Scottish circumvention of the English Navigation Acts in the American colonies 1660-1707

From its insular location, its limited indigenous resources and its subordinate political standing as one of three kingdoms ruled by the Stuart dynasty, Scotland was dependent on overseas trade, commercial networks and an entrepreneurial willingness to set aside international regulations for its very survival as a distinctive European nation in the later 17th century. Scotland was manifestly not a major European power, nor a significant imperial presence in the Americas. By the later 17th century, however, colonial endeavours were offering Scots the opportunity not just to break out from the mercantilist dominance of the great European powers, but also to sustain regal union under a common monarchy without recourse to political incorporation with England. By the 1690s, the clannish cohesion of their landed and commercial elite, their diligence in securing positions of influence and their collusive disregard for the Navigation Acts were perceived by English merchants, colonial officials, diplomats and ruling ministries as highly threatening. The Scots challenged the English state through their Darien Scheme to create an international entrepôt for the Pacific as well as the Atlantic on the Panama Isthmus, as through their expansion into Ireland and the Delaware Basin. If the Scots made a success of Darien, there seemed a real prospect to vested English interests that their domestic market would grow to include Ireland and that their entrepreneurial endeavours in the Delaware would lead to the secession of three counties to form a Scottish colony on the American mainland. Only political incorporation, through the Treaty of Union in 1707, seemingly put an end to Scottish flouting of English state power

John Ogilvie : the smoke and mirrors of confessional politics

The trial and execution of the Jesuit John Ogilvie in 1615 is located within diverse political contexts-Reformation and Counter-Reformation; British state formation; and the contested control of the Scottish Kirk between episcopacy and Presbyterianism. The endeavors of James vi and i to promote his ius imperium by land and sea did not convert the union of the crowns into a parliamentary union. However, he pressed ahead with British policies to civilize frontiers, colonize overseas and engage in war and diplomacy. Integral to his desire not to be beholden to any foreign power was his promotion of religious uniformity which resulted in a Presbyterian backlash against episcopacy. At the same time, the Scottish bishops sought to present a united Protestant front by implementing penal laws against Roman Catholic priests and laity, which led to Ogilvie being charged with treason for upholding the spiritual supremacy of the papacy over King James. Ogilvie's martyrdom may stand in isolation, but it served to reinvigorate the Catholic mission to Scotland

Dimethyl fumarate in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 (RECOVERY): a randomised, controlled, open-label, platform trial

Dimethyl fumarate (DMF) inhibits inflammasome-mediated inflammation and has been proposed as a treatment for patients hospitalised with COVID-19. This randomised, controlled, open-label platform trial (Randomised Evaluation of COVID-19 Therapy [RECOVERY]), is assessing multiple treatments in patients hospitalised for COVID-19 (NCT04381936, ISRCTN50189673). In this assessment of DMF performed at 27 UK hospitals, adults were randomly allocated (1:1) to either usual standard of care alone or usual standard of care plus DMF. The primary outcome was clinical status on day 5 measured on a seven-point ordinal scale. Secondary outcomes were time to sustained improvement in clinical status, time to discharge, day 5 peripheral blood oxygenation, day 5 C-reactive protein, and improvement in day 10 clinical status. Between 2 March 2021 and 18 November 2021, 713 patients were enroled in the DMF evaluation, of whom 356 were randomly allocated to receive usual care plus DMF, and 357 to usual care alone. 95% of patients received corticosteroids as part of routine care. There was no evidence of a beneficial effect of DMF on clinical status at day 5 (common odds ratio of unfavourable outcome 1.12; 95% CI 0.86-1.47; p = 0.40). There was no significant effect of DMF on any secondary outcome

Dimethyl fumarate in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 (RECOVERY): a randomised, controlled, open-label, platform trial

Dimethyl fumarate (DMF) inhibits inflammasome-mediated inflammation and has been proposed as a treatment for patients hospitalised with COVID-19. This randomised, controlled, open-label platform trial (Randomised Evaluation of COVID-19 Therapy [RECOVERY]), is assessing multiple treatments in patients hospitalised for COVID-19 (NCT04381936, ISRCTN50189673). In this assessment of DMF performed at 27 UK hospitals, adults were randomly allocated (1:1) to either usual standard of care alone or usual standard of care plus DMF. The primary outcome was clinical status on day 5 measured on a seven-point ordinal scale. Secondary outcomes were time to sustained improvement in clinical status, time to discharge, day 5 peripheral blood oxygenation, day 5 C-reactive protein, and improvement in day 10 clinical status. Between 2 March 2021 and 18 November 2021, 713 patients were enroled in the DMF evaluation, of whom 356 were randomly allocated to receive usual care plus DMF, and 357 to usual care alone. 95% of patients received corticosteroids as part of routine care. There was no evidence of a beneficial effect of DMF on clinical status at day 5 (common odds ratio of unfavourable outcome 1.12; 95% CI 0.86-1.47; p = 0.40). There was no significant effect of DMF on any secondary outcome

The British Confederate: Archibald Campbell, Marquess of Argyll, c.1607-1661

The interplay of roles of the Marquess of Argyll, as clan chief, Scottish magnate and influential British statesman, make him a worthy counterpoint to Cromwell. This book reviews Argyll's formative influence in shaping British frontier policy during the period 1607-38 and his radical, financially creative and highly partial leadership of the Covenanting Movement in Scotland, 1638-45, when Covenanters rather than Royalists or Parliamentarians directed the political agenda in Britain. It examines his role as reluctant but calculated revolutionary in pursuing confessional confederation throughout the British Isles, and contrasts his ambivalent role as a military leader with that of his genius as a political operator, 1646-51. Reappraising his trial and execution as a scapegoat for reputedly collaborating with Oliver Cromwell and the regicides who executed Charles I in the 1650s, it rehabilitates Argyll's reputation as a Covenanting hero rather than a Covenanting villain. The book is firmly grounded in public and private archival sources in the UK, the USA and Scandinavia, and draws especially on privileged access to archives in Inveraray Castle, Argyllshire. It should appeal to those interested in clanship, civil war and British state formation

The hidden Commonwealth: Poland-Lithuania and Scottish political discourse in the Seventeenth Century

This chapter discusses Poland-Lithuania and Scottish political discourse in the Seventeenth Century

The 'Scottish Moment', 1638-1645

This chapter discusses the 'Scottish Moment'. It has been published as part of a collection of essays which draw on new archival findings and challenge current orthodoxies, the essays, by leading historians offer a variety of original perspectives, locating English events firmly within a 'three kingdoms' context