Defamation in Scotland, 1750-1800

This article examines defamation cases in two contrasting areas of Scotland - Edinburgh and Argyll - between 1750 and 1800. In both areas a much highe r proportion of men than women were both accusers and accused. In Argyll al legations of theft predominated, both for men and women. In Edinburgh, whil e sexual slander was the highest single category, it comprised only about a quarter of the total, with insults like 'thief', 'cheat', and 'liar' far m ore prevalent. Unlike in London, defamation cases were rising at the end of the eighteenth century, but there was an important change when the require ment for a public, formal recantation was all but abandoned.