GLASGOW in the 1730s and early 1740s was something of a boomtown. Having been one of the places that hosted anti-Union riots in 1706-07, the city had embraced the Union and the House of Hanover, not least because of the possibilities of international trade. The town council could afford to build a new town hall, rich individuals like James Macrae, Governor of Madras, presented the city with adornments such as the first equestrian statue in Scotland, and the likes of Colonel William Macdowall made fortunes for Glasgow with the slave plantations growing sugar cane and tobacco, while early cotton imports only added to the city’s wealth.