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Gypsies in Early Modern Scotland, c.1570-c.1700 https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.117811 Tyson, Thomas Jackson, Clare This thesis comprises a study of the people labelled ‘Egyptians’, or Gypsies, in early modern Scotland. Between the 1570s and the eighteenth century, Gypsies were sporadically subjected to intense persecution and stigmatisation by Scottish authorities, yet nevertheless maintained their way of life at society’s margins throughout the period. In historiographical terms, Scottish Gypsies have also proven academically marginal, both in relation to the extant literature on early modern Scotland, and that addressing Europe’s Gypsies, Roma, and Travellers. This thesis uncovers the experience of Gypsies in early modern Scotland through the examination of legislation, proclamations, criminal court records, church court records, and printed works concerning Gypsies that have been little-studied since the nineteenth century. By considering the reception and treatment of Gypsies, it also offers a fresh perspective on some of the most debated aspects of early modern Scottish history, including the growth of central authority, the impact of the Protestant Reformation, and the decline of feuding. The thesis introduction outlines the historiographical and methodological issues involved in studying such a socially and historically marginal group, and is followed by two sections, each comprising three chapters. The first section, ‘Receiving Gypsies’, offers an overview of how Scottish elites perceived Gypsies during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, analyses the range of policy initiatives enacted in regard to Gypsies, and considers how such perceptions and policies were shaped by the Reformed Kirk. The second section, ‘Gypsy Lives’, examines the social ties forged between Gypsies and non-Gypsies during the seventeenth century, the impact of Atlantic imperialism and nascent racial discourses upon Gypsies following Charles II’s Restoration of 1660, and concludes with a survey of the social and economic lives of the Gypsies themselves over the entire period. University of Cambridge 2024-05-29 Thesis Doctoral Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) eng Lightfoot Studentship Scouloudi Fellowship https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/383435 https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/bitstreams/52d55135-be85-4504-af8a-3de3fd6bfcb4/download 3b336bdbecd8b11d0a9fd21fa537bd73 https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/bitstreams/e2f66150-42c9-4197-8aff-0ca45e07c543/download 87eda9de84448d1f82354d60eee3eb5f http://purl.org/NET/rdflicense/allrightsreserved History Social History Legal History Early Modern Scotland Britain Gypsies and Travellers Roma