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REVIEW BY SOPHIA CHAPPLE
In Where Men No More May Reap or Sow, Richard Oram analyses five centuries of Scottish environmental history across 13 chapters. This project initially sought to cover the early medieval period up until COP26, recently held in Glasgow, in a single volume. Given the scope of the research, it has grown to span three volumes. Where Men No More May Reap or Sow is the second, bridging medieval to modern times, covering AD 1400 to 1850.
Oram takes an interdisciplinary approach to re-evaluate Scotland’s Early Modern history, in order to build a more robust understanding of the population and their relationship with their environment. By utilising historical documentation, palaeoarchaeological climate proxies, and environmental science in conjunction, Oram paints a clear and convincing picture of the socioeconomic and ecological changes that occurred during this time.
The Little Ice Age saw an increase in cold, wet, and stormy weather, and in examining some of the most intense periods of climatic fluctuation, the author makes every effort to highlight nuances that are often overlooked in other works. One example that Oram recognises is that the western seaboard and the eastern coasts of Scotland are affected differently by these climatic fluctuations, given their different circulation patterns. In turn, the ecological and socioeconomic reactions to these changes are highly regional in nature. Placing history within its environmental context gives much more perspective to the inner workings of Scottish society, which Oram highlights not just at the national political level, but also at the grassroots and individual level. He emphasises reactionary versus opportunistic responses to the changing weather of the Little Ice Age by examining violence, litigation, parliamentary action, and competition for productive land.
This period is traditionally labelled as an era of general crisis, based on the religious and political turmoil of the time. The historiography largely attributes this upheaval to anthropogenic causation, however these societies relied largely on environmental and climatic conditions for the very foundations of their existence: their subsistence. The relationship between humans and the environment has mostly been overlooked, unless focusing on the Early Modern notion of taming or mastering nature for the purpose of ‘improvement’. Oram notes that the Early Modern period was contemporarily perceived as ‘the era in which humanity finally achieved mastery of the environment and ceased to be constrained by its limitations’, indicating that there was an understanding that humans did not live independently of their environments. Through Enlightenment ideals of science and reason, in conjunction with colonial rhetoric of the period, they believed they could conquer nature.
Through his linking of historical documentation with palaeoarchaeological climate proxies, Oram illustrates not only that weather patterns changed during this period, but also that the perceptions did. The comparison of 15th- and 18th-century speleothem data in order to understand better both climate impacts and the human perceptions of proxy variation is one example of how palaeoarchaeological and historical documentation are used in conjunction in this volume. Linking the traditional historiography of this era of general crisis with environmental science helps to expand the understanding of this period beyond the notion of purely anthropogenic causation.
Where Men No More May Reap or Sow is a comprehensive addition to Scottish historical literature, and contributes an extensive range of connections and analysis that lends itself to use as a bridge for further interdisciplinary study. The narrative is dense and complex, yet easy to understand. The language ensures that the research is accessible to archaeologists, historians, and environmental scientists alike. The chronology presented can be useful for general understanding of the period as a whole, but also offers in-depth analysis of the socioeconomic, political, and environmental changes that Oram takes great care to connect throughout his volume by use of photos, illustrations, footnotes, maps, and asides.
Where Men No More May Reap or Sow
Richard D Oram
Birlinn (£75)
ISBN 978-0859767170
