This study is concerned with aspects of urban society in the\ud
Scottish city of Aberdeen in the second half of the seventeenth\ud
century. The principal aim is to examine the multi-faceted nature\ud
and workings of civic government, of the interlocking hierarchies of\ud
people and institutions which together formed an invisible web of\ud
authority and discipline in the town. The burgh's three main\ud
administrative and judicial bodies - the town council, the kirk\ud
session, and the justice of the peace court - are examined in some\ud
detail. Other matters discussed include the 1640's legacy of civil\ud
war, plague, and severe economic dislocation; the impact of eight\ud
years of Cromwellian occupation; the demographic and socio-economic\ud
structures of the urban community; aspects of secular and\ud
ecclesiastical politics; the continuing challenge to the established\ud
kirk posed by Catholic recusancy, and the new challenge posed by the\ud
advent of Quakerism in the town; patterns of office-holding and the\ud
characteristics of the urban elite; and poor relief and social\ud
control. The fundamental structures of urban society underwent no\ud
sudden transformation in these years, but neither did they remain\ud
static: far from obscuring the true dynamics of urban society, civic\ud
institutions remained vital social, economic, and political forums\ud
around which the forces of critical change coalesced, whether to be\ud
adopted, adapted, repulsed; or neutralised, but always in such a way\ud
as to shape the very structure and character of life in the town