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On this day in Scottish History
13 May
13 May 1568: Mary, Queen of Scots was defeated in her attempt to regain the throne from her son James VI and his supporters at the Battle of Langside, outside Glasgow. Mary's army, led...
On this day in Scottish History
12 May
12 May 563: Columba and twelve companions land on the island of Iona, where they would establish a monastery. The island of Iona is said to have been granted to Columba by King Conall...
On this day in Scottish History
11 May
11 May 1141: The death at Skelton Castle, Yorkshire of Anglo-Norman magnate Robert de Brus, 1st Lord of Annandale. He was the first of the Bruce dynasty to hold lands in Scotland after he...
On this day in Scottish History
10 May
10 May 1307: At Loudoun Hill, Robert the Bruce and his small force shattered the charge of Aymer de Valence's heavy cavalry on well-prepared ground on the old Roman road (now the A71).
10 May...
On this day in Scottish History
9 May
9 May 1645: a Royalist army commanded by James Graham, Marquis of Montrose heavily defeated a Scottish Covenanter force under Major-General Sir John Urry at the Battle of Auldearn, outside Nairn
9 May 1719: Royal...
On this day in Scottish History
8 May
8 May 1705: Colonel Robert Duncanson was killed in action at Valencia de Alcántara during the War of the Spanish Succession. Duncanson's military career began during the Earl of Argyll's Rising of 1685 and...
On this day in Scottish History
7 May
7 May 1544: After landing in the Firth of Forth and capturing the port of Leith Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford leads an English army into Edinburgh which is burned and looted during the...
On this day in Scottish History
6 May
6 May 1941: The Luftwaffe conducted bombing raids on Greenock over two consecutive nights targeting the shipyards and vessels offshore. 280 people were killed and over 1,200 injured in what became known as the...
On this day in Scottish History
5 May
5 May 1646: King Charles I surrendered himself to General David Leslie, commander of the Scottish Covenanter army besieging Newark-on-Trent. Charles was held in Newcastle until he was handed over to the Parliamentarians in...
On this day in Scottish History
4 May
4 May 1654: General George Monck arrived in Edinburgh and was welcomed by the city magistrates who held a banquet for him. General Monck proclaimed the Ordinance for uniting Scotland into one Commonwealth with...
On this day in Scottish History
3 May
3 May 1679: A group of Covenanters led by John Balfour of Kinloch murdered James Sharp, Archbishop of St Andrews on Magus Muir, Fife. Sharp was returning to St Andrews from Edinburgh with his...
On this day in Scottish History
2 May
2 May 1568: Mary, Queen of Scots escaped from Loch Leven castle where she had been imprisoned following her forced abdication in favour of her infant son James VI. Mary revoked her abdication and...
On this day in Scottish History
1 May
1 May 1455: During the civil war between the House of Stewart and the powerful Black Douglas family, the Black Douglases were defeated by an army loyal to James II at the battle of...
On this day in Scottish History
30 April
30 April 1940: While at anchor at the Tail o' the Bank off Greenock, the French Vauquelin-class destroyer Maillé Brézé suffered an explosion and sank following the accidental firing of one of the vessel's...
On this day in Scottish History
29 April
29 April 1690: At a council of war held at Coulnakyle, Major-General Thomas Buchan decided that the Jacobite army would encamp on the open ground at Cromdale overlooking the fords on the River Spey.
On this day in Scottish History
28 April
28 April 1746: Charles Edward Stuart wrote a final letter to the chiefs of the Jacobite clans stating that it was best if he went to France to try and get more French assistance...
On this day in Scottish History
27 April
27 April 1296: John Balliol's Scottish forces were defeated by an English army led by John de Warenne, Earl of Surrey at the battle of Dunbar.
27 April 1650: A Royalist army of Orcadian levies...
On this day in Scottish History
26 April
26 April 1711: The birth in Edinburgh of David Hume, the most influential thinker of the Scottish Enlightenment and one of the greatest philosophers of all time.
On this day in Scottish History
25 April
25 April 1710: The birth near Rothiemay of Scottish astronomer James Ferguson. Ferguson gained fame through his travelling lectures and easy-to-understand works on the basics of astronomy, despite never receiving formal training. He learned...
On this day in Scottish History
24 April
24 April 1558: 15-year-old Mary Queen of Scots marries 14-year-old Francoise, Dauphin of France in Paris. As part of the marriage contract, Mary agreed to bequeath Scotland to France if she should die without...
On this day in Scottish History
23 April
23 April 1733: Construction of Tay Bridge at Aberfeldy began when Lieutenant-General George Wade placed the first stone. The bridge was designed by William Adam and cost £4095 5s 10d. It was part of...
On this day in Scottish History
22 April
22 April 1304: Edward I of England began the siege of the strategically important Stirling Castle, held by Sir William Oliphant and 30 men. The siege ended on 24 July after 3 months of...
On this day in Scottish History
21 April
21 April 1703: Following a number of devastating fires in the city of Edinburgh, the Edinburgh Act was passed for the formation of a ‘Company for Quenching of Fires’.
21 April 1746: The City of...
On this day in Scottish History
20 April
20 April 1644: After seizing the town of Dumfries for Charles I with a force of English Royalists on 15 April, James Graham, Earl of Montrose was forced to withdraw back into England when...
On this day in Scottish History
19 April
19 April 1390: The death of Robert II at Dundonald Castle in Ayrshire. The son of Walter Stewart, 6th High Steward of Scotland and Marjorie Bruce (Robert the Bruce's daughter) Robert was the first...
On this day in Scottish History
18 April
18 April 1746: Following their defeat at Culloden on the 16th, Jacobite forces converged on the village and barracks of Ruthven in Badenoch which had become a rallying point for the army. Around 4,000...
On this day in Scottish History
17 April
17 April 1746: Following his defeat at the battle of Culloden the previous day, Charles Edward Stuart arrived at Fort Augustus while the remnants of the Jacobite army made their way to Aviemore before...
On this day in Scottish History
16 April
16 April 1130: At the Battle of Stracathro, three miles north of Brechin, the forces of Óengus of Moray and Máel Coluim mac Alaxandair were defeated by forces loyal to David I of Scotland.
16 April...
On this day in Scottish History
15 April
15 April 1644: James Graham, Earl of Montrose and his force of English Royalists seize the town of Dumfries. He would be forced to withdraw back to England on 20 April in the face...
On this day in Scottish History
14 April
14 April 1582: James VI of Scotland signed a royal charter which gifted old ecclesiastical revenues to the burgh of Edinburgh to establish a college. It would lead to the establishment of Edinburgh University...
On this day in Scottish History
13 April
13 April 1689: In support of the deposed James VII and II, Tory laird and soldier John Graham of Claverhouse, Viscount Dundee raised the Royal Standard of the House of Stuart on Dundee Law,...
On this day in Scottish History
12 April
12 April 1606: James VI of Scotland and I of England issued a royal decree for the creation of a union flag to represent the regal union between England and Scotland. It was initially...
On this day in Scottish History
11 April
11 April 1746: The three divisions of the Duke of Cumberland's army converged at Cullen on the Banffshire coast and Cumberland established his headquarters at Cullen House which had just recently been badly damaged...
On this day in Scottish History
10 April
10 April 1512: At Linlithgow Palace, Margaret Tudor, Queen of Scots, gave birth to a boy who would become King James V of Scotland. He would inherit the throne at seventeen months following the...
On this day in Scottish History
9 April
9 April 1650: The advance guard of James Graham, Marquis of Montrose's royalist force led by Major-General John Hurry (Montrose's old adversary and now ally), crossed the Pentland Firth from the Orkney Islands and...
On this day in Scottish History
8 April
8 April 1746: After receiving reports that the level of the River Spey had subsided, Prince William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland ordered his army to move out from Aberdeen and began the march north...
On this day in Scottish History
7 April
7 April 1522: A squadron of seven English warships entered the Firth of Forth and attacked Scottish shipping and coastal towns and villages during the Anglo-Scottish War of 1522-1524.
On this day in Scottish History
6 April
Declaration of Arbroath
6 April 1320: The Declaration of Aberbrothock (Arbroath) was sent to Pope John XXII from the earls and barons of Scotland. Written in Latin, possibly by Bernard of Kilwinning, it set out...
On this day in Scottish History
5 April
5 April 1820: An armed group of striking Glasgow workers marching to seize weapons at the Carron Ironworks in Falkirk were attacked by troops of the 10th Hussars and Stirlingshire Yeomanry in the so-called...
On this day in Scottish History
4 April
4 April 1406: Robert III died at Rothesay Castle shortly after receiving the news that his son and heir James had been captured by pirates while en route to France.
4 April 1661: The death...