eBook
Related collections and offers
Overview
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780750968911 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | The History Press |
| Publication date: | 06/06/2016 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 192 |
| File size: | 3 MB |
| Age Range: | 18 Years |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
Scottish History
Strange but True
By John Hamilton, Noreen Hamilton
The History Press
Copyright © 2016 John & Noreen HamiltonAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-7509-6891-1
CHAPTER 1
Who Do We Think We Are?
Drifting continents
The world is said to be 4.5 billion years old. What is now Scotland and what is now England only became attached about 410 million years ago – about a tenth of the age of the Earth. Before that the two lands were on different continents.
Parts of Scotland, Greenland and North America were formed in the southern hemisphere as part of the continent of Laurentia. Laurentia drifted north, crossing the equator before starting to break up. The North Atlantic Ocean began to form, leaving North America and the Scottish fragment on opposite shores. They still continue to move farther apart. Beds of identical rock can be found on both sides of the ocean, confirming the former union.
Scotland crashed into England, forcing the seabed that lay between them upwards. This explains why the Southern Uplands are largely made up of rocks formed on the bottom of the ocean. Scotland and England became welded together.
On its travels from the south to the north, Scotland was exposed to just about any climatic condition imaginable, from polar cold to baking heat. At times only the highest peaks were above the surface, at others volcanoes poured out smoke and lava, but life still managed to take a hold. Really primitive plants and some of the earliest insects have been found in Aberdeenshire. Later, Scotland was home to numerous species of dinosaur, though fossilised bones are rarely found.
Life could not continue in an unbroken line due to the intervention of ice. Over 2.5 million years glaciers and ice sheets have invaded Scotland in at least five separate ice ages – huge forces carving the rock into landscapes we recognise today.
And it's all still shifting now. The span of human history is but the blink of an eye in geological time, which I have tried to explain in a poem, 'Creation':
And let millennia tick like seconds
And watch the land, to which we tie all symbols of
Solidity and permanence, shift like the sea.
And all our maps and atlases are just snapshots of
Mere Continents which drift, collide,
Spin like so much flotsam in a planet's eddies.
Ebb and flow, rise and fall.
The concept of Scotland
For the vast majority of 10,000 years of human history there was no concept of a single country called 'Scotland'. The first tentative claim to the unity of the land came when Constantine was crowned 'Ri Alban', King of Scots in ad 889, not much more than 1,000 years ago. Before that there were several distinct peoples with distinct languages and cultures.
The last ice age gives us a convenient starting point when discussing the human part of Scotland's story. The ice had effectively wiped the slate clean. There is a common impression that when the ice retreated the land went through a tundra phase and then it blossomed into a wonderful rich, natural wildwood. Then humans arrived and started mucking things up. Given that the melting of the ice was not an overnight event, it is likely that people were here before the forest. There were footprints in the snow.
The question is, where did these first people come from? They came from the ice-free south, but by which route? Some believe that they would have followed the coast. Movement by canoe would have been quicker and easier than travelling through the barren hinterland. Given that the North Sea and the Irish Sea were dry land (or more strictly speaking they would have been largely bog), the coastal route would have led them up the west coast of Ireland and across to the west coast of Scotland. So the first Scottish people came from Ireland. But some people believe it was the other way round. These Mesolithic people were then replaced by Neolithic farmers, though there is evidence that the two cultures existed side-by-side for some time. It is not clear whether the farmers came to Scotland via Ireland or vice versa.
Three nations
The Romans called this place Caledonia; Scotland was still several centuries away. At that time there were three distinct nations: Picts, Goidelic Celts and Bretonic Celts. The Celts are hard to disentangle from their own mythology. Sagas handed down through the oral tradition and eventually written by monks in the seventh to tenth centuries tell of a series of invasions into Ireland bringing Celtic culture with them.
It has been generally accepted that the Celts originated east of the Danube and spread west, becoming the Gauls in what is now France and the Gaels in Ireland and Scotland. They swept in, dominating the lands and imposing their language. The most widely held view is they came in fairly small numbers and took over, living as aristocratic overlords. They may have had a big advantage in the arms race as they could have been the first to have iron-working technology. Archaeologists now tell us that there is no evidence for any such invasion.
It is accepted that the Gaelic-speaking Irish and Highlanders have common cultural roots with a common language, classified as Q-Celtic. These are Goidelic Celts. Scottish Highlanders and Islanders maintained their separate identity, language and distinctive clan structure right up until deliberate attempts were made to destroy the culture after the Battle of Culloden.
By the way, in the early twentieth century it was said that the best spoken English to be found in Britain was in Inverness. This makes sense as many Highlanders at the time would have grown up in entirely Gaelic-speaking communities meaning they would have learned the English language from a textbook in school. They learnt it properly without the sloppiness which comes from centuries of daily misuse. By the way, Scottish Highlanders were frequently called 'Irish' in the Lowlands, right up until the nineteenth century.
What sort of Celt?
In the south of Scotland the population was represented by an entirely different Celtic culture. These were Bretonic Celts, speaking a separate language, P-Celtic, which was the root for the Welsh, Cornish and Breton languages. These people, divided into several tribes, dominated the Lowlands and Borders. The Kings of Strathclyde ruled from Dumbarton, while the Votadini, in the east, had headquarters at Dun Eidainn, now Edinburgh.
Who were the Picts?
While the Gaels held the west and north, and the Britons held the south, much of the rest was the territory of the Picts. We all know that the Picts were 'the painted people', so called because of their distinctive tattoos, but how much else do we know? 'Pict' was a name given by the Romans – we are not sure what they called themselves.
Roman historian Herodian describes the people in his History of the Empire after Marcus Book III:
Most of the regions of (northern) Britain are marshy, since they are flooded continually by the tides of the ocean; the barbarians are accustomed to swimming or wading through these waist-deep marsh pools; since they go about naked, they are unconcerned about muddying their bodies. Strangers to clothing, they wear ornaments of iron at their waists and throats; considering iron a symbol of wealth, they value this metal as other barbarians value gold. They tattoo their bodies with coloured designs and drawings of all kinds of animals; for this reason they do not wear clothes, which would conceal the decorations on their bodies. Extremely savage and warlike, they are armed only with a spear and a narrow shield, plus a sword that hangs suspended by a belt from their otherwise naked bodies. They do not use breastplates or helmets, considering them encumbrances in crossing the marshes.
This image of the ferocious naked tattooed warrior is pretty much what the name conjures up for most people, yet they occupied much of this country for centuries. The venerable Bede in Historia Ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum thinks of them as relatively late arrivals, with this story:
Picts, putting to sea from Scythia [a vast region stretching from Ukraine to Iran] ... came to Ireland and landed on its northern shores. There, finding the nation of the Scots, they begged to be allowed to settle among them ... The Scots answered that the island could not contain them both; but 'We can give you good counsel,' said they, 'whereby you may know what to do; we know there is another island, not far from ours, to the eastward, which we often see at a distance, when the days are clear. If you will go thither, you can obtain settlements; or, if any should oppose you, we will help you.
We don't know what language they spoke or much about their culture (we do know that St Columba, a Gaelic speaker, needed a translator when he visited the Picts). One thing they did leave for us was an array of fabulous carved stones. The Picts, however, have not gone away.
The Irish Scots
Scientific company 'ScotlandDNA' have identified a genetic marker as distinctly Pictish, indicating descent from the mysterious tribe. In a sample of over 3,000, the marker, called R1b-S530, was found in 10 percent of Scotsmen. This compares to 0.8 per cent in England and 0.5 per cent in the Republic of Ireland (there is a 3 per cent result in Northern Ireland reflecting the close links with Scotland and the seventeenth-century plantation of Ulster).
The King of Scots
The first recorded mention of 'Scoti' is in a Roman catalogue of the states in the empire compiled around the year AD 314. It lists them alongside Picts and Caledonians as 'barbarian tribes'.
The next reference is by Ammianus Marcellinus in AD 367, '... the Scots, were ranging widely and causing great devastation ...'
There is a belief that the word Scoti or Scotti meant 'pirate', but it may be that the word came to have that meaning thanks to the activities of the Scots. It is widely known that these Scots were Irish. The origin goes back to the Middle East. Legend has it that a Greek named Gaythius married a Pharaoh's daughter called Scota. They settled in Spain and later a descendant called Simon Breck brought his Scots to set up a kingdom in Ireland.
Strangely, ScotlandDNA has come up with the revelation that 1 per cent of modern-day Scots have a gene marker which is only found elsewhere in Tuareg and Berber people in the Sahara. Scota's people, perhaps?
The name 'Scot' became associated with the Kingdom of Dalriada, or Dal Riata in the north of Ireland, present-day County Antrim (an area later to be ruled by the MacDonnells from Islay). Centred on Dunseverick, where the remains of a later castle can still be seen, the kingdom started encroaching on territory in Argyll. It was only a short hop across the North Channel. Towards the end of the fifth century, Fergus MacErc and his sons established a permanent settlement on the west coast and extended it to take most of the modern county. The Annals of Tighernach record around AD 500, 'Fergus Mor mac Erc, with the nation of Dal Riada, took part of Britain, and died there'.
This has been a long understood story, but some archaeologists have been turning it on its head. They suggest that innovations in crannog and rath (fort) design first appeared in Scotland. Likewise patterns in brooch-making suggest that the movement of ideas, at least, was from Scotland to Ireland and not the other way around. Dr Ewan Campbell, of the University of Glasgow, states, '... if there was a mass migration from Ireland to Scotland, there should be some sign of this in the archaeological record, but there is none.' Whichever way it was, the Scots soon became a force to be reckoned with.
In the ninth century conflict flared between the northern Picts and the southern Britons. The Dalriadan Scots entered the fray as a third contender and somehow carried the day. Dalriadan king Kenneth MacAlpin became King of the Picts. Within fifty years his grandson, Donald, became Ri nan Albanneach – the King of Scots. Scotland had arrived.
By the way, the king here was traditionally known as the King of Scots rather than the King of Scotland, reflecting an emphasis on community rather than territory.
Romans and walls
There is a popular misconception that the Romans came to Scotland where they met the Picts and were so alarmed that they built a big wall to keep these painted savages out. In fact the Romans were in Scotland for forty-three years before they started building Hadrian's Wall.
In ad 79 Agricola planned the takeover of Caledonia. Five years later he had pushed all the way through to the north east, winning the Battle of Mons Graupius, whose location is a matter of fierce debate. Agricola was then recalled to Rome. The Romans pulled back but did establish themselves in the south of Scotland.
Roman-Britain.org lists sixty-seven sites of Roman forts located throughout Strathclyde, Dumfries and Galloway, Tayside and the Borders. There were substantial settlements, such as Trimontium, on the Eildon Hills just outside Melrose. A Roman bath house can be seen in Strathclyde Country Park, in Motherwell.
However well Hadrian's Wall worked at keeping the Picts in, it certainly didn't keep the Romans out. In a conspicuous effort to expand northwards they built the Antonine Wall, nearly a hundred miles further north, twenty years after Hadrian's.
As the Roman Empire crumbled the Picts rampaged over the wall and the remaining Romano-Britons needed help in keeping them at bay.
The Anglish
We generally think that the Angles and Anglo-Saxons who created Angle Land – England, were not part of Scotland's historical landscape, but they did play their part. These Germans were invited into England to act as mercenaries to face down the incursions from the north. Once they became established in Angleland they did try to expand their territories northward.
King Ida of Bernicia established an Anglian Kingdom north of Hadrian's Wall in the Tweed Valley, battling the resident Britons. Angles moved into Dumfriesshire and Galloway. They met and defeated Dalriadans when they made a move into Argyll. They faced up to the Picts, who finally defeated them in ad 685.
By the way, the Gaelic word for an Englishman, a Sassenach, derives, more or less, from Saxon-ach, (Scots are Albannach, Irish are Eirannach).
The Vikings and what they left behind
Officially the first Viking excursion to Britain was in ad 793 when they attacked the monastery on Lindisfarne, followed by attacks on monks on Iona and Rathlin Island. Of course, they must have been here before – how else would they have known which targets to pick? The Norse handed over control of the Hebrides to Scotland in the treaty of Perth on 2 July 1266. They were around after that and they did leave a lot behind including a lot of Norse words, Norse place names and quite a lot of Norse genetics.
By the way, we should remember that the word 'Viking' is derived from a root meaning 'sea raider or pirate'. No one from Scandinavia should be called a Viking if they are peacefully going about their business.
The greatest Scottish Viking hunter
Somerled was born around 1113, supposedly from a noble Gaelic family related to the Kings of Dalriada, however new DNA evidence casts some doubt.
Somerled is the great Gaelic hero. The Macdonald and other clans claim him as their forefather, but his Celtic credentials are in some doubt. It was accepted that it was likely that his mother was a Norwegian. Recent DNA studies reveal that his Y chromosome, which comes through the male line, was distinctly Norse.
Professor Bryan Sykes of Oxford University studied the DNA of men from three clans who all claim descent from Somerled: MacDonalds, MacDougalls and MacAllisters. A significant percentage of them carry a Y chromosome from a common ancestor which is rare everywhere except Norway.
Somerled, it appears, was Norse on both sides of his family. Given that it is not doubted that he married a Norwegian, Ragnhild, daughter of Olaf the Red, King of Mann, this means that their descendants, the line of the Lords of the Isles, are pretty much Viking.
By the way, Professor Sykes also calculates that Somerled has 500,000 living descendants, making him second only to Genghis Khan (who has a staggering 16million).
The Normans
William the Conqueror lived up to his name in 1066. He did have a crack at Scotland in 1072 but was 'sent hameward'. The Normans did arrive and they did make a huge impact on Scottish history.
The Conqueror's son became Henry I of England. He married 'Good Queen Maud' who was the daughter of Malcolm Canmore, King of Scotland. Her younger brother, David, grew up in the Norman court, learnt their ways and customs and made Norman friends. In 1124 he returned to Scotland as King David I. He brought friends with him.
He awarded many of these Norman sons Scottish lands and titles. He adopted many aspects of the Norman feudal system, creating royal burgs, now boroughs (Berwick and Roxboro were the first, reflecting David's love for the Borders area). He established, or re-established, abbeys and brought in European religious orders.
King David's Norman pals quickly became part of the elite of Scotland. Their French surnames became 'Scotified' and these names crop up again and again in Scottish history. They include: Comyn, Balliol, Graham, Bisset, Boyle, Corbett, Hay, Kinnear, Fraser, Montgomery, Boswell, Menzies and, significantly, Bruce. The Stewarts also arrived as part of the Norman influx; their family name was Fitz Alan (the 'Stewart' came from the title 'Steward of Scotland'). They were not strictly Norman; they were Bretons. The Bretons were Britons who arrived in the north of France in the fourth century. While they might have arrived directly from south-west England, we will see that Britons from the Lothians and Borders moved south in the preceding centuries. Maybe the Stewarts do have a longer Scottish history than was thought. We didn't say this was going to be straightforward.
By the way, a recent study revealed that 15 per cent of men with the surname Stewart have genes that link them to the royal line.
Vikings again, but not the same Vikings
Norman blood was now added to the Scottish mix, but it wasn't French; it was Scandinavian blood again. 'Norman' is a corruption of 'Northmen' or 'Norsemen'. In the early tenth century a force of Scandinavians, under a commander called Rollo, invaded what is now France. The local king, Charles the Simple, was not so daft as to think he could defeat these fearsome Vikings. Instead he offered them land. The Northmen could settle along the north coast and provide a buffer against any further incursions. Normandy came into being and, just a few generations later, the Normans came to Britain.
However, recent genetic research reveals that these Vikings were distinct from the Vikings settling in the north and west. While those who settled the Northern Isles and had such an influence on the west coast were largely from Norway, the Normandy settlers were of Danish stock. The Danes, it appears, have more DNA in common with their Anglo-Saxon neighbours to the south than with the Norwegians.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Scottish History by John Hamilton, Noreen Hamilton. Copyright © 2016 John & Noreen Hamilton. Excerpted by permission of The History Press.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Table of Contents
Contents
Title,Dedication,
Prologue,
Who Do We Think We Are?,
From Bones to Books,
In the Middle of Things,
'It Will Pass With a Lass',
'A Stony Couch for a Deep Feather Bed',
'Yer Fauts I Maun Proclaim',
An Age of Change,
Freedom!,
'A Dangerous Master',
Recommended Reading,
Copyright,
