked--on both sides. We are coming to appreciate British driving, and realizing why getting a license here is much harder than in the US. I am scared of going back to roundabouts (circles) in the USA. Here everyone understands the rules and traffic flows swiftly with few pauses and minuscule gaps. In the USA they have different expectations and I think I will crash into someone because they 'just should not have been there'. We shall see ...
DeleteI agree about circles in the USA. The locals have no idea how to drive through them or how to indicate when they are leaving the circle.
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ReplyDeleteFascinating. It's cool you can know the history as you take the climb.
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