Scottish History
A brief overview of Scottish history.
Origins of Scotland
Scotland’s history begins with the early inhabitants of the British Isles. Britain’s first people likely migrated to the island as the glaciers of the last Ice Age receded. They arrived around 9,000 years ago and soon settled into hunter-gatherer lifestyles common to the time. These ancient Europeans built massive stone monuments and hill forts and used small boats to navigate Scotland’s hundreds of islands. By about 4000 BCE, agriculture had reached the region and gradually replaced hunting and gathering.
For thousands of years, the indigenous people of the British Isles lived in relative, though not absolute, isolation. By 400 BCE, however, a new wave of settlers had appeared on their shores. They were the tail end of a long migration from the Eurasian steppes, a branch of Celtic culture known as the Insular Celts. In Scotland, they mingled with native peoples to form the Picts, Britons, and Irish-originating Scots (or Gaels). These groups spoke different languages, and each possessed their own complex political structures. They appear to have organized into small societies led by hereditary rulers.
Roman Britain and the Scottish Tribes
The Roman conquest of Britain to the south shaped the future societies and cultures of England. The Scottish tribes, however, resisted invasion fiercely. Two walls spanning the island marked the northern borders of the Roman Empire: Hadrian’s and the Antonine Wall. The independent tribes of Scotland instead developed strong ties to similar cultures in Ireland, particularly once united by Christianity. Over time, a Germanic people known as the Angles also settled there. The early medieval period saw the four groups engaged in regular trade, alliances, and warfare.
The decline of Rome brought new instability and challenges to Britain. Outside pressure from Germanic invaders and Viking raids pushed the people of modern Scotland to organize like never before. The Gaelic Kingdom of Dál Riata spanned Western Scotland and Northern Ireland in the 6th and 7th centuries. It faced competition from the Brittonic Kingdom of Strathclyde, the Pictish kingdoms, and the Anglian Kingdom of Bernicia, which later merged to form Northumbria. The Picts and Gaels united by the 9th century to confront Viking expansion, but a disastrous battle in 839 resulted in the death of several prominent kings and the destruction of their armies. In the power vacuum that followed, Pictish King Kenneth MacAlpin rose to power. His descendants would later become the first kings of Scotland.
Further Reading:
The Kingdom of Scotland
Scotland’s first united kingdom emerged under the name of Alba. Its founding king, Donald II, died in 900 CE. His cousin, Constantine II, led an alliance of Scottish forces, the Kingdom of Strathclyde, and the Viking king of Dublin against the Anglo-Saxon Aethelstan in 937. The Battle of Brunanburh ended in an English victory, but it ensured the continued independence of Scotland. Over time, the two kingdoms would contribute to each other’s trade and culture. The Norman invasion of England, for example, strengthened the feudal system in Scotland. Marriages between the royal lines grew more common, most notably the union of Malcolm III and Margaret of Wessex, whose family was displaced by the Normans. Their descendants would later rule as kings of both England and Scotland.
The kingdom lasted until 1286, when King Alexander III died without a clear heir. English King Edward I appointed a man named John Balliol as king. While Balliol held a clear claim to the throne, he was perceived as little more than a puppet, and his rule proved divisive at best. Scottish loyalists launched a series of rebellions over the next few decades, provoking an English invasion in response. Balliol eventually lost his crown and fled the country in 1296. Leaders of the resistance included the knight William Wallace, who was captured and executed in the fighting. By 1314, a claimant to the throne called Robert the Bruce had expelled the English at the Battle of Bannockburn and established himself as king. Six years later, Scotland received formal recognition from the Pope.
The Stewarts and the Stuarts
The Stewart dynasty, descended from the line of Robert the Bruce, ruled Scotland independently from 1371 to 1603. The relationship between Britain’s two monarchies grew increasingly close and aggressive. Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, faced invasion and abduction from infancy. Queen Elizabeth of England, her cousin and rival, at last ordered her execution in 1587. Despite this mutual animosity, their bloodlines were inescapably connected. After Elizabeth died without a child, Mary’s son James VI inherited both thrones.
The Stuart dynasty of England, Ireland, and Scotland was perhaps most notable for the religious upheaval that destroyed it. The previous Tudor dynasty of England had already see-sawed between Catholic and Anglican Protestant monarchs. James VI, attempting to juggle these religious factions, oversaw the mass relocation of Scottish Protestants to the Irish county of Ulster in 1609. During this upheaval, Scotland for the most part converted to Calvinist Protestantism. James’s son, Charles I, then attempted to impose the Anglican Church on Scotland and provoked a national civil war. In 1649, he was executed by the forces of Oliver Cromwell.
Further Reading:
Scotland in the Modern Era
The English and Scottish crown passed to several more Stuart monarchs, but the Catholic-Protestant dynamic was too unstable to last. The Stuarts were deposed in 1688 under the Glorious Revolution, replaced by the Protestant William of Orange. The Jacobite Risings occurred in response to the fall of Catholic King James II and VII. These rebellions took place between 1688 and 1746.
In 1707, Scotland and England united under the Treaty of Union. In exchange for a united Britain, Scotland gained greater access to English markets and a relatively powerful position within the United Kingdom. After a turbulent period of integration, the nation entered a new era of stability, arts, and education. The 19th century saw Scottish artists, writers, and thinkers rise to global prominence, supported by booming industries like coal, linen, iron, and banking. The nation industrialized rapidly, boosted by a robust rail network. Despite these advances, poverty in both rural areas and the cities persisted. It fueled mass emigrations to British colonies and eventually nations like the United States, Australia, and Canada, as well as England, Wales, and Ireland. At the same time, Highlander culture declined alongside the Jacobite risings. It experienced a resurgence, however, through military service and later Scottish nationalism.
Following World War II, Scotland’s economy has shifted to one based on oil, natural gas, technology, finance, and service. Today, the nation is home to about 5.4 million people. There are also still large populations with Scottish ancestry in nations like the United States, Canada, and Australia.
Learn More About Scottish Culture
Cultural Overview | Geography | History | Daily Life | Society | Economy | Beliefs | Arts & Music
References
Foyster, Elizabeth ed. History of Everyday Life in Scotland, 1600 to 1800. Edinburgh University Press. 2010.
Hill, Roland. Scotland: Land of Lochs and Glens. I.B. Tauris. 2002.
Lang, Andrew. A Short History of Scotland. Dodd, Mead, and Co. 1912.
Oliver, Neil. A History of Scotland. Orion Publishing Group. 2009.
Sanderson, William. Scottish Life and Character. MacMillan Co. 1904.
“The World Factbook: United Kingdom.” Central Intelligence Agency, Central Intelligence Agency, 4 June 2018, www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/uk.html.
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