Aggravation of national relations in a number of Western European countries in the 60-70s of the XX century. it helped to increase the interest of foreign science in the history of small nations and peoples that are now part of multinational capitalist states. This also explains the fact that over the past decade and a half or two, there has been a steady increase in the volume of research on the history and historiography of one of the leading national regions of this country-Scotland. The greatest activity in modern British historiography is shown by the bourgeois-liberal Scottish school, which developed at the turn of the XIX-XX centuries.

Major centers such as the Universities of Edinburgh, Glasgow, St Andrews, Aberdeen, Dundee, and Stirling play a significant role in the development of the Scottish historiographic tradition. Historical societies such as the Scottish Historical Association, the Society for the Study of the Scottish Working Class, the Scottish History Society, the Economic History Society and many others occupy an important place in modern historical science in Scotland. Universities and historical societies in Scotland have a publishing base that allows them to publish historical journals, collections of scientific papers, yearbooks, and monographs. Among the most authoritative academic periodicals is the Scottish Historical Review (SHR), which has been published intermittently (in 1929-1946) since 1903. The study of the problems of this journal for the 60s-early 80s gives an idea of the trends in the development of modern historical science in Great Britain.

At the origins of the revival of the magazine in the post-war period was the famous Scottish historian W. Dickinson, a recognized specialist in the history of the Middle Ages in British history and a publisher of archival documents. For a long time - from 1947 to 1963 - he supported the SHR, which was published in Edinburgh by the private company of T. Nelson. In the mid-60s, the magazine, which was experiencing great financial difficulties, found new owners. Since 1966, it has been published in Aberdeen by the independent Scottish History Company. This commercial association was created by prominent Scottish historians to preserve the magazine. The company's management board includes well-known scientists: J. Mackey, M. Anderson, J. Hargreaves, J. Imray, S. Lit. Dickinson's colleagues, D. Watt of the University of St Andrews and A. Duncan of the University of Glasgow, remained editors of the updated journal (see 1965, No. 2; 1966, No. 1). Currently, the directorate of the Scottish History Company has been completely updated. It includes historians: T. Ray, W. Scott, A. Murray, W. Seller, J. Simpson, D. Stevenson. The editor of the journal is I. Cowan from the University of Glasgow (see 1983, No. 2).

Bringing together mainly bourgeois-liberal Scottish historians, the journal plays an important role in developing general (methodological) research principles and methods. It brings together both well-known Scottish historians and aspiring authors, as well as researchers from the United States, Canada, Australia, and the Scandinavian countries. At the same time, scientists representing research centers in England are relatively rare among the authors. The reason for this is the weak interest that English historians traditionally show in studying the past of Scotland. For many of them, British history is still identified only with the history of England. This fact has been repeatedly pointed out by Shot-

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land historians. In the 70s, there was a tendency to expand Scottish issues in leading historical and political science journals in the UK. However, the authors of the relevant articles are still mostly Scots.

In an effort to overcome preconceptions about the importance of studying Scottish history, the editors do not focus exclusively on Scottish subjects. The journal regularly publishes articles in which Scotland is considered in the context of European history, reviews of publications of sources and literature published in the UK on the history of England, Wales,and Ireland.

The Scottish Historical Review is published twice a year, in April and October. Each issue contains three or four articles, followed by source studies or historiographical reviews. About a third of the volume of the publication is occupied by reviews and notes on new literature. Sometimes the journal publishes parts of large scientific works of Scottish historians in the form of articles.

Journal articles cover the history of Scotland in the Middle Ages and Modern times chronologically. There are only a few works on the history of the ancient world and modern history. This is primarily due to research areas in Scottish universities. By the middle of the 20th century, centers of medieval studies were formed in a number of them (Edinburgh, Glasgow, St. Andrews). In the 60s and 70s, the universities of Glasgow (Glasgow and Strathclyde), Aberdeen, and Dundee began to systematically study the problems of the socio-economic history of Scotland in the 18th and 19th centuries .1 Therefore, most of the articles published in the journal deal with the economic, social, and political history of Scotland in the Middle Ages and Modern times. Much space is also devoted to the history of culture and the relationship of Scotland with England, the United States and the Scandinavian countries.

Modern liberal historiography in Scotland generally remains committed to a positivist methodology. It is characterized by a limited understanding of historicism, the absolutization of evolutionism, and the desire for a detailed description of facts with a minimum of generalizations and conclusions. At the same time, Scottish historical science is developing in line with the post-war bourgeois historiography of Great Britain. In the last 15-20 years, the influence of relativism, the tendency to modernize history and increase the psychologization of social phenomena has increased. Progressive historiography also has a certain impact on the concepts and problems of research of liberal historians in Scotland. This is reflected in the greater interest that they show in social issues, in rethinking the most important periods of Scotland's history, taking into account the specific historical conditions of its development. While bourgeois-liberal historians continue to wage a sharp ideological struggle with Marxist historical science, they are still forced to take into account its achievements in studying the most important problems of the history of the peoples of Great Britain. In the 70s and early 80s, SHR increasingly provides space for authors influenced by Marxist methodology. The magazine usually responds to the publication of works by progressive historians on the history of Scotland with reviews and notes.

The journal's problems are largely determined by the rise of Scottish historiography in the 60s and 70s. The increased public interest in history associated with the general growth of national consciousness in Scotland, the increased activity of public and political organizations that supported autonomy, 2 the growing popularity of the Scottish National Party, which used a mythologized nationalist concept of Scottish history in its arsenal of means of influencing voters-all this stimulated the development of research on the most pressing problems of Scottish history.

Since 1962, Scottish historians have regularly held conferences and symposia, which brought out the most acute, debatable issues of historical science. The formulation of a number of them was determined by the development of socio-political processes.-

1 Lenman B. The Teaching of Scottish History in the Scottish Universities. - SHR, 1973, N 2, pp. 181 - 188.

2 See for more information: Public policy and the aggravation of national relations in the capital countries. Kyiv. 1979, ch. III; Labor movement of Great Britain: national and Racial problems, Moscow, 1982, ch. III.

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the current situation in the national areas of Great Britain. Thus, in 1962, the conference's theme was "Anglo-Scottish relations", in 1964 - "Highlands and Islands", in 1966 - "Scotland 1780-1870: Changes in society", in 1974 - "Church and Society after the Reformation" , in 1976 - " Scotland: Belonging to the nation " (1962, No. 1; 1964, No. 1; 1966, No. 1; 1974, No. 1; 1976, No. 1). The journal took an active part in organizing and popularizing these conferences.

Publishers took into account the current situation and published articles that were aimed not only at the academic community, but also at the general reader. On the pages of the magazine, the idea of the social significance of history was constantly affirmed, and the public need for writing a "new" history of Scotland was declared (1963, No. 1, p. 41).

The journal positively evaluated the works of Scottish historians published in the last 20 years in three serials3 . The medieval history of Scotland has undergone the greatest revision, especially in the periods of the XII - XIII centuries and the XVI-beginning of the XVII century. The interpretation of the socio-economic development of Scotland changed after the conclusion of the Anglo-Scottish Union in 1707. Reviews of these serial publications noted the legitimacy of expanding the problems of research on the history of Scotland, strengthening analytical aspects in the works of historians, and developing poorly studied periods of the history of the medieval Scottish state based on new data from archeology, toponymy, and hagiography (see reviews of the above-mentioned works of Dickinson, G. Pride, and A. Duncan: 1963, NN 1, 2; 1976, N 2; 1977, N 2).

In the concepts of Scottish history put forward by modern historiography, the aspirations of Scottish liberal socio - political thought of the post-war period were indirectly expressed. Speaking from the standpoint of moderate devolution (partial transfer of central power to national areas), liberal figures sought justification for their views in Scottish history. In turn, the new generation of historians that emerged after the Second World War largely remained faithful to the traditions of liberal historiography in Scotland at the end of the XIX - beginning of the XX century, which was formed in the context of the "Gaelic cultural revival" (see articles by B. Lenman, J. Hunter and M. Lee-1973, N 2, p. 174 - 179; 1975, N 1 2, p. 182-188; 1965, N 2, p. 135).

In the 60s and 70s, historiography began to clearly outline the concept of Scottish history, in which the central place is occupied by the idea of" equalizing " the economic, socio-political and cultural development of Scotland in the Middle Ages and modern times. In accordance with it, the stadium lag of medieval Scotland from the leading European countries is estimated differently. In contrast to the negative and derogatory view of archaic features in the economy and social structure of the feudal Scottish state, which prevailed in the British historical science of the XIX century, modern liberal historians emphasize first of all the commonality of the most important processes that developed in Scotland and its neighboring states. Moments of lag are explained by national specifics, features of the historical development of the country. Those features in the social structure of the Scottish state, which previously caused disdainful bewilderment of imperial historians of Great Britain, are elevated by modern Scottish historiography to the rank of virtues: the peculiarities of feudalization, the weakness of royal power, the absence of large peasant uprisings in the medieval period, etc. (see Lenman's criminal article, p.189).

Similarly, the concept of modern Scottish history is constructed. Authors who study the problems of the XVII-XIX centuries focus on the acceleration of the-

3 A New History of Scotland. Edinburgh, 1961 - 1962 (Vol. I. Dickinson W. Scotland from the Earliest Times to 1603; Vol. II. Pryde G. Scotland from 1603 to the Present Day); The Edinburgh History of Scotland. Edinburgh. 1965 - 1975 (Duncan A. Scotland: The Making of the Kingdom; Nicholson R. Scotland: the Later Middle Ages; Donaldson G. Scotland: James V to James VII; Ferguson W. Scotland: 1689 - to Present); The New History of Scotland. Lnd. 1981 (Barrow G. Kingship and Unity. Scotland 1005 - 1306; Wormald J. Court, Kirk and Community. Scotland 1470 - 1625; Lenman В. Integration, Enlightment and Industrialisation. Scotland 1746 - 1832; Harvie Chr, No Gods and Precious Few Heroes. Scotland 1914 - 1980).

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Research Institute of Socio-Economic Development of Scotland in the era of industrial revolution and its transformation into an advanced industrial area of Great Britain. Special mention is made of the significant contribution that Scotland made to the "building" and expansion of the British Empire. The applied nature of this concept is expressed in the fact that it contains a detailed argument in favor of revising the Anglo-Scottish Union of 1707, taking into account the past, national and cultural identity of Scotland.

The concept of" alignment " is reflected, in particular, in the approach of Scottish Medievalists to the problem of the genesis of feudalism and the role of the Norman conquest of England in the history of Scotland. According to the view prevailing in modern bourgeois-liberal historiography, "military feudalism", which penetrated Scotland from the south in the twelfth century, did not bring anything qualitatively new to the country's economic life .4 The legal formalization of the hierarchical feudal system in the 12th and 13th centuries only gave a "new appearance "to the traditional forms of land ownership and use that had developed in Scotland in ancient times. 5
The "new" view of the genesis of feudalism is ultimately a modified version of the manorial theory, adapted to the peculiarities of the historical development of Scotland. The authors ' initial premise is that in Scotland, from prehistoric times and throughout the Middle Ages, there were stable administrative-territorial units (counties and counties), which consisted of a conglomerate of settlements - "many estates", united under the authority of the landowner (clan leader, feudal baron, king). Within these units, the slow evolution of the Scottish clans into the manorial system took place. At the same time, only the terminological designations of existing forms were changed, while their content remained unchanged .6
The use of the method of structural analysis by modern authors in the study of the process of feudalization of Scotland is not able to hide the continuity of their views with the bourgeois-liberal theories of the late XIX century (the theory of continuity, ideas about the eternity of private property, the decisive influence of the Celtic tradition on the formation of feudalism among the peoples of the British Isles, etc.). historiography is guided by other goals. It seeks to prove that the long-term preservation of the essential features of the clan system in the social system of Scotland did not indicate a stage lag behind England, since the clans were supposedly always based on relationships of interdependence (kinship, personal, economic), similar in nature to feudal ties. This predetermined a painless transition from "pre-feudal" society to " military feudalism." The "peaceful Norman conquest" of Scotland in the 12th and 13th centuries was expressed in the gradual merging of Celtic and Anglo-Norman elements in the social structure and system of power .7
These ideas were fully supported by the journal (see references to the books of J. Barrow and Duncan: 1974, No. 1; 1976, No. 2). They are held in almost all articles on the problems of economic and socio-political development of the Scottish medieval state. A typical example is two articles on a similar topic - on the organization of the administration of the bishoprics of St. Andrews and Glasgow in the XII-XIII centuries (1976, N 2). Their authors, M. Ashe and N. Shid, studying innovations in the organization of the feudal church, come to the conclusion that the administrative apparatus created in the bishoprics "was in no way inferior to the English one" (ibid., p. 149). However, this did not mean that the improvement of the administrative system (the subordination of parish churches to the authority of the bishop, the introduction of feudal law and regulation) should be attributed entirely to the "Norman" bishops. Explaining the content of the changes,

4 This idea is consistently carried out in the works of J. Barrow, a recognized authority in Scottish medieval studies (Barrow G. The Kingdom of Scots. Lnd. 1973; ejusd. The Anglo-Norman Era in Scottish History. Oxford. 1981).

5 Dodgshon R. Land and Society in Early Scotland. Oxford. 1981, p. 67.

6 For the current state of development of this problem in Scotland, see ibid., chapters 3-4.

7 Dickinson W. Scotland from the Earliest Times to 1603. Oxford. 1977, pp. 78- 86.

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Ashe points out that "the reorganization of the bishop's estates in the twelfth century concerned only people and institutions. The land they managed was an ancient ecclesiastical property." In the structure of the feudal Church of Scotland, the author notes an organic interweaving of elements, two of which existed from time immemorial and continued to dominate ("Celtic" and "Anglo - Northumbrian"), and the third - "Norman" - only streamlined the administrative structure and legal instruments of power (ibid., pp. 123-126).

The separation of political and legal relations from feudal property relations, which is inherent in representatives of Scottish bourgeois-liberal historiography, also determines their approach to the problems of development of Scottish cities in the XII-XIII centuries. The authors of the articles do not draw qualitative distinctions between urban settlements of the "pre-feudal" (i.e., pre-Norman) era and medieval cities as centers of craft and trade. They explain the emergence of feudal cities solely by the will of the royal power (grant of a charter). Therefore, it is no coincidence that the development of the medieval city in Scotland dates back to the first half of the 12th century - the time of the reign of David I, who expanded the scope of feudal law. An important indicator of the development of the Scottish economy in the 12th-13th centuries is considered by W. Scott, R. Zupko, and W. Stevenson to be the presence of broad monetary circulation from about the middle of the 12th century. In this case, the royal power also acts as the main creative principle (1979, No. 2, pp. 106-110).

Linking the development of the small-scale economy not with qualitative changes in the nature of social production, but only with relations of distribution and exchange, the authors ultimately modernize the processes that took place in Scotland during the transition to developed feudalism. These historians note that until the 13th century, the main "source of money" was the Scottish cities, and then the village also played this role, where monetary rent became increasingly widespread. The thesis about the ubiquitous development of money circulation in Scotland is given by Scott and W. Smith. Stevenson's conclusion is that grants of land in the thirteenth century were a hidden form of buying and selling for the purpose of speculating and enriching the secular and ecclesiastical nobility and townspeople. Both authors attach great importance to the" economic activity "of the church, which first of all saw in the land a profitable sphere of" applying capital "and obtaining" profit " (1979, No. 2, pp. 129-130; 1981, No. 2, pp. 100-108).

Magazine articles on urban issues also show the influence of the concept of "alignment": their authors create a model for the development of Scotland, constantly trying it on the history of England. This is also evident in the interpretation of the socio-political development of Scotland in the era of developed feudalism. The journal reflects the controversy that unfolded in the historiography of the 60s-70s about the peculiarities of the process of centralization of the Scottish state and the formation of a class-representative monarchy. It was attended by many prominent historians .8 Although they disagree on minor issues, liberal historiographers are united in their assessment of the level of political development in Scotland before and during the War of Independence in the 14th century. Thus, Duncan and Barrow emphasize that the" peaceful 13th century "was for Scotland not only a period of "rapid economic development", but also a time when the "political unity" of Scotland and the "national identity" of its inhabitants were formed (1966, N 2, p. 184; 1976, N 2, p. 153 - 169). The war with England, which encroached on the sovereignty and independence of the Scottish state, consolidated the trends that were manifested in its socio-political life half a century earlier.

In the articles of Duncan, R. Nicholson, Barrow, Simpson, R. Norman, and others, the idea of the stability of central political power in the XIII-XIV centuries is constantly presented. When studying the problem of the emergence of parliament, first of all, its "contractual" basis, the functions of agreement, reconciliation of the interests of the royal power with barons and ecclesiastical feudal lords are emphasized. Duncan sees the origins of parliament in the meetings of ecclesiastical and feudal nobility, which have become regular-

8 См. Barrow G. Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland. Lnd. 1965; Duncan A. The Community of the Realm of Scotland and Robert Bruce. - SHR, 1966, N 2; Nicholson R. David II, the Historians and the Croniclers. - Ibid, 1966, N 1.

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since the middle of the 12th century (1966, No. 1, pp. 36-38). However, according to most historians, the formation of parliament as a class-representative body should be discussed only from the period of the War of independence of 1296-1328. Studying the social composition and functions of the 14th-century Scottish Parliament, Barrow and Duncan conclude that its activities were largely determined by the need to consolidate the Scottish people in the face of the threat of feudal expansion of England. The idea of a" community " embodied in Parliament did not significantly affect its aristocratic character. For a long time, the leading role in this body was played by prelates and feudal barons (1966, No. 2; 1976, No. 2). It is from them, as J. R. R. Tolkien writes. Simpson, based on the decisions that determined the policy of the Scottish Kingdom (1977, N 1).

In connection with the problems of the development of Scottish statehood, the authors of a number of articles (Nicholson, A. Young, W. Lamont, Norman, etc.) consider the question of the correlation of the power of the king and feudal barons in the period of developed feudalism (1966, N 1; 1978, N 2; 1981, N 2; 1982, N 2). Young explicitly states that the traditional historiographic view of the "destructive role of barons" in the history of the Scottish Kingdom has long needed to be revised (1978, N 2, p. 121). The main idea of historians who study this problem "anew" is that in the XIII - first half of the XIV century feudal feuds did not threaten the central government. Rival feudal lords did not seek to undermine the principle of the king's supreme power, with the exception of those who acted on the side of England or as "English agents" (1966, No. 1, p. 33; 1978, No. 2, p.142; 1981, No. 2, p. 160-161). In this loyalty of local feudal lords to the king, the authors see a positive feature of the political development of the Scottish state (in contrast to England) (1966, N 1; 1976, N 2, pp. 168-169; 1982, N 2).

Using as an argument the objective interest of feudal lords in preserving the supreme power of the monarch, the same authors seek to prove the stability of royal power in Scotland during the formation of a centralized state. Thus, they try to refute the prevailing view in British historiography that the Scottish state was constantly ruled by feudal anarchy.

At the same time, some historians (A. Grant, K. Madden) admit that since the second half of the XIV century, feudal strife in the country has significantly increased. The feudal nobility at that time formed a stratum of "the most influential people" in the state, and the kings began to experience "a lack of prestige and superiority" (1978, No. 1, pp. 26-27; 1976, No. 2, pp. 172; 1981, No. 2, pp. 171-172).

Using the comparative-historical method, the authors conclude that Scotland and England experienced similar difficulties in the process of becoming a centralized state. The weakening and strengthening of the regulatory functions of the central government and its economic role are considered by them, as a rule, separately from the evolution of feudal property. Feudalism in this interpretation appears as a special method of political management, the main goal of which is to overcome the decentralization of power. The changes noted by the authors in the economic life of the village and the medieval city (see, for example, the article by J. R. R. Tolkien). Donnelly-1980, N 2) act as an economic background on which the evolution of the political and legal system takes place. The feudal mode of production itself is understood as a closed structure that consists of qualitatively unchanged elements. The definition of feudalism contained in A. Dodgson's book can serve as an expression of these views. Feudalism "in the narrow sense of the word" is understood by him as a system of vassal relations, and "in the broad sense" - as "a mode of production in which the surplus labor of the landowner is withdrawn by means of earnings and natural rent" 9 .

This approach is fully manifested in articles and reviews on the problems of the Scottish Reformation of the XVI century (see Lee, M. Sanderson, M. Lynch, J. Eerk-1965, N 2; 1973, N 2; 1975, N 2; 1980, N 1). In modern bourgeois-liberal historiography, the reform movement of the 60s-80s of the XVI century is considered as a milestone separating the Middle Ages from the modern era. In general, the process of the Scottish Reformation, the completion of which historians refer to the 80s of the XVII century.,

9 Dodgshon A. Op. cit., p. 97.

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It is interpreted as the development of the "great people's revolution", which brought together representatives of various classes "dissatisfied with the political and religious situation" in the country10.

Despite certain differences in the assessment of the Scottish Reformation, the authors are unanimous in explaining its socio-political content. They consider the conflict between the church reformers and the king to be the core of the reformation movement. According to some researchers, this conflict existed from the very beginning of the Reformation (Sanderson, Stevenson); according to others (G. Donaldson, Lee, Kirk), it developed gradually, as the incompatibility of the reformed Presbyterian church with the "structure of hierarchical society" in the feudal state became apparent (1980, N 1, p. 25, 53). The main actors and subjects of the Reformation are the ideologists of the Presbyterian Church. The social groups that formed the camp of reformers, however, are assigned the role of passive performers, at best - the carriers of new ideas.

The journal extensively discusses the impact of the Reformation on the development of the Scottish economy in the first quarter of the 17th century. The debate is focused on the question of whether it is legitimate to apply the well - known thesis of M. Weber about the emergence of the "capitalist spirit" from the ethics of Protestantism to Scotland at the end of the XVI-beginning of the XVII century11 . Most bourgeois-liberal historians deny the connection between the ideology of Protestantism and the emergence of capitalist relations in Scotland. Combining Weber's approach with the concept of the famous English historian R. Tawney (on the interdependence of socio-economic changes in the late XVI-early XVII centuries and the crisis of absolutism), the authors of a number of articles seek to prove their unacceptability for studying the problem of the origin of Scottish capitalism.

It is characteristic that the attempts of some historians to establish the relationship between the socio-economic changes that took place in Scotland during the Reformation and the peculiarities of the religious and political struggle in the first third of the XVIII century do not meet with support from the editorial board of the journal 12 . Lee suggests generally "burying the Weber - Tawney thesis once and for all" and thus getting rid of" tempting simplifications " (1965, No. 2, p.143). Expressing the prevailing view in bourgeois-liberal historiography, T. Devine and Leith argue that the Presbyterian religion in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries not only did not contribute to the development of the Scottish economy, but, on the contrary, raised certain obstacles in its path (1971, No. 2, p.93).

The authors substitute the analysis of the problem of the genesis of capitalism with the study of factors of economic growth and the search for incentives for progress in the economic life of Scotland. The ideas of economic progress, as they believe, came mainly from the "royal absolutism". The argument for them is the position of "stability" as the main condition and criterion of progress. According to many historians (Donaldson, Devine, Leith, Lee, etc.), it was the absolutist monarchy (at the beginning of the XVII century) that managed to ensure the internal and external stability of the state after the suppression of feudal feuds and the conclusion of a lasting peace with England. The economic activity of the absolutist government acts as a decisive factor that contributed to the restructuring of the land ownership system, the growth of agricultural productivity, the development of manufacturing production, and the expansion of foreign trade in Scotland at the beginning of the XVII century. Dow, Devine, Lita, Lee, F. Shaw, and I. Cowan-1969, N2; 1971, N2; 1976, N1; 1977, N1; 1979, N2). In general, absolutism is characterized as an effective method of political governance, which made it possible to achieve political and social consolidation of the Scottish state.

The apology for the absolutist monarchy culminates when the authors write about the personality of King James VI (I), who united unlimited power in his hands.

10 Smout T. A History of the Scottish People, 1560 - 1830. Lnd. 1972, p. 49.

11 In the latest literature, a positive answer to this question is given in: Marchall G. Presbyteries and Profits. Calvinism and the Development of Capitalism in Scotland, 1560 - 1707. Oxford. 1980; см. рец. Stevenson (SHR, 1981, N 2, pp. 187-191).

12 See rec. Stevenson on the book: Me Key W. The Church of the Covenants, 1637-1651. Revolution and Social Change in Scotland. Edinburgh. 1979 (SHR, 1982, N 1).

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power in Scotland and England 13 . The Scottish king is portrayed by historians as "a man of extraordinary talent and insight." "A wise monarch," writes Donaldson in his monograph, "avoided conflict and sought to govern by appeasement, concord, and cooperation." 14 M. Enright considers the king's special merit to be his commitment to the" Celtic tradition", the" ancient " institutions of power that triumphed in the absolutist monarchy after the conclusion of the Anglo-Scottish Union of 1603 (1976, No. 1, pp. 31-40), which the authors assess as a historical ideal for the modern process of devolution of power.

The intensification of bourgeois-liberal research on the history of late medieval Scotland in the journal's pages did not, however, lead to fundamental changes in the approach to studying the fundamental problems of this period. Focusing on the political and socio - psychological aspects of the development of Scottish society, the authors leave open questions about the class nature of absolutism and the historical conditions that accompanied the emergence of this peculiar form of state. Socio-economic history, in which modern Scottish historiography shows considerable interest, is actually reduced to the consideration of demographic processes and market fluctuations in the economic life of Scotland. These issues are usually studied in isolation from the political struggle. The Scottish Historical Review magazine supports some positive trends in modern bourgeois-liberal historiography. The articles published in it help to overcome the traditional ideas about Scotland as a "wild" and" poor " country, rooted in British historical science. At the same time, this revision of the history of Scotland is carried out from subjective-idealistic positions and is opposed to the principles of dialectical - materialistic understanding of history .15 The deliberate refusal to use the methods of class analysis in the approach to studying the main problems of Scottish history ultimately leads the authors of the journal to repeat previous mistakes and misconceptions.

13 this tendency of modern bourgeois-liberal historiography to magnify the role of James VI (I) in the history of Scotland and to praise the absolutist monarchy of the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries was noticed by the historians themselves, who collaborated in the journal. See R. Ashton's rec. in Lee M. Government by Pen: Scotland under James VI and Edinburgh. 1980 (SHR, 1982, N 1, pp. 84 - 85).

14 See R. Kant's review in Donaldson G. Scotland: James V-James VII (SHR, 1966, No. 2, p. 208); see also Lee's paper (1976, No. 1, pp. 52-53).

15 One of the prominent Scottish liberal historians, M. Gray, admits that "the Marxist method of thinking has indeed provided an incentive to study specific historical situations", but he believes that Marxist ideas should not be applied to "fopms of local experience". See his review in: Carter I. Farm Life in North- East Scotland, 1840-1914. Edinburgh. 1979 (SHR, 1981, N 1, p. 82).

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