Claim: The late 17th century was a difficult period for Scotland which included the 1690s, Scotland's coldest decade in the past 750 years, and its economy was relatively small, its range of exports very limited and it was in a weak position in relation to England, plus the kingdom had no reciprocal export trade and its once-thriving industries such as shipbuilding were in deep decline; goods that were in demand had to be bought from England for sterling.
Evidence: Scotland (Scots: Scotland, Scottish Gaelic: Alba [ˈal̪ˠapə (listen)) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. With the exception of a short period under the Protectorate, Scotland remained a separate state in the 17th century, but there was considerable conflict between the crown and the Covenanters over the form of church government. The Darien scheme was an unsuccessful attempt, backed largely by investors of the Kingdom of Scotland, to gain wealth and influence by establishing New Caledonia, a colony on the Isthmus of Panama, in the late 1690s. The late 17th century was a difficult period for Scotland, as it was for much of Europe; the years 1695-97 saw catastrophic famine in present-day Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Norway and Sweden, plus an estimated two million deaths in France and Northern Italy. The 1690s were Scotland's coldest decade in the past 750 years as documented in tree ring records. Scotland's economy was relatively small, its range of exports very limited and it was in a weak position in relation to England, its powerful neighbor (with which it was in personal union, but not yet in political union). The kingdom had no reciprocal export trade and its once-thriving industries such as shipbuilding were in deep decline; goods that were in demand had to be bought from England for sterling. It resulted from extreme cold weather, an economic slump created by French protectionism and changes in the Scottish cattle trade, followed by four years of failed harvests (1695, 1696 and 1698–99).