Fifeshire

<p>In 1715 Sir John Anstruther, the head of one of the leading local Whig families, was returned, presumably with the support of his cousin, the Earl of Rothes, hereditary sheriff of the county and a member of the Squadrone. The defeated candidate, Sir Alexander Erskine, 2nd Bt., of Cambo, the lord lyon king of arms, later engaged in the 1715 rebellion. Anstruther continued to represent the county until 1741, when he was succeeded by David Scott, an opposition Whig. After Walpole’s fall Scott became a government supporter, standing for the county again in 1747 with the backing of Henry Pelham and the Duke of Argyll. He was opposed by James Oswald, who had recently re-joined the Opposition, and Robert Henderson the younger of Fordel. The day before the election Argyll wrote to Pelham:</p><blockquote><p>It is thought that Mr. Scott will carry it unless Mr. Oswald and the other candidate, Henderson, can bring all their voters to join together against Mr. Scott, which I should think they will not be able to do.</p></blockquote><p>Next day he reported that Oswald and Henderson could not decide</p><blockquote><p>which of them should stand, and the dispute continued till the voters were going into the election room ... At last Mr. Oswald proposed to cast the dice, which Henderson agreed to and Oswald won it,<a class='fnlink' id='t1' href='#fn1'>1<span>30 July and 1 Aug. 1747, Newcastle (Clumber) mss.</span></a></p></blockquote><p>defeating Scott by five votes.</p>