SCOTTISH TRADE WITH GERMAN PORTS 1700-1770 : a sketch of the north sea trades and the atlantic... economy on ground level

The monograph contributes to the field of eighteenth-century comparative European history. Based mainly on British and German customs accounts, it is a bilateral case study of the basic working mechanisms within a much larger framework – the eighteenth-century Atlantic economy. The Scottish customs records are unique, insofar as they allow precise reconstructions of Scotland’s trade volume in yearly series after 1743, which can be broken down by singular countries/commodities. As the Scottish-German trade pattern linked back into the Atlantic framework, it is hoped that the present model study will encourage further research into cross-country studies of North Sea and Atlantic trade – the most dynamic branch of European commerce post-1700. TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE I. THE ANALYTICAL FRAMEWORK 1. THE “EMBEDDEDNESS” OF EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY SCOTTISHGERMANTRADE (I): THE HISTORICAL CONTEXT 2. THE “EMBEDDEDNESS” OF EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY SCOTTISHGERMANTRADE (II): HISTORIOGRAPHY 3. OBJECTIVES AND SUBJECTS OF STUDY 4. WORKING HYPOTHESES II. THE SOURCES 1. SCOTLAND 1.1 The Scottish Port Books 1.2 The Inspector General’s Ledgers of Imports and Exports 2. SOURCES FOR GERMAN PORTS 2.1 Hamburg 2.2 Bremen III. COMMERCIAL PATTERNS, GENERAL TRENDS ANDFLUCTUATIONS 1. THE SCOTTISH PATTERN OF TRADE, C.1700–1760/70 2. GERMAN OVERSEAS TRADE – FLUCTUATIONS, PORTS,COMMODITIES 2.1 Hamburg 2.2 Bremen 2.3 Other Ports 2.3.1 Altona 2.3.2 Emden 2.3.3 Baltic Ports (i): Lübeck 2.3.4 Baltic Ports (ii): Swedish Pomerania 3. STRUCTURAL ASPECTS, TRENDS AND FLUCTUATIONS INSCOTTISH-GERMAN TRADE, 1700–1770 3.1 Fluctuations: Trends and Cycles 3.2 The Share of “Germany” in the Scottish Volume of Trade 3.3 Scottish Ports Involved in the German Trades 3.4 The Composition of the Scottish-German Trade Volume – A Sketch ofExplanations IV. THE COMMODITY TRADES 1. DOMESTIC EXPORTS TO GERMANY 1.1 Sea Fish 1.1.1 Cod and Ling 1.1.2 Herring 1.2 Salt 1.2.1 The Significance of Salt 1.2.2 Sales of Scots Salt on the German Market 1.2.3 The Bremen Salt Market 1.2.4 Explanations 1.3 Other Domestic Exports from Scotland to German Ports 2. TRADED COMMODITIES (II): RE-EXPORTS 2.1 Tobacco 2.2 Rice 2.2.1 General Remarks 2.2.2 Scottish Re-exports of Rice to Germany, c. 1740–1770: A Story of SuccessfulInterloping? 2.2.3 The German Market as Part of the World Market for Rice 2.2.4 The Significance of Rice 2.2.5 The Voyage of the Helen, 1757— A Case Study 2.3 Other Re-exports: Sugar, Coffee, Ginger 3. TRADED COMMODITIES (III): IMPORTS FROM GERMANY 3.1 Linens 3.2 Cereals V. CONCLUSION VI. APPENDIX / STATISTICAL TABLES VII. NOTE ON WEIGHTS AND MEASURES VIII. BIBLIOGRAPHY