An Outline of Scottish History

An Outline of Scottish History

Various Celtic tribes (Picts and Scots) settle in Scotland

St. Columba

Original inhabitants: Picts (with the capital of Scone), then the Scots from Ireland J conquered parts of Scotland (6th c.) bringing Christianity with them: St. Columba + 12 companions: evangelised the Picts (563-U597) 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

Celtic tribes unite 9th c.

Kenneth MacAlpin

Margaret

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

§ 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:

ú The Anglo-Saxon language ® which eventually took the place of Gaelic…

ú Roman Catholic Christianity – which displaced the Celtic Christian Church…

ú 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

§ Clan system

§ Collective land ownership

§ Collective responsibility (vendetta)

§ Celtic Christian Church

§ Wooden huts

§ Gaelic Language

Lowlands

§ Central government

§ Individual land ownership

§ Individual responsibility

§ Roman Catholic Church

§ Stone castles + Cathedrals

§ Scots

War of independence - Nation building - Braveheart

Stone of Destiny

William Wallace

§ 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…) ®

§ 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

§ 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

John Knox

Mary Queen of Scots

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 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 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

James VI of Scotland

Charles I

§ 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!

§ 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 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

Oliver Cromwell

James II

§ 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 ® 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. )

§ 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

Queen Anne

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

§ 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.

Sir Walter Scott

Keir Hardie

Ramsay MacDonald

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) 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)

(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 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.