1.
Scone Abbey
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Scone Abbey was a house of Augustinian canons located in Scone, Perthshire, Scotland. Very little is known about the Culdees but it is thought that a cult may have been worshiping at Scone from as early as 700 A. D. The priory was established by six canons from Nostell Priory in West Yorkshire under the leadership of Prior Robert, who was the first prior of Scone. The foundation charter, dated 1120, was thought to be a fake version of the original. Perhaps the copy was needed after a fire occurred there sometime before 1163 A. D. Scone Priory suffered a similar destruction of records during the Wars of Scottish Independence, in either 1163 A. D. or 1164 A. D. during the reign of King Máel Coluim IV, Scone Priorys status was raised and it became an abbey. Scone Abbey had important royal functions, since it was located next to the site of Scottish kings. Scone Abbey was, according to King Máel Coluim IV, in principali sede regni nostri, as such, Scone Abbey was one of the chief residences of the Scottish kings, who were hosted by the abbot during their stay at Scone. Most likely the king stayed in the abbots own rooms within the abbots palace and it is very likely that the abbey buildings overlapped with the modern palace. The abbey also had relics of a now obscure saint by the name of St Fergus, although the abbey long remained famous for its music since Robert Carver produced there some of Europes best late medieval choral music into the late 16th century, its status declined over time. After the reformation in 1559, Scottish abbeys disappeared as institutions, although not overnight, the abbey at Scone continued to function well into the 17th century. There are existing documents describing repairs made to the spire of the church dating from 1620 A. D. The property and lordship have been in the possession of the Murrays of Scone ever since, later, this branch of the Murray clan became the Earls of Mansfield. Scone Abbey flourished for four hundred years. In 1559 during the days of the Scottish Reformation the abbey fell victim to a Protestant mob from Dundee who were whipped into a zealous frenzy by the great reformer John Knox. The abbey was badly damaged despite Knoxs attempt to calm the mob as they approached Perth, despite this setback Scone Abbey was repaired and continued to function for another ninety years. The abbey estates were granted to Lord Ruthven, who later became the Earl of Gowrie. Lord Ruthven held extensive estates in Scotland including Ruthven Castle near Perth, now called Huntingtower Castle, the Ruthvens rebuilt the Abbots Palace of the old abbey as a grand residence in 1580
2.
Scone, Scotland
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Scone is a village in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. Hence the modern village of Scone, and the village of Old Scone. Both sites lie in the province of Gowrie, as well as the old county of Perthshire. Old Scone was the capital of the Kingdom of Alba. In the Middle Ages it was an important royal centre, used as a royal residence, around the royal site grew the town of Perth and the Abbey of Scone. Scotland itself was called or shown on maps as the Kingdom of Scone. A comparison would be that Ireland was often called the Kingdom of Tara, Tara, like Scone, Scone was therefore the closest thing the Kingdom of Scotland had in its earliest years to a capital. In either 1163 or 1164 King Malcolm IV described Scone Abbey as in principali sede regni nostri, in the principal seat of our kingdom. By this point, however, the rule of the King of the Scots was not confined to the Kingdom of Scotland, the king also ruled in Lothian, Strathclyde and the Honour of Huntingdon, and spent much of his time in these localities too. Moreover, the king was itinerant and had little permanent bureaucracy, but in the medieval sense Scone can in many ways be called the capital of Scotland and was often referred to as the Royal City of Scone. Many comparisons can be drawn between the City of Westminster and the City of Scone, both were medieval epicenters of Royal power. Both were located beside crossing points of major rivers - the highways of the medieval period -, the origins of a settlement of any kind at Scone are unknown, although thought to be early medieval. The origins could be pre-Roman as there is evidence of a well-established and sophisticated Iron Age people flourishing in this part of Scotland. Direct evidence however is lacking and so Scones story is thought to begin in the wake of the Roman exit from Scottish history, Scone at this point played a crucial role in the formation and governance of the ancient Kingdom of Alba and later Kingdom of Scotland. In the 12th century, various foreign influences prompted the Scottish kings to transform Scone into a more convincing royal center, many historians have argued that the monastery or Priory was founded specifically in 1114 by Alexander I of Scotland. There is growing evidence that there had been an early Christian cult called the Culdees based at Scone dating from at least the 9th century, the Culdees were eventually merged with the Augustinian canons who arrived from Nostell Priory in Yorkshire as part of the 1114 re-establishment. Scone at this time lay on a part of the river Tay. This advantage was at times a disadvantage as the Vikings came across the North Sea to launch their lightening raids
3.
King of Scots
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The monarch of Scotland was the head of state of the Kingdom of Scotland. According to tradition, the first King of Scots was Kenneth MacAlpin, the distinction between the Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of the Picts is rather the product of later medieval myth and confusion from a change in nomenclature i. e. The Kingdom of the Picts just became known as Kingdom of Alba in Gaelic, which became known in Scots and English as Scotland. By the late 11th century at the very latest, Scottish kings were using the term rex Scottorum, or King of Scots, to refer to themselves in Latin. The title of King of Scots fell out of use in 1707, thus Queen Anne became the last monarch of the ancient kingdoms of Scotland and England and the first of Great Britain, although the kingdoms had shared a monarch since 1603. Her uncle Charles II was the last Scottish monarch actually to be crowned in Scotland, the reign of Kenneth MacAlpin begins what is often called the House of Alpin, an entirely modern concept. * Evidence for Eochaids reign is unclear, he may never have actually been King, if he was, he was co-King with Giric. † Eochiad was a son of Run, King of Strathclyde and he was also the heir-general of Malcolm I, as his paternal grandfather, Duncan of Atholl was the third son of Malcolm I. The House of Dunkeld was therefore related to the House of Alpin. Duncan was killed in battle by Macbeth, who had a long, in a series of battles between 1057 and 1058, Duncans son Malcolm III defeated and killed Macbeth and Macbeths stepson and heir Lulach, and claimed the throne. Edgar triumphed, sending his uncle and brother to monasteries, after the reign of David I, the Scottish throne was passed according to rules of primogeniture, moving from father to son, or where not possible, brother to brother. The last King of the House of Dunkeld was Alexander III, Alexander had himself remarried, but in early 1286 he died in an accident while riding home. His wife, Yolande of Dreux, was pregnant, but by November 1286 all hope of her bearing a child had passed. Accordingly, in the Treaty of Salisbury, the Guardians of Scotland recognised Alexanders three-year-old granddaughter, Margaret of Norway, Margaret remained in her fathers Kingdom of Norway until Autumn 1290, when she was dispatched to Scotland. However, she died on the journey in Orkney, having never set foot on Scottish soil and she is thus sometimes not considered Queen by nationalists. The death of Margaret of Norway began an interregnum in Scotland caused by a succession crisis. With her death, the descent of William I became extinct, the Scottish Magnates invited Edward I of England to arbitrate the claims, he did so, but forced the Scots to swear allegiance to him as overlord. For ten years, Scotland had no King of its own, the Scots, however, refused to tolerate English rule, first William Wallace and then, after his execution, Robert the Bruce fought against the English
4.
Coronation
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The ceremony can also be conducted for the monarchs consort, either simultaneously with the monarch or as a separate event. A ceremony without the placement of a crown on the head is known as an enthronement. Coronations are still observed in the United Kingdom, Tonga, in addition to investing the monarch with symbols of state, Western-style coronations have often traditionally involve anointing with holy oil, or chrism as it is often called. Wherever a ruler is anointed in this way, as in Great Britain and Tonga, some other lands use bathing or cleansing rites, the drinking of a sacred beverage, or other religious practices to achieve a comparable effect. Such acts symbolise the granting of divine favour to the monarch within the relevant spiritual-religious paradigm of the country, in the past, concepts of royalty, coronation and deity were often inexorably linked. Rome promulgated the practice of worship, in Medieval Europe. Coronations were once a direct expression of these alleged connections. Thus, coronations have often been discarded altogether or altered to reflect the nature of the states in which they are held. However, some monarchies still choose to retain an overtly religious dimension to their accession rituals, others have adopted simpler enthronement or inauguration ceremonies, or even no ceremony at all. In non-Christian states, coronation rites evolved from a variety of sources, buddhism, for instance, influenced the coronation rituals of Thailand, Cambodia and Bhutan, while Hindu elements played a significant role in Nepalese rites. The ceremonies used in modern Egypt, Malaysia, Brunei and Iran were shaped by Islam, Coronations, in one form or another, have existed since ancient times. Egyptian records show coronation scenes, such as that of Seti I in 1290 BC, judeo-Christian scriptures testify to particular rites associated with the conferring of kingship, the most detailed accounts of which are found in II Kings 11,12 and II Chronicles 23,11. Following the assumption of the diadem by Constantine, Roman and Byzantine emperors continued to wear it as the symbol of their authority. Although no specific coronation ceremony was observed at first, one gradually evolved over the following century, the emperor Julian was hoisted upon a shield and crowned with a gold necklace provided by one of his standard-bearers, he later wore a jewel-studded diadem. Later emperors were crowned and acclaimed in a manner, until the momentous decision was taken to permit the Patriarch of Constantinople to physically place the crown on the emperors head. Historians debate when exactly this first took place, but the precedent was established by the reign of Leo II. This ritual included recitation of prayers by the Byzantine prelate over the crown, after this event, according to the Catholic Encyclopedia, the ecclesiastical element in the coronation ceremonial rapidly develop. This was usually performed three times, following this, the king was given a spear, and a diadem wrought of silk or linen was bound around his forehead as a token of regal authority
5.
Alexander II of Scotland
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Alexander II was King of Scots from 1214 until his death in 1249. He was born at Haddington, East Lothian, the son of the Scottish king William the Lion. He spent time in England before succeeding to the kingdom on the death of his father on 4 December 1214, being crowned at Scone on 6 December the same year. In 1215, the year after his accession, the clans Meic Uilleim and MacHeths, inveterate enemies of the Scottish crown, broke into revolt, but loyalist forces speedily quelled the insurrection. In the same year Alexander joined the English barons in their struggle against John of England and this action led to the sacking of Berwick-upon-Tweed as Johns forces ravaged the north. But John having died, the Pope and the English aristocracy changed their allegiance to his son, Henry, forcing the French. Peace between Henry III, Louis of France, and Alexander followed on 12 September 1217 with the treaty of Kingston, diplomacy further strengthened the reconciliation by the marriage of Alexander to Henrys sister Joan of England on 18 June or 25 June 1221. The next year marked the subjection of the hitherto semi-independent district of Argyll, royal forces crushed a revolt in Galloway in 1235 without difficulty, nor did an invasion attempted soon afterwards by its exiled leaders meet with success. Soon afterwards a claim for homage from Henry of England drew forth from Alexander a counter-claim to the northern English counties, the two kingdoms, however, settled this dispute by a compromise in 1237. This was the Treaty of York which defined the boundary between the two kingdoms as running between the Solway Firth and the mouth of the River Tweed, Joan died in March 1238 in Essex. Alexander married his wife, Marie de Coucy, the following year on 15 May 1239. Together they had one son, the future Alexander III, born in 1241, Alexander now turned his attention to securing the Western Isles, which still owed a nominal allegiance to Norway. He repeatedly attempted negotiations and purchase, but without success, Alexander attempted to persuade Ewen, the son of Duncan, Lord of Argyll, to sever his allegiance to Haakon IV of Norway. When Ewen rejected these attempts, Alexander sailed forth to compel him and he died there in 1249 and was buried at Melrose Abbey 1. Joan of England, was the eldest legitimate daughter and third child of John of England and she and Alexander II married on 21 June 1221, at York Minster. Joan was Alexanders 3rd cousin, their closest common ancestor being Henry I of England, Joan died in Essex in 1238, and was buried at Tarant Crawford Abbey in Dorset. Marie de Coucy, who became mother of Alexander III of Scotland and she was Alexanders 3rd cousin once removed by their common ancestor Hugh I, Count of Vermandois. Alexander II has been depicted in novels, Sword of State by Nigel Tranter
6.
Margaret, Maid of Norway
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Margaret, Maid of Norway was a Norwegian princess who reigned as Queen of Scots from 1286 until her death. Her death while travelling to Scotland sparked off the disputed succession led to the Wars of Scottish Independence. She was the daughter of King Eric II of Norway and Margaret, or she, even if she is without children, according to Scottish law and custom. Alexander III made similar provisions when arranging the marriage of his son Alexander to Margaret, daughter of Guy de Dampierre, Count of Flanders, probably also in 1281. The treaty arranging the marriage, signed in December 1281, included a lengthy and complex document setting out the customs, as well as general statement of principles, the annex includes specific examples of the rights of A and M and their children in particular cases. The document, while confusing in places, appears to favour primogeniture for male heirs, or their descendants, the younger Alexander died on 28 January 1284, leaving only the kings granddaughter Margaret living out of his descendants. Alexander III summoned all thirteen earls of Scotland and twenty-four barons, however, it is unlikely that this was intended to allow Margaret to rule alone as queen regnant, but rather jointly with her future spouse, whoever he might be. While unexceptional in the circumstances, this would appear to show that Alexander III had decided on remarriage and he did remarry, to Yolande de Dreux, but died shortly afterwards as the result of an accident on 19 March 1286 without any children by her. At this time it was thought that Queen Yolande was pregnant, so that Margaret was not yet the obvious successor. This, according to the oaths taken, made Margaret the heir at three years of age, but that same year Robert Bruce, 5th Lord of Annandale had rebelled with the aid of his son the Earl of Carrick. The Bruces captured strongholds in Galloway, and as well as bolstering their position in the south-west where their rivals the Balliols also had influence, may have been making a bid for the Crown. The rebellion thus quickly fizzled out, though no action was taken against the Bruces after they had handed back the castles they had seized. Far from the Scots displaying any desire to bring Margaret to Scotland, Eric sent official ambassadors to Edward I of England, then in Gascony, in May 1289, with papers referring to Margaret as queen. The Scots were in a position since Eric could arrange his daughters marriage to Edward Is son Edward or anyone else without reference to the Guardians. That marriage of Edward, Prince of Wales, was in King Edwards mind is clear from the fact that a papal dispensation was received from Pope Nicholas IV ten days after the treaty was signed. Thought to show bad faith on Edwards part, the Papal Bull did not contract a marriage, Edward, like Eric, was now writing of Queen Margaret, anticipating her inauguration and the subsequent marriage to his son. Her remains were taken to Bergen and interred beside her mother in the wall on the side of the choir in Christ Church. Her death left no heir to the Scottish throne and the matter of succession was resolved in the Great Cause of 1291–2
7.
Roxburgh Castle
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Roxburgh Castle is a ruined royal castle that overlooks the junction of the rivers Tweed and Teviot, in the Borders region of Scotland. Its castleton developed into the burgh of Roxburgh, which the Scots destroyed along with the castle after capturing it in 1460. Today the ruins stand in the grounds of Floors Castle, the seat of the Duke of Roxburghe, tradition states that King David I founded the castle, it is first recorded in c.1128 during his reign. In 1174 it was surrendered to England after the capture of William I at Alnwick, the Scots made many attempts to regain the fortress. On 19 February 1314 it was retaken by Sir James Douglas, who disguised his men as cows. The castle was Edward III of Englands base of operations during his 1334 winter campaign against the Scots, a Scottish siege in 1417 necessitated repairs. The Scots again besieged Roxburgh in 1460, in the course of the metal fragments from the explosion of one of his bombards killed King James II of Scotland. However the Scots stormed Roxburgh, capturing it, and James queen, in 1545, during the Rough Wooing, the English garrison commanded by Ralph Bulmer built a rectangular fort on the site at the instigation of the Earl of Hertford. This was destroyed in 1550 by the terms of the Treaty of Boulogne, the ruins of Roxburgh Castle stand in the grounds of Floors Castle, the seat of the Duke of Roxburghe. These consist of a mound, with very little stonework visible. The 1314 capture of the castle is one of the inspirations of The Three Perils of Man by James Hogg, list of places in the Scottish Borders CANMORE/RCAHMS record of Roxburgh Castle, Old Roxburgh Castle, Protector Somersets Camp SCRAN image, Roxburgh Castle
8.
Roxburghshire
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Roxburghshire or the County of Roxburgh is a historic county in the Southern Uplands of Scotland. It borders Dumfriesshire to the west, Selkirkshire to the north-west, to the south-east it borders Cumberland and Northumberland in England. It was named after the Royal Burgh of Roxburgh, a town which declined markedly in the 15th century and is no longer in existence, latterly, the county town of Roxburghshire was Jedburgh. The county has much the area as Teviotdale, the basin drained by the River Teviot. The term is often treated as synonymous with Roxburghshire, but may omit Liddesdale as Liddel Water drains to the west coast. Today, Roxburghshire is within the Scottish Borders council area for government purposes and contains the administrative centre of the area. It retains official status as a county, and falls within the Roxburgh, Ettrick. The county has a population of 48639, which is 43% of the population of the Scottish Borders area. Today, the towns in the county are, Jedburgh -4,030 Hawick -14,294 Kelso -5,639 Melrose -2,307 Hawick is now much the largest town. More than half the population live in the two parishes of Hawick and Melrose, until 1975, Roxburghshire was one of the counties of Scotland, governed by a county council from 1890. The county appears to have originated in the 12th century with the creation of the sheriffdom of Roxburgh, the first known sheriff is Gospatric. The hereditary sheriffship of Roxburghshire was possessed by the family of Douglas until the abolition of heritable jurisdictions in the 18th century, the ancient royal burgh of Roxburgh, from which the county had taken its name, fell into decay by the fifteenth century. After the demise of the town of Roxburgh, the county administration was based in Jedburgh, County Buildings were erected near the market place in 1812, in which the different courts met and the county officials transacted their business. After the 1894 County Council meetings were held at Newtown St Boswells, Kelso, Roxburgh County Offices were built there around 1930. New buildings by Peter Womersley were opened in 1968 and after local government re-organisation they became the headquarters of Borders Regions in 1975, the Duke of Buccleuch and the Duke of Roxburghe between them held the convenorship of Roxburgh County Council for 43 years between 1900 and 1975. The Local Government Act 1973 abolished the county and incorporated its area into the Borders Region, Borders was divided into four districts, one of which was named Roxburgh. Roxburgh District consisted of the county less the Melrose area. The regional and four district councils were abolished in 1996, merging to form the present Scottish Borders council area, the County of Roxburgh was the first Scottish county to receive a grant of arms
9.
Fife
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Fife is a council area and historic county of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with boundaries to Perth and Kinross. By custom it is held to have been one of the major Pictish kingdoms, known as Fib. It is an area, and was a county of Scotland until 1975. It was very occasionally known by the anglicisation Fifeshire in old documents, a person from Fife is known as a Fifer. Fife was a government region divided into three districts, Dunfermline, Kirkcaldy and North-East Fife. Since 1996 the functions of the councils have been exercised by the unitary Fife Council. Fife is Scotlands third largest local authority area by population and it has a resident population of just under 367,000, over a third of whom live in the three principal towns of Dunfermline, Kirkcaldy and Glenrothes. The historic town of St Andrews is located on the northeast coast of Fife and it is well known for the University of St Andrews, one of the most ancient universities in the world and is renowned as the home of golf. Fife, bounded to the north by the Firth of Tay, the earliest known reference to the common epithet The Kingdom of Fife dates from only 1678, in a proposition that the term derives from the quasi-regal privileges of the Earl of Fife. The notion of a kingdom may derive from a misintrepretation of an extract from Wyntoun, the name is recorded as Fib in A. D.1150 and Fif in 1165. It was often associated with Fothriff, the hill-fort of Clatchard Craig, near Newburgh, was occupied as an important Pictish stronghold between the sixth and eighth centuries AD. Fife was an important royal and political centre from the reign of King Malcolm III onwards, Malcolm had his principal home in Dunfermline and his wife Margaret was the main benefactor of Dunfermline Abbey. The Abbey replaced Iona as the resting place of Scotlands royal elite. The Earl of Fife was until the 15th century considered the principal peer of the Scottish realm, wool, linen, coal and salt were all traded. Salt pans heated by local coal were a feature of the Fife coast in the past, the distinctive red clay pan tiles seen on many old buildings in Fife arrived as ballast on trading boats and replaced the previously thatched roofs. This endeavour lasted until 1609 when the colonists, having been opposed by the population, were bought out by Kenneth Mackenzie. Fife became a centre of industry in the 19th century
10.
Dunfermline Abbey
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Dunfermline Abbey is a Church of Scotland Parish Church located in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland. The minister is the Reverend MaryAnn R. Rennie, the church occupies the site of the ancient chancel and transepts of a large medieval Benedictine abbey, which was sacked in 1560 during the Scottish Reformation and permitted to fall into disrepair. Part of the old church continued in use at that time and some parts of the abbey infrastructure still remain to this day. Dunfermline Abbey is one of Scotlands most important cultural sites, Malcolm III or Malcolm Canmore, and his queen, St Margaret of Scotland. At its head was the Abbot of Dunfermline, the first of which was Geoffrey of Canterbury, former Prior of Christ Church, Canterbury, the Kent monastery that probably supplied Dunfermlines first monks. At the peak of its power it controlled four burghs, three courts of regality, and a portfolio of lands from Moray in the north south to Berwickshire. The foundations of the earliest church, namely the Church of the Holy Trinity, are under the superb Romanesque nave built in the 12th century. During the winter of 1303 the court of Edward I of England was held in the Abbey, during the Scottish Reformation, the abbey church was sacked in March 1560. Some parts of the infrastructure still remain, principally the vast refectory. The nave was also spared and it was repaired in 1570 by Robert Drummond of Carnock and it served as the parish church till the 19th century, and now forms the vestibule of a new church. Also of the monastery there still remains the south wall of the refectory, next to the abbey is the ruin of Dunfermline Palace, also part of the original abbey complex and connected to it via the gatehouse. Dunfermline Abbey, one of Scotlands most important cultural sites, has received more of Scotland’s royal dead than any place in the kingdom. One of the most notable names to be associated with the abbey is the northern renaissance poet. The tomb of Saint Margaret and Malcolm Canmore, within the walls of the Lady chapel, was restored and enclosed by command of Queen Victoria. The current building on the site of the choir of the old Abbey church is a Parish Church of the Church of Scotland, in 2002 the congregation had 806 members. The minister is the Reverend Mary Ann R. Rennie, the old building was a fine example of simple and massive Romanesque, as the nave testifies, and has a beautiful doorway in its west front. Another rich Romanesque doorway was exposed in the wall in 1903. A new site was found for this monument in order that the ancient, the venerable structure is maintained publicly, and private munificence has provided several stained-glass windows
11.
Margaret of England
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Margaret of England was Queen of Scots by marriage to King Alexander III. Margaret was the child of King Henry III of England and his wife, Eleanor of Provence. Margaret’s first appearance in historical record comes when she was three years old, when she and her brother, the future Edward I, took part in an event in London, King Alexander II of Scotland had previously been married to her paternal aunt, Joan of England. In 1244, her father and Alexander II met in Newcastle in 1244 to resume relations between the two nations, and it was decided that the future Alexander III of Scotland should marry Margaret. She was betrothed the same year and she was married on 26 December 1251, when she was 11 years old, at York Minster, to King Alexander III of Scotland, who was 10 years of age. The couple remained in York until January the following year, when they continued to their residence in Edinburgh. Margaret is said to have been unhappy in Scotland, and created tensions between England and Scotland by writing to her family in England that she was poorly treated in Scotland. Because of their age, it was not considered suitable for the couple to have sexual intercourse. Margaret was therefore not allowed to see Alexander very often, and because she had evidently given a good impression of him and came to be fond of him. Further more, she did not like the castle and hated Edinburgh, or the climate in Scotland. She wrote of her homesickness and complaints to her parents, who asked for her to visit them, the Scots, however, refused permission, because of the risk that she would never return. In 1255, Queen Eleanor sent her physician to Edinburgh to investigate Margaret’s well being and he reported that she was pale and depressed, and complained about loneliness and neglect. Her father sent a new delegation, wrote to some of the Scottish earls, Queen Margaret complained to her fathers envoys that she was kept as a prisoner without the permission to travel, and that she was not allowed to see her spouse nor be intimate with him. After this, the king of England and the council of Scotland came to an agreement. The same year,7 September 1255, Margaret and Alexander III visited her parents, Margaret stayed a bit longer in England after her spouses departure, but soon followed him when the agreement was secured. In 1257, Margaret and Alexander were captured and held prisoner by the Comyn family and they were eventually released after the intervention of her father and the Scottish regency council. She was not able to visit her fathers funeral in 1272 because of her pregnancy and it was said that Margaret was responsible for the death of a young courtier, who reputedly had killed her uncle Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester. She had been given this esquire as a gift from her brother Edward and this incident took place at Kinclaven Castle near Perth in the summer of 1273, were she recuperated after the birth of her son David
12.
Yolande of Dreux, Queen of Scotland
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Yolande of Dreux was a sovereign Countess of Montfort from 1311 until 1322. Through her first marriage to Alexander III of Scotland, Yolande became Queen consort of the Kingdom of Scotland, through her second marriage to Arthur II, Duke of Brittany, she became Duchess Consort of Brittany. She was the daughter of Robert IV, Count of Dreux and her father was a patrilineal descendant of King Louis VI of France, making her a member of a cadet branch of the Capetian dynasty with powerful connections. In 1281, king Alexander III of Scotland lost his son David and he was in need to remarry to have a new heir to the throne. Yolande was the stepdaughter of Jean de Brienne, the spouse of king Alexanders mother, queen dowager Marie de Coucy. Yolande was related to her husband Alexander III, through shared ancestry in the French noble houses of Coucy, an embassy was sent from Scotland in February of 1285, and returned with Yolande in the company of her brother Jean. The marriage was celebrated on 15 October 1285 at Jedburgh Abbey, attended by a great many nobles of France, Alexander died on either 18 March or 19 March 1286, after falling from his horse, while riding from his court at Edinburgh to join Yolande at Kinghorn. Following his death, queen dowager Yolande moved to Stirling Castle, if Yolande gave birth to a daughter, however, Margaret would be preferred over the infant princess. It is unclear what happened to her pregnancy, either she had a miscarriage, however, by one account the Guardians gathered at Clackmannan on Saint Catherines Day —25 November 1286 — to witness the birth, but the child was stillborn. Tradition says the baby was buried at Cambuskenneth, after the queen dowagers pregnancy did not result in a living child, the council begun preparations for Margaret of Norway to be taken to Scotland as their new sovereign. At some point, she returned to France, in May 1294, she married Arthur II, Duke of Brittany. Together they had at least six children, Arthur died in 1312, being succeeded by his son John III, Duke of Brittany. Yolande succeeded her mother as suo jure Countess of Montfort in 1311 and she continued to manage her Scottish affairs, as late as shortly before her death, she is noted to have sent a knight to Scotland to see to her dower lands. Yolande died on 2 August 1322 and her county of Montfort passed to her son John, who would later fight for his claim to his fathers duchy in the Breton War of Succession. Yolande and Arthur had at least six children, John, born c,1294, later Count of Montfort – known as Jean de Montfort Beatrice, born c. 1295, married Guy X of Laval Joan, born c,1296, married Robert, son of Robert III of Flanders Alice, born c. 1297–1377, married Bouchard VI of Vendôme Blanche, born c,1300, died young Marie, born c. 1302, entered a convent Duncan, A. A. M, the Kingship of the Scots 842–1292, Succession and Independence
13.
Dynasty
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A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a feudal or monarchical system but sometimes also appearing in elective republics. The dynastic family or lineage may be known as a house, historians periodize the histories of many sovereign states, such as Ancient Egypt, the Carolingian Empire and Imperial China, using a framework of successive dynasties. As such, the dynasty may be used to delimit the era during which the family reigned and to describe events, trends. The word dynasty itself is often dropped from such adjectival references, until the 19th century, it was taken for granted that a legitimate function of a monarch was to aggrandize his dynasty, that is, to increase the territory, wealth, and power of his family members. The longest-surviving dynasty in the world is the Imperial House of Japan, dynasties throughout the world have traditionally been reckoned patrilineally, such as under the Frankish Salic law. Succession through a daughter when permitted was considered to establish a new dynasty in her husbands ruling house, however, some states in Africa, determined descent matrilineally, while rulers have at other times adopted the name of their mothers dynasty when coming into her inheritance. It is also extended to unrelated people such as poets of the same school or various rosters of a single sports team. The word dynasty derives via Latin dynastia from Greek dynastéia, where it referred to power, dominion and it was the abstract noun of dynástēs, the agent noun of dynamis, power or ability, from dýnamai, to be able. A ruler in a dynasty is referred to as a dynast. For example, following his abdication, Edward VIII of the United Kingdom ceased to be a member of the House of Windsor. A dynastic marriage is one that complies with monarchical house law restrictions, the marriage of Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange, to Máxima Zorreguieta in 2002 was dynastic, for example, and their eldest child is expected to inherit the Dutch crown eventually. But the marriage of his younger brother Prince Friso to Mabel Wisse Smit in 2003 lacked government support, thus Friso forfeited his place in the order of succession, lost his title as a Prince of the Netherlands, and left his children without dynastic rights. In historical and monarchist references to formerly reigning families, a dynast is a member who would have had succession rights, were the monarchys rules still in force. Even since abolition of the Austrian monarchy, Max and his descendants have not been considered the rightful pretenders by Austrian monarchists, nor have they claimed that position. The term dynast is sometimes used only to refer to descendants of a realms monarchs. The term can therefore describe overlapping but distinct sets of people, yet he is not a male-line member of the royal family, and is therefore not a dynast of the House of Windsor. Thus, in 1999 he requested and obtained permission from Elizabeth II to marry the Roman Catholic Princess Caroline of Monaco. Yet a clause of the English Act of Settlement 1701 remained in effect at that time and that exclusion, too, ceased to apply on 26 March 2015, with retroactive effect for those who had been dynasts prior to triggering it by marriage to a Catholic
14.
Scottish Gaelic
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Scottish Gaelic or Scots Gaelic, sometimes also referred to as Gaelic, is a Celtic language native to Scotland. A member of the Goidelic branch of the Celtic languages, Scottish Gaelic, like Modern Irish and Manx, developed out of Middle Irish. The 2011 census of Scotland showed that a total of 57,375 people in Scotland could speak Gaelic at that time, the census results indicate a decline of 1,275 Gaelic speakers from 2001. A total of 87,056 people in 2011 reported having some facility with Gaelic compared to 93,282 people in 2001, only about half of speakers were fully literate in the language. Nevertheless, revival efforts exist and the number of speakers of the language under age 20 has increased, Scottish Gaelic is neither an official language of the European Union nor the United Kingdom. Outside Scotland, a group of dialects collectively known as Canadian Gaelic are spoken in parts of Atlantic Canada, mainly Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. In the 2011 census, there were 7,195 total speakers of Gaelic languages in Canada, with 1,365 in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island where the responses mainly refer to Scottish Gaelic. About 2,320 Canadians in 2011 also claimed Gaelic languages as their mother tongue, with over 300 in Nova Scotia, aside from Scottish Gaelic, the language may also be referred to simply as Gaelic. In Scotland, the word Gaelic in reference to Scottish Gaelic specifically is pronounced, outside Ireland and Great Britain, Gaelic may refer to the Irish language. Scottish Gaelic should not be confused with Scots, the Middle English-derived language varieties which had come to be spoken in most of the Lowlands of Scotland by the modern era. Prior to the 15th century, these dialects were known as Inglis by its own speakers, from the late 15th century, however, it became increasingly common for such speakers to refer to Scottish Gaelic as Erse and the Lowland vernacular as Scottis. Today, Scottish Gaelic is recognised as a language from Irish. Gaelic in Scotland was mostly confined to Dál Riata until the 8th century, when it began expanding into Pictish areas north of the Firth of Forth, by 900, Pictish appears to have become extinct, completely replaced by Gaelic. An exception might be made for the Northern Isles, however, however, though the Pictish language did not disappear suddenly, a process of Gaelicisation was clearly underway during the reigns of Caustantín and his successors. By a certain point, probably during the 11th century, all the inhabitants of Alba had become fully Gaelicised Scots, by the 10th century, Gaelic had become the dominant language throughout northern and western Scotland, the Gaelo-Pictic Kingdom of Alba. Its spread to southern Scotland, was even and totalizing. Place name analysis suggests dense usage of Gaelic in Galloway and adjoining areas to the north and west as well as in West Lothian, less dense usage is suggested for north Ayrshire, Renfrewshire, the Clyde Valley and eastern Dumfriesshire. In south-eastern Scotland, there is no evidence that Gaelic was ever widely spoken, the area shifted from Cumbric to Old English during its long incorporation into the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Northumbria
15.
Roxburgh
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Roxburgh /ˈrɒksbərə/, also known as Rosbroch, is a civil parish and now-destroyed royal burgh, in its eponymous historic county of Roxburghshire in the Scottish Borders. It was an important trading burgh in High Medieval to early modern Scotland, in the Middle Ages it had at least as much importance as Edinburgh, Stirling, Perth, or Berwick-upon-Tweed, for a time acting as de facto capital. Its position also acted as a barrier to English invasion, the town stood on a defensible peninsula between the rivers Tweed and Teviot, with Roxburgh Castle guarding the narrow neck of the peninsula. Nothing remains of the town except some ruined segments of castle ramparts and its site lies to the south of modern Kelso and Floors Castle, which lie on the other side of the Tweed. The Duke of Roxburghe owns the site, English and Scots forces repeatedly captured and recaptured the town during the Scottish Wars of Independence, notably in 1314, in the run-up to Bannockburn. Its final recapture in 1460 saw the town and castle destroyed, after this time the town never regained its importance because the final English capture of Berwick-upon-Tweed in 1482 left Roxburgh with little reason to exist, henceforth lacking a port. Roxburgh was superseded as the county town of the county of Roxburghshire by Jedburgh. Roxburgh probably comes from Old English *hrōcas burh, rooks burgh, in more recent times, Roxburgh referred to a local government district in the Borders region of Scotland. Its borders broadly resembled those of the county of Roxburghshire. In 1996 the district of Roxburgh became part of the Scottish Borders unitary area, today the name Roxburgh belongs to a small village about 2 miles south-southwest of the site of the historic Roxburgh. List of places in the Scottish Borders Sadler, John, border Fury, England and Scotland at War, 1296–1568
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William the Lion
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William the Lion, sometimes styled William I, also known by the nickname Garbh, the Rough, reigned as King of the Scots from 1165 to 1214. He had the second-longest reign in Scottish history before the Act of Union with England in 1707, james VI would have the longest. He became king following his brother Malcolm IVs death on 9 December 1165 and was crowned on 24 December 1165, in contrast to his deeply religious, frail brother, William was powerfully built, redheaded, and headstrong. He was an effective monarch whose reign was marred by his attempts to regain control of Northumbria from the Normans. Traditionally, William is credited with founding Arbroath Abbey, the site of the later Declaration of Arbroath and he was not known as The Lion during his own lifetime, and the title did not relate to his tenacious character or his military prowess. It was attached to him because of his flag or standard and this went on to become the Royal Banner of Scotland, still used today but quartered with those of England and of Ireland. It became attached to him because the chronicler John of Fordun called him the Lion of Justice, William was grandson of David I of Scotland. He also inherited the title of Earl of Northumbria in 1152 from his father, however he had to give up this title to King Henry II of England in 1157. This caused trouble after William became king, since he spent a lot of effort trying to regain Northumbria, William was a key player in the Revolt of 1173–1174 against Henry II. In 1174, at the Battle of Alnwick, during a raid in support of the revolt, William recklessly charged the English troops himself, shouting, Now we shall see which of us are good knights. He was unhorsed and captured by Henrys troops led by Ranulf de Glanvill and taken in chains to Newcastle, then Northampton, Henry then sent an army to Scotland and occupied it. As ransom and to regain his kingdom, William had to acknowledge Henry as his feudal superior, the church of Scotland was also subjected to that of England. This he did by signing the Treaty of Falaise and he was then allowed to return to Scotland. In 1175 he swore fealty to Henry II at York Castle, the humiliation of the Treaty of Falaise triggered a revolt in Galloway which lasted until 1186, and prompted construction of a castle at Dumfries. The aim to discourage the Norse Earls of Orkney from expanding beyond Caithness, a further rising in 1181 involved Donald Meic Uilleim, descendant of King Duncan II. Donald briefly took over Ross, not until his death was William able to reclaim Donalds stronghold of Inverness, further royal expeditions were required in 1197 and 1202 to fully neutralise the Orcadian threat. The Treaty of Falaise remained in force for the fifteen years. Then the English king Richard the Lionheart, needing money to take part in the Third Crusade, agreed to terminate it in return for 10,000 silver marks, William attempted to purchase Northumbria from Richard in 1194, as he had a strong claim over it
17.
Henry III of England
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Henry III, also known as Henry of Winchester, was King of England, Lord of Ireland and Duke of Aquitaine from 1216 until his death. The son of King John and Isabella of Angoulême, Henry assumed the throne when he was nine in the middle of the First Barons War. Cardinal Guala declared the war against the barons to be a religious crusade and Henrys forces, led by William Marshal, defeated the rebels at the battles of Lincoln. Henry promised to abide by the Great Charter of 1225, which limited royal power and his early rule was dominated first by Hubert de Burgh and then Peter des Roches, who re-established royal authority after the war. In 1230 the King attempted to reconquer the provinces of France that had belonged to his father. A revolt led by William Marshals son, Richard, broke out in 1232, following the revolt, Henry ruled England personally, rather than governing through senior ministers. He travelled less than previous monarchs, investing heavily in a handful of his palaces and castles. He married Eleanor of Provence, with whom he had five children, in a fresh attempt to reclaim his familys lands in France, he invaded Poitou in 1242, leading to the disastrous Battle of Taillebourg. After this, Henry relied on diplomacy, cultivating an alliance with Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II. Henry supported his brother Richard in his bid to become King of the Romans in 1256 and he planned to go on crusade to the Levant, but was prevented from doing so by rebellions in Gascony. The baronial regime collapsed but Henry was unable to reform a stable government, in 1263 one of the more radical barons, Simon de Montfort, seized power, resulting in the Second Barons War. Henry persuaded Louis to support his cause and mobilised an army, the Battle of Lewes occurred in 1264, where Henry was defeated and taken prisoner. Henrys eldest son, Edward, escaped captivity to defeat de Montfort at the Battle of Evesham the following year. Henry initially enacted a harsh revenge on the rebels, but was persuaded by the Church to mollify his policies through the Dictum of Kenilworth. Reconstruction was slow and Henry had to acquiesce to various measures, including suppression of the Jews, to maintain baronial. Henry died in 1272, leaving Edward as his successor and he was buried in Westminster Abbey, which he had rebuilt in the second half of his reign, and was moved to his current tomb in 1290. Some miracles were declared after his death but he was not canonised, Henry was born in Winchester Castle on 1 October 1207. He was the eldest son of King John and Isabella of Angoulême, little is known of Henrys early life
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Kelso, Scottish Borders
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Kelso is a market town in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland. Within the boundaries of the county of Roxburghshire, it lies where the rivers Tweed. The town has a population of 5,639 according to the 2011 census, kelsos main tourist draws are the ruined Kelso Abbey and Floors Castle, a William Adam designed house completed in 1726. The Kelso Bridge was designed by John Rennie who later built London Bridge, the town of Kelso came into being as a direct result of the creation of Kelso Abbey in 1128. Standing on the bank of the River Tweed from the now-vanished royal burgh of Roxburgh, Kelso. A small hamlet existed before the completion of the abbey in 1128, many were skilled craftsmen, and they helped the local population as the village expanded. The abbey controlled much of life in Kelso-area burgh of barony, called Holydean, after that, the power and wealth of the abbey declined. The Kerr family of Cessford took over the barony and many of the properties around the town. By the 17th century, they virtually owned Kelso, in Roxburgh Street is the outline of a horseshoe petrosomatoglyph where the horse of Charles Edward Stuart cast a shoe as he was riding it through the town on his way to Carlisle in 1745. He is also said to have planted a white rosebush in his hosts garden, for some period of time the Kelso parish was able to levy a tax of 2 pence on every Scottish pint of ale, beer or porter sold within the town. Kelso High School provides secondary education to the town, and primary education is provided by Edenside Primary, in 2005 the town hosted the World Meeting of 2CV Friends in the grounds of nearby Floors Castle. Over 7,000 people took over the town and are said to have brought in more than £2,000,000 to the local economy. According to a letter dated 17 October 1788, The workmen now employed in digging the foundations of religious houses which stood upon St. The towns rugby club are highly respected, and their annual rugby sevens tournament takes place in early May. The fixture was founded some 47 years ago by Ian Henderson, the two teams currently play for the DT Owen Cup, the two clubs alternate the fixture, one year they play in Kelso and the following year in Pontrhydyfen. Every year in July, the town celebrates the tradition of Common Riding. The festival lasts a week and is headed by the Kelsae Laddie with his Right. The Laddie and his followers visit neighbouring villages on horseback with the climax being the Yetholm Ride on the Saturday, Kelso hosts its annual fair on the first weekend of September
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Outer Hebrides
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The Outer Hebrides, also known as the Western Isles, Innse Gall or the Long Isle or Long Island, is an island chain off the west coast of mainland Scotland. The islands are geographically coextensive with Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, one of the 32 unitary council areas of Scotland. They form part of the Hebrides, separated from the Scottish mainland and from the Inner Hebrides by the waters of the Minch, the Little Minch, Scottish Gaelic is the predominant spoken language, although in a few areas English speakers form a majority. Most of the islands have a formed from ancient metamorphic rocks. The 15 inhabited islands have a population of 27,100. From Barra Head to the Butt of Lewis is roughly 210 kilometres, There are various important prehistoric structures, many of which pre-date the first written references to the islands by Roman and Greek authors. The Western Isles became part of the Norse kingdom of the Suðreyjar, control of the islands was then held by clan chiefs, principal of whom were the MacLeods, MacDonalds, Mackenzies and MacNeils. The Highland Clearances of the 19th century had an effect on many communities. Much of the land is now under control and commercial activity is based on tourism, crofting, fishing. Sea transport is crucial and a variety of services operate between the islands and to mainland Scotland. Modern navigation systems now minimise the dangers but in the past the stormy seas have claimed many ships, religion, music and sport are important aspects of local culture, and there are numerous designated conservation areas to protect the natural environment. The islands form an archipelago whose major islands are Lewis and Harris, North Uist, Benbecula, South Uist, and Barra. Lewis and Harris has an area of 217,898 hectares and is the largest island in Scotland and it incorporates Lewis in the north and Harris in the south, both of which are frequently referred to as individual islands, although they are connected by land. The island does not have a name in either English or Gaelic. The largest islands are deeply indented by arms of the sea such as Loch Ròg, Loch Seaforth, There are also more than 7,500 freshwater lochs in the Outer Hebrides, about 24% of the total for the whole of Scotland. North and South Uist and Lewis in particular have landscapes with a percentage of fresh water. Harris has fewer large bodies of water but has innumerable small lochans, Loch Langavat on Lewis is 11 kilometres long, and has several large islands in its midst, including Eilean Mòr. Although Loch Suaineabhal has only 25% of Loch Langavats surface area, of Loch Sgadabhagh on North Uist it has been said that there is probably no other loch in Britain which approaches Loch Scadavay in irregularity and complexity of outline
20.
Norway
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The Antarctic Peter I Island and the sub-Antarctic Bouvet Island are dependent territories and thus not considered part of the Kingdom. Norway also lays claim to a section of Antarctica known as Queen Maud Land, until 1814, the kingdom included the Faroe Islands, Greenland, and Iceland. It also included Isle of Man until 1266, Shetland and Orkney until 1468, Norway has a total area of 385,252 square kilometres and a population of 5,258,317. The country shares a long border with Sweden. Norway is bordered by Finland and Russia to the north-east, Norway has an extensive coastline, facing the North Atlantic Ocean and the Barents Sea. King Harald V of the Dano-German House of Glücksburg is the current King of Norway, erna Solberg became Prime Minister in 2013, replacing Jens Stoltenberg. A constitutional monarchy, Norway divides state power between the Parliament, the Cabinet and the Supreme Court, as determined by the 1814 Constitution, the kingdom is established as a merger of several petty kingdoms. By the traditional count from the year 872, the kingdom has existed continuously for 1,144 years, Norway has both administrative and political subdivisions on two levels, counties and municipalities. The Sámi people have an amount of self-determination and influence over traditional territories through the Sámi Parliament. Norway maintains close ties with the European Union and the United States, the country maintains a combination of market economy and a Nordic welfare model with universal health care and a comprehensive social security system. Norway has extensive reserves of petroleum, natural gas, minerals, lumber, seafood, the petroleum industry accounts for around a quarter of the countrys gross domestic product. On a per-capita basis, Norway is the worlds largest producer of oil, the country has the fourth-highest per capita income in the world on the World Bank and IMF lists. On the CIAs GDP per capita list which includes territories and some regions, from 2001 to 2006, and then again from 2009 to 2017, Norway had the highest Human Development Index ranking in the world. It also has the highest inequality-adjusted ranking, Norway ranks first on the World Happiness Report, the OECD Better Life Index, the Index of Public Integrity and the Democracy Index. Norway has two names, Noreg in Nynorsk and Norge in Bokmål. The name Norway comes from the Old English word Norðrveg mentioned in 880, meaning way or way leading to the north. In contrasting with suðrvegar southern way for Germany, and austrvegr eastern way for the Baltic, the Anglo-Saxon of Britain also referred to the kingdom of Norway in 880 as Norðmanna land. This was the area of Harald Fairhair, the first king of Norway, and because of him
21.
Haakon IV of Norway
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Haakon Haakonsson, sometimes called Haakon the Old in contrast to his son with the same name, and known in modern regnal lists as Haakon IV, was the King of Norway from 1217 to 1263. His reign lasted for 46 years, longer than any Norwegian king since Harald I, Haakon was born into the troubled civil war era in Norway, but his reign eventually managed to put an end to the internal conflicts. At the start of his reign, during his minority, his later rival Earl Skule Bårdsson served as regent, as a king of the birkebeiner faction, Haakon defeated the uprising of the final bagler royal pretender, Sigurd Ribbung, in 1227. He put an end to the civil war era when he had Skule Bårdsson killed in 1240. Haakon thereafter formally appointed his own son as his co-regent, under Haakons rule, medieval Norway is considered to have reached its zenith or golden age. His reputation and formidable naval fleet allowed him to maintain friendships with both the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor, despite their conflict. He was at different points offered the Imperial Crown by the Pope, the Irish High Kingship by a delegation of Irish kings, and the command of the French crusader fleet by the French king. He amplified the influence of European culture in Norway by importing and translating contemporary European literature into Old Norse, the main source of information concerning Haakon is the Saga of Haakon Haakonsson which was written in the immediate years following his death. Commissioned by his son Magnus, it was written by the Icelandic writer, having come into conflict with the royal representative in Iceland, Sturla came to Norway in 1263 in an attempt to reconcile with Haakon. When he arrived, he learned that Haakon was in Scotland, while Magnus initially took an unfriendly attitude towards Sturla, his talents as a story-teller and skald eventually won him the favour of Magnus and his men. It is nonetheless written openly in support of the program of the House of Sverre. Haakon was born in Folkenborg to Inga of Varteig in the summer of 1204, Haakon Sverresson was dead by the time his son Haakon was born, but Ingas claim was supported by several of Haakon Sverressons followers. Haakon was born in bagler-controlled territory, and his mothers claim placed them in a dangerous position. While the bagler started hunting Haakon, a group of birkebeiner warriors fled with the child in the winter of 1205/06, heading for King Inge Bårdson, the new birkebeiner king in Nidaros. As the party was struck by a blizzard, two of the best birkebeiner skiers, Torstein Skevla and Skjervald Skrukka, carried on with the child over the mountain from Lillehammer to Østerdalen. They eventually managed to bring Haakon to safety with King Inge, in the saga, Haakon is described as bright and witty, and as being small for his age. When he was three years old, Haakon was captured by the bagler but refused to call the bagler king Philip Simonsson his lord and he subsequently identified his attorney as God and Saint Olaf. Haakon was notably the first Norwegian king to receive education at a school
22.
Isle of Arran
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Arran or the Isle of Arran, at 432 square kilometres, is the largest island in the Firth of Clyde and the seventh largest Scottish island. It is in the council area of North Ayrshire. In the 2011 census it had a resident population of 4,629, though culturally and physically similar to the Hebrides, it is separated from them by the Kintyre peninsula. It is divided into highland and lowland areas by the Highland Boundary Fault and has described as a geologists paradise. Arran has been inhabited since the early Neolithic period. From the 6th century onwards, Goidelic-speaking peoples from Ireland colonised it and it became a centre of religious activity, during the troubled Viking Age, Arran became the property of the Norwegian crown, until formally absorbed by the kingdom of Scotland in the 13th century. The 19th century clearances led to significant depopulation and the end of the Gaelic language, the economy and population have recovered in recent years, the main industry being tourism. There is a diversity of wildlife, including three species of endemic to the area. Arran is therefore not unusual in that the derivation of the name is far from clear, mac an Tàilleir states that it is said to be unrelated to the name Aran in Ireland. Any other Brythonic place names that may have existed were later replaced on Arran as the Goidelic-speaking Gaels spread from Ireland via their adjacent kingdom of Dál Riata. During the Viking Age the island, along with the vast majority of the Scottish islands, became the property of the Norwegian crown, as a result of this Norse influence, many current place names on Arran are of Viking origin. The island lies in the Firth of Clyde between Ayr and Ardrossan, and Kintyre, the profile of the north Arran hills as seen from the Ayrshire coast is a well-known sight referred to as the Sleeping Warrior due to its resemblance to a resting human figure. The highest of these hills is Goat Fell at 873.5 metres, there are three other Corbetts, all in the north east, Caisteal Abhail, Cìr Mhòr and Beinn Tarsuinn. Beinn Bharrain is the highest peak in the north west at 721 metres, the largest valley on the island is Glen Iorsa to the west, whilst narrow Glen Sannox and Glen Rosa to the east surround Goat Fell. The terrain to the south is mountainous, although a considerable portion of the interior lies above 350 metres. There are two other Marilyns in the south, Tighvein and Beinn Bhreac, Arran is sometimes referred to as Scotland in miniature, as it is divided into Highland and Lowland areas by the Highland Boundary Fault which runs northeast to southwest across Scotland. Most of the interior of the half of the island is taken up by a large granite batholith that was created by substantial magmatic activity around 58 million years ago in the Paleogene period. This comprises a ring of coarse granite and an inner core of finer grained granite
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Extreme weather
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Extreme weather includes unexpectable, unusual, unpredictable severe or unseasonal weather, weather at the extremes of the historical distribution—the range that has been seen in the past. Often, extreme events are based on a location’s recorded weather history, in recent years some extreme weather events have been attributed to human-induced global warming, with studies indicating an increasing threat from extreme weather in the future. According to IPCC estimates of annual losses have ranged since 1980 from a few billion to above US$200 billion, heat waves are periods of abnormally high temperatures and heat index. Definitions of a heatwave vary because of the variation of temperatures in different geographic locations, excessive heat is often accompanied by high levels of humidity, but can also be catastrophically dry. Because heatwaves are not visible as other forms of weather are, like hurricanes, tornadoes. Severe heat weather can damage populations and crops due to dehydration or hyperthermia, heat cramps, heat expansion. Dried soils are susceptible to erosion, decreasing lands available for agriculture. Outbreaks of wildfires can increase in frequency as dry vegetation has increased likeliness of igniting, the evaporation of bodies of water can be devastating to marine populations, decreasing the size of the habitats available as well as the amount of nutrition present within the waters. Livestock and other populations may decline as well. During excessive heat plants shut their leaf pores, a mechanism to conserve water. Thus, leaving more pollution and ozone in the air, which leads to a higher mortality in the population and it has been estimated that extra pollution during the hot summer 2006 in the UK, cost 460 lives. The European heat waves from summer 2003 are estimated to have caused 30,000 excess deaths, due to heat stress, power outages can also occur within areas experiencing heat waves due to the increased demand for electricity. The urban heat island effect can increase temperatures, particularly overnight, a cold wave is a weather phenomenon that is distinguished by a cooling of the air. The precise criterion for a wave is determined by the rate at which the temperature falls. This minimum temperature is dependent on the region and time of year. Cold waves generally are capable of occurring any geological location and are formed by large air masses that accumulate over certain regions. A cold wave can cause death and injury to livestock and wildlife, cold waves often necessitate the purchase of fodder for livestock at considerable cost to farmers. Human populations can be inflicted with frostbites when exposed for extended periods of time to cold, extreme winter cold often causes poorly insulated water pipes to freeze
24.
Battle of Largs
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The Battle of Largs was an indecisive engagement between the kingdoms of Norway and Scotland, on the Firth of Clyde near Largs, Scotland. Since the beginning of the 12th century this region had lain within the Norwegian realm, however, in the mid-13th century, two Scottish kings, Alexander II and his son Alexander III, attempted to incorporate the region into their own realm. Following failed attempts to purchase the islands from the Norwegian king, Haakon responded to the Scottish aggression by leading a massive fleet from Norway, which reached the Hebrides in the summer of 1263. By the end of September, Haakons fleet occupied the Firth of Clyde, on the night of 30 September, during a bout of particularly stormy weather, several Norwegian vessels were driven aground on the Ayrshire coast, near the present-day town of Largs. On 2 October, while the Norwegians were salvaging their vessels, composed of infantry and cavalry, the Scottish force was commanded by Alexander of Dundonald, Steward of Scotland. The Norwegians were gathered in two groups, the main force on the beach and a small contingent atop a nearby mound. The advance of the Scots threatened to divide the Norwegian forces, seeing them running from the mound, the Norwegians on the beach believed they were retreating, and fled back towards the ships. Fierce fighting took place on the beach, and the Scots took up a position on the mound formerly held by the Norwegians, late in the day, after several hours of skirmishing, the Norwegians were able to recapture the mound. The Scots withdrew from the scene and the Norwegians were able to reboard their ships and they returned the next morning to collect their dead. The weather was deteriorating, and Haakons demoralised forces turned for home, Haakons campaign had failed to maintain Norwegian overlordship of the seaboard, and his native magnates, left to fend for themselves, were soon forced to submit to the Scots. Although the Battle of Largs was apparently not considered a significant event by contemporaries, today, most scholars no longer subscribe to such a view, and instead accord it just an important place in the failed Norwegian campaign. The battle is commemorated in Largs by an early 20th-century monument, the main source for the battle is Hakonar saga Hakonarsonar, a contemporary account of the life of Hakon Haakonarson, King of Norway, composed by the Icelandic historian Sturla Thordarson. A contemporary Scottish perspective of the events is preserved in an entry within the Chronicle of Melrose. First penned at Melrose Abbey in the last quarter of the 12th century and it is an important historical source for the mediaeval Scottish realm. Viking depredations have been recorded in the British Isles since the late 8th century, claims to this region by Norwegian kings date to the turn of the 12th century, when Magnus Olafsson, King of Norway established himself in the Hebrides and the Isle of Man. Direct Norwegian control ended with Magnus death, after which the Hebrides and Mann, known to the Norwegians as the Southern Isles, were controlled by local dynasties for over a century and a half. As part of the far-flung, early 13th century Norwegian realm, the first half of the 13th century was a period of consolidation for both Scottish and Norwegian kings. The Scots, under Alexander II, King of Scots, extended royal authority into the northern Highlands, Argyll, the king also had wanted to incorporate the western seaboard into the Scottish realm
25.
Isle of Man
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The Isle of Man, also known simply as Mann, is a self-governing crown dependency in the Irish Sea between England and Northern Ireland. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who holds the title of Lord of Mann, the Lord of Mann is represented by a Lieutenant Governor. Foreign relations and defence are the responsibility of the British Government, the island has been inhabited since before 6500 BC. Gaelic cultural influence began in the 5th century and the Manx language, in 627, Edwin of Northumbria conquered the Isle of Man along with most of Mercia. In the 9th century, Norsemen established the Kingdom of the Isles, magnus III, King of Norway, was also known as King of Mann and the Isles between 1099 and 1103. In 1266, the became part of Scotland under the Treaty of Perth. After a period of alternating rule by the kings of Scotland and England, the short form often used in English, Mann, is derived from the Manx Mannin, though sometimes the name is written as Man. The earliest recorded Manx form of the name is Manu or Mana, the Old Irish form of the name is Manau or Mano. Old Welsh records named it as Manaw, also reflected in Manaw Gododdin, the name for an ancient district in north Britain along the lower Firth of Forth. The oldest known reference to the calls it Mona, in Latin, in the 1st century CE, Pliny the Elder records it as Monapia or Monabia. Later Latin references have Mevania or Mænavia, and Eubonia or Eumonia by Irish writers and it is found in the Sagas of Icelanders as Mön. The name is cognate with the Welsh name of the island of Anglesey, Ynys Môn, usually derived from a Celtic word for mountain. The name was at least secondarily associated with that of Manannán mac Lir in Irish mythology, later, a Manannán is recorded as the first king of Mann in a Manx poem. The island was cut off from the islands around 8000 BC. The first residents were hunter gatherers and fishermen, examples of their tools are kept at the Manx Museum. There were also the local Ronaldsway and Bann cultures, during the Bronze Age, burial mounds became smaller. Bodies were put in stone-lined graves with ornamental containers, the Bronze Age burial mounds created long-lasting markers around the countryside. The ancient Romans knew of the island and called it Insula Manavia although it is whether they conquered the island
26.
Orkney
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Orkney /ˈɔːrkni/, also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, situated off the north coast of Great Britain. Orkney is 16 kilometres north of the coast of Caithness and comprises approximately 70 islands, the largest island Mainland is often referred to as the Mainland. It has an area of 523 square kilometres, making it the sixth-largest Scottish island, the largest settlement and administrative centre is Kirkwall. A form of the dates to the pre-Roman era and the islands have been inhabited for at least 8500 years, originally occupied by Mesolithic and Neolithic tribes. Orkney was invaded and forcibly annexed by Norway in 875 and settled by the Norse, the Scottish Parliament then re-annexed the earldom to the Scottish Crown in 1472, following the failed payment of a dowry for James IIIs bride Margaret of Denmark. Orkney contains some of the oldest and best-preserved Neolithic sites in Europe, Orkney is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, a constituency of the Scottish Parliament, a lieutenancy area, and a historic county. The local council is Orkney Islands Council, one of only three Councils in Scotland with a majority of elected members who are independents. In addition to the Mainland, most of the islands are in two groups, the North and South Isles, all of which have a geological base of Old Red Sandstone. The climate is mild and the soils are fertile, most of the land being farmed. Agriculture is the most important sector of the economy, the significant wind and marine energy resources are of growing importance, and the island generates more than its total yearly electricity demand using renewables. The local people are known as Orcadians and have a distinctive Orcadian dialect of Scots, there is an abundance of marine and avian wildlife. Pytheas of Massilia visited Britain – probably sometime between 322 and 285 BC – and described it as triangular in shape, with a northern tip called Orcas and this may have referred to Dunnet Head, from which Orkney is visible. Speakers of Old Irish referred to the islands as Insi Orc island of the pigs, the archipelago is known as Ynysoedd Erch in modern Welsh and Arcaibh in modern Scottish Gaelic, the -aibh representing a fossilized prepositional case ending. The Anglo-Saxon monk Bede refers to the islands as Orcades insulae in his seminal work Ecclesiastical History of the English People. Norwegian settlers arriving from the ninth century reinterpreted orc as the Old Norse orkn seal. The plural suffix -jar was later removed in English leaving the modern name Orkney, according to the Historia Norwegiæ, Orkney was named after an earl called Orkan. The Norse knew Mainland Orkney as Megenland Mainland or as Hrossey Horse Island, the island is sometimes referred to as Pomona, a name that stems from a sixteenth-century mistranslation by George Buchanan, which has rarely been used locally. A charred hazelnut shell, recovered in 2007 during excavations in Tankerness on the Mainland has been dated to 6820–6660 BC indicating the presence of Mesolithic nomadic tribes
27.
Shetland
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Shetland /ˈʃɛtlənd/, also called the Shetland Islands, is a subarctic archipelago that lies northeast of the island of Great Britain and forms part of Scotland, United Kingdom. The islands lie some 80 km to the northeast of Orkney and 280 km southeast of the Faroe Islands, the total area is 1,466 km2 and the population totalled 23,210 in 2012. The largest island, known simply as Mainland, has an area of 967 km2, making it the third-largest Scottish island, there are an additional 15 inhabited islands. The archipelago has a climate, a complex geology, a rugged coastline and many low. Humans have lived in Shetland since the Mesolithic period, and the earliest written references to the date back to Roman times. The early historic period was dominated by Scandinavian influences, especially Norway, when Scotland became part of the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707, trade with northern Europe decreased. Fishing has continued to be an important aspect of the economy up to the present day, the discovery of North Sea oil in the 1970s significantly boosted Shetland economy, employment and public sector revenues. The local way of life reflects the Scots and Norse heritage of the isles including the Up Helly Aa fire festival, the islands have produced a variety of writers of prose and poetry, often in Shetland dialect. There are numerous areas set aside to protect the fauna and flora. The Shetland pony and Shetland Sheepdog are two well known Shetland animal breeds, other distinguished local breeds include the Shetland sheep, cow, goose, and duck. The Shetland pig, or grice, has been extinct since approximately 1930, the islands motto, which appears on the Councils coat of arms, is Með lögum skal land byggja. This Icelandic phrase is taken from the Danish 1241 Basic Law, Codex Holmiensis, and is mentioned in Njáls saga. The name of Shetland is derived from the Old Norse words, hjalt, in AD43 and 77 the Roman authors Pomponius Mela and Pliny the Elder referred to the seven islands they call Haemodae and Acmodae respectively, both of which are assumed to be Shetland. Another possible early reference to the islands is Tacitus report in AD98, after describing the discovery and conquest of Orkney. In early Irish literature, Shetland is referred to as Inse Catt—the Isles of Cats, the Cat tribe also occupied parts of the northern Scottish mainland and their name can be found in Caithness, and in the Gaelic name for Sutherland. It is possible that the Pictish cat sound forms part of this Norse name and it then became Hjaltland in the 16th century. As Norn was gradually replaced by English in the form of the Shetland dialect which shares similarities with Scots English. The initial letter is the Middle Scots letter, yogh, the pronunciation of which is almost identical to the original Norn sound, /hj/
28.
Benjamin West
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Benjamin West PRA was an Anglo-American painter of historical scenes around and after the time of the American War of Independence and the Seven Years War. He was the president of the Royal Academy in London. He was offered a knighthood by the British Crown, but declined it and he said that Art is the representation of human beauty, ideally perfect in design, graceful and noble in attitude. West was born in Springfield, Pennsylvania, in a house that is now in the borough of Swarthmore on the campus of Swarthmore College, as the child of an innkeeper. The family later moved to Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, where his father was the proprietor of the Square Tavern, Benjamin West was an autodidact, while excelling at the arts, he had little education and, even when president of the Royal Academy, could scarcely spell. From 1746 to 1759, West worked in Pennsylvania, mostly painting portraits, while West was in Lancaster in 1756, his patron, a gunsmith named William Henry, encouraged him to paint a Death of Socrates based on an engraving in Charles Rollins Ancient History. His resulting composition, which differs from the source, has been called the most ambitious. During this time West met John Wollaston, a painter who had immigrated from London. West was a friend of Benjamin Franklin, whose portrait he painted. Franklin was the godfather of Wests second son, Benjamin, in common with many artists architects and lovers of the fine arts at that time he conducted a Grand Tour. West expanded his repertoire by copying works of Italian painters such as Titian, in Rome he met a number of international neo-classical artists including German-born Anton Rafael Mengs, Scottish Gavin Hamilton, and Austrian Angelica Kauffman. In August 1763, West arrived in England, on what he intended as a visit on his way back to America. In fact, he never returned to America and he stayed for a month at Bath with William Allen, who was also in the country, and visited his half-brother Thomas West at Reading at the urging of his father. In London he was introduced to Richard Wilson and his student Joshua Reynolds and he moved into a house in Bedford Street, Covent Garden. In 1765 he married Elizabeth Shewell, an American to whom he engaged in Philadelphia. All three prelates commissioned work from him, in 1766 West proposed a scheme to decorate St Pauls Cathedral with paintings. It was rejected by the Bishop of London, but his idea of painting an altarpiece for St Stephen Walbrook was accepted, at around this time he also received acclaim for his classical subjects, such as Orestes and Pylades and The Continence of Scipio. Benjamin West was known in England as the American Raphael and his Raphaelesque painting of Archangel Michael Binding the Devil is in the collection of Trinity College, Cambridge
29.
Henry I of England
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Henry I, also known as Henry Beauclerc, was King of England from 1100 to his death. Henry was the son of William the Conqueror and was educated in Latin. On Williams death in 1087, Henrys elder brothers Robert Curthose and William Rufus inherited Normandy and England, respectively, Henry purchased the County of Cotentin in western Normandy from Robert, but William and Robert deposed him in 1091. Henry gradually rebuilt his power base in the Cotentin and allied himself with William against Robert, Henry was present when William died in a hunting accident in 1100, and he seized the English throne, promising at his coronation to correct many of Williams less popular policies. Henry married Matilda of Scotland but continued to have a number of mistresses. Robert, who invaded in 1101, disputed Henrys control of England, the peace was short-lived, and Henry invaded the Duchy of Normandy in 1105 and 1106, finally defeating Robert at the Battle of Tinchebray. Henry kept Robert imprisoned for the rest of his life, following Henrys victory at the Battle of Brémule, a favourable peace settlement was agreed with Louis in 1120. Considered by contemporaries to be a harsh but effective ruler, Henry skilfully manipulated the barons in England, Normandy was also governed through a growing system of justices and an exchequer. Many of the officials who ran Henrys system were new men of obscure backgrounds rather than families of high status. Henry encouraged ecclesiastical reform, but became embroiled in a dispute in 1101 with Archbishop Anselm of Canterbury. He supported the Cluniac order and played a role in the selection of the senior clergy in England. Henrys only legitimate son and heir, William Adelin, drowned in the White Ship disaster of 1120, Henry took a second wife, Adeliza, in the hope of having another son, but their marriage was childless. In response to this, Henry declared his daughter, Matilda, his heir, the relationship between Henry and the couple became strained, and fighting broke out along the border with Anjou. Henry died on 1 December 1135 after a week of illness, despite his plans for Matilda, the King was succeeded by his nephew, Stephen of Blois, resulting in a period of civil war known as the Anarchy. Henry was probably born in England in 1068, in either the summer or the last weeks of the year, possibly in the town of Selby in Yorkshire. His father was William the Conqueror, who had originally been the Duke of Normandy and then, following the invasion of 1066, became the King of England, the invasion had created an Anglo-Norman elite, many with estates spread across both sides of the English Channel. These Anglo-Norman barons typically had close links to the kingdom of France, Henrys mother, Matilda of Flanders, was the granddaughter of Robert II of France, and she probably named Henry after her uncle, King Henry I of France. Henry was the youngest of William and Matildas four sons, physically he resembled his older brothers Robert Curthose, Richard and William Rufus, being, as historian David Carpenter describes, short, stocky and barrel-chested, with black hair
30.
Eleanor of Provence
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Eleanor of Provence was Queen consort of England, as the spouse of King Henry III of England, from 1236 until his death in 1272. She served as regent of England during the absence of her spouse in 1253, although she was completely devoted to her husband, and staunchly defended him against the rebel Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester, she was very much hated by the Londoners. On one occasion, Eleanors barge was attacked by citizens who pelted her with stones, mud, pieces of paving, rotten eggs. Eleanor was the mother of five children, including the future King Edward I of England and she also was renowned for her cleverness, skill at writing poetry, and as a leader of fashion. Born in Aix-en-Provence, she was the daughter of Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Provence and Beatrice of Savoy. She was well educated as a child, and developed a love of reading. Her three sisters also married kings, after her elder sister Margaret married Louis IX of France, their uncle William corresponded with Henry III of England to persuade him to marry Eleanor. Like her mother, grandmother, and sisters, Eleanor was renowned for her beauty and she was a dark-haired brunette with fine eyes. Piers Langtoft speaks of her as The erles daughter, the fairest may of life, on 22 June 1235, Eleanor was betrothed to King Henry III. Eleanor was probably born in 1223, Matthew Paris describes her as being jamque duodennem when she arrived in the Kingdom of England for her marriage, Eleanor was married to King Henry III of England on 14 January 1236. She had never seen him prior to the wedding at Canterbury Cathedral and had never set foot in his kingdom, edmund Rich, Archbishop of Canterbury, officiated. She was dressed in a golden gown that fitted tightly at the waist. The sleeves were long and lined with ermine, Eleanor and Henry together had five children, Edward I, married Eleanor of Castile in 1254, by whom he had issue, including his heir Edward II. His second wife was Margaret of France, by whom he had issue, Margaret, married King Alexander III of Scotland, by whom she had issue. Beatrice, married John II, Duke of Brittany, by whom she had issue, edmund Crouchback, 1st Earl of Lancaster, married Aveline de Forz in 1269, who died four years later without issue, married Blanche of Artois in 1276, by whom he had issue. Katherine Four others are listed, but their existence is in doubt as there is no record of them. It was because of her influence that King Henry granted the duchy of Gascony to Edward in 1249 and her youngest child, Katherine, seems to have had a degenerative disease that rendered her deaf. When the little girl died at the age of three, both her parents suffered overwhelming grief
31.
Eric II of Norway
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Eric Magnusson was the King of Norway from 1280 until 1299. Eirik was the eldest surviving son of King Magnus the Lawmender of Norway, and his wife Ingeborg Eriksdatter, daughter of King Eric IV of Denmark. In 1273, when he was 5 years old, he was given the title of king, alongside his father, however, King Magnus died before this could be arranged, and Eirik became sole king and was crowned as such in Bergen in the summer of 1280. During his minority, the kingdom was ruled by a council consisting of prominent barons and probably also his mother. After Eirik came of age in 1282, this council is still thought to have had a major influence over his reign. His brother, Haakon, was in 1273 given the title Duke of Norway, the kings main residence was in Bergen in Western Norway. Eirik married princess Margaret of Scotland, daughter of King Alexander III of Scotland in Bergen in 1281, Margaret died two years later in childbirth, giving birth to Margaret, Maid of Norway, who became queen of Scotland in 1286 until her death in 1290. Her death sparked the disputed succession led to the Wars of Scottish Independence. Eirik briefly and unsuccessfully laid claim to the Scottish crown as inheritance from his daughter, Eirik later married Isabel Bruce, sister of King Robert I of Scotland. Their marriage did not produce a male heir, though it did produce a daughter, Ingeborg Eriksdottir of Norway. Ingeborg Eriksdotter was styled Duchess of Öland, a prominent feature of Eiriks reign was war with Denmark, which was waged on and off from 1287 until 1295. A major motivation for this warfare was Eiriks claim on his mothers Danish inheritance, Eirik gave the outlaws sanctuary in Norway in 1287. King Eirik himself led a large Norwegian fleet which, along with the Danish outlaws, attacked Denmark in 1289, burning Elsinore, renewed naval attacks on Denmark were made in 1290 and 1293, before peace was made in 1295. Eirik received the nickname Priest Hater from his relations with the church. As Eirik died without sons, he was succeeded by his brother and he was buried in the old cathedral of Bergen, which was demolished in 1531. Its site is marked by a memorial, in present-day Bergenhus Fortress
32.
Jedburgh
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Jedburgh (/ˈdʒɛdbərə/, Scots, Jeddart/Jethart, is a town and former royal burgh in the Scottish Borders and former county town of Roxburghshire. Jedburgh lies on the Jed Water, a tributary of the River Teviot and it is 10 miles from the border with England, and is dominated by the substantial ruins of Jedburgh Abbey. Other notable buildings in the town include Mary, Queen of Scots House, Jedburgh Castle Jail, now a museum, and the Carnegie library. Bishop Ecgred of Lindisfarne founded a church at Jedburgh in the 9th century, the abbey was founded in 1147, but border wars with England in the 16th century left it a ruin. The deeply religious Scottish king Malcolm IV died at Jedburgh in 1165 and his death is thought to have been caused by excessive fasting. David I built a castle at Jedburgh, and in 1174 and it was an occasional royal residence for the Scots, but captured by the English so often that it was eventually demolished in 1409, by which time it was the last English stronghold in Scotland. Alexander III was married in the abbey in 1285 and its proximity to England made it subject to raids and skirmishes by both Scottish and English forces but its strategic position also brought the town valuable trade. At various times and at various locations the town supported a market, a cattle market, a corn market. Farm workers and servants also attended hiring fairs seeking employment, Mary, Queen of Scots, stayed at a certain house in the town in 1566 and that house is now a museum. Lord of Jedburgh Forest was a Lordship of Parliament that was granted to George Douglas, 1st Earl of Angus on his marriage to the Princess Mary and it is a subsidiary title of the present Earl of Angus, the Duke of Hamilton. The Duke of Douglas was raised to the position of Viscount Jedburgh Forest, in 1745, the Jacobite army led by Prince Charles Edward Stuart passed through the town on its way to England, and the Prince also stayed there. The Castle Prison opened in 1823, in 1787, the geologist James Hutton noted what is now known as the Hutton Unconformity at Inchbonny, near Jedburgh. Layers of sedimentary rock which are tilted almost vertically are covered by newer horizontal layers of red sandstone and this was one of the findings that led him to develop his concept of an immensely long geologic time scale with no vestige of a beginning, no prospect of an end. The expression Jeddart justice or Jethart Justice, in which a man was hanged first, several notable people were born in the town, including Mary Somerville, the eminent scientist and writer, after whom Somerville College, Oxford is named. Others include Conservative MP Michael Ancram in 1945, James Thomson who wrote Rule Britannia, was born in Ednam, a village only twelve miles away, but he was educated in Jedburgh. David Brewster, physicist, mathematician, scientist, writer and inventor of the kaleidoscope, was born in Jedburgh in 1781, general Sir Bindon Blood was born nearby in 1842. Alexander Jeffrey was a solicitor in the town and was also the county historian and he died in Jedburgh in 1874. The author and broadcaster Lavinia Derwent was born in a farmhouse a few miles outside Jedburgh in 1909, the towns most famous rugby sons are the scrum-halves, Roy Laidlaw and Gary Armstrong
33.
Lindores Abbey
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Lindores Abbey was a Tironensian abbey on the outskirts of Newburgh in Fife, Scotland. Now a much reduced and overgrown ruin, it lies on the banks of the River Tay. The abbey was founded as a house of Kelso Abbey about 1191, by David, Earl of Huntingdon. The first abbot was Guido, Prior of Kelso, under whom the buildings were mostly completed, the church, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin and St. Andrew, was 195 feet long, with transepts 110 feet long. Edward I of England, John Balliol, David II, the abbey was sacked by a mob from Dundee in 1543, and again by John Knox and his supporters in 1559. In the following years the Abbey buildings were quarried as a source of building stone for Newburgh, sections of the imposing precinct wall which once enclosed the abbey can also be seen in fields to the south. Wooden panels of the early 16th century survive from the Abbey in the Laing Museum, Newburgh and, reset in a 19th-century cabinet, in St. Pauls Episcopal Cathedral, Dundee. 1191, Abbey founded by David of Scotland, Earl of Huntingdon, on land granted by his brother King William I.1284 January 17, Alexander, Prince of Scotland, died at Lindores and his death created a succession crisis, eventually leading to Scotlands war with England. 1298, Sir William Wallace visits the Abbey after victory at the Battle of Blackearnside,1402, David Stewart, Duke of Rothesay, is buried at the Abbey, after his death at Falkland Palace. 1488, James Douglas, 9th Earl of Douglas, is buried at the Abbey,1494 June 1, Earliest known recording of Aqua Vitae in Exchequer Rolls refers to Friar John Cor, a Tironension monk of the Abbey. 1559, John Knox sacks the Abbey after his speech at Perth,1793 or 1813, Title of Lord Lindores goes dormant, with abbey lands divided between various families. 1912, Abbey and neighbouring farm purchased from Mugdrum Estate by John Howison and is still in the ownership of his great grandchildren,24 January 2004 Herbermann, Charles, ed. Benedictine Abbey of Lindores. Map sources for Lindores Abbey Lindores Abbey - Home of Scotch Whisky
34.
Stirling Castle
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Stirling Castle, located in Stirling, is one of the largest and most important castles in Scotland, both historically and architecturally. The castle sits atop Castle Hill, a crag, which forms part of the Stirling Sill geological formation. It is surrounded on three sides by cliffs, giving it a strong defensive position. Its strategic location, guarding what was, until the 1890s, most of the principal buildings of the castle date from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. A few structures of the fourteenth century remain, while the outer defences fronting the town date from the eighteenth century. Before the union with England, Stirling Castle was also one of the most used of the many Scottish royal residences, several Scottish Kings and Queens have been crowned at Stirling, including Mary, Queen of Scots, in 1542, and others were born or died there. Stirling Castle is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, and is now a tourist attraction managed by Historic Scotland and it is likely that this natural feature was occupied at an early date, as a hill fort is located on Gowan Hill, immediately to the east. The Romans bypassed Stirling, building a fort at Doune instead, the area came under Pictish control after the defeat of the Northumbrians at the Battle of Dun Nechtain thirty years later. However, there is no evidence for occupation of Castle Hill before the late medieval period. Other legends have been associated with Stirling, or Snowdoun as it was more poetically known, boece is, however, considered an unreliable historian. Another chronicler, William Worcester, associated Stirling with the court of the legendary King Arthur, the first record of Stirling Castle dates from around 1110, when King Alexander I dedicated a chapel here. It appears to have been a royal centre by this time. During the reign of his successor David I, Stirling became a burgh. There is no evidence that the English actually occupied the castle, Stirling continued to be a favoured royal residence, with William himself dying there in 1214, and Alexander III laying out the New Park, for deer hunting, in the 1260s. Stirling remained a centre of administration until the death of Alexander III in 1286. His passing triggered a crisis, with Edward I of England invited to arbitrate between competing claimants. Edward came north in 1291, demanding that Stirling, along with the royal castles. Edward gave judgement in favour of John Balliol, hoping he would be a puppet ruler, in 1296, Edward invaded Scotland, beginning the Wars of Scottish Independence, which would last for the next 60 years
35.
Kinghorn
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Kinghorn is a town and parish in Fife, Scotland. A seaside resort with two beaches, Kinghorn Beach and Pettycur Bay, plus a fishing port, it stands on the shore of the Firth of Forth. According to the 2008 population estimate, the town has a population of 2,930, known as the place where King Alexander III of Scotland died, it lies on the A921 road and the Fife Coastal Path. Kinghorn railway station is on the Edinburgh to Aberdeen and Fife Circle railway lines, Kinghorn only has a primary school, so high school pupils must travel by bus to Balwearie High School in Kirkcaldy. The towns lifeboat station is one of Scotlands busiest - regularly getting called out to all sorts of emergencies in the Firth, currently stationed at Kinghorn is an Atlantic 85 inshore lifeboat, B-836 Tommy Niven. The civil parish has a population of 4,201, the meaning of the name Kinghorn comes from Scottish Gaelic ceann gronn, meaning head of the marsh. The historic former Royal Burgh of Kinghorn lies on the coast of the Fife, the former royal castle at Kinghorn was frequently visited by the Scottish Court in the period of the House of Dunkeld. The Kings castle, controlling the seaway, stood on the headland above Pettycur, a later structure, Glamis Tower, stood just behind the High Street. When Sir John Lyon married Princess Johanna in 1373, the daughter of King Robert II, rebuilt in 1543, the castle was besieged by James Kirkcaldy of Grange in 1546 and fell. Both buildings have disappeared and the sites built over in modern times. During the Scottish Reformation, French troops commanded by Henri Cleutin and Captain Sarlabous sailed from Leith, Kinghorn Castle remained an important possession of the Scottish Crown, and this was recognised by the creation of the Earldom of Kinghorne in 1606. A burn, fed from the freshwater Kinghorn Loch above the town, once provided the town with its water, much of the former horse ferry traffic from Pettycur Bay was lost to Burntisland. The school is now housed in a building built in 1986 with views across the Firth of Forth. The school have achieved three of the four green flags available under the Eco-Schools scheme, with the third flag being achieved on 27 May 2009. The school has a long history, the original Parish School building of 1823 designed by Thomas Hamilton is now a library and community centre that retains the original octagonal Museum vestibule with replicas of the Elgin Marbles. Its distinguishing feature is the loop around the Black Rocks, over a mile from the shore, the race is held on a suitable Friday in May or June, when the tide is out and the water is no more than knee deep. Over the years it has changed from a race into a full-blown social night in Kinghorns calendar. In the 21st century the race has been dominated by Edinburgh running club Hunters Bog Trotters with both Phil Mowbray and Don Naylor having taken the spoils, the course record belongs to Ian Harkness, also of HBT, in a time of 22,03
36.
Parliament of Scotland
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The Parliament of Scotland, or Estates of Parliament, was the legislature of the Kingdom of Scotland. The parliament, like other such institutions, evolved during the Middle Ages from the council of bishops. It is first identifiable as a parliament in 1235, during the reign of Alexander II, by the early fourteenth century, the attendance of knights and freeholders had become important, and from 1326 commissioners from the burghs attended. Parliamentary business was carried out by sister institutions, such as General Councils or Convention of Estates. These could carry out much business also dealt with by parliament – taxation, legislation and policy-making –, the Parliament of Scotland met for more than four centuries, until it was prorogued sine die at the time of the Acts of Union in 1707. Thereafter the Parliament of Great Britain operated for both England and Scotland, thus creating the United Kingdom of Great Britain, when the Parliament of Ireland was abolished in 1801, its former members were merged into what was now called the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Later, the bishops themselves were removed from the Church of Scotland during the Glorious Revolution, the Second Estate was then split into two to retain the division into three. From the 16th century, the estate was reorganised by the selection of Shire Commissioners. During the 17th century, after the Union of the Crowns and these latter identifications remain highly controversial among parliamentary historians. Regardless, the used for the assembled members continued to be the Three Estates. A Shire Commissioner was the closest equivalent of the English office of Member of Parliament, because the parliament of Scotland was unicameral, all members sat in the same chamber, as opposed to the separate English House of Lords and House of Commons. The Scottish parliament evolved during the Middle Ages from the Kings Council and it is perhaps first identifiable as a parliament in 1235, described as a colloquium and already with a political and judicial role. In 1296 we have the first mention of burgh representatives taking part in decision making, by the early 14th century, the attendance of knights and freeholders had become important, and Robert the Bruce began regularly calling burgh commissioners to his Parliament. Consisting of The Three Estates – of clerics, lay Tenants-in-chief and burgh commissioners – sitting in a single chamber, parliamentary business was also carried out by sister institutions, before c.1500 by General Council and thereafter by the Convention of Estates. These could carry out much business also dealt with by Parliament – taxation, legislation and policy-making –, the Scottish parliament met in a number of different locations throughout its history. In addition to Edinburgh, meetings were held in Perth, Stirling, St Andrews, Dundee, Linlithgow, Dunfermline, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Inverness and Berwick-upon-Tweed. From the early 1450s until 1690, a deal of the legislative business of the Scottish Parliament was usually carried out by a parliamentary committee known as the Lords of the Articles. This was a chosen by the three estates to draft legislation which was then presented to the full assembly to be confirmed
37.
John Balliol
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John Balliol, known derisively as Toom Tabard was King of Scots from 1292 to 1296. Little is known of his early life, after the death of Margaret, Maid of Norway, Scotland entered an interregnum during which several competitors for the Crown of Scotland put forward claims. Balliol was chosen from them as the new King of Scotland by a group of selected noblemen headed by King Edward I of England. Edward used his influence over the process to subjugate Scotland and undermined Balliols personal reign by treating Scotland as a vassal of England, edwards influence in Scottish affairs tainted Balliols reign and the Scottish nobility deposed him and appointed a council of twelve to rule instead. This council signed a treaty with France known as the Auld Alliance, in retaliation, Edward invaded Scotland, starting the Wars of Scottish Independence. After a Scottish defeat in 1296, Balliol abdicated and was imprisoned in the Tower of London, eventually, Balliol was sent to France, and retired into obscurity, taking no more place in politics. Scotland was then left without a monarch until Robert the Bruce ascended in 1306, John Balliols son Edward Balliol would later exert a claim to the Scottish throne against the Bruce claim during the minority of Roberts son David. In Norman French his name was Johan de Bailliol, in Middle Scots it was Jhon Ballioun, in Scots he was known by the nickname Toom Tabard, usually understood to mean empty coat, with the word coat referring to coat of arms. Little of Balliols early life is known and he was born between 1248 and 1250 at an unknown location, possibilities include Galloway, Picardy and Barnard Castle, County Durham. He was the son of John, 5th Baron Balliol, Lord of Barnard Castle, in 1284 Balliol had attended a parliament at Scone, which had recognised Margaret, Maid of Norway, as heir presumptive to her grandfather, King Alexander III. He submitted his claim to the Scottish auditors with King Edward I of England as the arbitrator, Edward I, who had coerced recognition as Lord Paramount of Scotland, the feudal superior of the realm, steadily undermined Johns authority. He treated Scotland as a vassal state and repeatedly humiliated the new king. They went on to conclude a treaty of assistance with France – known in later years as the Auld Alliance. In retaliation, Edward I invaded, commencing the Wars of Scottish Independence, the Scots were defeated at Dunbar and the English took Dunbar Castle on 27 April 1296. John abdicated at Stracathro near Montrose on 10 July 1296, here the arms of Scotland were formally torn from Johns surcoat, giving him the abiding name of Toom Tabard. John was imprisoned in the Tower of London until allowed to go to France in July 1299. When his baggage was examined at Dover, the Royal Golden Crown and Seal of the Kingdom of Scotland, with vessels of gold and silver. Edward I ordered that the Crown be offered to St. Thomas the Martyr, but he kept the Seal himself
Chambers, Robert & Thomson, Thomas Napier (1857). Alexander III. A biographical dictionary of eminent Scotsmen. 1. Glasgow: Blackie and son. pp. 47–49.
