g. Trade with
Holland, etc.
Scottish trade with
Holland also suffered through England's wars. This was very
disastrous, as a great part of her commerce was with Dutch ports.
Charles IIs Dutch wars lasted from 1665 to 1674, with a few short
intervals, ten years which brought Scotland's trade and finances to
a very low ebb. The commercial community had not had time to recover
from the effects of the Civil Wars, and this war, their "greatest
and readiest trading being with Holland," still further reduced
their resources. Poverty was so great that it was difficult to raise
men and supplies for England's war, in which, as the Scots said,
"our hazard is greater, and I am sure they intend us noe profit how
successful soever the war be." As time went on, it became more and
more difficult to raise any money for this purpose. The revenue was
much reduced by the want of trade caused by the war. The
Commissioners of the Treasury wrote in 1672 that the revenue had
been reduced by a third in the last war with Holland, and that they
expected about the same decrease during the present war. The customs
receipts were in fact reduced from £17,362. 10s. in 1665 to £6,481.
13s. 4d in 1666, but during the war of 1672-74 they did not fall so
low. "We are," writes Rothes in 1665, "like as we were besieged, for
in no place in the whole world have we any commerce at this time,
and money does grow daily scarcer so as in a short time there will I
believe be none." The discontent was so great that a rebellion in
connection with a Dutch invasion was feared. "The least commotion in
England or Ireland or encouragement from foreigners abroad would
certainly engage us in a new rebellion." At the beginning of the
second war, it was given out in London that the Scots had offered to
continue trade with the Dutch, and to shelter their ships in
Scottish harbours in spite of the war with England. This was
probably a figment of English imagination, but it testifies to the
ever existent English jealousy of the Scottish connection with
Holland. As a matter of fact, there was very little trade with the
Dutch during the war, far less than there was with France during the
later French wars.
After the Treaty of
Breda in 1667, the Scots staple port was moved from Campvere to
Dort6. It was said that this step was taken at the instigation of
the De Witts.
They wished the
prosperity which the Scottish trade brought to come to Dort, which
was under their influence, rather than to Campvere where the Orange
faction was supreme. This was an unfortunate step for Scottish
trade. Dort was not so conveniently situated for their ships, and
so, though some merchants settled there, others remained at Campvere,
and some went to Amsterdam and Rotterdam. Although the staple was
again fixed at Campvere in 1676, it was never afterwards the same
resort of Scots trade and merchants as it had been before the war.
They now congregated more at Rotterdam, which was not only a far
more important commercial centre than Campvere, but was also a
favourite refuge for those Presbyterians who left the country on
account of the Stewarts' ecclesiastical policy. Rotterdam and Dort
were each anxious that an arrangement should be made with them about
the import of Scots coal, which was not then a staple commodity. At
Rotterdam Scottish coal entered into competition with English. The
magistrates were anxious to come to some agreement with the Scots
because of " the small export they "(the English)" mak in respect of
the Scottishe Natione." The Scots coal trade seems to have
flourished, for in 1684 complaints were made to the Customs
Commissioners in England that France, Holland, and other foreign
markets were "extraordinarily supplied with Coales from Scotland in
Strangers Ships to the great prejudice of the English Navigation and
damnage to his Majesty's customs here."
Altogether the trade
between Scotland and Holland was considerable. Josiah Child declared
that "The Trades of Scotland and Ireland, two of our own Kingdoms,
the Dutch have bereaved us of, and in effect wholly-Engrossed to
themselves."
The principal goods
which the Scots took to Holland were plaiding and fingrains, wool,
skins, hides, stockings, salmon, butter, tallow, beef, coals, etc.
Scots ships also imported to Holland wine and salt from the south,
and corn from the Baltic and "Easter Seas." From the Dutch the Scots
received chiefly all sorts of manufactured goods, some of which they
had doubtless brought from England before the English Navigation
Acts had forced them to retaliate by putting high duties on English
imports. After the Dutch wars the country was too poor to employ all
the shipping, and so the "Ships of this Kingdom wer for the most
part ffraughted by Hollanders who gave them greater ffraughts than
Scots merchds Which made a considerable interruption of tred in this
Kingdom." Later in the century, when Scottish trade recovered,
Scottish merchants had not enough ships for their own use, and so
employed a number of Dutch ships. In 1697 the contract with Campvere
was again renewed for twenty-one years, but after the Union, when
the export of wool and skins, the principal articles of Scots trade,
was forbidden, the trade decreased very much.
The Scots trade with
the "Easter Seas" and the Baltic increased during the French wars,
as it was safer from French attacks than the Low Countries trade. In
Stockholm there were, in 1660, twelve Scottish ship captains
settled, as compared with twenty of Llibeck, and twenty-eight of
Holland. A number of Scots ships also traded with Norway, bringing
home chiefly timber, and taking out woollen manufactures and "victuall."
In 1680 the Burghs complained of the "great impositions imposed by
the King of Denmark upon Scots victuall...at the seuerall ports in
Norraway and other ports within the said King's dominions." Some
merchants even penetrated as far as Archangel.
In Konigsberg there
was a struggle between the magistrates and the Scots, whose success
in business had aroused jealousy against them. New taxes were
imposed on them, and there seems to have been some threat to expel
them altogether. The Churfurst, however, was strongly in their
favour, and owing to his influence, the magistrates desisted from
their opposition to the Scots. A few years later the Scots at
Konigsberg obtained permission to build a church for themselves
there, for which collections were authorised in Scotland in 1697 and
1699. The masters of Scots ships at Dantzig in 1706 appealed for
convoys for twenty-five or thirty ships which were to sail for
Scotland in the summer.
At Hamburg the Scots
had some trouble because of the exclusive privileges of the English
merchants who traded there. The Scots were said to be debarred from
trade, as subjects of the King of England who were not members of
the English company. They declared that they were subjects of
Scotland, not England, and were "as free to trade there as any other
nation," and requested that the English staple might be "discharged
to truble any Scotts merchand tradeing there." They were not, after
this, prevented from trading, but the illogical nature of the
position is evident. In the Plantation trade the Scots were not
considered English subjects, as it was not to England's advantage
that they should have freedom of trade there. Where it would be
possible to take dues from them as English subjects, they were
placed in that category. The Scots themselves, as illogical as the
English, sought or evaded the name as best suited their own
convenience and profit.
In the Mediterranean,
orders were given that the Scots should share the privileges by
passports, etc., which were secured by treaty to the subjects of the
King of Great Britain, from the governments of Algiers, Tripoli and
Tunis. Some guarantee or defence was very necessary against the
pirates of those parts, who were very active, not only in the
Mediterranean, but on the coasts of France and Spain. Many Scottish
ships trading to Portugal, the Bay of Biscay ports, and Cadiz, were
taken, and petitions for collections to be made in the churches to
ransom captives among the Turks were very numerous.
The dangers to trade
from men-of-war, privateers, and pirates were great; and also from
the state of the coast, unguarded by lighthouses and buoys, and not
even properly described in charts or maps. In 1695, an attempt was
made to organise a survey of the whole coast of Scotland. To defray
the expenses, an imposition of 105. per ton was imposed on all
foreign vessels trading with Scotland, and of 4s. per ton on all
Scots shipping. The duty caused many complaints. The shipowners
grumbled because of the duty on Scots ships, which were thus put at
a disadvantage in their foreign trade, as they had already to pay
duties in foreign ports. The coal-owners complained that the duty
was so high that foreign ships did not come for coals, but went to
Newcastle instead. The imposition was not removed, but in 1698 the
duty on foreign ships was reduced to 85. on those exporting coal,
and raised to 24s. on all others. The 4s. duty on native ships,
except on those of the African Company, was continued for five
years. The proceeds were used to maintain frigates for the defence
of the coast as well as for the survey.
On the whole,
Scottish trade suffered from the English connection. The Scots had
to contribute men and money to wars which interrupted their trade,
and from which they reaped no advantages in the end. England had
practically no control over Scottish trade, and was jealous of her
connection with France and Holland, and indeed of any trade in which
Scottish interests came into competition with those of England.
Abroad, the Scottish merchants were in an ambiguous position. They
did not wish to come under the authority of the English
representatives, even when they had no representatives of their own,
and in cases where there was a Scots agent, he often came into
conflict with the English influences and interests. Altogether
neither party found the state of affairs at all satisfactory.