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The Secret of St. Andrews podcast is for golf enthusiasts, history buffs and patriots.
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Episode 15, Part 1: How Ben Franklin Became a Scottish Ally
Much of the credit for bringing Ben Franklin to St Andrews goes to members of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club, but the credit for the diplomatic relationship that followed must be shared with members of the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers.
Once Franklin had confirmed his trip to St Andrews, James Lumsdane's civic-minded duty was largely satisfied, and he began to focus more on his patriotic duty. The university and town would forever be linked to Franklin, but Lumsdane wanted more. He aimed to use this opportunity to make Ben Franklin a Scottish ally.
During his trip to St Andrews, Franklin learned of a secret transatlantic communication network linking Scotland to the American colonies. This channel was faster and more secure than what he was accustomed to in England, and the information received wasn't filtered through the British bureaucracy. Some members in Edinburgh were intimately involved with this network and served as intermediaries with their friends in St Andrews.
Intelligence that flowed from the colonies and passed through Edinburgh convinced Franklin to become a diplomatic ally with Scotland. This wouldn't have happened without members of the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers. These members were not acting in any official club capacity. In fact, their efforts had to be shielded from fellow members.
By the time Franklin learned of his honorary doctorate degree, significant events were unfolding in his home of Pennsylvania. The Forbes expedition had succeeded, and the French had abandoned Fort Duquesne. The British had established a temporary fort in its place, with plans to build a massive fortification called Fort Pitt under development.
Franklin learned of these developments throughout the winter and spring, but he received few additional details before he left for Scotland that summer. By the time Franklin arrived in St Andrews, his hosts had important updates about his home in Pennsylvania that he had yet to receive. Scotsman and former Jacobite rebel Hugh Mercer was now the Commandant of Fort Pitt, and a Scotsman named Harry Gordon was the engineer and designer in charge of Fort Pitt's construction.
They also knew why Mercer's friend, George Washington, had resigned his commission and left military service. The transatlantic system was enabled by the tobacco lords in Glasgow, who allowed their merchant ships traveling between the colonies to transport sensitive communications with Scots in North America.
The route from Glasgow was shorter than those from English ports and benefited from more favorable westerly winds. Franklin received his mail through the British postal system, which relied on ports in England. News from the colonies traveled to Scotland 30 to 40 days faster than it did to Franklin in London, and Franklin's ability to send and receive transatlantic information would be even more disadvantaged once he began his journey to St Andrews.
Lumsdane intended to showcase not just Scotland's superior transatlantic messaging capabilities but also the critical role Scotsmen were playing in Franklin's home of Pennsylvania. But to do so, he needed the approval and assistance of his friends at the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers. One of the most famous golfers of the era used this covert transatlantic system to correspond with a highly placed source in the British military.
He was a member of the Honourable Company and a well-known Jacobite under British surveillance. This member was the source of this valuable military intelligence. These efforts would have to be conducted in secret and would extend beyond St Andrews. Scotland's transatlantic messaging advantage was a closely guarded secret, and the sources and methods of this intelligence-gathering network needed to be protected at all costs.
James Leslie was a founding member of both the Royal and Ancient Golf Club and the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers, making him the perfect conduit between the clubs. His brother Thomas was also a founding member of the Royal and Ancient, and neither was viewed as threats by the Hanoverian government.
In fact, Thomas Leslie had been wounded and captured by Jacobite rebels at the Battle of Preston, and his loyalty was unquestioned. In the six months leading up to Franklin's visit, an intelligence briefing was developed for Franklin that would be shared with him in St Andrews. During this time, Leslie used the privacy of the golf course as cover for the information passed to his friend, Lumsdane.
In part two of this episode, we'll share more secrets about this clandestine operation and the role Scotland's most famous golfers played. Up next, Part 2: Scottish Counter-Espionage and Ben Franklin's Role in the Secret of St Andrews.