Map of a Nation (61 page)

168
While surveying this territory
For information about Roy’s antiquarian interests and pursuits, see Adamson; Gardiner; O’Donoghue, Yolande, pp. 19–29; Rankin, March 1853; and Thomson, Thomas, p. 301.

169
begin[s] at the Clyde
Roy, 1793, p. 157.

170
When the reading public got wind
For reactions to Roy’s
Mappa Septentrionalis
among the map-making community, see Walters, 1976, p. 123.

171
eighty-four brown linen rolls
O’Dell, p. 58; Skelton, 1967a, pp. 10–11; Whittington, p. 12.

172
These were later cut and reconstituted
Fleet and Kowal, p. 197.

173
it was immense
Chalmers, II, p. 62. For further descriptions of the Military Survey’s appearance, see Carlucci and Barber, p. 14; Kinniburgh, pp. 16–19; and Mallett. The map itself is held in the BL, catalogued under William Roy, ‘A Very Large and Highly Finished Colored Military Survey of the Kingdom of Scotland, Exclusive of the Islands, Undertaken by Order of William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland …’, 1747–55, in King George III’s Topographical Collection. The rough copy of the northern part carries the shelfmark Maps K.Top.48.25.1a., while the fair copy has the shelfmark Maps CC.5.a.441. A reduced copy of the map bears the shelfmark Maps K.Top.48.25–1e.

174
the greatest work of this sort
Hugh Debbieg to Henry Seymour Conway, ‘Memorial’, NA, CO 325/1, pp. 197–200 (p. 198), 10 March 1766.

175
the Mountains and Ground appear shaded
Arrowsmith, p. 7.

176
vocabulary of symbols
Skelton, 1967a, p. 9.

177
a picture of Scotland on the eve of great changes
O’Dell, p. 63.

178
a uniformly accurate image of the landscape
For critiques of the Military Survey’s accuracy, see Fleet and Kowal; O’Dell; and Whittington.

179
carried on with instruments of the common
Roy, 1785, p. 386.

180
a magnificent military sketch
Roy, 1785, pp. 386–7.

181
the maps were only temporarily excavated
Arrowsmith, p. 6.

182
drawn by Roy, and given by him to Lord President Dundas
This map was included in the catalogue of the Dundas archives made in the 1960s (NRAS 0077), labelled under ‘Plans’ as ‘Excerpt from survey of Scotland presented to Lord President Dundas by General Roy, 1755’. However, unfortunately it has been left off the most up-to-date catalogue, NRAS 3246. A photostat of the map is available from NAS, RHP5246/1. The inscription is only visible on the
original
map, which is held in Arniston House.

183
The exiled Stuart court
For the presence of maps on Jacobite memorabilia, see Sharp, pp. 100, 224–5. A useful discussion of the symbols and rhetoric of Jacobitism can be found in Erskine-Hill. The Marischal Collection at the National Map Library of Scotland consists of 137 maps published between 1573 and 1873, many of which were collected by the exiled Stuarts at the court of St-Germain-en-Laye.

184
unsufferable tyranny
Robert Dundas (2nd Lord President) to Hardwicke, BL, Add. MS 35446, ff. 228–9, 31 December 1747.

185
Scotland has no unity except on the map
Stevenson, p. 39.

186
The history of cartography’s progress
For more on the idea that failure is a
necessary
component of progress, see Kuhn, 1962.

187
public-private partnership
Hoock, 2010, pp. 11–19.

1
By December, he had wangled
National Archives, OS 3/408. Commission as Practitioner Engineer given to William Roy on 26 December 1755.

2
Engineer William Roy London Gazette
, 9548, 24 January 1756.

3
Watson was asked to conduct a reconnaissance
O’Donoghue, Yolande, p. 30.

4
the Position in front of Dorking
[William Roy and David Dundas], ‘Military Reconnaissances of Parts of Southern And Eastern England with Proposals for Defence’, NA, OS 3/1, f. 1, [1756].

5
And he was later asked to do the same for Ireland
William Roy, ‘Defence of England: Observations by Colonel Roy made on a tour of Ireland’, NA, WO 30/115, 1766.

6
deep valleys and intervening ridges
William Roy, ‘Military Description of the South-East Part of England’, NAS, GD364/2/208, p. 22, July 1765.

7
the fingers of a hand
William Roy, ‘Military Description of the South-East Part of England’, NAS, GD364/2/208, p. 22, July 1765.

8
he helped to found a Commission
For an account of the Annexed Estates Commission, see Wills. For David Watson’s role, see ‘Reports on Annexed Estates, Struan’, in Wills. See also Minutes of Commissioners for Annexed Estates, NAS, E721/1, pp. 12–17, 37, 21 June–14 July 1755, 5 November 1755. See also David Watson to Robert Dundas (3rd Lord President), NRAS 3246, Volume 35: Letter Book 1746–55, f. 170, 13 August 1755; Hardwicke to Robert Dundas (3rd Lord President), NRAS 3246, Volume 35, f. 173, 25 September 1755; John Forbes to Robert Dundas (3rd Lord President), NRAS 3246, Volume 36: Letter Book 1756–1779, f. 7, 19 February 1756.

9
very indifferent
David Watson to Hardwicke, BL, Add. MS 35606, f. 353, 20 July 1761.

10
Watson’s housekeeper
David Watson, ‘Last Will of Major-General David Watson’, NRAS 3246, Bundle 75: Papers mainly relating to the executry of Major-General David Watson of Muirhouse, 1761.

11
Shortly before 1 November 1761
‘List of Deaths for the Year 1761’,
Gentleman’s Magazine
, 31, p. 539, 1761.

12
has made [Scotland] more his study
John Forbes to Robert Dundas (3rd Lord President), NRAS 3246, Volume 36: Letter Book 1756–1779, f. 7, 19 February 1756.

13
David Watson’s last will and testament
David Watson, ‘Last Will of
Major-General
David Watson’, NRAS 3246, Bundle 75: Papers mainly relating to the executry of Major-General David Watson of Muirhouse, 1761.

14
When military strategists
For accounts of the botched mission to Rochefort under Sir John Mordaunt, and William Roy’s role, see Chalmers, II, pp. vi–vii; Gardiner, pp. 443–4; MacDonald, p. 176; Mordaunt; Towse.

15
By March 1759
MacDonald, p. 164.

16
Roy industriously surveyed
For Roy’s role in Minden, see Hodson, 2007, pp. 17–18.

17
zeal, assiduity and talents
‘Letter to William Roy as a Captain in Germany in 1759 and 1760’, NA, OS 3/2, f. 1, 8 June 1760.

18
Roy produced a map of Minden
Roy, 1760. See also ‘Plan de la Bataille de Thonhausen pres de Minden, Gagnée le 1
^er
Aout 1759, par W. Roy’, Centre for Kentish Studies, U1350/P16.

19
a controversial court martial
Gardiner, pp. 443–4; Harley and Walters, 1977, pp. 12–13; Mackesy; O’Donoghue, Yolande p. 30. For a later description of Roy’s role, see also
Morning Herald and Daily Advertiser
, 1326, 25 January 1786.

20
He was promoted to
Gardiner, p. 443; O’Donoghue, Yolande p. 30.

21
Commissary General St James’s Chronicle or the British Evening Post
, 2675, 23 May 1778;
Gazetteer and New Daily Advertiser
, 15484, 20 September 1778.

22
An anecdote told almost twenty years after Minden Gazetteer and New Daily Advertiser
, 15484, 20 September 1778.

23
this extraordinary promotion
NA, OS 3/2, f. 9, 28 September 1759.

24
in July 1765
Royal Warrant to Master of the Ordnance, NA, WO 55/365, p. 14, 31 July 1765. The appointment is also confirmed in ‘Copy Book of
military
reports by Roy, as surveyor-general of coasts’, Centre for Kentish Studies, Pratt Manuscripts, U840/0171, 1756–79; Gardiner, p. 445; Hodson, 2007, p. 19; MacDonald, p. 177.

25
The instruction to survey the coasts
Hodson, 2007, p. 19.

26
it is His Majesty’s pleasure
Henry Seymour Conway to William Roy, NA, WO 124/1, no. 140 (f. 198), 26 October 1765.

27
the town and port of Dunkirk
Entry Book of Official and Some Private Correspondence [about] the demolition of fortifications, NA, WO 124/1, f. 31, Article 13th.

28
wholesomeness of the air
Entry Book of Official and Some Private Correspondence [about] the demolition of fortifications, NA, WO 124/1, f. 31, Article 13th. Documentation about the Dunkirk expedition can be found in, among other places, NA, WO 124/1; WO 124/5; WO 124/6; SP 28/290.

29
In November 1765
Desmaretz, Roy and Frazer to Conway, NA, WO 124/1, no. 144 (f. 200), 5 November 1765.

30
Roy may have already met
I am grateful to Yolande Hodson for this suggestion: indeed, Roy and Lennox were both present at the Battle of Minden (see Lowe).

31
solicited the engineer’s opinion
Charles Lennox to William Roy, NA, WO 124/1, no. 152 (f. 211), 30 November 1765.

32
Roy voiced his suspicion
William Roy to Charles Lennox, NA, WO 124/1, no. 157 (ff. 218–19), 3 December 1765.

33
the Demolition … should
…
go on
William Roy to Henry Seymour Conway, NA, WO 124/1, no. 171 (ff. 235–8), 20 December 1765.

34
had not been bettered
William Roy to Henry Seymour Conway, NA, WO 124/1, no. 177 (ff. 240–1), 4 February 1766.

35
you will be so good
William Roy to Henry Seymour Conway, NA, WO 124/1, no. 171 (ff. 235–8), 20 December 1765.

36
in mid February 1766
Charles Lennox to William Roy, NA, WO 124/1, no. 179 (f. 242), 14 February 1766; Henry Seymour Conway to William Roy, NA, WO 124/1, no. 180 (f. 242), 14 February 1766; Desmaretz and Fraser to George Lennox, NA, WO124/6, no. 203, 22 February 1766.

37
a [more] thorough knowledge of the country
Roy, 1785, pp. 387–8.

38
Ireland (which he had surveyed in 1765)
See William Roy, ‘Defence of England: Observations by Colonel Roy made on a tour of Ireland’, NA, WO 30/115, 1766.

39
join the whole together
William Roy to King George III, 24 May 1766, in Fortescue, I, p. 330.

40
Considerations on the Propriety of making a General Military Map
William Roy to King George III, 24 May 1766, in Fortescue, I, p. 330.

41
the honour of the nation
Roy, 1790, p. 262.

42
On 22 March 1754
Allan and Abbott, p. 3.

43
Joseph Banks
Allan and Abbott, p. 3.

44
Virtuoso Tribe of Arts and Sciences!
Marquess of Rockingham, cited in Allan and Abbott, p. xxii.

45
the Encouragement of Boys and Girls
Minutes of first meeting of Society of Arts, cited in Allan and Abbott, p. 92.

46
the sculpture gallery at his mansion
Seidmann, p. 124.

47
a Seat of Arts
John Gwynn, cited in Allan, p. 93.

48
whether the state of British Geography be not very low
William Borlase, September 1755, cited in Harley, ‘Society and Surveys’, p. 142.

49
’Tis to be wished
William Borlase, September 1755, cited in Harley, ‘Society and Surveys’, p. 142.

50
give proper surveyors such Encouragement
Cited in Harley, ‘Society and Surveys’, p. 143.

51
of great use in plannning
Cited in Harley, ‘Society and Surveys’, p. 143.

52
The Society of Arts advertised its first prize
For more detailed information about the Society of Arts’ competition, see Harley, ‘Society and Surveys’, pp. 141–57.

53
without much doubt be traced to the offer
Wood, p. 298, cited in Harley, ‘Society and Surveys’, p. 154.

54
In 1763 William Roy
Gardiner, p. 444. Roy conducts some barometric
observations
from this address. See Roy, 1777, p. 716.

55
both General Wade and Paul Sandby
I am indebted to Yolande Hodson for
pointing
this out to me.

56
Sixteen years later, in
1779
Gardiner, p. 444.

57
Today, a blue plaque
I am very grateful to the house’s current owner, Jim Jordan, for showing me around William Roy’s former residence.

58
In 1767, his brother James
Addison, p. 29 (no. 991), cited in MacDonald, p. 163.

59
the Society of Antiquaries
For a history of the Society of Antiquaries, see Pearce.

60
William Roy was admitted as a Fellow of the Royal Society
Certificates of Election and Candidatures, Royal Society, EC/1767/02.

61
the Royal Philosophers’ Club
See Allibone, pp. 1–40.

62
Bute was Scottish
For contemporary accounts of the popular outrage at Bute’s election, see Churchill, p. 27, and Wilkes. For a modern interpretation, see Brewer.

63
–5
Scotophobic cartoons flooded
For example, see
The S– Puppit Shew, or the Whole Play of King Solomon the Wise
, 1762, and
William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland. The Tomb-Stone
, London: Smith, 1765, in IV, nos 4049 and 4124, in Stephens, Hawkins and George.

64
the expressions of a beggarly Scot
See Smollett, 1971, p. 145; Beattie. See also Grenier, p. 24, for an account of this cultural attitude.

65
truth became our central criterion
Stoddart, p. 32.

66
paradise
Holmes, pp. 1–59. For further information about Banks’s life, see O’Brian.

67
than either of the Indies
Burt, I 1754, p. 5.

68
Banks soon tired of
Information in this paragraph is taken from Allibone, pp. xiii, 86–105, 106–15.

69
that curious and useful branch of philosophy
Roy, 1777, p. 715.

70
I have sometimes found
Roy, 1777, p. 728 (note).