In 1822, over-absorbed by the preparations for the upcoming Congress of Verona, King George IV unwisely decided to announce the cancellation of his visit to Scotland planned for the late summer of the same year.

Scottish RevolutionDespite the gravity of events in Europe, matters at home were equally pressing and this situation was entirely due to the neglect of the Hanovers and their predecessors. Simply put, the first visit of a reigning monarch to Scotland since 1650 was desperately needed in order to turn his subjects away from the path of rebellious radicalism.

As the Hanovers had discovered to their cost in the Americas, an independent mindset once formed was unsuppressable. And within three years, Scotland would stand on the verge of either leaving the Union, or maybe even driving the transformation of the British Isles into a United Republic.

The man who might have prevented this was Sir Walter Scott. Based upon his insightful understanding of the situation, he had organized the visit in painstaking detail that he had hoped would ensure that the trip had a lasting influence north of the border. His connections with the local nobility had even indicated a positive response to his concept of elevating the tartan kilt to become part of Scotland's national identity (pictured). Instead, the tartan kilt, and much else besides, was swept away by the tide of fateful events of the 1820s.