Articles

David II, son of King Robert the Bruce by his second wife, Elizabeth de Burgh (d. 1327), was born at Dunfermline Palace, Fife. He was married on 17 July 1328 to Joan of the Tower, daughter of Edward II of England and Isabella of France. . David became king of Scotland upon the death of his father ...

Kintyre and the Western Isles had been acknowledged as the property of the Norwegian crown in a treaty between Edgar, King of Scots and Magnus Barefoot, King of Norway, in 1098. By the mid-12th century the Norwegians appeared uninterested in their Scottish lands, and by 1156 Somerled, descended from...

With Edward I on the throne of England, John Balliol of Scotland and Philip IV of France drew up an offensive and defensive alliance which became a treaty in 1295. This was to have been endorsed with marriage between Balliol’s son Edward and Philip’s niece. The unnecessary disaster of Flodden in 151...

In 1424, when James I returned from eighteen years imprisonment in England, he set about dealing with those who declined to aid his release from prison earlier and curbing the power of Scotland’s nobles. His continual law-making added to the number of enemies he acquired for himself. The Earl of At...

Following the success against the English at Haddon Rig in the August, James V gathered an army of ten thousand and sent them, under the command of Oliver Sinclair of Pitcairns, to push as far into England as they could. Their advance was met at Solway Moss by Sir Thomas Wharton and his three tho...

Born on 8 December 1542, Mary’s life was complicated from the first week when her father, James V, died and made her Queen when she was six days old. With James Hamilton, 2nd Earl of Arran, as Governor, Scotland was achieving closer ties with England. Queen Mary was betrothed, in 1543, to Edward,...

In 1581, Esmé Stewart was created Earl of Lennox. He was in support of Queen Mary and acknowledged Catholic concerns at a time when the Reformation was well established in Scotland. The Presbyterians believed Lennox to be an agent for the Counter-Reformation and a Catholic spy. Although both the ...

The son of Mary, Queen of Scots, and Lord Darnley became King of Scotland upon his mother’s forced abdication in 1567. He was thirteen months old at his coronation and brought up by extremely manipulative individuals. He successfully stopped the draw of power away from his position by the Calvini...

On Philiphaugh a fray began At Hairhead wood it ended; The Scots out o'er the Graemes, they ran, See merrily they bended. Sir David frae the Border came, Wi' heart an' hand came he; Wi' him three thousand bonny Scots, To bear him company. Traditional Border Ballad The Marquis of Montrose had co...

The covenanting ministers who rejected the Restoration settlement with Charles II’s additions, found themselves replaced by curates and without a living. The congregations had their own opinions, of course, and some, who became known as ‘Conventiclers’, regrouped to practice the Covenant with the...

While the other MacDonald clans suffered through the 1500s, the MacDonalds of Glencoe survived notably well. Perhaps their greatest protection was their home environment acting like a natural fortress. They certainly never found the need to build one. Also only the strongest of people could develo...