'Unionist Nationalism' and the National Museum of Scotland, c. 1847-1866

This paper will discuss the campaign for a national museum in Scotland in the mid-nineteenth century, in the context of the theory of Unionist-nationalism. This theory argues that, in spite of being very strongly bound up in notions of union, Britain, and empire, Scotland had a very strong sense of national identity and pride throughout the nineteenth century. Although this paper deals with the period up to the opening of the ‘Museum of Science and Art’ in 1866, future work will examine the relationship between Scottish nationalism and its national museums up to the present day.1 It will therefore (i) contribute to a study of nationalism and national museums throughout Europe and the world, in association with other NaMu colleagues, and (ii) add to existing research on Scottish nationalism and its place in Scottish society since the mid-nineteenth century.