Susan here, putting finishing touches on a new novel set in Scotland in the summer of 1822, with a story centered on the king’s visit to Scotland that August.
Two hundred years ago this very week, King George IV arrived in Edinburgh to huge fanfare and celebration. George IV, the first English king since Charles II’s brief visit in 1651 to visit Scotland without waging war, spent his whirlwind visit meeting prominent Scots, including Sir Walter Scott, government officials, peers, Highland chiefs and their entourages, and so many ladies, particularly at an assembly held to honor Scottish ladies, that he was said to have kissed thousands of women in one afternoon. The king was guest of honor at receptions, dinners, parades, and balls, celebrated, lauded, toasted, cheered—and was the subject of comical satire, caricatures, and tittery laughter from the Scots. While George IV made a real effort to connect with the Scots and admire and experience the Scottish culture, now and then he bumbled along, one event to another.
David Wilkie's flattering portrait of King George in Scotland did not include the king's pink tights.
Although very excited to welcome King George to the north, historically the Scots were not the biggest fans of the English. Some were skeptical about the visit, given the long cultural memory of centuries of conflict and oppression under pressure from the English – and eventually English rule with the Acts of Union in 1707, which joined the Scottish and English Parliaments and placed Scotland under English rule with the formation of Great Britain. That was followed by the Jacobite wars and Culloden in 1745, with Jacobite sympathies lingering among some for generations - fueling political and ideological differences between the Tories and the Whigs - and the Highland Clearances, spanning more than a century of struggle primarily for Highland people tossed out of their homes as lands were sold or leased to those who preferred using vast, beautiful Highland acreage for hunting and country houses rather than raising sheep and cattle.
In this political atmosphere, during the hot, steamy, rainy August of 1822, King George IV arrived on a ship that sat outside Leith Harbor for days until rough waters abated to allow him and his enormous party of courtiers and support people to land. The crowds were immense, the cheers uproarious, the heat intense and the rains incessant. The streets of Edinburgh were so congested that the throngs of people could hardly move. For weeks, the city had been preparing for the momentous arrival of the monarch; there was hardly a corner left for city visitors to sleep, with rooms renting out for a week at the outrageous price of a year’s lease.
Sir Walter Scott was deeply involved in organizing the visit, having met the king on several occasions. He paid 
attention to every detail, working closely with a newly formed Celtic Society, a sort of royal visit committee, as well as with Scottish government officials. He was so determined to showcase the Scottish culture and create a magnificent spectacle at every opportunity that he was referred to as “the Pageant Master”—not in the nicest way—and his elaborate plans to present every aspect of Highland and Scottish culture was described by skeptical peers as the “Celtification of Scotland”—again not the most flattering. His plans and suggestions were elaborate, expensive, and sometimes over the top. He wrote an anonymous booklet (although his authorship was no secret, like his supposedly anonymous and wildly popular novels) with everything laid out in deep detail. Gentleman, for example, were encouraged to wear a sort of uniform of bright blue jacket and white trousers, the colors of the Scottish saltire flag, to the exclusive events and receptions to honor the king—although many opted to wear either more elegant formal evening attire, or military uniform if they carried a rank, or full Highland dress, which many Highland men chose to wear to the many events.
Sir Evan MacGregor, chief of the Gregorach, led the Highland contingent.
The contingent of Highlanders flooding into the city in full Highland gear was massive. Highland chiefs from most clans--MacGregor, MacDonald, Campbell, Gordon, Grant, Stewart, MacDougall, and many more--arrived with chieftains and a tail of Highlanders limited, due to space concerns, to 50 men each. Sir Walter encouraged Highlanders to appear in complete Highland gear, including plaids (either the belted plaid or the newer pleated kilt), with tartan stockings, jackets, bonnets with feathers (three for a chief, one for a chieftain), badges, sporran—and weapons. Pistols, dirks, swords, even targe shields were recommended to be carried in the presence of the king and courtiers to give the visiting English a full-blast dose of Highland spirit, pride, and what can only be called theatre, given Scott’s enthusiastic plans.
Ladies were not forgotten in the festivities or in Scott’s elaborate vision. The king was to host an assembly for the ladies, and Scott’s pamphlet defined their wardrobe recommendations as 
well—including nine ostrich feathers in the headdresses, and trains several feet long. Just imagine being in the midst of a gathering of ladies and escorts numbering in the thousands, crammed into Holyrood Palace on a hot summer day, with feathered headdresses waving and silken trains sweeping the ground as guests waited hours to be introduced to the king so briefly that it included only a rapid greeting and a smacking, slobbery kiss (described as such by some).
To his credit, King George was eager to celebrate the Scots and
appreciate their culture. He even dressed on one occasion in full 
Highland kit himself—including a ludicrous pair of salmon-pink silk pantaloons beneath his red Stewart tartan kilt and tartan stockings, as he would not bare his legs like the Highlanders. Even worse, his kilt hem was too short. One Scottish duchess commented that as the king was there so short a time, it would do to see more of him . . . Critics of the whole over-the-top, overly Celtified pageantry of the royal visit poked fun at the king's unfortunate fashion choice and made merciless jokes at his expense. George’s beefy physique did him no favors in Highland dress--some Scots referred to him as “Fat Geordie,” and caricaturists had a field day representing the absurdity of it all.
King George did not know much about Scotland, but he loved its whisky. He was exceptionally fond of Highland malt whisky, and by habit took a dram every night. When he came to Scotland, he requested to meet the maker of one of his favorite whiskies, Glenlivet. Its maker, one George Smith, was hastily found and presented to the king as requested. At this point in time, most Highland uisge beatha, or water of life, was illicit and subject to harsh laws and taxation that resulted in an effect quite opposite the law—smuggling was the only way to get Highland whisky, an exceptional liquor far superior to Lowland and English make, out of the country at a profit. Ironically, the whisky King George so favored was likely smuggled into London, making the very king marginally complicit in the smuggling trade that his own laws condemned. The Scots, always up for a good joke, had a great snicker over this.
The king’s visit—described by one contemporary wag as “twenty-one daft days”—became the historical basis for my upcoming book, Laird of Rogues, Book 3 of The Whisky Lairds series. I'm in the revision process and it will be available early next year.
Ronan MacGregor, distiller of a Highland whisky favored by King George, is invited to meet the king, but for one hurdle: MacGregor is in prison on smuggling charges. Though he appears to be a rough Highlander, he hides his identity as a lawyer and viscount's heir, he has a good reason for misbehaving—and he’s not keen on meeting the king. But the Lord Provost Mayor insists, so the notorious rogue is released into the custody of the deputy provost mayor and his daughter, Ellison Grant, who is required to turn this frog into a prince quickly, unaware he is more a gentleman than some around her. Spending time with a Highland smuggler suits Ellison just fine, as she is secretly writing a romantic adventure novel. Soon she discovers the man is a Highland peer searching for the scoundrels who stole his valued whisky stash--and then both are pulled into an adventure and a love that neither expects.
More about Laird of Rogues soon – and I hope you’ll look for it!
Have you heard of King George's visit to Edinburgh? Have you visited Edinburgh yourself? Can you imagine the streets crammed with cheering crowds, with not a bed or chair to spare in the city? In this August heat, it's unfathomable!
