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Neil Oliver: A History of Scotland

From the Basement of Time

The unmistakable outline of Scotland’s western seaboard is what happens when the sea floods throughs excavated by glaciers.

Scotland is still on the rise while England, at the other end of the couch, dips steadily into the Channel.

The Inner and Outer Hebrides, Orkney and Shetland islands were not under so much pressure from farming, forestry and industry and urbanization, so a lot of traces of old habitations are still present there.

Whoever arrived after the hunters-the first farmers, Romans, Anglo-Saxson colonists, Viking raiders, Norman conquerors or anybody else – they never came in numbers sufficient to alter the bloodstock of the resident population.

The king of Orkney arrived in Camulodunum, the place we know today as Colchester but for long the capital of the Trinovantes tribe of southern Britain. Along with ten other British kings he bowed his head to Tiberius Claudius Germanicus, Emperor of Rome and conqueror of Britannia.

Emperor Julius Caesar tried invading Britannia on two occasions, in 55 and 54 BC.

The Last of the Free

 In the autumn of AD 84 Calgacus lead an army of 30.000 Caledonian (according to Tacit) against Romans. They lost. That was also the first time Scots were mentioned.

But there were always tribes who fought Romans. And in AD 122 Romans built Hadrian’s Wall.

It had been the Romans themselves who referred to the northern people, those living north of the Forth/Clyde line, as Caledonians.

The Picts were the direct descendants of the first bands of hunter-gatherers.

By the time Romans abandoned Britannia, the Picts were present in the north and east part of the country. To the south were Britons – they were descendants of the tribes living directly under the Roman rule. To the west of the territories of the Picts and the Britons were the Gaels – sometimes also called the original Scots. Some say they were from Ireland.

The Angles were a Germanic people that had come to these shores during the chaos that followed the Roman withdrawal in the early 400s. They occupied the mini kingdoms of Bernicia and Deira.

The islands, especially the northern ones, were conquered by Vikings. They also colonized Northumbria, Ireland and Hebrides.

The great work of converting Gaels to Christianity was done by Columba. He was driven out or Ireland in AD 563. His home was set in Iona.

In AD 839 the dominant native aristocracy fought against the Vikings and lost. One man came on top, Kenneth MacAlpin. Known as Kenneth I, he was proclaimed by some as the first King of Scotland. But that is a myth.

The next in line was his son Aed. But his reign was short. Giric killed him. He was Gael. But Donald and Constantine, from Aed’s family regain the reign. They created the kingdom of Alba – single kingdom of Picts and Gaels. The Gaels were nickname Scoti, marauders from the sea, so Alba was the land of the Scots.

Stone of Destiny was used for coronation.

When Constantine ruled, Aethelstan ruled in the territory of the Angles, England.

In AD 937, the Great Battle, where Aethelstan and Constantine and the Viking king from across Irish sea, battle near the mouth of the Mersey River, at a place called Brunanburh

Aethelstan won, but Constantine was also the winner, and Scotland was safe. After the battle Constantine step down only six years after the battle.

Until 1034 Scotland was ruled by un-important kings, and in 1034 Malcom II. died as the last of Kenneths heirs.

For the next 230 years the Ceann Mor or Canmore dynasty rule Scotland. Malcolm III. was on the Scottish throne when William the Conqueror won a battle of Hastings. William eventually also defeated Malcolm III. and it was always the Abernethy Submission, based on which English monarchs claimed their overlordship.

After some changes David I. took the throne and it was during that time that Bruce and Balliol family came to Scotland. David I. ascend the throne in 1124.

The Hammers of the Scots

The story of two ruthless men: Alexander II, who forged a kingdom in blood and violence, and William Wallace, whose resistance created national consciousness of Scots; set the path for Scotland. Alexander II was the latest of Canmores. He took the throne in 1214.

Alexander fought King John of England, and he later married the sister of the next king Henry III.

In 1237 by the Treaty of York, he secured a permanent border between Scotland and England. A fixed line between the River Tweed and the River Solway.

He was succeeded by his son Alexander III. He was guided by Comyn family.

In 1266 the Norwegians agreed to sell the Western Island, but Scotland was to respect their claim on Orkney and Shetland.

After some misfortune the Alexander family died and there was no real heir. The last potential heir, Margaret, the granddaughter, the Maid of Norway, died on her way back from Norway. Edward of England was invited by Scottish parliament to help with transition and finding new king. Edward choose Balliol in 1292.

But even Balliol could not take all the demands from Edward. Council of Twelve was created (four lords, four bishops and four earls). They seek help from Philippe IV of France.

Edward invaded Scotland and he demanded that every significant landlord pay him homage. The Ragman Roll was a document signed by 1.900 of them.

William Wallace was for some the ultimate freedom fighter and for others a terrorist. Wallace lost, but Edward underestimated Scotland’s folk, that keep on fighting and took the crown of Scotland from him.

Bishop Makes King

Chess was brought to Europe by Vikings.

The independence of the Scottish Church depended upon the existence of a Scottish kingdom, of a Scottish king. William Lamberton, Bishop of St. Andrew,  was an important actor in political arena of that time. Duns Scotus wrote that a rightful king was selected by the community around him.

Lamberton and Robert Bruce met on 11 June 1304 and Lamberton worked with Bruce to make him King of Scotland.

Bruce killed his rival Red Comyn in 1306. Bruce hide and run in 1306 and 1307. Edward I was old and weakened by time. And Bruce started to gain ground. One of his commanders was Black Douglas.

Until 1314 he took the majority of the land and Edward II send an army to meet him. It was a big army. But it was defeated at Bannock Burn on 23 and 24th of June 1314. Bruce won.

Fights continued. Bruce went to northern England, Ireland. In 1327, Edward II was replaced by his son Edward III. Roger Mortimer was the fact ruler of the country. In March 1328 Edward III announced that Scotland shall remain separate from England.

Bruce died in 1329. His son David was enthroned as King of Scotland in 1331.

David II inherited a world made by war. Bannockburn and the Declaration of Arbroath had made a legend of his father. He defended his claim to throne from Edward Balliol, heir of King John.

During that times the Guardianship of Scotland was also under a lot of changes. First it was Earl of Mar, then Sir Andrew Murray and then Archibald Douglas, brother of the Black Douglas.

When David was called upon by Philippe VI to fight with him against England, the Scotland was ruled by Robert Stewart. When David died, Robert became king as King Robert II, in 1371.

But the fight for the throne went on.

Language is power

Scotland is a place of two countries, two languages and two cultures. Scots Gaelic, like Irish and Welsh. And Celtic branch of the Indo-European tree of languages.

The MacDonalds – the kings of Hebrides, along with the MacDougalls and the MacRuaries, were descendants of Somerled, the Viking warlord.

The 1411 battle of Reid Harlaw stands to this day as the moment when the division, the split between Highland and Lowland, was made clear to the world.

Alexander MacDonald of Islay became Lord of the Isles in 1423.

King James I. spend a lot of time in captivity. Scotland was ruled by Albany.

In Scotland the kingdom and the king were two different things, loyalty to one did not necessarily mean loyalty to the other.

Henry V had died in 1422. James was crowned in 1424. James was mainly occupied with destroying Albany line. He also fought with Alexander MacDonald.

James was later killed in conspiracy. James II the little prince was crowned in 1437. James has grown close to Douglases.

MacDonalds were still strong in the north. Alexander’s son John took his place.

James II took on Douglases.  But he also died young. And James III was again a boy king. Douglases and MacDonalds both now rise against boy king.

James III married Margrethe of Denmark, with a dowry he got Orkney and Shetland. James III was completing the map of Scotland.

In 1488 James III was replaced (murdered) by his son James IV. He is remembered as the most charismatic and charming of the Stewart kings.

James was the last king who spoke Gaelic. He was also very enthusiastic for all things Renaissance. He introduced printing in Scotland.

In 1503 James married Margaret Tudor, daughter of Henry VII of England.

James also had a lot of illegitimate children.

In the Highlands, MacDonals were gone for now. Campbells and MacKenzies tried to take their place.

James IV tried to invade England and failed. He was replaced by his son James V in 1513.

Calls for Reformation in Scotland grew out of James V’s fiscal policies.

In 1543 Mary Stewart was crowned Queen of Scots. She was just one year old.

Project Britain

Henry VIII was attacking Scotland, but he died in 1547. Edward VI his son followed him on the throne.

In Scotland Mary was promised to the Dauphin of France, Francois, in return for French help against English. He was the son of Henri II and Catherine de Medici.

In England Edward VI died, Mary Tudor assumed power. She turned England back to catholic country, earning her self a name Bloody for burning protestants. After her death Elizabeth I took the crown

Scotland in that time was under enormous influence of France. Mary’s head was filled with ambitions, Scotland’s crown, French crown and also with bastard on the throne in England, maybe English crown too.

In Scotland John Knox, the protestant, find some support also in Mary’s illegitimate half-brother James Stewart.

Mary came back to Scotland in 1561. During her time civil war between protestant and catholic, supporters of Mary and her enemies was going on. Eventually Mary run to Elizabeth and James VI took the crown.

James saw his mother beheaded in 1587. But he ruled Scotland with his head. And he was made into James I of England in 1603.

Scotland represented by the unicorn and England represented by the lion.

James wanted a Great Britain. But it didn’t happened. But he did invited protestant in Ireland around Ulster. And this has effect even today.

James died in 1627. Charles his son took over.

King Jesus

The Scottish Church was to be brought into line with the English. The New Book of Common Prayer for Scotland was published in 1637. That was too much and rebellion was formed.

More than a thousand copies of the National Covenant survive. They symbolize the moment when Scots were encouraged to regard their homeland not as a kingdom, but as a nation state.

In England Cromwell and his army were winning civil war for parliament. In Scotland people fought for both sides.

Charles I was executed in 1649. In Scotland his son Charles II was crowned. Cromwell took his army to Scotland, and he won some battles. In 1651 Charles II went into hiding.

Cromwell died in 1658. Charles II was restored to the throne of both England and Scotland in 1660.

Charles II died and his son James VII and II was king by then. He was catholic and William of Orange was his enemy. In 1688 he entered England and run Glorious revolution. He became king in 1689 as King William II. This was a constitutional monarchy.

William didn’t care about Scotland. But his forces did clean some of the clans, especially at the Massacre of Glencoe in 1692, where they murdered the MacDonalds of Glencoe.

Jacobites

From 1695 onwards, weather caused one failed harvest after another. The death toll from starvation was high.

Scotland was one of the most literate society in Europe in 18th century.

William Paterson was instrumental in establishing the first Bank of England in 1695.

King William died in 1702 and Anne his sister-in-law was new queen.

In 1795 the members of the Scots parliament agreed that plans for union should be drawn up. By 1797 a draft of Treaty of Union was drawn up.

James VII an II died in 1701, James Francis Edward, James VIII and III was proclaimed King of Scotland, Ireland and England by French King.

James went back to Scotland in 1708. Jacobite sentiment was still high in Scotland, but also somewhere in England.

Queen Anne died in 1714.

Jacobite story is an interesting one. The most important factor in all the failures and success of Jacobite movement was French involvement.

The world of north-west Europe had lately changed. The time of great dynasties was coming to an end. The Stuarts and their offspring the Jacobite – were part of the old world. Nations mattered more now than great houses and their great names.

Stirling had always been the pinch-point through which any large force had to pass en route to the north or the south of Scotland.

James again tried to get into Scotland in 1715, but again he was not successful. And again in 1719. During that campaign Eilean Donan Castle was briefly garrisoned by Spaniards. James married Maria Clementina Sobieski. They had a son.

At this time Union finally produced something good also for Scotland. This new Scotland was very much the achievement of the remarkable post-union politician Archibald Campbell. His father had been Argyll.

They also started to build infrastructure in Highlands, road, bridges, forts and other strong points.

In 1743 James passed the crown to his eldest son Charles Edward, Prince Regent. He tried one last time to get Scotland back in 1745. It was the last attempt. William, Duke of Cumberland, finished Jacobite dream.

The future had arrived in Scotland, a future made of union and trade, and of pounds, shillings and pence.

Money!

There has been English attempts at colonizing the New World of the Americas since the time of Elizabeth I. She had asked Walter Raliegh to take charge and in 1587 a settlement at Roanoke was established.

As early as 1621, during the reign of James VI, James I, a Scots colony had been established in Nova Scotia, Newfoundland in Canada.

Scotland universities were known. Edinburgh and Glasgow.

And who doesn’t know James Watt from Greenock near Glasgow.

The spread of industry between Glasgow and Edinburgh would rapidly turn Scotland into a country with more urban dwellers per head of population than most other countries in Europe.

While ‘enlightened’ Scots back home championed the union more passionately than any Englishman and had taken to calling themselves North Britons, many of those who crossed the Atlantic remained committed to ‘old’ traditions like independence, family loyalty and knowing their place in the social hierarchy.

Highland provided the best soldiers for England, they were called The Royal Highland Regiment (The Black Watch).

Adam Smith, David Hume, Hutcheson, Kames, they were all great Scots of that time.

Glasgow benefited the most from the Atlantic trade with the New World. There was a three-way trade. From America the ships came with tobacco loads (also sugar and cotton). From Scotland the ships went to Africa where they loaded them with slaves. They took slaves to West Indies and America. And the circle started again.

1759 was a victorious year for Britain. They won in Quebec, They beat the French twice, on ground and on the sea, Rober Clive also won in India in 1757, and in 1760 they got Montreal from the French.

Benjamin Franklin came to Scotland and he met Kames, Hume and Smith.

Scotland internal situation also improved. Two canals – the Fort and Clyde and the Monklands, improved internal logistic. In 1822 the Union Canal linked the east and the west of the country.

On the other side of Atlantic, Rush, Witherspoon and Franklin were all the signatories of the Declaration of Independence.

The supreme civil court of Scotland decided in the case of Joseph Knight and his owner John Wedderburn (a Scot that lived and made fortune in America and came back for a visit in Scotland 1769) that one man should now own another.

Scotland had spent the eighteenth century becoming a trading nation more significant and with a far greater global reach than her size or geographical location should ever have made possible.

In the rush to keep up with the New World of the west – and the old neighbors to the south, in England – had Scotland forgotten what Scotland was? Had Scots forgotten what being Scots meant?

Wha’s Like Us? – The Question of Identity

Coal was an important factor of development. It was reach in the areas of Ireland, Wales and Scotland. It was important for the industrial revolution, but it also influenced life of both the owners and the workers, especially in coal mines.

The owners of the lands were strong and at some point, they pushed and moved people from the land quite hard. That moment was called ‘Highland Clearances’. The Lowland Clearances was not so drastic, but it was still present.

Cities grew due to industrialization. It was during that time that in 1766 the city fathers of Edinburg decided to build totally new city. The New Town was completed around 1820.

It is widely acknowledge that the great fortunes made by Scots from commodities such as tobacco, sugar and cotton depended upon the labor of African slaves.

Scots talk a lot about national identity. Historian Tom Devine had railed long and hard against what he described as “Wha’s like us?” school of Scottish history. He has said Scots’ view of themselves has for too long been skewed by the picture painted by the writers like Sir Walter Scott and J.M. Barrie and by poets like Robert Burns – of victimhood and suffering at the hands of the English; of stubborn commitment to independence; of descent from a noble, heroic warrior class; of Highland Clearances and the sad Diaspora, of lost causes and thwarted dreams.

There had been political parties in Scotland since the seventeenth century.

Opponent of Charles I that marched to Edinburgh called themselves Kirk Party and their opponents Engagers. But their opponents called them Whig-gamores – probably corrupted Scots Gaelic term for horse-drivers.

By the early years of the eighteenth century all those who supported the House of Hanover called themselves Whigs. Their opponents merchants and industrialists were called Tory Party, maybe from the Irish word Toraidhe – outlaw.

Walter Scott ideal of Scotland just modern enough, but not too modern, was never sustainable.

After 1868 Whigs transformed to liberals. They dominated the Scottish political scena until the Great War.

In 1885, Westminster resuscitated the ancient office of Secretary for Scotland and a Scottish Office was opened in London.

Homeward Bound

Scotland was influential part of Victorian Britain. Queen herself declared her love of the Highlands with the purchase of Balmoral as a holiday home.

In the times of Great War, Scots of all classes were united by a common cause. Within weeks volunteers from all Scotland were recruited as soldiers. 700.000 served, around 100.000 died. In Highlands every sixth person who served died.

For as long as anybody remember, Scotland had been a country dominated by the Liberal Party. But after the war, more and more people were listening to Labour Party.

The Great War brought unprecedented opportunities for Scotland’s iron- and steel-makers and the Colvilles of Motherwell grabbed the lion’s share.

After the war a lot of things changed. One thing was oil, that was discovered by British Petroleum in the North Sea, of the coast of Abeerdeen. Shell Expo found Brent in 1971.

The British welfare system and the British National Health Service had looked after Scots as well as English.

One politician who did not get any love from Scots was Iron Lady, Margareth Thatcher. In 1983 and 1987 Scotland voted for Labour.

It was at the end Labour under Blair that gave Scotland back its parliament. It was opened by Queen on 1st of  July 1999.

Scotland has been made and unmade and made again a thousand times.

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