"Black coat" Scottish spies: clerical informers in 1820

This essay examines the contention over the operation of spies during the rebellions of 1820 that resulted in eight executions for High Treason. These were the last until the Easter 1916 risings. Research from Kew National Archives shows that there were indeed spies and several were members of the clergy. The argument is that poetry had pointed the finger in that direction, but had not been given status as historical documents.