My Scottish Obsession

A Brief History of Scotland
Prior to the country we now know as Scotland there were a group of people known as the Picts who moved into the area of Scotland and Northern England. It is believed that these people came from Norway and Denmark and settled down to create semi-stable settlements. These are the very same people who have created legend by stating that fending off the Romans so fiercely that they cause the building the famous Hadrian wall.

The Kingdom of Alba
The Romans would not be the last of the conquered who would come to Scotland to tame the people who lived there and take what they wanted. In the 800's AD the Vikings started their pillaging and plundering of the British Isles. Modern day England would be impacted extremely hard as the Vikings fought with the kingdoms of the South. Some of the Picts would align with the Vikings and used their alliance to advance their peoples. The probably figured it was better than being murdered like the people to the South. It is also during this time period that the peoples formerly known as the Pitcs start calling their kingdom Alba.

The Vikings
The era of the Vikings would end with the incorporation of the Vikings in the lifestyle of the peoples who lived in the British Isles this was especially so in Scotland and Ireland. After this era Alba is relatively peaceful in its living on having minor classes that were between clashing clans. However, leading up to the 11th century the Normans (currently Great Britain) would start to move in on the land of Alba and attempt to take over the kingship to the north. The Normans wanted to control off the people surrounding them and went out of their way to destroy any group who would try to oppose them. For the next five hundred years Scotland would continue to fight with England over sovereignty resulting in three major uprisings. The first in 1297AD at the Battle of Stirling where the highlanders and the English's clashing comes to a head. The Scottish are able to hold off the British and later on fight the English at the Battle of Bannachburn where William the Bruce solidifies his kingship. (This is where the movie Braveheart gets its history base from).

The Stuarts
The clashing of England and Scotland would come to blows two more times. In the 1715 Uprising of James Francis Edward Stuart who believed that the crown had been usurpt from his family (which it kinda was). During this "uprising" James would come to Scotland, but never leave the safety of his ship due to storms and the lack of reinforcements by the Spanish who were blown off course. James then went back to France to lick his wounds until he passed away some years later, but before he passed away one of his sons Charles Edward Stuart would try and avenge their rightful crown. Charles is also known as the "Bonnie Prince Charlie." During his attempt at reclaiming the throne he would make it back to Scotland raise up and army, but then would be defeated at the brutal and bloody battle of Culloden. The battle of Culloden marks the end of the Highland culture and way of life that we think of when discussing Scotland. The Highland clans would be split up and many of the Jacobite's (Charlie supporters) would be deported, hanged, or imprisoned for the next 20+ years in the English attempt to destroy and commendatory still left in the Scottish peoples.

The rest of Scotlands history as we know it today, and more information on it can be found by going to Visit Scotland

Lauren Benefield
Last Updated 5/06/16
Completion 5/06/16