medieval-atlas/economic-development/268

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Scottish trade in the seventeenth century The Scottish staple port in the Low Countries was first established at Bruges in the fourteenth century. It had a complicated subsequent history, alternating between Bruges and the Walcheren town of Middelburg, until it finally settled in the small port of Veere, at the westennost tip of the Scheldt estuary, in 1540. 'Staple' goods -such as wool, hides, skins, and fish -were supposed to be shipped through the staple port, under the supervision of a resident Scottish factor. There are, despite its importance, only occasional lists of Scottish shipping at Veere, unlike the systematic records shown earlier for the Sound. The list of 1561 , giving all ships which paid anchorage dues at Veere during that period, demonstrates the increasing grip which Edinburgh/Leith had built up since 1400 over the bulk of the export trade in staple goods. It is likely that Kinghorn, whose tax assessment was linked to Edinburgh's, was also being used as a base by merchants from the capital. Other east-coast ports probably shipped more goods, to Leith for export from there rather than exported them direct. By the I 620s the picture, revealed by payments made over a fifteen-month period in 1626 -7 to the Scots kirk in Veere, had changed considerably. Most ofthe vessels from the Forth were small colliers, plying out of Dysart and Kirkcaldy; many of them were bound for Middelburg or Flushing, both also on the island of Walcheren. Cargoes from Leith and Dundee were ofstaple goods or mixed, including coal. Exports were being shipped in large quantities to other Dutch ports like Amsterdam and Rotterdam, which also held a large share of the imports sent to Scotland. Edinburgh 225 (54.0%) Dundee 79 (19.0%) Aberdeen 45 (10.8%) St.Andrews 16 (38%) Kirkcaldy 13 (3.1%) Montrose 13 (3.1%) Kinghorn 6 (1.4%) Other 20 AiQundee ~~St. Andrews _:> .. Kirkcaldy . ysart ~i~horn Leith , ' I I , ' I 25 'ffIf 75 100 le , " I' i ' i Ports of departure of Scottish ships 10 20 ~405060 to Zeeland 1561 -71 o to Veere 1626-7 CV to both Zeeland and Veere Ports of departure of Scottish ships to Zeeland and Veere Land .:::' Sandbanks . and Tidal Flats Ports of departure of Scottish ships to Zeeland 1: _. (number and percentage) Dysart 22 (35.5%) Kirkcaldy 14 (22.5%) ' . Leith 13 (21.0%) Dundee 5 (8.1%) Aberdeen 2 (3.2%) ~Other 6 (9.7%) Ports of departure of Scottish ships to Zeeland 16 (number and percentage) BRABANT ? 10 ~O 3\lkm I' I I o 5 10 15 miles Meuse -Scheldt estuary 268

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