Talk:The Poker Club

Comment

Edinburgh in the mid 1700s was the crucible for the Scottish Enlightenment and its clubs provided the environment in which so many new ideas were honed. David Daiches in The Scottish Enlightenment refers to the Cape Club and the Crohallan Fencibles to which Robert Burns belonged. Other clubs met in taverns, oyster cellers and 'laigh (low?) shops'. Maybe there is a case for expanding this further to add colour ot this period. Fenton Robb 01:38, 26 March 2006 (UTC)

Some Confusions in the History of the Poker Club

• I've looked up the citations in the paragraph ("The Poker was the name given to the Militia Club at its third or fourth meeting. ...") and neither of them (Namier&Brooke(1985); Sher(1989)) contain anything about the naming of the club.

Professor Sher, however, in his book Church and University in the Scottish Enlightenment (2015 (first published 1985)), stated that

From the outset the Moderate literati were among the prime movers of the Poker. It was Adam Ferguson who gave the club its intentionally cryptic name— which is either an allusion to its intended role as an instrument for stirring up national pride and concern about the Scots militia question or, as David Raynor has plausibly suggested, a reference to a line in Sister Peg where Margaret "throws her poker" (militia) at the rebellious Highlanders during the '45. (pg. 232)

On Ferguson's credit of naming the club, Sher cited Alexander Carlyle's Memoir (see here). Volume one of The correspondence of Adam Ferguson add to this by stating,

According to Carlyle, 'Adam Ferguson fell luckily on the name of "Poker", which we perfectly understood, and was at the same time an enigma to the public." Ferguson, however, in 1801, remembering the christening of the club, wrote: 'It became known by some whimsical accident, by the name of the Poker Club.' Whether or not he named the club, the Poker was very important to Ferguson, satisfying both his needs for 'Cordiallity' and diversion, as well as promoting a cause he believed to be of the utmost importance. (pg. xxxv)

So far from these sources, I think it is best to assume it is Ferguson, not Smith, that came up with the name "Poker". The name being an "instrument for stirring up the militia question" and so is "an enigma to the public", is also supported by Carlyle (pg. 420).

• And this paragraph: "As to why the club collapsed, Adam Smith said, 'Divided counsels and diminished zeal supply, no doubt, the main reason for the decay of the Poker Club,' but he also mentioned the rising costs to members." I looked into the cited source (John Rae's Life of Adam Smith pg. 139) and clearly this is the word of Rae himself and not Smith's.

English is not my first language so I might refrain from direct editing the article and leave my finding here for some time. Any suggestions and discussions are welcomed.--Edmvnd Hallius (talk) 12:03, 27 June 2026 (UTC)

Update: I've edited out the mistakes mentioned above. Please kindly refine the wording and add references if needed. --Edmvnd Hallius (talk) 11:31, 1 July 2026 (UTC)

Suggestion on David Hume's quote about the Poker Club

It's me again. On reading Nicholas Phillipson's David Hume: The Philosopher as Historian (2012) I discover that not only the page contains the current quote in this article from Hume ( "Most fortunately it happens that since reason is incapable of dispelling these clouds... ") is in fact from page 42 of the book instead of 32, but also that this paragraph might chronologically have nothing to do with the Poker Club since this quote of Hume's is from his Treatise of Human Nature (pp.268-69 or BOOK I., PART IV., SECT. VII., paragraph 9th), which was written long before the forming of The Poker.

Therefore I suggest replacing this quote by another firm and well-known reference made by Hume to Adam Ferguson in a letter date 9th Nov. 1763, when he was at Paris: "'I really wish often for the plain roughness of the Poker ... to correct and qualify so much luciousness." This specific line is also quote in Phillipson (2012) p.12, thus make substituting easier.

Again, English is not my first language so I might won't direct edit the article until later in case there's some faults to be found in my suggestion and that some editors with better commanding of the English language may stumble upon this and are willing to help. Any discussions are always welcomed.--Edmvnd Hallius (talk) 08:28, 7 August 2026 (UTC)