The ''Caledonian Mercury'' was a Scottish newspaper, published three times a week between 1720 and 1867. In 2010 an online publication launched using the name.
17th century
A short-lived predecessor, the ''
Mercurius Caledonius'', published for just twelve issues in 1660–1661, is believed to have been Scotland's first newspaper.
18th and 19th centuries
The ''Caledonian Mercury'' was launched in 1720. Like its competitor ''The Edinburgh Evening Courant, The Caledonian Mercury'' appeared three times a week until 1867. It was less prestigious than the ''Courant'', largely because it was sold by a politically-motivated bookseller and because its editors did not include recent news from elsewhere in Britain and Europe. In 1725, during the
Scottish Malt Tax riots, rival political factions attempted to use newspapers like the ''Caledonian Mercury'' as their "mouthpieces", as a letter from
Andrew Millar
Andrew Millar (17058 June 1768) was a British publisher in the eighteenth century.
Biography
In 1725, as a twenty-year-old bookseller apprentice, he evaded Edinburgh city printing restrictions by going to Leith to print, which was considered b ...
to
Robert Wodrow
Robert Wodrow (167921 March 1734) was a Scottish minister and historian, known as a chronicler and defender of the Covenanters. Robert Wodrow was born at Glasgow, where his father, James Wodrow, was a professor of divinity. Robert was educate ...
illustrates. From 1729 to 1772, it was owned and run by Thomas Ruddiman and his family, before being taken over by John Robertson. It was described by Robert Chambers as "the first
ewspaperin Scotland which blended literary criticism with political matter." Notable contributors included
James Boswell
James Boswell, 9th Laird of Auchinleck (; 29 October 1740 ( N.S.) – 19 May 1795), was a Scottish biographer, diarist, and lawyer, born in Edinburgh. He is best known for his biography of his friend and older contemporary the English writer ...
. In 1815, the paper was purchased by Thomas Allen & Co from 265 High Street, on the
Royal Mile
The Royal Mile () is a succession of streets forming the main thoroughfare of the Old Town of the city of Edinburgh in Scotland. The term was first used descriptively in W. M. Gilbert's ''Edinburgh in the Nineteenth Century'' (1901), de ...
in
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
. Numbers published from 1800 on are available online for registered users of the
National Library of Scotland
The National Library of Scotland (NLS) ( gd, Leabharlann Nàiseanta na h-Alba, sco, Naitional Leebrar o Scotland) is the legal deposit library of Scotland and is one of the country's National Collections. As one of the largest libraries in t ...
website.
Historical copies of the ''Caledonian Mercury'', dating back to 1720, are available to search and view in digitized form at The
British Newspaper Archive
The British Newspaper Archive web site provides access to searchable digitized archives of British and Irish newspapers. It was launched in November 2011.
History
The British Library Newspapers section was based in Colindale in north London, ...
.
21st century
In January 2010, a Scottish
online newspaper
An online newspaper (or electronic news or electronic news publication) is the online version of a newspaper, either as a stand-alone publication or as the online version of a printed periodical.
Going online created more opportunities for newsp ...
launched which had the name ''Caledonian Mercury''.
It was set up by
Stewart Kirkpatrick (formerly responsible for ''
The Scotsman
''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until August 2004. Its pare ...
'' website), Graham Jones and Tony Purcell. The site went live late at night on 24 January 2010 as Scotland's first web-only daily. The paper produced content aimed at a Scottish audience, with an office in Edinburgh's Hanover Street, operating using a revenue-sharing model. Kilpatrick left in August 2012.
See also
*
Burney Collection of Newspapers
The Burney Collection consists of over 1,270 17th-18th century newspapers and other news materials, gathered by Charles Burney, most notable for the 18th-century London newspapers. The original collection, totalling almost 1 million pages, is held ...
References
External links
''Caledonian Mercury'' – front page
Newspapers published in Scotland
Newspapers with Scottish Gaelic content
Publications established in 1720
Publications disestablished in 1867
1720 establishments in Scotland
1867 disestablishments in the United Kingdom
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