James VI introduced 'voting' to England, research finds.

(From Aberdeen Press & Journal)

Byline: caroline.brodie

VOTING was a Scottish import that the English adopted following the 1603 Union of the Crowns, according to new research carried out by a Dundee University historian.

Alan McDonald has found that, while the concept of voting was widely used in the English parliament prior to the beginning of the 17th century, the word itself did not enter the English lexicon until James VI of Scotland took it south when he became James I of England.

His paper, entitled Voting in the Scottish Parliament before 1639, has been published in the most recent edition of Parliaments, Estates and Representation, a …