Representing the Periphery: Highland Commissioners in the Seventeenth-Century Scottish Parliament, c.1612-1702

While a significant amount of work has recently been conducted on the procedure and practices of the pre-1707 Scottish Parliament, remarkably little is known about the nature of local representation within the chamber. This article seeks partially to address that gap through detailed analysis the elected representation of one region – the Scottish Highlands – within the seventeenth-century Parliament. Considering attendance rates, the identity of Highland representatives (‘commissioners’), the means of their election, and their activities once elected, the article argues that Highland engagement with Parliament was much more significant than is often assumed. This, in turn, suggests that further constituency-level studies are needed in order to provide a fuller picture of Parliament’s relationship with the country at large.