1 The ‘roaring’ Hugh Hanna was a Belfast-based fundamentalist conservative Presbyterian minister, who was born c. 1821 and died in February 1892; see Hempton, David and Hill, Myrtle, Evangelical Protestantism in Ulster society, 1740–1890 (London, 1992), pp 124–5, 172–3CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

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3 The labels ‘Ulster unionist’ and ‘loyalist’ are used interchangeably throughout this article.

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7 Peatling, G.K., ‘The “Irish”, the “Scots-Irish”, and the United States of America in the twentieth century: some patterns of exchange’ in Études Irlandaises, xxviii, no. 2 (autumn 2003), pp 83–90Google Scholar; see also idem, ‘Pasts, futures, and connections between Scotland, Ulster and Ireland: a critique of some historiographical tendencies’ in International Review of Scottish Studies, 32 (2007), pp 33–54.

8 These include Harrison, J., The Scot in Ulster: a sketch of the history of the Scottish population of Ulster (Edinburgh & London, 1888)Google Scholar; Hanna, C., The Scotch Irish; or the Scot in north Britain, north Ireland and North America (New York & London, 1902)Google Scholar; Woodburn, J.B., The Ulster Scot: his history and religion (London, 1914)Google Scholar.

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13 Belfast News-Letter, 1 May 1886.

14 Ibid., 9 Jan. 1886.

15 Savage, , ‘Origins of the Ulster Unionist Party’, pp 195–6, 200–1Google Scholar.

16 Belfast News-Letter, 17 Apr. 1886.

17 Savage, , ‘Origins of the Ulster Unionist Party’, p. 196Google Scholar.

18 Belfast News-Letter, 19 Jan. 1886.

19 McFarland, , Protestants first!, p. 99Google Scholar.

20 Belfast News-Letter, 16 Apr. 1886.

21 Ibid., 20 Feb. 1886.

22 I.L.P.U. annual report 1886 (P.R.O.N.I., I.L.P.U. annual reports, 1886–90, D/989/A/7/1).

23 ‘The case for Irish loyalists’, 1888 (P.R.O.N.I., I.L.P.U. publications, D/989/C/3/12C).

24 Belfast News-Letter, 14 Jan. 1886.

25 ‘Speeches delivered at a meeting held in Queen Street Hall, Edinburgh’, 1886 (P.R.O.N.I., I.L.P.U. publications, D/989/C/3/5).

26 The Scotsman, 15 Feb. 1886.

27 Ibid., 18 Feb. 1886.

28 Belfast News-Letter, 13 Mar. 1886.

29 Ibid., 18 May 1886.

30 Minutes of the proceedings of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Ireland (hereafter G.A.P.C.I.), vii, 1886–90, 10 June 1886, pp 104–5; The Witness, 16 Apr.

31 The Witness, 16 Apr. 1886.

32 Ibid.

33 Dundee Advertiser, 8 Apr. 1886.

34 See Aberdeen speech of 15 April, Belfast News-Letter, 19 Apr. 1886.

35 Ibid., 13 Apr. 1886.

36 Kellas, J.G., ‘The Liberal Party and the Scottish Church disestablishment crisis’ in E.H.R., 79, no. 310 (Jan. 1964), p. 40Google Scholar.

37 The Witness, 14 May 1886; Belfast News-Letter, 20 May 1886.

38 Holmes, Andrew, ‘Biblical authority and the impact of higher criticism in Irish Presbyterianism, ca. 1850–1930’ in Church History: Studies in Christianity and Culture, 75, no. 2 (June 2006), pp 343–73CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

39 The Witness, 25 June 1886.

40 Belfast News-Letter, 26 May 1886.

41 Ibid., 20 Apr. 1886.

42 Glasgow Herald, 18 June 1886.

43 Belfast News-Letter, 1 July 1886.

44 Ibid., 10 July 1886.

45 McCaffrey, , ‘Origins of Liberal unionism’, pp 63–8Google Scholar; Burness, , ‘Strange associations’, pp 61–2Google Scholar.

46 Belfast News-Letter, 10 July 1886.

47 Annual report 1886 (P.R.O.N.I., I.L.P.U. annual reports, 1886–90, D/989/A/7/1).

48 1886 General Election (Scotland): Liberals (43); Conservatives (12) Liberal Unionists (17). Craig, F.W.S., British parliamentary election results, 1855–1918 (London, 1974)Google Scholar.

49 Belfast News-Letter, 24 July 1886.

50 The Scotsman, 12 July 1886.

51 ‘The fourth Midlothian campaign by an Irish Liberal: parts i–iii’, 1886 (P.R.O.N.I., I.L.P.U. publications, D/989/C/3/5).

52 Glasgow Herald, 10 July 1886.

53 Belfast News-Letter, 7 July 1886.

54 Hutchison, , Political history, p. 164Google Scholar.

55 Kellas, , ‘Liberal Party in Scotland’, pp 13–15Google Scholar.

56 Buckland, Patrick, Irish Unionism 1: the Anglo-Irish and the New Ireland, 1885–1922 (Dublin, 1972), p. 20Google Scholar; Belfast News-Letter, 24 Jan. 1894.

57 The Witness, 13 June 1893; ‘“As in 1893”: Scotland and Home Rule’, 1910 (P.R.O.N.I., Thomas Sinclair papers, D3002/1).

58 Belfast News-Letter, 24 Jan. 1894.

59 Ibid.

60 Ibid., 24 June 1892.

61 Ibid., 11 Jan. 1893.

62 1892 General Election (Scotland): Liberals (50); Conservatives (11); Liberal Unionists (11); see Craig, , Election resultsGoogle Scholar.

63 North British Daily Mail, 18 June 1892.

64 Gladstone resigned in March 1894 over the issue of naval expenditure. He was suc ceeded as Prime Minister by Lord Rosebery.

65 Belfast News-Letter, 24 Jan. 1894.

66 ‘Testimonials’, annual report 1894 (P.R.O.N.I., Irish Unionist Alliance (hereafter I.U.A.) annual reports, 1890–1900, D/989/A/7/2).

67 Craig, , Election resultsGoogle Scholar.

68 ‘Scotsmen! Presbyterians of Scotland!’, 1893 (P.R.O.N.I., I.U.A. publications, D/989/ C/3/24).

69 ‘Scotland, Ulster and home rule for Ireland’, 1888 (P.R.O.N.I., I.L.P.U. publications, D/989/ C/3/12C).

70 ‘Scotch insurance and Irish land’, 1889 (P.R.O.N.I., I.L.P.U. publications, D/989/ C/3/15A).

71 ‘How Scottish Presbyterians are dealt with in the south of Ireland’, 1889 (P.R.O.N.I., I.L.P.U. publications, D/989/C/3/15A).

72 ‘Joint general election committee’, annual report 1895 (P.R.O.N.I., I.U.A. annual reports, 1890–1900, D/989/A/7/2).

73 Belfast News-Letter, 5 Aug. 1895. Richard Piggot was an Irish journalist who sold forged documents to The Times in an attempt to smear Charles Stewart Parnell. He was publicly exposed as a forger in 1889.

74 ‘Demonstrations in Scotland’, annual report 1895 (P.R.O.N.I, I.U.A. annual reports, 1890–1900, D/989/A/7/2).

75 ‘An appeal to Scotland: a speech delivered in Aberdeen by the Right Hon. John Atkinson, Q.C.’, 1894 (P.R.O.N.I., I.U.A. publications, D/989/C/3/29).

76 ‘… at the general election of 1895 Scotland did such excellent service in endorsing the rejection by the House of Lords of Mr Gladstone’s Home Rule Bill of 1893’. ‘“As in 1893”: Scotland and Home Rule’, 1910 (P.R.O.N.I., Thomas Sinclair papers, D3002/1).

77 1895 General Election (Scotland): Liberals (39); Conservatives (19); Liberal Unionists (14); see Craig, , Election resultsGoogle Scholar.

78 Belfast News-Letter, 1 Aug. 1895.

79 Hutchison, , Political history, pp 201–7Google Scholar; Green, E.H.H., The crisis of conservatism: the politics, economics, and ideology of the Conservative Party, 1880–1914 (London, 1995), pp 129–30Google Scholar; Readman, Paul A., ‘The 1895 general election and political change in late Victorian Britain’ in Hist. Jn., 42, no. 2 (1999), p. 478Google Scholar.

80 Readman, , ‘1895 general election’, p. 475Google Scholar.

81 December 1910 general election (Scotland): Liberals (58); Conservatives (7); Liberal Unionists (4); Labour (3); see Craig, , Election resultsGoogle Scholar; Hutchison, , Political history, pp 240–1Google Scholar.

82 Finlay, Richard, A partnership for good? Scottish politics and the Union since 1880 (Edinburgh, 1997), p. 62Google Scholar.

83 Minutes of the proceedings of the G.A.P.C.I., xii (1911–15), 7 June 1912, p. 350.

84 The Witness, 9 Feb. 1912.

85 McCaffrey, John, Scotland in the nineteenth century (Basingstoke, 1998), p. 109CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

86 The McCanns were a Belfast couple who had married in a Protestant church. The husband was Catholic and his wife a Protestant. In 1910 Mr McCann was informed by a Catholic priest that under Ne Temere the marriage was void. As a consequence, Mr McCann left his wife, taking their two children with him.

87 ‘Southern Presbyterian’, The Witness, 29 Sept. 1911.

88 ‘Spiritual independence: Scottish Presbyterians and the Ne Temere decree’ by ‘A Scottish Presbyterian’, The Scotsman, 8 Apr. 1911.

89 Ibid.

90 Ibid., 30 May 1911.

91 Ibid., 31 May 1912.

92 The Witness, 11 June 1912.

93 McNeill, Ronald, Ulster’s stand for union (London, 1922), pp 101–5Google Scholar.

94 Ibid.

95 Minutes of the Ulster Day Committee, 10 Sept. 1912 (P.R.O.N.I., Ulster Unionist Council (hereafter U.U.C.) papers, D1327/2/7).

96 Jackson, D.M. and MacRaid, D.M., ‘The conserving crowd: mass unionist demonstrations in Liverpool and Tyneside, 1912–13’ in George Boyce, D. and O’Day, Alan (eds), The Ulster crisis, 1885–1921 (Basingstoke, 2006), p. 234Google Scholar.

97 The Scotsman, 2 Oct. 1912.

98 Ibid., 30 Sept. 1912.

99 Daily Record and Mail, 30 Sept. 1912.

100 The Scotsman, 30 Sept. 1912.

101 Ibid., 2 Oct. 1912.

102 The Witness, 11 Oct. 1912.

103 Minute book of the Joint Committee of the Unionist Associations of Ireland (hereafter J.C.U.A.I.), 27 Apr. 1911 (P.R.O.N.I., U.U.C. papers, D1327/2/1A–B).

104 Annual report 1911–12 (P.R.O.N.I., I.U.A. annual reports 1911–14, D/989/A/7/4).

105 Minute book of the J.C.U.A.I., 4 Jan. 1911 (P.R.O.N.I., U.U.C. papers, D1327/2/1A–B).

106 Ibid., 18 Jan. 1911, 17 Mar. 1911.

107 Ibid., 17 Mar. 1911.

108 Unionist Associations of Ireland speakers’ guide, 1911 (P.R.O.N.I., I.U.A. papers, D/989/C/1/11A–B).

109 Sinclair, Thomas, ‘The position of Ulster’ in Rosenbaum, S. (ed.), Against home rule (London, 1912), pp 171–2Google Scholar.

110 Minute book of the J.C.U.A.I., 25 July 1914 (P.R.O.N.I., U.U.C. papers, D1327/2/1A–B).

111 Ibid., 21 May 1913.

112 Mid-Lothian (September 1912), South Lanarkshire (December 1913), Leith Burghs (February 1914); see Craig, , Election resultsGoogle Scholar.

113 The Scotsman, 10 Nov. 1913.

114 James Adam to Richard Dawson Bates, minute book of the J.C.U.A.I., 10 Nov. 1913 (P.R.O.N.I., U.U.C. papers, D1327/2/1A–B).

115 The Times, 10 Nov. 1913.

116 Report on work in Scotland for four months ending 25 July 1914 by Richard Dawson Bates, minute book of the J.C.U.A.I. (P.R.O.N.I., U.U.C. papers, D1327/2/1A).

117 This research was funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council.