“Inter arma enim silent leges?”: Impressment and the Scottish Courts in the Later Eighteenth Century

This article examines legal pleadings in Scottish cases involving naval impressment the period 1778-1795. The Session Papers provide a rich source of both law and fact, these cases, as well reflecting on Admiralty practice across Britain, demonstrate reliance by counsel English sources – including pre-Union statutes alongside Scots law. Impressment sparked constitutional debate concerning relationship between crown prerogative liberty subject, while detail reveals much social context behind impressing men to serve crown.