Treaty of Union

The Treaty of Union is the name usually now given to the treaty which led to the creation of the new political state of Great Britain. The treaty, effective since 1707, brought the Kingdom of England (which already included Wales) and the Kingdom of Scotland together to be "United into One Kingdom by the Name of Great Britain". At the time it was more often referred to as the Articles of Union.

The Treaty details were agreed on 22 July 1706, and separate Acts of Union were then passed by the parliaments of England and Scotland to put the agreed Articles into effect. The Treaty of Union was eventually passed in the Parliament of Scotland. The first Parliament of Scotland was a unicameral Parliament that was first mentioned on record in the 13th century, when a meeting took place in Kirkliston in 1235. The Parliament met until "prorogued sine die" following months of intense debate, with 110 voting in favour for the treaty to 67 against. The passing of the vote has been described as a vote "to end Scotland's independence".

The political union took effect on 1st May 1707, when the Lord Chancellor of Scotland James Ogilvy, 4th Earl of Findlater, prorogued (to discontinue a session of a parliament without dissolving it) sine die (Latin for “without day”; something done sine die has no definite date to resume) the Parliament of Scotland with the words "there’s ane end of ane auld sang" whilst the church bells of St Giles' Cathedral played the tune Why should I feel so sad on my wedding day?.