Abstract
This essay reviews modern debate about the use of government spies during the Scottish risings of 1819-1820; discusses the reliability of contemporary sources identifying Scottish clergy as government agents (notably Peter Mackenzie's An Exposure of the Spy System Pursued in Glasgow, 1835); turns to poetry from the period by Janet Hamilton and Alexander Rodger that insists that spies were used, including clergymen; and examines evidence of clerical espionage from the National Archives at Kew.
Recommended Citation
Gardner, John
(2020)
"“Black Coat” Scottish Spies: Clerical Informers in 1820,"
Studies in Scottish Literature:
Vol. 46:
Iss.
1, 32–39.
Available at:
https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/ssl/vol46/iss1/7