Act of Proscription

‘And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That from and after the first day of August, one thousand seven hundred and forty seven, no man or boy, within that part of Great Briton called Scotland, other than shall be employed as officers and soldiers in his Majesty's forces, shall on any pretence whatsoever, wear or put on the clothes commonly called Highland Clothes (that is to say) the plaid, philibeg, or little kilt, trowse, shoulder belts, or any part whatsoever of what peculiarly belongs to the highland garb; and that no tartan, or partly-coloured plaid or stuff shall be used for great coats, or for upper coats; and if any such person shall presume, after the said first day of August, to wear or put on the aforesaid garments or any part of them, every such person so offending, being convicted thereof by the oath of one or more credible witness or witnesses before any court of justiciary, or any one or more justices of the peace for the shire or stewartry, or judge ordinary of the place where such offence shall be committed, shall suffer imprisonment, without bail, during the space of six months, and no longer; and being convicted for a second offence before a court of justiciary or at the circuits, shall be liable to be transported to any of his Majesty's plantations beyond the seas, there to remain for a space of seven years.’

On August 1, 1747, the Act of Proscription, which banned the wearing of ‘the highland dress’ in Scotland, went into effect.  The text above is from that act, which George II of England introduced.  This act was repealed in 1782 under George III of England, which made it possible for Walter Scott to orchestrate the tartan pageantry involved in the visit of George IV to Edinburgh in 1822.

George II and Caroline Coronated

On October 11, 1727, George August of Hanover and Caroline of Ansbach became King and Queen of Great Britain.  George was on the throne during the Jacobite rebellion of 1745.  Sir Walter Scott set his "The Heart of Midlothian" during George's reign, with volume I opening with the Porteous Riots.

Caroline of England

On November 20, 1737, Queen Caroline passed. Caroline was born in Ansbach, Germany. She married George August (1705), who was son of the elector of Hanover, and who later became King George II of England (1714).

It is to Caroline, in London, that Jeanie Deans travels, in Scott's "The Heart of Midlothian". Jeanie walks from Edinburgh to London for an audience with Caroline, to seek a remedy for her sister's conviction on a charge of infanticide. The penalty was to be death. Many critics view this novel as Scott's finest.