AN OUTLINE OF SCOTTISH HISTORY

Various Celtic tribes (Picts and Scots) settle in Scotland

Original inhabitants: Picts (with the capital of Scone), then the Scots from Ireland ☺ conquered
parts of Scotland (6th c.) bringing Christianity with them: St. Columba + 12 companions:
evangelised the Picts (563-597) set up their monastic centre on the island of IONA, then built
churches and several monasteries, spreading the Gospel together with their Gaelic language and
culture

St. Columba

Celtic tribes unite 9th c.

Vikings: (for them Scotland was going south!) sacked the monastery at Lindisfarne, then Iona →
Scots + Picts move closer together: common pagan enemy → Unified kingdom!!
1st king of Scotland: 843 Kenneth MacAlpin king of Scots + Picts (Capital: Scone)
(To validate his rule he brought St. Columba's remains, his desk and the Stone of Destiny from
Iona)
 Vikings start to intermarry with the Scottish
Kenneth MacAlpin  11th c. the Scots conquer the Lowlands (defeating the Anglo-Saxons)

 Malcolm Canmore III (who became king after killing Macbeth 1057) married Margaret, the half-
Hungarian, half-Saxon princess who was a cousin of King István of Hungary. (Her family had to
flee England due to the Norman Conquest of 1066-70 and found refuge in Hungary) → He made
Edinburgh the capital of the Scottish kingdom

 Margaret introduced:
 The Anglo-Saxon language → which eventually took the place of Gaelic…
Margaret
 Roman Catholic Christianity – which displaced the Celtic Christian Church…
 Tartan patterns!

Normans settle in the lowlands

Normans are invited by the Canmore dynasty to help subdue the “uncivilised” Highlanders who
resisted centralised power (= Canmore rule)
 Feudal land ownership becomes the norm in the Lowlands: Land was given in return
for military service and rent (Far from the traditional clan system of common ownership of
land in effect in the Highlands.)
 Scottish kings acknowledge the nominal overlordship of English kings (1174 Henry II)
 Fortified castles are built

Highland-lowland difference deepens 12th c.

Highlands Lowlands
 Clan system  Central government
  Collective land ownership
 Collective responsibility (vendetta)
 Celtic Christian Church
 Wooden huts
 Gaelic Language
 Individual land ownership
 Individual responsibility
 Roman Catholic Church
 Stone castles + Cathedrals
 Scots

War of independence - Nation building - Braveheart

 1290 Canmore dynasty dies out: crisis (Who should be the next king of the possible candidates?)
→ The English king, Edward I, being the feudal overlord, is invited to settle the succession.
When the new Scottish king sides with England’s enemy, France, Edward launches an attack
(1296) defeating the Scots + carrying off the coronation stone (Stone of Destiny/Stone of
Scone) to Westminster Abbey. (But Scotland was too far and too big to control from London…) →

Stone of Destiny
 1297 William Wallace began the Scottish War of Independence (lasted for ~100 yrs)
Securing victory at Stirling → (1298. Edward beats Wallace at the Battle of Falkirk, Wallace had
to flee, returns in 1305 but he is betrayed then executed in London)

 1314 Battle of Bannockburn: the Scots (under Robert Bruce) win a decisive victory against
Edward II → Scotland is recognised by the French and English as an independent kingdom

 14-15th c: Hundred Years War, and then the Wars of the Roses kept England busy → Scottish
kings can concentrate on subjugating rebellious clans, extending central authority
William Wallace

 1513 Greatest Scottish defeat: Henry VIII defeats the Scots at Flodden Field, (for supporting
France against England) but does not conquer Scotland

Religious reformation and its political implications 1540-50s

Several early protestant preachers were killed for their faith: e.g. George Wishart burned at the stake
for heresy (1546 preached against Mariolatry) → his followers attack the Cardinal who passed the
death sentence against Wishart → many are arrested and condemned to the galleys as was John
Knox who will study in Geneva and lead the reformation upon returning to Scotland

1559 John Knox returns from exile: preaching all through the lowlands, winning many important
towns → 1560 Scotland is a Protestant country: Sc. abandoned the French alliance and
Catholicism! (The Catholic mass was outlawed!)

Presbyterian Kirk (Church): very democratic for that age!!

 No bishops! Elected Presbyters (leaders chosen from among the church members) lead the
John Knox church!
 The Presbyters are elected by the church members!

Mary Queen of Scots is crowned

 Grew up in Catholic France, married the French prince, widow at age 19
 Mary returns to Scotland to find that the country has left the Catholic Church
 Falls in love and marries her cousin Lord Darnley (husband no. 2), has a love affair with her
Mary Queen of Scots Italian music teacher, Rizzio, followed by the Earl of Bothwell - who helped her to assassinate
Darnley. When she marries Bothwell (husband no. 3) →
 The nobility and John Knox become fed up →
 She is imprisoned and abdicates in favour of her baby son (James VI)
  Mary escapes, flees to England to ask for help from her cousin, Queen Elizabeth, but instead she
is placed in house arrest →
 Mary is executed (19 years later) for plotting with the Spanish king against Elizabeth

Personal Union with England – (Religious tension turns into) Civil War

 1603 James Stuart (Stewart) VI of Scotland inherits the English crown after Elizabeth I of
England dies without an heir. He moves from Edinburgh to London: attempts to unite the 2
parliaments and to impose the Anglican faith in Scotland (instead of the “all too democratic”
Presbyterian Church) by appointing 3 bishops (“No bishop, no king”) → Greatly resented by the
Scottish!

James VI of Scotland

 Charles I. went even further (tried to enforce a new prayer book 1637) → Riots broke out →
National Covenant signed by 300,000 Scots: Presbyterian Church declared itself the
national church, independent of the king (they abolished the bishoprics and rejected the
new prayer book) → Covenantors raised an army → attacked N. England (1638) → Sc. Victory:
occupied Newcastle →

Charles I
Charles had to convene the English parliament to raise a proper army after 11 years of no
parliament) → no army given to Charles (parliament afraid that the king would abuse increased
power) → king goes to Edinburgh to negotiate with the Scots (promises money and to respect the
Scottish Parliament and Presbyterian Church) → Presbyterian victory

Civil War

 Rebellion in Ireland → Charles recalls Parliament to ask for an army → Tension between king and
Parliament reaches boiling point → 1642 Civil War breaks out between Parliamentarians and
Royalist supporters → both sides ask for and receive Scottish help (Covenanters fought
alongside the Parliamentarians – Cromwell had promised to establish the Presbyterian Church in
England instead of the Anglican (Episcopalian) in return for Scottish help – the Highlanders
helped the royalists…)

 Parliamentarians win but forget their promise to Scotland… + execute the king (Scottish Stuart
House!!) → the Scots feel doubly betrayed → declared Charles’s son King of Scotland →
Oliver Cromwell Cromwell invades Scotland + occupies Edinburgh

 Restoration (1660 Charles II) (1680s) Persecution of Presbyterians: 'killing times' in Scotland.
The royal commissioner of Scotland (Charles II's brother: James Stuart - the future king James
II) restores episcopacy (He appoints bishops to direct 'manipulate' the Church. This was an act
that attempted to bring an end to the all too 'democratic' Scottish Presbyterian Church which did
not believe in having bishops or other forms of church hierarchy. )

James II  Glorious Revolution 1688 (= Coup d’etat) the English Crown is 'taken away' from the king (James
II) and is offered to Princess Mary and her husband, William of Orange from Holland, a Dutch
Calvinist! → Presbyterian Kirk becomes the state church again in Scotland (It is the only
established Christian church in the world that is not episcopal - does not have bishops.)

Act of Union between Scotland and England 1707 I

 Great Britain is created = Union of parliaments
England and Scotland had had personal union since 1603, but they were 2 distinct countries with
different languages, history, national identity, laws, customs, separate parliaments, etc. Had it not
been in Scotland’s economic interest, she would not have entered into this “arranged marriage”,
since Anglophobia was deep-rooted in Scottish history and consciousness.

Reasons for Scotland’s willingness to give up her sovereignty (parliament) and unite with England:
 The Scottish Stuart House was on the throne in England (Queen Anne)
 Both countries were officially Protestant
Queen Anne
 Common enemy with England: Catholic France
 Desire to colonise
 Desire to extend trade relations with England and the British Empire
 Need of capital (Scots elite had lost fortunes trying to colonise Panama)

 Scotland lost her parliament (right to self-government), her currency

 Kept her distinct Church (Presbyterian), legal system, and education
 Gained free trade with England and the British Empire

The destruction of Highland Clans 18th c.

Highlands:
1714 Queen Anne Stuart dies → George I (from the House of Hanover) takes over the British
throne (since the next Stuart in line would have been James “III”, a Catholic, who was unwilling to
convert to Protestantism, and by law passed in 1701 no Catholic could rule Britain…)

→ Jacobite (James) Uprisings: Two uprisings to restore the Scottish Stuarts to the British throne
and oust the Hanoverians (both were started in the Highlands which had a Catholic majority):
1715 and 1745-6 → defeated due to lack of support from the Scottish Lowland Protestants
(Bonnie Prince Charlie - Charles Stuart - supported by the pope in Rome, took Scotland by storm
in 1745 and went on to occupy Northern England, advancing as far as Derby, 130 miles North of
London!)

→ Revenge: punishing the Catholic Highlands: many clan chiefs and highlanders were jailed or
forced to exile overseas, their property was burned or taken away. Those clanchiefs who
collaborated with the government were told to 'consider' the clan's land (commonly owned) as
their own. These radical changes brought the:
→ End of Highland Life (1780-1850): people were moved off the good lands to make way for
massive sheep farms, destroying a communal way of life dating back to the Picts! (The
stereotypical and idillic portrayal on calendars of sheep grazing peacefully in the romantic
hills of the Highlands shows disrespect for the history of the most authentic Scots.) Some
moved voluntarily to seek work in the big factories or were recruited to fight in the British forces
extending or defending the Empire, but most were forced to leave – their cottages were burned.
Draconian laws were introduced to uproot Highland culture by forbidding the tartan kilt, playing
the bagpipe, orgainizing Highland Games, etc (gradually repealed starting in 1792).

Lowlands: Scottish Enlightenment

Edinburgh gave the world an incredibly high number of talented scientists, artists and philosophers
→ Scotland became world famous for its intellectuals: (in science:) James Watt, James Hutton,
Lord Kelvin, (philosophy:) Adam Smith and David Hume, (in literature:) Robert Burns and Sir
Walter Scott.
The Rise of Industrial Towns 19th c.

1820s: 3 generations had grown up since the outlawing of Highland kilts and music when the
tartan kilts not only were allowed again but became popular like never before (in high society of
southern Scotland) thanks to Sir Walter Scott. He did much to revive interest in all things and
places Scottish both at home and in England through his historical novels (an invention of Scott!)
and his friendship with the king. George IV was the first king to visit Scotland in almost 200 years!

Sir Walter Scott managed to revive interest in Scotland’s past:

1. He wrote best-selling historical novels with Scottish setting (e.g. Waverley, Rob Roy)
Sir Walter Scott this way awakening the interest in Scotland of the royal house as well!
2. It was Scott’s initiative to organize a search for the Scottish royal crown which had
long disappeared (~1603 Union of Crowns) somewhere in the Edinburgh Castle.
3. He was the first person in the kingdom to be “knighted” by the new king: George IV (in
1820)
4. Having befriended the king (George IV) Scott talked him into visiting Scotland (1822)
– the first king to visit Scotland in a very long time
5. Scott persuaded the king to wear the Scottish tartan kilt on his tour not telling him that
it had been strictly forbidden since 1746…

(The Scottish Stuarts Charles II and James II never set foot in Scotland once crowned in England,
whereas Queen Mary and Queen Anne never went to Scotland in their life! From the new royal
house the first three Hanoverians were understandibly not enthusiastic about Scotland after the
Jacobite Uprisings... But finally George IV broke with the past in this sense and displayed interest
in his Scottish subjects and their culture.)

It was Scott's idea to organise a tour of Scotland for the king (to divert attention from the political
tension of a recent insurrection in 1820). The visit was a success in many ways. Its most
profound and lasting effect was the newfound enthusiasm of the Scottish élite (Lowlands) for the
outlawed (almost forgotten and never loved) Highland tartan kilts. (The Grand Ball given for the king
could only be attended by men wearing their appropriate tartan kilt. "At this, lowland gentlemen suddenly embarked
on a desperate search for Highland ancestry -however remote- and a suitable tartan kilt from the Edinburgh tailors,
who responded inventively. This can be seen as the pivotal event when what had been thought of as the primitive dress
of mountain thieves became the national dress of the whole of Scotland." (Wikipedia: History of Scotland)

Technological development → Industrial revolution → mechanization in factories → centralized and

mass production → rise of towns and cities:
Glasgow became the 2nd biggest city of GB a major international port (main imports: tobacco,
sugar and cotton; main exports: coal, steel and textiles) → mining coal to produce iron → building
ships and locomotives (e.g. the ocean liner Lusitania, torpedoed by the Germans in 1915)
The Glasgow region had some of the richest coalfields which gave work to over 150,000 miners and
coal to the new factories springing up in the city, but most of it was exported. → Huge working
class is born (most living in very bad conditions)
Keir Hardie

(Glasgow’s slums, the Irish neighbourhood is born (the Irish were fleeing from the famine back in
Ireland, looking for work) → Sectarian opposition (most tangible in sports): Glasgow Celtics (the
Catholic Irish) versus Glasgow Rangers (the Protestant Scottish) …

1888 Keir Hardie (a miner who learned to read and write at age 17) founded the Labour Party in
Scotland and was the first Labour Party Member of Parliament (1892)! In 1900 he organised the
meeting of trade unions where the (UK) Labour Party was born.

1924 Ramsay MacDonald, another Scot, became the first Prime Minister of the UK to come from
Ramsay MacDonald the Labour Party.
.

The Road to Self-Government 20th c.

 1920-30s → Economic Depression v Scottish National Party is formed: striving for independence
1945 → coal mines, steel mills, shipyards closed down → mass unemployment
1950 Scottish Nationalists steal the Stone of Destiny/Scone from Westminster Abbey
1969 Oil is discovered in the North Sea → sparks off a national revival in Sc. → Restructuring of
the Scottish economy: moving away from the traditional industries of coal, steel and
shipbuilding towards high-technology industries and services
1979 (1st) National Referendum on Devolution forced by the SNP (give back Scotland her
parliament after 300 years of no parliament) → failure (would have required the yes vote of 40%
of all potential voters)
1980-90s: Margaret Thatcher and John Major were very much against devolution
→ Scotland was hard hit by Thatcher’s economic measures: steel mills were closed down
→ Gaelic-medium schools increased from 2 to 50 in Scotland
1996 Stone of Destiny is given back to Scotland after 700 years of “exile” in London (It will have
to be returned for the event of any future coronation of a British monarch.) It is kept in
Edinburgh Castle next to the Scottish Crown and regalia.
1997 Tony Blair promises to hold referendum on devolution in Scotland to ensure majority for the
Labour Party at the elections. → Conservatives lose every seat in Scotland. Labour Party wins:
Tony Blair is PM.

1997 September: Referendum in Scotland: 75% vote in favour of Devolution!

Devolution: TRANSFER OF POWER over domestic affairs from London back to

Edinburgh after 300 years! (The Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh had been closed in 1707
after the Act of Union)

A quiet revolution?? “Sparked by the promises that helped the Labour Party to Its 1997 landslide
victory, burns a fire of constitutional reform that within the next 10 years could mean the end of
the Union.” (Time, May 10, 1999)

Pro-Independence: Questions of national identity are raised → the English = oppressors?

→ Resurgence of national pride! (e.g. Blue and white faces on football games) No more common
bonds that used to keep the English + Scottish together (e.g. Protestantism, the common enemy
France, the British Empire) (Linda Colley, Britons: Forging a Nation)

Pro-Union: The Scottish people receive 32% more from the budget per person than the English.

1999 May: Scottish Parliamentary Elections → 129 MPs through proportional representation!!!
(Not “First past the post” system as in England!) → the Scottish Nationalist Party became the
second largest party.

sources:

Richard Killeen 2001 A short History of Scotland. Gill and Macmillan Ltd.
David McDowall 1999 Britain in Close-up. Longman
BBC.co.uk - Scottish Timeline