ABSTRACT
The Franco-Scottish Society was not confined to Paris and Edinburgh: but in its early days, the two capital cities played a leading part in its creation and activities. Its origins lay partly in the academic world, but it had connections and ramifications extending into the spheres of commerce and politics, in the years before the Entente Cordiale proper. The Scottish branch's Transactions regularly list the awards made, and, apart from social events, education continued to be the society's chief activity, under its active educational committee. It is possible that politics also played a part, for although in general the educational activities survived and prospered, unforeseen problems overtook the Franco-Scottish rapprochement in 1898, as Franco-British relations in general hit a stormy patch. Parisian political and academic circles were particularly split, with petitions being signed and counter-signed by rival teams of professors. Some of the prominent members of the Franco-Scottish Society found themselves on different sides.
