Andrew Fletcher was a prominent member of the Scottish Parliament from 1703 to 1707, where he was a formidable spokesman in favour of Scottish independence. He wrote several important essays on political, economic and social questions. He was also the first in Europe to argue for a European association of the nations states.
David Hume, who was influenced by several of Andrew Fletcher’s ideas, said that he was “a man of signal probity and fine genius.” Sir Walter Scott referred to him as “one of the most accomplished men, and best patriots whom Scotland has produced in any age.” He was long known in Scotland as “The Patriot”.
Professor Thomas M. Devine OBE, BA, PhD, DLitt, HonD Univ (Strathclyde, 2006), Hon DLitt (Queen's, Belfast, 2001), Hon DLitt (Abertay, Dundee, 2001), FRHistS, FRSE, Hon MRIA, FBA.
Professor Devine is currently Sir William Fraser Professor of Scottish History and Palaeography, Director of the Scottish Centre of Diaspora Studies at Edinburgh University. Before election to the Fraser Chair, Tom Devine held Professorships at Strathclyde, where he was also Vice Principal, and Aberdeen, as Director of the AHRC Centre in Irish and Scottish Studies. He is the author or editor of some three dozen books on a range of themes, including empire, emigration, immigration, transatlantic commerce, slavery, sectarianism, urban elites and rural society in Highlands and Lowlands.
The failure of the expeditions to Darien in the 1690s is presented as one of the great Scottish disasters of all time with ruinous economic consequences for the nation and helping to trigger the series of events which ultimately led to the Anglo-Scottish Union of 1707. In the words of one eminent historian of Scotland, the enterprise can be dismissed as 'a tragic farce'. This lecture will challenge this orthodoxy (recently confirmed in the 2010 Edinburgh Festival play by the National Theatre of Scotland) by seeking to present a different perspective on this dramatic story.
Since the 1960s the Saltire Society has commemorated Andrew Fletcher of Saltoun with a lecture in September, the month of his death in 1716. The lectures have been given by many of Scotland’s leading historians, writers and politicians. The Saltire Society published a selection of them in The Saltoun Papers; Reflections on Andrew Fletcher, edited by Paul H. Scott in 2002.
The lectures were previously held in the Kirk in East Saltoun, where Andrew Fletcher is buried. Since the opening of the new Scottish Parliament building the lectures have been held there.