On 2 April 1820 The Radical War began :-

The Radical War, also known as the Scottish Insurrection of 1820 was a week of strikes and unrest in Scotland.

James Wilson was arrested and on 20 July was put on trial at Glasgow charged with four counts of treason The jury found him Not Guilty on three counts, Guilty of “compassing to levy war against the King in order to compel him to change his measures” and recommended mercy, but he was sentenced to death.

Five of his colleagues were found Not Guilty, and another was discharged. On 1 August a jury ignored the abrasive judge and refused to convict two weavers.

At Stirling Tolbooth on 4 August the judge advised “To you Andrew Hardie and John Baird I can hold out little or no hope of mercy” since “as you were the leaders, I am afraid that example must be given by you.”

James Wilson was hanged and beheaded on 30 August watched by some 20,000 people, first remarking to the executioner “Did you ever see such a crowd, Thomas?”.

On 8 September Hardie and Baird were executed outside Stirling Tolbooth, watched by a crowd of 2,000.

In April 1820, hundreds of young Radicals fled by ship to Canada from Greenock, escaping persecution from Lord Sidmouth’s spy network. Among them was William Lyon Mackenzie who was a leader in the Canada Rebellions of 1837–1838.

The effect of the crushing of this staged insurrection was to effectively discourage serious Radical unrest in Scotland for some time. Lord Melville, the right hand man in Scotland of Lord Liverpool’s government, saw the suggested Visit of King George IV to Scotland as a political need, to engage the feelings of the common people and weaken the Radical movement. The event, largely organised by Sir Walter Scott, succeeded brilliantly and brought a new-found Scottish national identity creating widespread enthusiasm for the tartan “plaided pageantry” that Sheriff Ranald MacDonald of Stirling was already enthusiastically engaged in as a Clan chieftain at Ulva and member of various “Highland societies”.

At the suggestion of Walter Scott, unemployed weavers from the west of Scotland were put to work on paving a track round Salisbury Crags in Holyrood Park adjoining Arthur’s Seat. The path is still known as the Radical Road