The pamphlet was anonymously writen but the author hailed from Falkirk. It begins by stating the author is “one of yourselves, who is desirous of impressing you with a deep sense of the public danger’. That danger was invasion. The writer also addresses why he has opted for innominate. He states that ‘he has only assumed the liberty to warn and instruct, THAT THEY MIGHT BE FREE’.


The pamphlet is noteworthy for the way it hypothesises the various ways Napoleon could invade Scotland. If Napoleon invaded in the North- East of Scotland, this area would become a theatre of war. With the motivation of the French soldiers ‘only driven by plunder and spoil’, the French would make their way to the cities of Scotland. Provisions would be taken from the villages between Aberdeen and Dundee, and Perth would ‘form an object of atraction, too powerful for the rapaciousness and cruelty of the invaders to resist’.


‘Stirlingshire runs an equal risque of becoming a scene of war’


Te pamphlet is noteworthy for the way it hypothesises the various ways Napoleon could invade Scotland.


‘The danger, to which we are exposed, of being pilaged and massacred, is almost equally great’


Falkirk and Stirlingshire ran a great risk being a theatre of war if the French landed between the Tay and the Forth. The Carron-Works, a shot and artillery depot, would be a key target for the French. They would also ‘infallibly mark their way with pillage, desolation and death!’


The pamphlet closes with rousing statements to upliſt the reader. The author writes ‘Let the spirit of the country be awakened, let its resources be called into energy’ let the whole population be trained to military discipline; and then we shall present to the invaders a front, as impenetrable as the Macedonian phalanx”.


He finishes by stating ‘May we draw the sword with firmest courage, and resolve either to save the Constitution, or be buried in its ruins’.


‘May we draw the sword with firmest courage, and resolve either to save the Constitution, or be buried in its ruins’


February 2016


55


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