Book Description

Illegitimacy, Sex and Society is an original and compelling study of illegitimacy in relation to Scottish social and religious life and social structure from 1750 to 1900. Andrew Blaikie uses previously unstudied material to produce an interdisciplinary critique and alternative account showing that bastardy was much more acceptable in a Calvinist society than has generally been thought. He outlines the debate and reviews the relevant literature and has found that illegitimacy in the studied period was synonymous with a variety of social conditions (a shortage of leasehold accommodation, for example) and was integrated into the norms of local society. This microhistorical approach is an illuminating case study that is relevant in the continuing debate on unmarried parenthood.