![Scottish Covenant Association Insignia](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/79/Scottish_Covenant_Association_Insignia.svg)
The Scottish Covenant was a
petition
A petition is a request to do something, most commonly addressed to a government official or public entity. Petitions to a deity are a form of prayer called supplication.
In the colloquial sense, a petition is a document addressed to some offi ...
to the
United Kingdom government
ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd
, image = HM Government logo.svg
, image_size = 220px
, image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg
, image_size2 = 180px
, caption = Royal Arms
, date_est ...
to create a
home rule
Home rule is government of a colony, dependent country, or region by its own citizens. It is thus the power of a part (administrative division) of a state or an external dependent country to exercise such of the state's powers of governance wit ...
Scottish parliament. First proposed in 1930,
and promoted by the ''
Scots Independent
''The Scots Independent'' is a monthly Scottish political newspaper that is in favour of Scottish independence. It was formed in 1926 with William Gillies as editor, by the Scots National League (SNL) and switched its allegiance to the Nationa ...
'' in 1939, the National Covenant movement reached its peak during the late 1940s and early 1950s. Initiated by
John MacCormick
John MacDonald MacCormick (20 November 1904 – 13 October 1961) was a Scottish lawyer, Scottish nationalist politician and advocate of Home Rule in Scotland.
Early life
MacCormick was born in Pollokshields, Glasgow, in 1904. His father was Dona ...
, the Covenant was written in October 1949 at the
Church of Scotland Assembly Halls
The Assembly Hall is located between Castlehill and Mound Place in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is the meeting place of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.
History
Following the Disruption in the Church of Scotland in 1843, the emerg ...
in Edinburgh, during the Third National Assembly of the Scottish Convention, a pressure group which evolved into the
Scottish Covenant Association
The Scottish Covenant Association was a non-partisan political organisation in Scotland in the 1940s and 1950s seeking to establish a devolved Scottish Assembly. It was formed by John MacCormick who had left the Scottish National Party in 1942 wh ...
.
The petition was "eventually signed by two million people".
In the
census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...
of 1951, the population of Scotland was 5.1 million.
The Scottish Covenant, however, had little political impact, and it was not until 1977 that proposals for a
Scottish Assembly became a serious political prospect.
The current
Scottish Parliament was reconvened in 1999.
The name of the Covenant is a reference to the
Solemn League and Covenant which established the rights of the
Church of Scotland
The Church of Scotland ( sco, The Kirk o Scotland; gd, Eaglais na h-Alba) is the national church in Scotland.
The Church of Scotland was principally shaped by John Knox, in the Reformation of 1560, when it split from the Catholic Church ...
in the 17th century. An
Ulster Covenant
Ulster's Solemn League and Covenant, commonly known as the Ulster Covenant, was signed by nearly 500,000 people on and before 28 September 1912, in protest against the Third Home Rule Bill introduced by the British Government in the same year. ...
was also made in 1912, opposing the idea of
home rule
Home rule is government of a colony, dependent country, or region by its own citizens. It is thus the power of a part (administrative division) of a state or an external dependent country to exercise such of the state's powers of governance wit ...
in
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
.
Text of the Covenant
''"We, the people of Scotland who subscribe to this Engagement, declare our belief that reform in the constitution of our country is necessary to secure good government in accordance with our Scottish traditions and to promote the spiritual and economic welfare of our nation.''
''We affirm that the desire for such reform is both deep and widespread through the whole community, transcending all political differences and sectional interests, and we undertake to continue united in purpose for its achievement.''
''With that end in view we solemnly enter into this Covenant whereby we pledge ourselves, in all loyalty to the Crown and within the framework of the United Kingdom, to do everything in our power to secure for Scotland a Parliament with adequate legislative authority in Scottish affairs."''
Response
On 3 November 1949, a few days after the Edinburgh launch, the
Unionist Party, then the country's dominant political party, forced an
adjournment debate
In the Westminster system, an adjournment debate is a debate on the motion, "That this House do now adjourn." In practice, this is a way of enabling the House to have a debate on a subject without considering a substantive motion.
Types of deb ...
in the
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...
calling for a
royal commission into Scottish affairs, with the aim of increasing administrative devolution to Scotland,
including a larger ministerial team at the
Scottish Office
The Scottish Office was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom from 1885 until 1999, exercising a wide range of government functions in relation to Scotland under the control of the Secretary of State for Scotland. Following the es ...
and the establishment of Scottish
nationalised industries.
The
Labour government of the time dismissed the Scottish Covenant. In answer to a question in the
House of Lords
The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminste ...
in May 1950 put to
His Majesty's Government
ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd
, image = HM Government logo.svg
, image_size = 220px
, image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg
, image_size2 = 180px
, caption = Royal Arms
, date_est ...
, Labour Peer
Lord Morrison objected both in principle to home rule and stated that the matters involved were 'much too complicated' to be put to
referendum
A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...
.
In 1955,
Colin Thornton-Kemsley MP for
North Angus and Mearns
Angus North and Mearns was a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1950 to 1983. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post voting system.
It was unsucces ...
pointed out that despite the Covenant only one of the 71 MPs representing Scottish seats could be said to support devolution, that one member being
Jo Grimond
Joseph Grimond, Baron Grimond, (; 29 July 1913 – 24 October 1993), known as Jo Grimond, was a British politician, leader of the Liberal Party for eleven years from 1956 to 1967 and again briefly on an interim basis in 1976.
Grimond was a lo ...
, Liberal MP for
Orkney and Shetland.
The Scottish philosopher
Herbert James Paton
Herbert James Paton FBA FSA Scot (30 March 1887 – 2 August 1969), usually cited as H. J. Paton, was a Scottish philosopher who taught at various university institutions, including Glasgow and Oxford. He worked in British intelligence during t ...
cites the 1949 Covenant in his disquisition ''The Claim of Scotland'' (1968) and partly frames his defence, robustly yet peacably set out, with reference to the governmental omission in the 1950s to heed the Covenant and its signatories.
See also
*
Covenant (historical)
References
{{reflist
External links
The Scottish Covenant, October 1949 held by the Trustees of the
National Library of Scotland, published by the
Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland
Home rule in the United Kingdom
1949 in Scotland
Political history of Scotland
1949 in British politics
Petitions