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On this day in Scottish History
Notable – and not so notable – events that happened on this day in Scottish History
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...
On this day in Scottish History
3 April
3 April 1746: A Jacobite force under Donald Cameron of Lochiel and Alexander Macdonald of Keppoch broke off the siege of Fort William. Charles Edward Stuart had ordered all Jacobite detachments to assemble at...
On this day in Scottish History
2 April
2 April 1572: Dumbarton Castle which was held by a garrison loyal to Mary, Queen of Scots was seized by supporters of James VI during the Marian Civil War.
2 April 1746: While in camp...
On this day in Scottish History
1 April
1 April 1746: Major-General John Lindsay, Earl of Crawford with St George's Dragoon Regiment and 400 Hessian infantry began to push up from Dunkeld towards the Pass of Killiecrankie to reconnoitre the Jacobites before...
On this day in Scottish History
31 March
31 March 1295: The death at Lochmaben Castle of Scoto-Norman nobleman Robert de Brus, 5th Lord of Annandale, the son of Robert de Brus, 4th Lord of Annandale and Isobel of Huntingdon. He gained...
On this day in Scottish History
30 March
30 March 1296: After his summons to King John Balliol was ignored and in direct response to the sacking of Carlisle and atrocities committed by Scottish forces in the north of England, Edward I...
On this day in Scottish History
29 March
29 March 1746: At Dunkeld, Prince Frederick of Hesse-Cassel received a report that a large body of Jacobites were marching towards Dunkeld to attack his Hessian forces stationed there. Frederick drew his regiments up...
On this day in Scottish History
28 March
28 March 1560: Under the terms of the Treaty of Berwick (27 February 1560), an English army under Lord Grey crossed the border into Scotland to support the Scottish Lords of the Congregation and...
On this day in Scottish History
27 March
27 March 1746: A detachment of 500 Hessian troops commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel de la Primaudaye arrived at Wade's Taybridge, Aberfeldy where they established a defensible bridgehead on the far side to guard against any...
On this day in Scottish History
26 March
26 March 1296: The First War of Scottish Independence began with a Scottish attack on Carlisle. John 'The Red' Comyn, Lord of Badenoch led the Scottish army and attempted to seize Carlisle Castle which...
On this day in Scottish History
25 March
25 March 1306: Six weeks after the murder of his main rival, John Comyn Lord of Badenoch, Robert the Bruce seized the vacant Scottish throne and was crowned king of Scots at Scone by...
On this day in Scottish History
24 March
24 March 1603: The death of Queen Elizabeth I of England. Two days later the news would reach the 36-year-old James VI that he was now James I of England. The crowns of Scotland...
On this day in Scottish History
23 March
23 March 1708: A French fleet carrying James Francis Edward Stuart arrived in the Firth of Forth intending to land an invasion force of French troops in Fife and begin a Jacobite rising against...
On this day in Scottish History
18 March
18 March 1689: The Earl of Leven's Regiment of Foot (later the King's Own Scottish Borderers) was raised by Act of the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh. Within 4 hours around 780 men were enlisted...
On this day in Scottish History
17 March
17 March 1746: A Jacobite force under the command of Lord George Murray began the siege of Blair Castle in Perthshire. Blair Castle was the seat of Lord George’s pro-Hanoverian brother, James Murray, 2nd...
On this day in Scottish History
13 February
13 February 1692: Scottish government soldiers under the command of Captain Robert Campbell of Glenlyon fell upon their hosts, the Macdonalds of Glencoe. In a cold-blooded breach of highland hospitality, 38 Macdonalds were killed...
On this day in Scottish History
27 October
27 October 1327: Elizabeth de Burgh died at Cullen Castle, Banffshire. Elizabeth was the second wife of Robert the Bruce and was queen consort of Scotland 1306-1327. Elizabeth was born c.1284 in County Down, Ulster, and...
On this day in Scottish History
Birth of James II
On 16 October 1430, King James II was born. James ascended to the throne at the tender age of six. Despite enduring a distressing childhood under the manipulation of various conniving nobles and regents,...
On this day in Scottish History
27 July
27 July 1689: Scottish government forces under the command of Major-General Hugh Mackay of Scourie were defeated by a Jacobite army loyal to the deposed King James commanded by John Graham of Claverhouse, Viscount...
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...