‘New Light on Whatley’s Numbers’: The German Market for Scots Salt in the Eighteenth Century

The eighteenth century was a watershed period for the Scottish salt industry in terms of its competitiveness. Whatley has shown a protracted and definite decline in export figures in the period c. 1700–70, and ultimately Scotland ceased to export salt. This was a considerable change from Scotland’s former position as a large salt exporter. Whatley’s sources, however, do not permit a break-down of exports by destination. The present article aims to solve this problem by drawing on a variety of new sources. The main results are: first, in the eighteenth century, ‘Germany’ (The Holy Roman Empire of German Nations) became the largest and then last foreign market for what at that time had become a virtually non-exportable item. Secondly, North Sea ports – mainly Bremen, Emden, and Hamburg – became the main importers of Scots salt at the expense of Baltic ports. Within a framework of declining living standards after c.1740, a cheap and competitively-priced essential such as Scots salt represented an attractive alternative to more expensive salts. Due to the short distance and modest transport costs, the northwest German market was one of the most obvious foreign outlets for Scottish salt. On top of this, various external, internal and transit tolls and customs on cross-border traffic, a product of the political fragmentation of the German empire, artificially increased the price charged by the main producer in Northern Germany (Lüneburg) and thus kept Atlantic or North Sea salt attractive on this market.