History of ScotlandSearch this site: There are plenty of long accounts of the history of Scotland out there. So let’s do it by snapshots from the Stone Age to the Highland Clearances. Plus a wee mention of Bonnie Prince Charlie. Wish he’d just stayed away. Picture yourself at Skara Brae in Orkney. For anyone who is interested in connecting with the unknowably ancient, this is the place to go, in all of Scotland. It’s a must see for a glimpse of the earliest history of Scotland. It’s where you can get closest to the life of folk who lived in this little northern place. And remember the climate was a bit kinder in 3000BC!
(above)You can just see Orkney, honestly. It's that smudge on the horizon, on the right. That's how near it is to the Scottish mainland. This is the beach at Strathy, west of Thurso. You must stop here. You might have it all to yourself. Then, staying in Orkney (because I like the place), fast forward to the Vikings. The climate has gone off and it’s a miserable day, so a bunch of them, looking for treasure, have found their way into a chambered tomb. While waiting for the weather to clear, they scratch a variety of graffiti into the stonework. You can still see the runic (and rude) things they wrote on the walls, as the tomb at Maes Howe is now a surviving example of one of the very finest examples of Neolithic craftsmanship to be seen anywhere. The point is that you may consider the Vikings to have lived a long time ago. But on a time-line of the history of Scotland, these 12th-century guys were making marks inside a structure that was already 4000 years old! From the Norsemen, for the moment, let’s fast-forward past the Wars of Independence, the Stewart monarchs, the 17th-century Covenanters (very complicated!). All of these topics are important in the history of Scotland and we can return to them some time. But for the moment it’s the winter of 1745. Let’s go to Glasgow. There are cargoes unloading at the quayside on the River Clyde – tobacco, sugar and rum come in. Linens, woollens, shoes, stockings and metalware go aboard. It’s all heading for the Americas and Glasgow's merchant class is making its fortune.
I had a look through my photo library. Nothing at all on Bonnie Prince Charlie's arrival in Glasgow. So we'll make do with a typical Glasgow street scene, above - posh restaurant, posh car. It was like that when Charles arrived (except for the restaurants and cars). I mean they are still busy making money, being entrepreneurial. Glasgow's mercantile outlook was an important part of the history of Scotland. Suddenly, there’s the sound of bagpipes and a crowd of unkempt and wild Highlanders march in and draw up on the ground beside the river. Oh, great, it’s about the last thing the locals need. Fortunately, the Highlanders are under control as this is Bonnie Prince Charlie’s forces, northbound. Having failed to get to London and now heading for disaster, they’re looking to re-equip. (Think Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid at this point, suddenly realising that there isn’t a place any more for their lifestyle. You’ve seen the film, of course.) The townsfolk are aghast. Charles demands 12,000 shirts, 6,000 coats and 6,000 pairs of stockings for his ragged army from the 'Merchant City' – the heart of this industrial city. While all this is being organised, the Young Pretender goes out to dinner, and reviews his troops on Glasgow Green. The busy folk breathe a sigh of relief as the mob eventually leaves for the north. Glasgow gets on with the Industrial Revolution, making money and playing its part in building a forward-looking economy. The mad adventure by the reckless and deluded Charles ends in slaughter a few months later, and part of the history of Scotland is gradually created for the Jacobites that concentrates on the romance of it all instead of the anachronism and irrelevance.
(Above) A barely recognisable abandoned village on the island of Skye, by Ardnameachan, near Kinloch. A sad chapter in the history of Scotland. The inhabitants went to Canada. This is looking eastwards to mainland, Ben Sgriol on the horizon. Finally, let’s go forward another hundred years. There’s a gathering in a kirkyard, high up a remote Highland glen. The people are straggling in, carrying what they can of their personal possessions. They are of all ages. Grandchildren help their elders. Improvised shelters have been rigged up. But it’s not unique. It’s just another eviction in the Highland Clearances. Nowadays we might call it ethnic cleansing. But we know a lot about this particular episode in May 1845 at Glencalvie, because, firstly, the folk scratched messages on a pane of window glass in the church. Secondly, it was witnessed by a reporter from 'The Times' of London. At the same time as these events were unfolding in Highland Scotland, you could travel speedily and safely, between Scotland’s two largest cities, Edinburgh and Glasgow, by its first inter-city railway line. It had been open for three years, as a symbol of the modern age. So what do these little cameos mean? Well, firstly that the
History of Scotland
goes a long way back. Secondly, that Highland and Lowland Scotland were utterly separate in language and culture for a long time. Thirdly, that Bonnie Prince Charlie should have stayed away from Scotland - full stop – and let the illustrators of shortbread tins find themselves another subject. And thirdly, it’s quite easy to connect with the history of Scotland if you use a little imagination as you visit the many historical sites. Return to the Scotland in a Week Home Page |
