MURRAY ARMSTRONG launches his book, The Liberty Tree: The Stirring Story of Thomas Muir and Scotland’s First Fight for Democracy, at the 18th Edinburgh Independent Radical Book Fair. Thursday 23 October 2014 at 6.30pm Venue: Out of the Blue Drill Hall 30-38 Dalmeny Street Edinburgh Scotland Admission Free!
All Welcome! "Murray’s superb research is skilfully woven with narrative that seamlessly brings to life the incredible story of one of Scotland’s greatest unsung heroes. " "The theme Armstrong pursues, and which dominated Muir's political career, namely whether democracy is best served by reform of the Union or by breaking with it, is central to contemporary Scottish public life and is likely to remain so, whatever the outcome of the Referendum. " "A truly enjoyable read, Murray has captured the true story of the oppression in 18th century Britain. Festival Nov 2014. Socialist Review. Heard ye o’ the Tree o’ France, And wat ye what’s the name o’ it?
Around it a’ the patriots dance, Weel Europe kens the fame o’ it? It stands where ance the Bastile stood, A prison built by kings, man, When superstition’s hellish brood Kept France in leading-strings, man From The Tree of Liberty by Robert Burns, written 1795 (published 1838). Murray Armstrong has written a wonderful book about the great Scottish radical reformer, Thomas Muir of Huntershill.
Recreating events based on historical records, the book takes its title from Burns’s poem on the French Revolution. Thomas Muir of Huntershill. Thomas Muir (25 August 1765 – 26 January 1799), often known as Thomas Muir the Younger of Huntershill, was a Scottish political reformer.
Early years[edit] Thomas Muir was born in Glasgow. His father, James Muir, was the son of the 'bonnet laird' of Hayston and Birdston farms near Kirkintilloch, he married Margaret Smith and they had two children Thomas and Janet. Overview of Thomas Muir. A biography of radical Scottish lawyer Thomas Muir. Thomas Muir was born in Huntershill in the north of Glasgow in 1765.
He was the son of a hop merchant and studied at the local grammar school before attending Glasgow University to study divinity. He wasn't suited to his studies and soon switched to law, studying under John Millar who was a staunch advocate of parliamentary reform. In 1783 Muir was expelled after organising a petition to demand his suspended professor, John Anderson, be re-instated. With the help of Millar he was able to get a place at Edinburgh University and upon finishing his studies he entered the Faculty of Advocates. He became an idealistic and radical lawyer, championing the poor and often representing them for free while criticising the legal system which was grossly biased in favour of the wealthy.
Georgian Edinburgh: Thomas Muir: First President of the Scottish Republic. The title of this post is mischevious, as of course Scotland did not become a republic at any time.
However, in the late eighteenth century there were many Scots who desired that political outcome, and the man they wanted for their first president was Thomas Muir of Huntershill.Thomas Muir was born in Glasgow in 1765, the only son of a successful merchant. He was afforded the best education that was available, and after matriculating at Glasgow University at the age of twelve he took up a study of Divinity.
He graduated M.A. in 1782 aged seventeen, and subsequently came under the influence of John Millar of Millheugh, Professor of Civil Law. The next year, abandoning Divinity, he was accepted as a student in Millar's classes on Law and Government. John Millar deserves far wider fame today than he enjoys. Muir refused to answer the officiating magistrate's questions and was bailed, and then journeyed to London to report on the plight of the Scottish radicals to their colleagues there. Friends of Thomas Muir. "William Wallace and Robert the Bruce were champions of Freedom...
Thomas Muir was the champion of Democracy! " Don Martin (Local historian and author) Scottish Charity Number: SCO 41688. Thomas_muir.htm. Thomas Muir of Huntershill He died on 26 January 1799 in Chantilly France aged 33 years.
****Robert Burns wrote Scots Wha Hae on the day Muir's trial started. The letter he wrote with the first draft makes it clear who he had in mind; Wallace was an allegory for the real hero. . **** Thomas Muir of Huntershill. BBC - In pictures: Thomas Muir Trail. BBC - In the footsteps of Thomas Muir. Huntershill House was the home of political reformer Thomas Muir A man described as the founding father of Scottish democracy is to take a more prominent place on Scotland's map with a proposed new heritage trail which is in the early stages of planning.
Thomas Muir was a political reformer based in Huntershill, Bishopbriggs. The 18th Century advocate was instrumental in encouraging the establishment of parliamentary reform societies in Scotland, leaving a lasting legacy of democracy. His life and work are now being recognised with the establishment of a heritage trail. New route The proposed new eleven-mile route uses existing paths suitable for families, walkers and cyclists. Thomas Muir promoted universal suffrage, establishing reform societies in Scotland, promoting votes for all. Scotland - A Concise History - British Scotland. From around 1650 the dominant power in western Europe was France, and the Stewart kings were satellites of the French.
The coming of King William - a Dutch patriot whose life's work was to obstruct French expansion and save the Netherlands - had carried England into the anti-French alliance. This foreign policy was continued by William's successors, and, as a result, wars with France were more or less constant from 1690 until 1815. At times British success was spectacular, especially in 1763 when Britain became a great imperial power, influential in Europe and in virtual control of North America and India. History - Scottish History. Thomas Muir of Huntershill.
1793 - Thomas Muir arrested for sedition. Scots radical Thomas Muir was a great supporter of both the American and French Revolutions and a proponent of far-reaching parliamentary reform in Great Britain.
Born in Glasgow, he studied to become an advocate - not the Scots profession most readily linked with radicalism, but Muir was a man of a different stamp from most of his fellows at the Edinburgh bar. He was active in spreading the London Society of the Friends of the People to Scotland. SRSM - Thomas Muir of Huntershill. Thomas Muir, the Scottish Republican and Revolutionary, was born in Glasgow, 24th August, 1765, the son of “bonnet laird”, James Muir. His father was a second son, with no chance of inheriting the property of Birdston and Hayston farms near Kirkintilloch. His family had relations in Kent who were prosperous hop growers James successfully directed his energies and became firmly established as a hop merchant in the High Street of Glasgow in a flat above his shop.
He was credited with writing a pamphlet on “England’s Foreign Trade” and reached his social summit by the 1780’s he purchased the property of Huntershill house and the adjoining lands. His house still stands in Bishopbriggs and there is a centre to him there and a Thomas Muir cafe with a plaque. Bishopbriggs library has a selection of books on him. Muir’s middle class background did not stop him sacrificing himself when he could have had a comfortable lifestyle. “We have achieved a great duty in these critical times. Thomas Muir of Huntershill - Dick Gaughan's Song Archive. My name is Thomas Muir as a lawyer I was trainedRemember Thomas Muir of HuntershillBut you've branded me an outlaw, for sedition I'm arraignedRemember Thomas Muir of HuntershillBut I never preached sedition in any shape or formAnd against the constitution I have never raised a stormIt's the scoundrels who've corrupted it that I want to reformRemember Thomas Muir of Huntershill M'lord, you found me guilty before the trial beganRemember ...And the jury that you've picked are Tory placemen to a manRemember ...Yet here I stand for judgement unafraid what may befallThough your spies were in my parish Kirk and in my father's hallNot one of them can testify I ever broke a lawRemember ...
Yes, I spoke to Paisley weavers and addressed the city's youthFor neither age nor class should be a barrier to the truthM'lord, you may chastise them with your vitriolic tongueYou say that books are dangerous to those I moved amongBut the future of our land is with the workers and the young. The Burns Encyclopedia: Muir, Thomas (1765-98) The son of a flourishing Glasgow tradesman, James Muir, who published a pamphlet on England's foreign trade in 1765. Thomas Muir graduated M.A. at Glasgow University in 1782. He intended to enter the church but decided to read law instead. On account of his share in writing a lampoon on his professors, however, he was expelled from Glasgow and moved to Edinburgh, where he completed his legal studies in 1787, being admitted to the Faculty of Advocates.
A church elder at Cadder, Lanarkshire, he occasionally pleaded without fee for those he considered oppressed. Thomas Muir. Thomas Muir. - Strugglepedia. From Strugglepedia Thomas Muir was born and lived at a place called Huntershill, a district just to the north of Glasgow. The house still stands surrounded by it's gardens and trees. Thomas was born into a wealthy home. He studied law at Glasgow University but left on a point of honour in 1780 and completed his studies at Edinburgh University eventually having a law practice in Glasgow. He was however drawn to the reform movements that had developed all over Scotland. One year later, after presenting a nationalistic address to the Scottish Reform Movement General Convention, on behalf of United Irishmen. Scotland Guide - Scottish History - Thomas Muir.
An article on the Scottish Political Reformist Thomas Muir. He was transported to Australia for 14 years for attempting to change the political system in Britain, and was involved in political reform in the US, France and Ireland. Thomas Muir is the subject of a song by Adam McNaughton, sung often by Dick Gaughan.
Article sent by Charles McGregor mailto: chic.m@zetnet.co.uk Source: Steel's "Scotland's Story". A very good, if succinct history of Scotland and which featured as a TV series about 10 years ago. The first Convention of the Scottish Friends of the People opened in Edinburgh on 11 December 1792. On the last day of the Convention, a Petition to Parliament was read and approved; but it was suggested that the Convention arm itself so as to be able to help magistrates put down riots that might occur in support of reform.
The trial lasted sixteen hours, the evidence heard by five judges and a jury. Scottish Republican and Reformer Thomas Muir. Siol nan Gaidheal - Thomas Muir of Huntershill. The French Revolution in 1789 proved to be a catalyst that showed up the latent antagonism in the Scottish People. Thomas Muir — Martyr for the People’s Cause. An account of the trial of Thomas Muir, Esq. younger, of Huntershill, before the High Court of Justiciary at Edinburgh, on the 30th and 31st days of August, 1793, for sedition : Muir, Thomas, 1765-1798. Fullscreen Author:Muir, Thomas, 1765-1798; Scoles, John, 1772? -1853, engraver; Adams, John, 1735-1826, former owner. BRL; Boston Public Library (John Adams Library) BRL; Scotland. Thomas Muir. Oxford DNB article: Muir, Thomas. Muir, Thomas (1765–1799), political reformer, was born in Glasgow on 24 August 1765.
He was the only son of James Muir (c.1730–1803), a flourishing hop merchant and grocer, and Margaret Smith (c.1740–1803), who later bought a small landed property at Huntershill, near Glasgow. Thomas Muir : Radical Glasgow : Glasgow Caledonian University. Early life. Thomas Muir. William Patrick Library 2/4 West High Street Kirkintilloch G66 1AD Tel: 0141 777 3143 Fax: 0141 777 3140. Friends of Thomas Muir. East Dunbartonshire Council - Thomas Muir Heritage Trail - Sunday 29 May 2011. Introduction to Cookies. TGS - 1770s to 1830s - Personalities - Thomas Muir of Huntershill.
Biography of Thomas Muir. Ingram Street. Overview of Martyrs' Monument. Political Martyrs' Monument. Thomas Muir of Huntershill. Thomas Fyshe Palmer. William Skirving. Maurice Margarot. Joseph Gerrald. Old Calton Obelisk. Dictionary of Australian Biography Mu-My. The Trials of Thomas Muir - Hindsight. Thomas Muir Junior of Huntershill, 1765 - 1798. Transported for sedition − Thomas Banks − B. CXXV. Thomas Muir, Esq. Younger of Huntershill - Kay's Originals Vol. 1 by John Kay.