The landed classes of Scotland contributed very little to social change and cultural achievment during the cultural golden age of the 18th century, with surprisingly few original ot personal intellectual contributions considering their enormous importance as social and political leaders. Especially few when taking into account that every kind of leisure, educational oppurtunity and affluence lay at their feet to emancipate them from the drudgery of earning their living. Their failures cannot therefor be explained in material terms but psychologically as a landowners family was so secure and its niche in society so comfortable that there was no need for its members to drive for social recognition in the same way as there was was members of the middle and classes, who had to live by their pen, their teachings or their inventive talents.
Posted on: Thu, 21 Aug 2014 07:18:44 +0000