EP 6 - The Tobacco Lords

Episode 6, "The Tobacco Lords," explores Scotland's tobacco trade rise and its impact on golfing societies, especially in Edinburgh and Glasgow. The American Revolution disrupted trade, complicating debt collection. The episode hints at insights into Saint Andrews' secrets through understanding golfing communities' role in the trade.

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Narrator: 00:07

Episode 6, The Tobacco Lords. The first private golf clubs were based in Edinburgh, and 40 miles to the west is the port city of Glasgow. As these golfing societies were emerging, so too was Scotland's transatlantic Tobacco trade, challenging England's previously uncontested position, and the Scottish golf community had a keen interest in this effort. The treaty of union in 17/07 had granted Scottish merchants access to the English colonies in North America and the French monarchy's decision in 17/47 to grant Glasgow a monopoly for the importation of tobacco into French territories set the stage for Glasgow's ascendancy in the tobacco trade. This move by the French, influenced by their Catholic leanings and sympathies towards the Jacobite cause, provided Scottish merchants with a significant advantage over their English counterparts.

Narrator: 01:03

It also suggests a level of collusion between the French and Scottish merchants, driven by mutual interests against English dominance. The tobacco lords would simply import tobacco from the American colonies and store it in large warehouses where it was sorted, graded and processed for sale. Then, they would re export it to their partners in France. By 17 fifties, Glasgow was handling more of America's tobacco trade than all of Britain's other ports combined. A testament to the aggressive and entrepreneurial spirit of the Scottish Tobacco lords.

Narrator: 01:37

These Tobacco lords, a term that encapsulated the wealth and influence of these merchants, were not just traders, but also financiers. They extended substantial credit to American colonists, enabling them to purchase European goods before their tobacco crops were sold. This practice not only endeared them to the American planters, but also placed the colonists in significant debt to the Scots. To fund their efforts and spread the financial risk, the tobacco lords raised money through joint stock companies that would issue shares to their investors, many of which were prominent members of the earliest golf clubs. The members of these clubs had more than just a financial interest in the tobacco trade with the American colonies, because many of their fellow Jacobites had been exiled to America as indentured servants and were working on the tobacco plantations.

Narrator: 02:29

The American revolution marked a turning point for the Scottish Tobacco trade because the war disrupted the trade routes and made it impossible for the Glasgow merchants to collect the debts owed by the American planters. The emerging private golfing communities, their role in financing the tobacco lords, their ties to fellow Jacobites in America and their connection with French Jacobites provide important clues to those attempting to decode the secret of Saint Andrews. Up next, an American founding father enters the picture.