Arcadia Scotland

“Nations and peoples are largely the stories they feed themselves. If they tell themselves stories that are lies, they will suffer the future consequences of those lies. If they tell themselves stories that face their own truths, they will free their histories for future flowerings.”

Ben Okri, Birds of Heaven

The above quote starts the Scottish author James Robertson’s novel Joseph Knight. Each country has its own history that crosses boundaries both physical and moral. James Robertson’s novel interrogates the role of Scotland in slavery and specifically the actions of Scots on the sugar plantations of Jamaica.

In addition to exploring the conditions and morality of slavery, this book also considers the point where morality and law intersects. The title of the book derives from the name given to a young African boy who is bought by an exiled Scottish aristocrat John Wedderburn to work on his sugar plantation.  The plot then develops from Joseph’s escape from his Scottish ‘owner’ after they travel to Scotland from Jamaica many years later. James Robertson meticulously derives most of his characters and plot from historical events and figures. In both history and the novel, there is a civil court case that determined whether Joseph should be returned to his ‘owner.’ The records of this case Joseph Knight v John Wedderburn 1778 can be seen in the archives of the National Records in Edinburgh.

The ruling of this case upheld the Sheriff of Perth’s judgement that slavery was not consistent with the laws and principles of Scotland. John Wedderburn’s attempt to reclaim Joseph as a slave as his property was denied. The novel does not, however, ignore the subsequent history and delay in stopping both the trade of slaves and slavery in the then colonies of Britain. One of the defenders of Joseph Knight in this civil case is Henry Dundas whose statue can still be seen high on a column in St Andrews square in Edinburgh. However, as an MP in Westminster, Henry Dundas, despite defending Joseph Knight, was instrumental in delaying the abolition of both the slave trade and its practice as part of a global institution.

The author draws implicit parallels of slavery to Scottish identity; for example, the slave rebellion in Jamaica and the Jacobite rebellion. John Wedderburn’s father was captured and executed by being hung and drawn after the battle of Culloden in 1746. This historic execution mirrors the author’s vivid presentation of a slave execution by slow burning in Jamaica. In the text, John Wedderburn explicitly compares the execution of his own father to the slave execution in a conversation with his younger brother James, but James quickly rejects this comparison on racist grounds . . .but the text leaves the question open in the reader’s mind after John’s initial query and reflection about the slave’s execution.

“Silence, except for the ceaseless cicadas. John thought about what he had just heard. He knew they were both thinking of their father’s death. “Was it really worse than that?” He asked.”

There is a profound Kantian ethical framework to this book and one is left in no doubt as to the immorality of racism and slavery on both a personal and an institutional level.  To fail to respect all individuals as ends in themselves is do them a great wrong. Any country that fails to respect all including the most vulnerable in society should seriously question its soul.

We are delighted to be using this wonderful novel for the Fall 2018 book club and inviting James Robertson to give a talk (see below) to our students at our center. To read a review of his book see here.