01/08/2026
ON THIS DAY (2 of 3):
On the 1st August 1746/1747 the “Act of Proscription” was enacted in Parliament at Westminster (the disarming part happened on 1st August 1746 and the act relating to dress happened on the 1st August 1747, but both were part of the same act which was enacted at the same time, which is why various publications have it as 1746 and/or 1747).
The long title for this act is: “An act for the more effectual disarming the highlands in Scotland; and for the more effectual securing the peace of the said highlands; and for restraining the use of the highland dress; and for further indemnifying such persons as have acted in the defence of His Majesty's person and government, during the unnatural rebellion; and for indemnifying the judges and other officers of the court of judiciary in Scotland, for not performing the northern circuit in May, one thousand seven hundred and forty six; and for obliging the masters and teachers of private schools in Scotland, and chaplains, tutors and governors of children or youth, to take the oaths to his Majesty, his heirs and successors, and to register the same”.
This act was effectively the last of three or four combined acts which were culturally-oppressive and came after the 1716 and 1725 “Disarming Acts” and the 1746 “Dress Act” (which can be considered as part of the “1746/7 Act of Proscription”). It was also linked to the 1746 “Heritable Jurisdictions (Scotland) Act”.
It is open to vibrant and ongoing debate how oppressive these acts were in practice; how much they supported a modern development of safer society; or how much it was to do with the establishment’s fear of Gaelic culture and its place in World politics in the 18th Century.
It is beyond doubt that the Act of Proscription as it is best known, had, alongside the subduing of Gaelic culture by the British Army and other significant political changes such as the Union of 1707 and the disbandment of the Privy Council of Scotland in 1708; been a major factor in completely changing the course of the Political development of modern Scotland and the way of life in the Highlands.
Due to its clear implication as a way to suppress the culture of the Gàidhealtachd, regardless of the debate as to how exactly that played out in reality; the Act of Proscription was not necessarily liked by all Whig landowning MPs. The incredible image shows Pryse Campbell of Cawdor who was not at this point the Thane of Cawdor, painted in 1762 by Francis Cotes as part of a series of works, some of which are of family members with positions in Government which would have put them in a position of potentially having to arrest Pryse Campbell - let’s not forget he was not the Thane and therefore not the landowner at the time, and was a young male not in the military!
He was, however, the son of a member of the aristocracy, which meant he was above this particular law. I believe, though, that this painting shows a member of the Highland gentry who clearly has no taste for the acts and is willing to stand up against them, which he apparently did as a Whig politician from 1754 to 1768. The paintings can be seen in the drawing room of Cawdor Castle today.
Despite the four culturally-oppressive acts eventually all being repealed on the 1st July 1782, the damage to Gaelic culture continued in varying forms, perhaps even to this day. Despite many historians (and tour companies) claiming that tartan and bagpipes were banned, this was not the case, but the use of tartan was confined to active military service for young males. Women were not prevented from wearing tartan and landowners could, as Pryse shows, pretty much do as they pleased in terms of what they wore (but they did need to be careful about making political statements).
The 1746/7 Act of Proscription can be read in full here:
https://www.electricscotland.com/history/other/proscription_1747.htm
