Explore Scotland´s exciting past in the articles and links below.
A Wee Guide To Robert The Bruce Book Review
A Wee Guide To Robert The Bruce, by Duncan Jones and Alison L. Rae, is one of a series of short books celebrating Scotland´s history. Concise and entertaining, I found this book a really good read.
Scotland's creation and early history, before written records began.
Burke and Hare
William Burke and William Hare were two of Scotland's most notorioius murderers, selling bodies for dissection by medical students.
Crannogs were ancient settlements with huge defensive potential that proliferated in Scotland long before the coming of Christianity.
Flora MacDonald Heroine of Bonnie Prince Charlie
Flora MacDonald smuggled Bonnie Prince Charlie to Skye. Her exploits are remembered in the Skye Boat Song. Her statue stands proud outside Inverness Castle.
Greyfriars Bobby was a Skye terrier so committed to his master that he watched over his owner’s Edinburgh grave for fourteen years.
James VI of Scotland
James VI of Scotland, son of Mary Queen of Scots, achieved where his mother had failed - he gained the English throne, and in doing so gained an additional title - James I of England.
John Brown, close confidante of Queen Victoria, was said by some to have more than a friendship with the queen he faithfully served after the death of her husband Albert.
Kings of Scotland - Eleventh Century
You may have seen or studied Shakespeare's Macbeth - a play written hundreds of years after Macbeth reigned. Find out about the kings who ruled Scotland ten centuries ago, including Macbeth whose life differed greatly from Shakespeare's portrayal.
Mary Queen of Scots
Mary Queen of Scots was unlucky in love and politics. Most people know that King Henry VIII had six wives – when he married his third wife, Jane Seymour, he was forty-five years old - but did you know that Mary Queen of Scots had three husbands under her belt before her twenty-fifth birthday?
Queen Margaret of Scotland
Queen Margaret - Anglo-Saxon, born in Hungary in the eleventh century, brought up in the English court of her kinsman Edward the Confessor. She died in 1093 in Edinburgh Castle, where a chapel still bears her name. Her deep faith led to the church conferring sainthood on this medieval queen.
Ramsay MacDonald - First Labour Prime Minister
Ramsay MacDonald, first Labour Prime Minister, was born and brought up in Scotland. He presided over a troubled time in UK politics, and was in some ways a man ahead of his time.
Rob Roy is a Scottish folklore hero whose legendary exploits have been celebrated in music, film and print.
Saint Columba, one of the oldest known characters in Scottish history, is famous for the monastery he set up on the island of Iona in the sixth century. His name has also been linked with the Loch Ness Monster...
Sawney Bean and his notorious family lived in a cave in Ayrshire on Scotland’s south west coast near Ballantrae. The clan at full strength was said to number 48, each and every one of them a cannibal who caught, murdered, pickled and ate unwary travellers.
Scotland General Election 2010
The UK General Election and Scotland - new leaders, new government, new Scotland?
The Antonine Wall
The Antonine Wall, built by the Romans, stretched from the River Clyde in west Scotland to the River Forth in east Scotland. This was the final frontier for the Romans in Britain, a huge piece of builidng work which they abandoned within a generation. The Antonine Wall is a World Heritage site.
The Battle of Pinkie
The Battle of Pinkie, in 1547, was a turning point in the histories of Scotland and England. The political battleground was the English desire for Mary Queen of Scots, aged four, to marry Edward VI, Henry VIII's heir, aged nine.
The Battle of Stirling Bridge
Wiilam Wallace had a short time in the eye of history. The Battle of Stirling Bridge was his crowning achievement on 11 September 1297.
The Orkney Islands
The Orkney Islands, off Scotland's north-east coast, are rich in history, from a Viking cathedral to a wealth of prehistoric sites.
The Stone of Destiny
The Stone of Destiny, often known as the Stone of Scone, is the stone on which many early Scottish kings were crowned.
The Story Of Scotland - Book Review
The Story of Scotland by Nigel Tranter is an engaging Scottish history from an author whose legacy includes fact and fiction.
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William Wallace, Scottish nationalist, fought for his country and died for his cause.
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