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Online publication covering Scottish history, heritage and archaeology. Featuring articles, reviews, latest book releases, places to visit, events and more. mail@scottishhistory.org
Resources
General Wade’s Report on the Highlands
IN Obedience to Your Majesty’s Commands and Instructions under your Royal Sign Manual bearing date the 3rd day of July 1724, Commanding me to go into the Highlands of Scotland, and narrowly to inspect...
Resources
Act of Proscription 1746
An Act for the more effectual disarming the Highlands in Scotland and for more effectually securing the Peace of the said Highlands; and for restraining the Use of the Highland Dress, and for further...
Resources
Robert Campbell of Glenlyon
Robert Campbell, 5th Laird of Glenlyon, was born in 1632 and is best remembered for commanding the Scottish government forces that carried out the Massacre of Glencoe.
The Campbells of Glenlyon were a cadet branch of...
Scottish History Books
The Sea Kings
The archipelagic kingdoms of Man and the Isles that flourished from the last quarter of the eleventh century down to the middle of the thirteenth century represent two forgotten kingdoms of the medieval British...
On this day in Scottish History
Quintinshill rail disaster
On 22 May 1915, 227 people are killed and 246 more are injured in a rail crash at Quintinshill, near Gretna Green.
The accident happened when a troop train carrying almost 500 soldiers of...
On this day in Scottish History
Marquis of Montrose is executed
On 21 May 1650, James Graham, Marquis of Montrose, the chief Royalist military commander in Scotland, was executed in Edinburgh.
Montrose had initially been one of the nobles to draw up the National Covenant in...
On this day in Scottish History
Mary, Queen of Scots is defeated at Langside
On 13 May 1568, at the Battle of Langside, Mary, Queen of Scots is defeated in her attempt to regain the throne from her son, James VI, and his supporters, led by Mary's half-brother,...
On this day in Scottish History
St Columba lands on Iona
On 12 May 563, Saint 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...
On this day in Scottish History
The Wigtown Martyrs are executed
On 11 May 1685, the 'Wigtown Martyrs' are executed for refusing to swear an oath declaring James VII/II as head of the church. William Johnston, John Milroy and George Walker were hanged while the...
On this day in Scottish History
Robert the Bruce defeats de Valence at Loudoun Hill
On 10 May 1307, Robert the Bruce gains his first significant victory over the forces of Edward I of England when he defeats Aymer de Valence, 2nd Earl of Pembroke and his army at...
On this day in Scottish History
Montrose defeats the Covenanters at Auldearn
On 9 May 1645, a Royalist army commanded by James Graham, Marquis of Montrose, heavily defeats a Scottish Covenanter force under Major-General Sir John Hurry (or Urry) at the Battle of Auldearn, outside Nairn,...
On this day in Scottish History
The burning of Edinburgh 1544
7 May 1544: After successfully landing in the Firth of Forth and capturing of the port of Leith, Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford, leads an English army into Edinburgh which is burnt and looted...
On this day in Scottish History
The death of Sir George Bruce of Carnock
6 May 1625: The death in Culross of industrialist Sir George Bruce of Carnock, best remembered for his innovative off-shore coal mining techniques which attracted the interest of King James VI.
On this day in Scottish History
Charles I surrenders himself to the Scots
On 5 May 1646, King Charles I surrenders himself to General David Leslie, commander of the Scottish Covenanter army besieging Newark-on-Trent. They would hold him in Newcastle until he was handed over to the...
On this day in Scottish History
Loch Ness Monster sighting
2 May 1933: The first reported modern-day sighting of the Loch Ness Monster appeared in The Inverness Courier. A local couple spotted a creature "rolling and plunging for fully a minute, its body resembling...
On this day in Scottish History
The murder of James Sharp, Archbishop of St Andrews
On the 3rd May 1679, a group of Covenanters led by John Balfour of Kinloch murder James Sharp, Archbishop of St Andrews on Magus Muir, Fife. Sharp was returning to St Andrews with his...
On this day in Scottish History
The birth of Air Chief Marshal Hugh Dowding
24 April 1882: The birth in Moffat of Air Chief Marshal Hugh Dowding, best remembered as commander of RAF Fighter Command during the Battle of Britain and for the "Dowding system" - the first...
On this day in Scottish History
Siege of Stirling Castle 1304
On 22 April 1304, Edward I of England begins 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...
Scottish History Blog
The Execution of James Renwick
James Renwick was a Scottish Presbyterian minister who became the last of the prominent Covenanter martyrs of Scotland. He was executed on 17 February 1688 for his resistance to the religious policies of King...
Resources
Articles of Union 1707
Whereas Articles of Union were agreed on the Twenty Second day of July in the Fifth year of Your Majesties reign by the Commissioners nominated on behalf of the Kingdom of England under Your...
Scottish History Blog
HES COVID-19 Sector Survey Reports
Historic Environment Scotland (HES) has published reports of three surveys looking at what impact Covid-19 had on the historic environment, from 2020-2021.
Their most recent survey looks at the impact of Covid-19 on the historic...
Scottish History Books
Industry, Reform and Empire
From the death of James III to the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots, Jane Dawson tells story of Scotland from the perspective of its regions and of individual Scots, as well as incorporating...
Scottish History Blog
Volunteers sought for NLS map transcription projects
Over the next few months the National Library of Scotland (NLS) is looking for volunteers to help with a set of new collaborative projects to transcribe features and text from maps.
NLS is hoping to gather all...
Scottish History Books
Union and Revolution
A provocative new account of Scotland's history across a century of revolution and political instability.
This edition in the New History of Scotland series radically updates Rosalind Mitchison's Lordship to Patronage (1983), covering Scotland's...
Scottish History Blog
Online Course: The Life and Afterlife of Mary Queen of Scots
Mary Queen of Scots was born and ascended to the throne of Scotland in 1542, before being forced to abdicate in 1567. She was married three times, first to the king of France, and...
Resources
Charles Edward Stuart
Charles Edward Stuart (31 December 1720 - 30 January 1788) known to history as “the Young Pretender” and “Bonnie Prince Charlie” was the elder son of James Francis Edward Stuart, grandson of James II...
On this day in Scottish History
Treaty of Perth is signed
On 2 July 1266, the Treaty of Perth is signed between Magnus VI of Norway and Alexander III of Scotland, ending the Scottish-Norwegian War of 1262-66. Scotland gains the Western Isles and the Isle...
On this day in Scottish History
Battle of Drumclog
On June 1 1679, Scottish government dragoons commanded by John Graham of Claverhouse are defeated by an armed contingent of Covenanters led by Robert Hamilton and William Cleland who had deployed their forces at...
On this day in Scottish History
Battle of Roslin
On the 24th February 1303, at the Battle of Roslin, south of Edinburgh, a Scottish force under the command of John 'the Red' Comyn, Lord of Badenoch, and Sir Simon Fraser defeat an English...
On this day in Scottish History
Orkney and Shetland are formally annexed to Scotland
On 20th February 1472, Orkney and Shetland officially became part of Scotland. The islands were offered up as security for the dowry of Princess Margaret, the prospective wife of James III of Scotland, and...
Scottish History Books
Rebellious Scots to Crush
When Charles Edward Stuart launched the last, and perhaps most famous, of the Jacobite Risings in the late summer of 1745, the British Army found itself ill-placed to respond. Its most effective troops were...
On this day in Scottish History
The death of the Red Comyn in Greyfriars Church
On the 10th February 1306, John Comyn, Lord of Badenoch, known as the Red Comyn, a leading claimant to the vacant Scottish throne, is killed by his arch-rival Robert the Bruce and his supporters...
On this day in Scottish History
The birth of George Hamilton, 1st Earl of Orkney
On the 9th February 1666, George Hamilton was born at Hamilton Palace, Lanarkshire. George was the fifth son of William Douglas-Hamilton, Duke of Hamilton and his wife Anne Hamilton, Duchess of Hamilton. A successful...
On this day in Scottish History
The Assassination of James Stewart, Earl of Moray
On 23 January 1570, James Stewart, Earl of Moray, regent for James VI, is assassinated in Linlithgow by James Hamilton of Bothwellhaugh who was armed with a rifled matchlock carbine. The killing is often...
On this day in Scottish History
The Treaty of Union is approved by the Scottish Parliament
On 16th January 1707, the Scottish Parliament ratified the Treaty of Union. The 'Union with England Act' which approved the Treaty of Union is passed by a majority of 110 votes to 69. The...
On this day in Scottish History
The birth of James II of Scotland
On the 16th October 1430, the future King James II of Scotland was born at Holyrood Abbey in Edinburgh. He was the son of James I and his wife Joan Beaufort, daughter of the Earl of Somerset.
In...
On this day in Scottish History
On this day: The Treaty of Berwick is signed
On 3rd October 1357, the Treaty of Berwick was signed at Berwick-upon-Tweed. It ended the Second War of Scottish Independence (1332-1357) and saw the release of King David II of Scotland from English captivity.
David II...
On this day in Scottish History
The birth of King Robert III of Scotland
On 14 August 1337, the future King Robert III of Scotland was born at Scone Palace, outside Perth. Robert III was christened John, but in Scotland, this was deemed to be too unpopular and considered an...
On this day in Scottish History
Battle of Bannockburn: Day One
On the 23rd June 1314: The first day of the Battle of Bannockburn near Stirling. An advance manoeuvre by the Earl of Gloucester, the Earl of Hereford and Robert de Clifford, attempting to relieve the siege...
On this day in Scottish History
Battle of Glenshiel
On 10 June 1719, Jacobite and Spanish forces are defeated by government troops commanded by Major-General Joseph Wightman, at the battle of Glenshiel, on the steep slopes of Glen Shiel in Kintail, Scottish Highlands.
Spain...