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173-612: The Picts were a group of peoples in what is now Scotland north of the Firth of Forth , in the Early Middle Ages . Where they lived and details of their culture can be gleaned from early medieval texts and Pictish stones . The name Picti appears in written records as an exonym from the late third century AD. They are assumed to have been descendants of the Caledonii and other northern Iron Age tribes. Their territory
346-657: A country that is part of the United Kingdom . It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjacent islands , principally in the archipelagos of the Hebrides and the Northern Isles . To the south-east, Scotland has its only land border , which is 96 miles (154 km) long and shared with England ;
519-965: A referendum on devolution proposals in 1997 , the Scotland Act 1998 was passed by the British Parliament, which established a devolved Scottish Parliament and Scottish Government with responsibility for most laws specific to Scotland. The Scottish Parliament was reconvened in Edinburgh on 4 July 1999. The first to hold the office of first minister of Scotland was Donald Dewar , who served until his sudden death in 2000. The Scottish Parliament Building at Holyrood opened in October 2004 after lengthy construction delays and running over budget. The Scottish Parliament's form of proportional representation (the additional member system ) resulted in no one party having an overall majority for
692-523: A "flight" or "migration" of Gaels "before the son of Mailcon" between 558 and 560, suggesting that by then Bridei's power may have been extending into the territory of Cenél Loairn in Dál Riata , at the opposite end of the Great Glen from Fortriu, and Adomnan records a slave girl from Dál Riata at Bridei's court at the time of Columba's visit. By the end of the 7th century Fortriu had established
865-400: A certain point, probably during the 11th century, all the inhabitants of northern Alba had become fully Gaelicised Scots, and Pictish identity was forgotten. Henry of Huntingdon was one of the first (surviving) historians to note this disappearance in the mid-12th century Historia Anglorum . Later, the idea of Picts as a tribe was revived in myth and legend . The early history of Pictland
1038-609: A common pattern of Goidelic languages rendering with an f what in Brittonic languages is U / V , W or Gw . The word Fortriu is a modern reconstruction of a nominative form for this word that has survived only in these genitive and dative cases. Anglo-Saxon sources, from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in the 6th century to Bede in the 8th century, refer to the group using the Old English form of
1211-517: A decline in the level of subsidies given to barbarian tribes by the emperor Valentinian . The fact that Fullofaudes , the leader of the northern Roman troops, was captured rather than killed suggests that the Pictish invaders may have been motivated mainly by extracting treasure. After the 4th century Fortriu is not explicitly mentioned in documentary sources until 664, but there are indications that Fortriu's later power may have been foreshadowed in
1384-536: A descriptive term continued to the formation of the Alpínid dynasty in the ninth century, and the merging of the Pictish Kingdom with that of Dál Riata. The Latin word Picti first occurs in a panegyric , a formal eulogising speech from 297 and is most commonly explained as meaning 'painted' (from Latin pingere 'to paint'; pictus , 'painted', cf. Greek πυκτίς pyktis , 'picture'). This
1557-572: A distinctive Norse–Gaelic culture that saw many Old Norse loanwords enter the Scottish Gaelic spoken by islanders, and through successive generations the Norse would become almost completely assimilated into Gaelic culture and the Scottish clan system. After the conflict, Scotland had to affirm Norwegian sovereignty of the Northern Isles , but they were later integrated into Scotland in
1730-532: A distinctive form of the general Celtic Early Medieval development of La Tène style with increasing influences from the Insular art of 7th and 8th century Ireland and Northumbria , and then Anglo-Saxon and Irish art as the Early Medieval period continues. The most well-known surviving examples are the many Pictish stones located across Pictland. The symbols and patterns consist of animals including
1903-563: A dominant position over most or all of the Picts, one of the most significant developments in the history of early medieval Scotland, described by historians as the Verturian Hegemony . The status of Fortriu as a powerful over-kingdom can be seen from the reign of Bridei son of Beli , who was the first king to be explicitly described as "King of Fortriu" in contemporary chronicles, and whose victory over Ecgfrith of Northumbria at
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#17327578881532076-417: A few decades until it was abandoned during the reign of Caustantín mac Áeda . Pictish society was typical of many early medieval societies in northern Europe and had parallels with neighbouring groups. Archaeology gives some impression of their culture. Medieval sources report the existence of a Pictish language , and evidence shows that it was an Insular Celtic language related to the Brittonic spoken by
2249-589: A full legal union be sought instead, a proposal to which the Scots Parliament would not assent, causing the king to withdraw the plan. Except for a short period under the Protectorate , Scotland remained a separate state in the 17th century, but there was considerable conflict between the crown and the Covenanters over the form of church government . The military was strengthened, allowing
2422-588: A letter addressed to Adolf Hitler that detailed his intentions to open peace negotiations with the British. Pintsch delivered the letter to Hitler at the Berghof around noon on 11 May. Albert Speer later said Hitler described Hess's departure as one of the worst personal blows of his life, as he considered it a personal betrayal. Hitler worried that his allies, Italy and Japan, would perceive Hess's act as an attempt by Hitler to secretly open peace negotiations with
2595-645: A line between the River Tyne and the Solway Firth . Along this line, Trajan's successor Hadrian ( r. 117–138 ) erected Hadrian's Wall in northern England and the Limes Britannicus became the northern border of the Roman Empire. The Roman influence on the southern part of the country was considerable, and they introduced Christianity to Scotland. The Antonine Wall
2768-574: A major part of the diet of ordinary people, while the elite would have eaten a diet rich in meat from farming and hunting. No Pictish counterparts to the areas of denser settlement around important fortresses in Gaul and southern Britain, or any other significant urban settlements, are known. Larger, but not large, settlements existed around royal forts, such as at Burghead Fort , or associated with religious foundations. No towns are known in Scotland until
2941-574: A much longer period. Pictland was not solely influenced by Iona and Ireland. It also had ties to churches in Northumbria, as seen in the reign of Nechtan mac Der Ilei . The reported expulsion of Ionan monks and clergy by Nechtan in 717 may have been related to the controversy over the dating of Easter , and the manner of tonsure , where Nechtan appears to have supported the Roman usages, but may equally have been intended to increase royal power over
3114-402: A number of Scottish-born authors achieved international reputations, such as Robert Louis Stevenson , Arthur Conan Doyle , J. M. Barrie and George MacDonald . Scotland also played a major part in the development of art and architecture. The Glasgow School , which developed in the late 19th century, and flourished in the early 20th century, produced a distinctive blend of influences including
3287-467: A population of 4.8 million in 1911, Scotland sent over half a million men to the war, of whom over a quarter died in combat or from disease, and 150,000 were seriously wounded. Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig was Britain's commander on the Western Front. The war saw the emergence of a radical movement called " Red Clydeside " led by militant trades unionists. Formerly a Liberal stronghold,
3460-527: A single king, playing a key role in uniting the Picts and establishing a self-conscious Pictish identity. The continuing power of the kings of Fortriu over the Picts can be seen in the activities of Bridei son of Beli's successors. Bridei son of Derilei and the cleric Curetán of Rosemarkie were the only Pictish signatories to Cáin Adomnáin or "Law of the Innocents" in 697, indicating that Bridei
3633-624: A statement in Bede 's history. The kings of the Picts when Bede was writing were Bridei and Nechtan, sons of Der Ilei, who indeed claimed the throne through their mother Der Ilei, daughter of an earlier Pictish king. In Ireland, kings were expected to come from among those who had a great-grandfather who had been king. Kingly fathers were not frequently succeeded by their sons, not because the Picts practised matrilineal succession, but because they were usually followed by their own brothers or cousins ( agnatic seniority ), more likely to be experienced men with
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#17327578881533806-539: A useful guide, these extend across a very large area. Relying on knowledge of pre-Roman Gaul , or 13th-century Ireland, as a guide to the Picts of the 6th century may be misleading if the analogy is pursued too far. Like most northern European people in Late Antiquity , the Picts were farmers living in small communities. Cattle and horses were an obvious sign of wealth and prestige. Sheep and pigs were kept in large numbers, and place names suggest that transhumance
3979-463: A wide following in the north in earlier times, although he was all but forgotten by the 12th century. Saint Serf of Culross was associated with Nechtan's brother Bridei. It appears, as is well known in later times, that noble kin groups had their own patron saints, and their own churches or abbeys. Pictish art is primarily associated with monumental stones , but also includes smaller objects of stone and bone, and metalwork such as brooches . It uses
4152-637: Is 30,977 square miles (80,231 km ) with a land area of 30,078 square miles (77,901 km ), comparable to the size of the Czech Republic . Scotland's only land border is with England, and runs for 96 miles (154 km) between the basin of the River Tweed on the east coast and the Solway Firth in the west. The Atlantic Ocean borders the west coast and the North Sea is to the east. The island of Ireland lies only 13 miles (21 km) from
4325-452: Is based on unsound etymology, however, as Fothriff derives from the Gaelic words foithir and Fib and means "district appended to Fife", while Fortriu is related to the earlier Latin name Verturiones . Skene, in his 3 volume work Celtic Scotland: A History of Ancient Alban , published between 1876 and 1880, identified Fortriu with Strathearn and Menteith , the first province listed in
4498-546: Is extinct. Evidence is limited to place-names , personal names , and contemporary records in other languages. The evidence of place and personal names appears to indicate that the Picts spoke an Insular Celtic language related to the Brittonic languages of the south. It is possible that Pictish diverged significantly from the Southern Neo-Brittonic dialects due to the lack of influence of Latin. The absence of surviving written material in Pictish, discounting
4671-464: Is generally understood to be a reference to the practice of tattooing. Claudian , in his account of the Roman commander Stilicho , written around 404, speaks of designs on the bodies of dying Picts, presumably referring to tattoos or body paint. Isidore of Seville reports in the early seventh century that the practice was continued by the Picts. An alternative suggestion is that the Latin Picti
4844-473: Is likely that the Pictish language influenced the development, grammar and vocabulary of Scottish Gaelic , which has some characteristics unique among the Goidelic languages and which, in certain cases, are more reminiscent of Brittonic languages. Toponymic evidence indicates the advance of Gaelic into Pictland; Atholl , meaning New Ireland , is attested in the early 8th century. This may be an indication of
5017-600: Is limited. Naturalistic depictions of Pictish nobles, hunters and warriors, male and female, without obvious tattoos, are found on monumental stones . These include inscriptions in Latin and ogham script, not all of which have been deciphered. The well-known Pictish symbols found on standing stones and other artefacts have defied attempts at translation over the centuries. Pictish art can be classed as " Celtic " and later as Insular . Irish poets portrayed their Pictish counterparts as very much like themselves. Early Pictish religion
5190-466: Is possible that Fortriu was understood to be interchangeable with Moray in the High Middle Ages . Fortriu is also mentioned as one of the seven ancient Pictish kingdoms in the 13th-century source known as De Situ Albanie . There can be little or no doubt then that Fortriu centred on northern Scotland. Other Pictish scholars, such as James E. Fraser are now taking it for granted that Fortriu
5363-465: Is presumed to have resembled Celtic polytheism in general, although only place names remain from the pre-Christian era. When the Pictish elite converted to Christianity is uncertain, but traditions place Saint Palladius in Pictland after he left Ireland , and link Abernethy with Saint Brigid of Kildare . Saint Patrick refers to "apostate Picts", while the poem Y Gododdin does not remark on
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5536-549: Is referred to as "Pictland" by modern historians. Initially made up of several chiefdoms , it came to be dominated by the Pictish kingdom of Fortriu from the seventh century. During this Verturian hegemony , Picti was adopted as an endonym. This lasted around 160 years until the Pictish kingdom merged with that of Dál Riata to form the Kingdom of Alba , ruled by the House of Alpin . The concept of "Pictish kingship" continued for
5709-700: Is said to have invested in the Darien scheme . After another proposal from the English House of Lords was rejected in 1695, and a further Lords motion was voted down in the House of Commons in 1700, the Parliament of Scotland again rejected union in 1702. The failure of the Darien Scheme bankrupted the landowners who had invested, though not the burghs. Nevertheless, the nobles' bankruptcy, along with
5882-587: Is similar to the situation with the Gaelic name of Scotland, Alba , which originally seems to have been a generalised term for Britain. It has been proposed that the Picts may have called themselves Albidosi , a name found in the Chronicle of the Kings of Alba during the reign of Máel Coluim mac Domnaill . The origin myth presented in Bede 's Ecclesiastical History of the English People describes
6055-608: Is thought to be of Pictish origin, composed around 700. Its structure is similar to the origin myths of other peoples and its main purpose appears to have been to legitimise the annexation of Pictish territories by Fortriu and the creation of a wider Pictland. A study published in 2023 sequenced the whole genomes from eight individuals associated with the Pictish period, excavated from cemeteries at Lundin Links in Fife and Balintore, Easter Ross . The study observed "broad affinities" between
6228-525: Is typical of the north-west of Europe, although several of the larger mammals such as the lynx, brown bear, wolf, elk and walrus were hunted to extinction in historic times. There are important populations of seals and internationally significant nesting grounds for a variety of seabirds such as gannets . The golden eagle is something of a national icon. On the high mountain tops, species including ptarmigan , mountain hare and stoat can be seen in their white colour phase during winter months. Remnants of
6401-581: Is unclear whether the Mormaers were originally former kings, royal officials, or local nobles, or some combination of these. Likewise, the Pictish shires and thanages , traces of which are found in later times, are thought to have been adopted from their southern neighbours. The archaeological record gives insight into the Picts' material culture , and suggest a society not readily distinguishable from its British, Gaelic, or Anglo-Saxon neighbours. Although analogy and knowledge of other Celtic societies may be
6574-588: Is unclear. In later periods, multiple kings ruled over separate kingdoms, with one king, sometimes two, more or less dominating their lesser neighbours. De Situ Albanie , a 13th century document, the Pictish Chronicle , the 11th century Duan Albanach , along with Irish legends, have been used to argue the existence of seven Pictish kingdoms. These are: Cait , or Cat, situated in modern Caithness and Sutherland ; Ce , situated in modern Mar and Buchan ; Circin , perhaps situated in modern Angus and
6747-584: The Battle of Dun Nechtain in 685 extended Fortriu's power southward, replacing Northumbrian rule north of the Forth . Bridei had possibly been a sub-king of the Northumbrians at the start of his reign in 671, but began to extend his power with a siege of Dunottar in 680 and an attack on Orkney in 681. As the influence of the kings of Fortriu grew they promoted the idea of the Picts as a single people with
6920-702: The Bruce dynasty and their long-term rivals of the House of Comyn and House of Balliol lasted until the middle of the 14th century. Although the Bruce faction was successful, David II's lack of an heir allowed his half-nephew Robert II , the Lord High Steward of Scotland , to come to the throne and establish the House of Stewart . The Stewarts ruled Scotland for the remainder of the Middle Ages . The country they ruled experienced greater prosperity from
7093-551: The Celtic Britons to the south. Pictish was gradually displaced by Middle Gaelic as part of the wider Gaelicisation from the late ninth century. Much of their history is known from outside sources, including Bede , hagiographies of saints such as that of Columba by Adomnán , and the Irish annals . There has been substantial critical reappraisal of the concept of "Pictishness" over recent decades. The popular view at
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7266-701: The Celtic Revival the Arts and Crafts movement , and Japonism , which found favour throughout the modern art world of continental Europe and helped define the Art Nouveau style. Proponents included architect and artist Charles Rennie Mackintosh . Scotland played a major role in the British effort in the First World War . It especially provided manpower, ships, machinery, fish and money. With
7439-467: The Chronicle of the Kings of Alba , indicates that King Dub was killed at Forres , a location in Moray. Additions to the Chronicle of Melrose confirm that Dub was killed by the men of Moray at Forres. The Prophecy of Berchán states that "Mac Bethad, the glorious king of Fortriu, will take [Scotland]." As Macbeth, King of Scotland may have been Mormaer of Moray before he became King of Scots, it
7612-526: The Community Charge (widely known as the Poll Tax) one year before the rest of Great Britain, contributed to a growing movement for Scottish control over domestic affairs. On 21 December 1988, Pan Am Flight 103 exploded mid–air over the town of Lockerbie , killing all on board as well as eleven Lockerbie residents. It remains the deadliest terrorist attack in the United Kingdom . Following
7785-487: The Hebrides , which had been ruled by various Scottish clans following the death of Somerled in 1164. In 1266, Scotland fought the short but consequential Scottish-Norwegian War which saw the reclamation of the Hebrides after the strong defeat of King Haakon IV and his forces at the Battle of Largs . Up until that point, the Hebrides had been under Norwegian Viking control for roughly 400 years and had developed
7958-646: The Highland Boundary Fault , which runs from Arran to Stonehaven . This part of Scotland largely comprises ancient rocks from the Cambrian and Precambrian , which were uplifted during the later Caledonian orogeny . It is interspersed with igneous intrusions of a more recent age, remnants of which formed mountain massifs such as the Cairngorms and Skye Cuillins . In north-eastern mainland Scotland weathering of rock that occurred before
8131-525: The House of Hanover from the British throne. The threat of the Jacobite movement to the United Kingdom and its monarchs effectively ended at the Battle of Culloden , Great Britain's last pitched battle . The passing of the Treaty of Union did not bring about immediate economic prosperity to Scotland as was widely speculated by the pamphleteer as a result of the little consideration given to prospects of
8304-508: The House of Stuart was resumed with the Restoration in Scotland in 1660. The Parliament of Scotland sought a commercial union with England in 1664; the proposal was rejected in 1668. In 1670 the Parliament of England rejected a proposed political union with Scotland. English proposals along the same lines were abandoned in 1674 and in 1685. The Scots Parliament rejected proposals for a political union with England in 1689. Jacobitism ,
8477-514: The House of Uurguist , which had lasted for over fifty years and for much of that period had also extended to Gaelic Dál Riata and the Britons of Strathclyde , came to a sudden and dramatic end with a decisive defeat by Vikings in 839. The Annals of Ulster record the deaths in the battle of the king of Fortriu, Wen son of Onuist , and his brother Bran son of Onuist , together with the king of Dál Riata Áed mac Boanta – suggesting Dál Riata
8650-617: The Irish Sea , have been found. This trade may have been controlled from Dunadd in Dál Riata, where such goods appear to have been common. While long-distance travel was unusual in Pictish times, it was far from unknown as stories of missionaries, travelling clerics and exiles show. Brochs are popularly associated with the Picts. Although built earlier in the Iron Age , with construction ending around 100 AD, they remained in use beyond
8823-511: The Kingdom of York . In a major battle in 839 , the Vikings killed the King of Fortriu , Eógan mac Óengusa , the King of Dál Riata Áed mac Boanta , and many others. In the aftermath, in the 840s, Kenneth MacAlpin ( Medieval Gaelic : Cináed mac Ailpín ) became king of the Picts. During the reign of Cínaed's grandson, Caustantín mac Áeda (900–943), outsiders began to refer to the region as
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#17327578881538996-769: The Last Ice Age has shaped much of the landscape. A significant exception to the above are the fossil-bearing beds of Old Red Sandstones found principally along the Moray Firth coast. The Highlands are generally mountainous and the highest elevations in the British Isles are found here. Scotland has over 790 islands divided into four main groups: Shetland , Orkney , and the Inner Hebrides and Outer Hebrides . There are numerous bodies of freshwater including Loch Lomond and Loch Ness . Some parts of
9169-480: The Moscow region in Russia , and the Kamchatka Peninsula on the opposite side of Eurasia . Temperatures are generally lower than in the rest of the UK, with the temperature of −27.2 °C (−17.0 °F) recorded at Braemar in the Grampian Mountains , on 11 February 1895, the coldest ever recorded anywhere in the UK. Winter maxima average 6 °C (43 °F) in the Lowlands, with summer maxima averaging 18 °C (64 °F). The highest temperature recorded
9342-411: The Northern Isles and Western Isles , where a lack of trees led to most structures being built of local stone. Evidence of sophisticated pre-Christian belief systems is demonstrated by sites such as the Callanish Stones on Lewis and the Maes Howe on Orkney , which were built in the third millennium BC. The first written reference to Scotland was in 320 BC by Greek sailor Pytheas , who called
9515-475: The Parliament of Great Britain , which succeeded both the Parliament of Scotland and the Parliament of England , which rejected proposals from the Parliament of Ireland that the third kingdom be incorporated in the union. Andrew Fletcher , a prominent Scottish patriot, argued that the ratification of the treaty would see Scotland "more like a conquered province", and by 1713, the former Lord Chancellor of Scotland , James Ogilvy, 4th Earl of Findlater , who
9688-421: The Pictish Beast , the "rectangle", the "mirror and comb", "double-disc and Z-rod" and the "crescent and V-rod", among many others. There are also bosses and lenses with pelta and spiral designs. The patterns are curvilinear with hatchings. The cross-slabs are carved with Pictish symbols, Insular-derived interlace and Christian imagery, though interpretation is often difficult due to wear and obscurity. Several of
9861-421: The Picts who took part in the Barbarian Conspiracy of 367-368. Although alongside the Dicalydones they are clearly described as Pictish, at this time this may just have been a pejorative Roman word for unromanised Britons. The Verturiones were probably based like their successors around the Moray Firth . It is not clear what relationship they had to earlier peoples documented in the same area, such as
10034-409: The River Tay , flows for a distance of 117 miles (188 km). The whole of Scotland was covered by ice sheets during the Pleistocene ice ages and the landscape is much affected by glaciation. From a geological perspective, the country has three main sub-divisions: the Highlands and Islands, the Central Lowlands, and the Southern Uplands. The Highlands and Islands lie to the north and west of
10207-413: The Roman Empire , was culturally divergent. Repeated glaciations, which covered the entire land mass of modern Scotland, destroyed any traces of human habitation that may have existed before the Mesolithic period . It is believed the first post-glacial groups of hunter-gatherers arrived in Scotland around 12,800 years ago, as the ice sheet retreated after the last glaciation . At the time, Scotland
10380-416: The Scots Confession , which signalled the Scottish Reformation 's sharp break from papal authority and Roman Catholic teaching. The Catholic Mary, Queen of Scots, was forced to abdicate in 1567 . In 1603, James VI, King of Scots inherited the thrones of the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Ireland in the Union of the Crowns , and moved to London. This was a personal union as despite having
10553-495: The Vacomagi and Decantae surveyed under Agricola in the 1st century and listed in Ptolemy 's Geography , but archeological discoveries at Birnie near Elgin indicate that Rome had remained in diplomatic contact with the area throughout the 2nd century. The Verturiones may have emerged as part of a pattern seen in other Roman frontier zones such as Germany, where areas beyond the border saw population groups amalgamating into fewer but larger political units. As well as
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#173275788815310726-441: The Wars of Scottish Independence , until Robert the Bruce was crowned king of Scotland in 1306. Victory at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314 proved the Scots had regained control of their kingdom. In 1320 the world's first documented declaration of independence, the Declaration of Arbroath , won the support of Pope John XXII , leading to the legal recognition of Scottish sovereignty by the English Crown. A civil war between
10899-428: The beaver and wild boar . Today, much of the remaining native Caledonian Forest lies within the Cairngorms National Park and remnants of the forest remain at 84 locations across Scotland. On the west coast, remnants of ancient Celtic Rainforest remain, particularly on the Taynish peninsula in Argyll , these forests are particularly rare due to high rates of deforestation throughout Scottish history. The flora of
11072-464: The glens in the Highlands, the Caledonians were again in revolt in 210–211 and these were overrun. To the Roman historians Tacitus and Cassius Dio , the Scottish Highlands and the area north of the River Forth was called Caledonia . According to Cassius Dio, the inhabitants of Caledonia were the Caledonians and the Maeatae . Other ancient authors used the adjective "Caledonian" to mean anywhere in northern or inland Britain, often mentioning
11245-425: The provinces of Moray and Ross – during the 10th century. Moray is first recorded in an entry in the Chronicle of the Kings of Alba for the reign of Malcolm I , which lasted from 943 to 954; while Ross first appears in the documentary record in a hagiography of the Scottish-born saint Cathróe of Metz , written in Metz between 971 and 976. From the 19th century until 2006 most historians believed that
11418-413: The 12th century document De Situ Albanie , on the basis that a battle recorded by the Chronicle of the Kings of Alba as taking place in Sraith Herenn was also recorded by the Annals of Ulster as the killing of Ímar ua Ímair by the "Men of Fortriu". This argument is also inconclusive, however: Sraith Herenn could refer to either Strathearn in Perthshire , south of the Mounth; or Strathdearn,
11591-414: The 12th century. The technology of everyday life is not well recorded, but archaeological evidence shows it to have been similar to that in Ireland and Anglo-Saxon England. Recently evidence has been found of watermills in Pictland. Kilns were used for drying kernels of wheat or barley, not otherwise easy in the changeable, temperate climate. The early Picts are associated with piracy and raiding along
11764-471: The 14th century is now a crown dependency outside of the United Kingdom; the island groups Orkney and Shetland , which were acquired from Norway in 1472; and Berwick-upon-Tweed , lost to England in 1482 The geographical centre of Scotland lies a few miles from the village of Newtonmore in Badenoch . Rising to 4,413 feet (1,345 m) above sea level, Scotland's highest point is the summit of Ben Nevis , in Lochaber , while Scotland's longest river,
11937-401: The 15th century. Scandinavian culture in the form of the Norn language survived for a lot longer than in the Hebrides, and would strongly influence the local Scots dialect on Shetland and Orkney . Later, a system of feudalism was consolidated, with both Anglo-Norman incomers and native Gaelic chieftains being granted land in exchange for serving the king. The relationship with England
12110-405: The 1870s, and the Fortingall Yew may be 5,000 years old and is probably the oldest living thing in Europe. Although the number of native vascular plants is low by world standards, Scotland's substantial bryophyte flora is of global importance. Fortriu Fortriu ( Latin : Verturiones ; Old Irish : * Foirtrinn ; Old English : Wærteras ; Pictish : * Uerteru )
12283-432: The 760s, does not appear to have recovered its political independence from the Picts. A later Pictish king, Caustantín mac Fergusa (793–820), placed his son Domnall on the throne of Dál Riata (811–835). Pictish attempts to achieve a similar dominance over the Britons of Alt Clut ( Strathclyde ) were not successful. The Viking Age brought significant change to Britain and Ireland, no less in Scotland than elsewhere, with
12456-613: The 7th century Northumbria was the most powerful kingdom in Britain. The Picts were probably tributary to Northumbria until the reign of Bridei mac Beli , when, in 685, the Anglians suffered a defeat at the Battle of Dun Nechtain that halted their northward expansion. The Northumbrians continued to dominate southern Scotland for the remainder of the Pictish period. Dál Riata was subject to the Pictish king Óengus mac Fergusa (reigned 729–761), and although it had its own kings beginning in
12629-769: The 8th and 9th centuries, after Christianization, the Pictish elite adopted a particular form of the Irish Celtic brooch , preferring true penannular brooches with lobed terminals. Some older Irish brooches were adapted to the Pictish style, for example, the c. 8th century Breadalbane Brooch now in the British Museum . The St Ninian's Isle Treasure (c. 750–825 AD) contains the best collection of Pictish forms. Other characteristics of Pictish metalwork are dotted backgrounds or designs and animal forms influenced by Insular art. The 8th century Monymusk Reliquary has elements of Pictish and Irish styles. The Pictish language
12802-493: The British. After 1945, Scotland's economic situation worsened due to overseas competition, inefficient industry, and industrial disputes. Only in recent decades has the country enjoyed something of a cultural and economic renaissance. Economic factors contributing to this recovery included a resurgent financial services industry, electronics manufacturing , (see Silicon Glen ), and the North Sea oil and gas industry. The introduction in 1989 by Margaret Thatcher's government of
12975-475: The Christian images carved on various stones, such as David the harpist, Daniel and the lion, or scenes of St Paul and St Anthony meeting in the desert, have been influenced by the Insular manuscript tradition. Pictish metalwork is found throughout Pictland (modern-day Scotland) and also further south; the Picts appeared to have a considerable amount of silver available, probably from raiding further south, or
13148-480: The Kingdom of Alba rather than the Kingdom of the Picts, but it is not known whether this was because a new kingdom was established or Alba was simply a closer approximation of the Pictish name for the Picts. However, though the Pictish language did not disappear suddenly, a process of Gaelicisation (which may have begun generations earlier) was clearly underway during the reigns of Caustantín and his successors. By
13321-621: The Mearns ; Fib, the modern Fife ; Fidach, location unknown, but possibly near Inverness ; Fotla, modern Atholl ( Ath-Fotla ); and Fortriu , cognate with the Verturiones of the Romans, recently shown to be centred on Moray . More small kingdoms may have existed. Some evidence suggests that a Pictish kingdom also existed in Orkney . De Situ Albanie is not the most reliable of sources, and
13494-519: The Pictish language went extinct as its speakers shifted to Gaelic. From a base in eastern Scotland north of the River Forth and south of the River Spey , the kingdom expanded first southwards, into the former Northumbrian lands, and northwards into Moray . Around the turn of the millennium, there was a centralization in agricultural lands and the first towns began to be established. In
13667-504: The Pictish period. Crannogs , which may originate in Neolithic Scotland, may have been rebuilt, and some were still in use in the time of the Picts. The most common sort of buildings would have been roundhouses and rectangular timbered halls. While many churches were built in wood, from the early 8th century, if not earlier, some were built in stone. The Picts are often said to have tattooed themselves, but evidence for this
13840-475: The Picts as pagans. Bede wrote that Saint Ninian (confused by some with Saint Finnian of Moville , who died c. 589), had converted the southern Picts. Recent archaeological work at Portmahomack places the foundation of the monastery there, an area once assumed to be among the last converted, in the late 6th century. This is contemporary with Bridei mac Maelchon and Columba, but the process of establishing Christianity throughout Pictland will have extended over
14013-577: The Picts as settlers from Scythia who arrived on the northern coast of Ireland by chance. Local Scoti leaders redirected them to northern Britain where they settled, taking Scoti wives. The Pictish Chronicle , repeating this story, further names the mythical founding leader Cruithne (the Gaelic word for Pict ), followed by his sons, whose names correspond with the seven provinces of Pictland: Circin , Fidach , Fortriu , Fotla ( Atholl ), Cat , Ce and Fib . Bede's account has long been recognised as pseudohistorical literary invention, and
14186-646: The Roman victory, Roman forts were briefly set along the Gask Ridge close to the Highland line , but by three years after the battle, the Roman armies had withdrawn to the Southern Uplands . Remains of Roman forts established in the 1st century have been found as far north as the Moray Firth . By the reign of the Roman emperor Trajan ( r. 98–117 ), Roman control had lapsed to Britain south of
14359-480: The Scottish Enlightenment is traditionally considered to have concluded toward the end of the 18th century, disproportionately large Scottish contributions to British science and letters continued for another 50 years or more, thanks to such figures as the physicists James Clerk Maxwell and Lord Kelvin , and the engineers and inventors James Watt and William Murdoch , whose work was critical to
14532-822: The Scottish Parliament after the referendum, following cross-party talks in the Smith Commission . Since the 2014 referendum, events such as the UK leaving the European Union, despite a majority of voters in Scotland voting to remain a member, have led to calls for a second independence referendum . In 2022, the Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain argued the case for the Scottish Government to hold another referendum on
14705-530: The Scottish economy. Campaigners for the union between Scotland and England believed that there would be economic advantages to Scotland as a result of the failed Darien scheme which left the Kingdom of Scotland bankrupt. Eventually however, with trade tariffs with England abolished, trade blossomed, especially with Colonial America . The clippers belonging to the Glasgow Tobacco Lords were
14878-676: The Southern Uplands is Merrick with an elevation of 843 m (2,766 ft). The Southern Uplands is home to Scotland's highest village, Wanlockhead (430 m or 1,411 ft above sea level). The climate of most of Scotland is temperate and oceanic , and tends to be very changeable. As it is warmed by the Gulf Stream from the Atlantic, it has much milder winters (but cooler, wetter summers) than areas on similar latitudes, such as Labrador , southern Scandinavia ,
15051-462: The Vikings conquering and settling the islands and various mainland areas, including Caithness , Sutherland and Galloway . In the middle of the 9th century Ketil Flatnose is said to have founded the Kingdom of the Isles , governing many of these territories, and by the end of that century the Vikings had destroyed the Kingdom of Northumbria, greatly weakened the Kingdom of Strathclyde , and founded
15224-576: The advance of Gaelic. Fortriu also contains place names suggesting Gaelic settlement, or Gaelic influences. A pre-Gaelic interpretation of the name as Athfocla meaning 'north pass' or 'north way', as in gateway to Moray, suggests that the Gaelic Athfotla may be a Gaelic misreading of the minuscule c for t. Ogham inscriptions on Pictish stones and other Pictish archaeological objects survive. These were argued by influential linguist Kenneth Jackson to be unintelligible as Celtic and evidence for
15397-485: The area, including Verturiones , Taexali and Venicones . Written history relating to the Picts as a people emerges in the Early Middle Ages . At that time, the Gaels of Dál Riata controlled what is now Argyll , as part of a kingdom straddling the sea between Britain and Ireland. The Angles of Bernicia , which merged with Deira to form Northumbria , overwhelmed the adjacent British kingdoms, and for much of
15570-498: The army and navy, trade, economics, colonial enterprises and other areas across the nascent British Empire . Historian Neil Davidson notes "after 1746 there was an entirely new level of participation by Scots in political life, particularly outside Scotland." Davidson also states "far from being 'peripheral' to the British economy, Scotland – or more precisely, the Lowlands – lay at its core." The Scottish Reform Act 1832 increased
15743-419: The authority and the support necessary to be king. This was similar to tanistry . The nature of kingship changed considerably during the centuries of Pictish history. While earlier kings had to be successful war leaders to maintain their authority, kingship became rather less personalised and more institutionalised during this time. Bureaucratic kingship was still far in the future when Pictland became Alba, but
15916-421: The beginning of the twentieth century was that they were exotic "lost people". It was noted in the highly influential work of 1955, The Problem of the Picts , that the subject area was difficult, with the archaeological and historical records frequently being at odds with the conventional essentialist expectations about historical peoples. Since then, the culture-historical paradigm of archaeology dominant since
16089-622: The central belt of the country. Perhaps the most significant air raid in Scotland was the Clydebank Blitz of March 1941, which intended to destroy naval shipbuilding in the area. 528 people were killed and 4,000 homes totally destroyed. Perhaps Scotland's most unusual wartime episode occurred in 1941 when Rudolf Hess flew to Renfrewshire, possibly intending to broker a peace deal through the Duke of Hamilton . Before his departure from Germany, Hess had given his adjutant, Karlheinz Pintsch ,
16262-516: The church. Nonetheless, the evidence of place names suggests a wide area of Ionan influence in Pictland. Likewise, the Cáin Adomnáin (Law of Adomnán , Lex Innocentium ) counts Nechtan's brother Bridei among its guarantors. The importance of monastic centres in Pictland was not as great as in Ireland. In areas that have been studied, such as Strathspey and Perthshire , it appears that
16435-456: The coastline consist of machair , a low-lying dune pasture land. The Central Lowlands is a rift valley mainly comprising Paleozoic formations. Many of these sediments have economic significance for it is here that the coal and iron-bearing rocks that fuelled Scotland's industrial revolution are found. This area has also experienced intense volcanism, Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh being
16608-487: The coasts of Roman Britain . Even in the Late Middle Ages , the line between traders and pirates was unclear, so that Pictish pirates were probably merchants on other occasions. It is generally assumed that trade collapsed with the Roman Empire, but this is to overstate the case. There is only limited evidence of long-distance trade with Pictland, but tableware and storage vessels from Gaul, probably transported up
16781-452: The coexistence of a non-Celtic language in Pictish times. Celtic interpretations have since been advanced for some of these inscriptions, but the nature of the inscriptions continues to be a matter of debate. Scotland – in Europe (green & dark grey) – in the United Kingdom (green) Scotland ( Scots : Scotland ; Scottish Gaelic : Alba ) is
16954-402: The continuation of Scottish culture and national identity . Scottish English and Scots are the most widely spoken languages in the country , existing on a dialect continuum with each other. Scottish Gaelic speakers can be found all over Scotland, however the language is largely spoken natively by communities within the Hebrides . The number of Gaelic speakers numbers less than 2% of
17127-462: The country is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, the North Sea to the north-east and east, and the Irish Sea to the south. The population in 2022 was 5,439,842. Edinburgh is the capital and Glasgow is the largest of the cities of Scotland . The Kingdom of Scotland emerged as an independent sovereign state in the 9th century. In 1603, James VI succeeded to
17300-444: The country is varied incorporating both deciduous and coniferous woodland as well as moorland and tundra species. Large-scale commercial tree planting and management of upland moorland habitat for the grazing of sheep and field sport activities like deer stalking and driven grouse shooting impacts the distribution of indigenous plants and animals. The UK's tallest tree is a grand fir planted beside Loch Fyne , Argyll in
17473-495: The death of Elphin son of Wrad in 780 saw four rulers in quick succession – three from the family of Onuist son of Uurguist – and allowed Dál Riata to reassert its independence. The succession of Constantín son of Uurguist to the kingship of Fortriu in 789 was challenged by the Dál Riatan king Conall mac Taidg , but Constantín proved to be strong leader and reigned through to his death in 820. The dominance of Fortriu and
17646-660: The early 10th century, suggesting a degree of continuity with the earlier period of over-kingship. The Annals of Ulster record the "men of Fortriu" killing the Scandinavian leader Ímar ua Ímair in 904, four years after it had started using the description ri Alban for the King of Alba . The last dated reference to Fortriu in any of the Irish Annals is for 918 in the Fragmentary Annals of Ireland , where
17819-652: The end of the 14th century through the Scottish Renaissance to the Reformation , despite the effects of the Black Death in 1349 and increasing division between Highlands and Lowlands . Multiple truces reduced warfare on the southern border. The Treaty of Perpetual Peace was signed in 1502 by James IV of Scotland and Henry VII of England . James married Henry's daughter, Margaret Tudor . James invaded England in support of France under
17992-463: The enigmatic Ogham inscriptions, does not indicate a pre-literate society. The church certainly required literacy in Latin, and could not function without copyists to produce liturgical documents. Pictish iconography shows books being read and carried, and its naturalistic style gives every reason to suppose that such images were of real life. Literacy was not widespread, but among the senior clergy, and in monasteries, it would have been common enough. It
18165-669: The execution of the Scottish king at Whitehall in 1649, amid the Wars of the Three Kingdoms and its events in Scotland , Oliver Cromwell , the victorious Lord Protector , imposed the British Isles' first written constitution – the Instrument of Government – on Scotland in 1652 as part of the republican Commonwealth of England, Scotland, and Ireland . The Protectorate Parliament was the first Westminster parliament to include representatives nominally from Scotland. The monarchy of
18338-426: The family unit and had sharp divisions in wealth, although the vast majority were poor and worked full-time in subsistence agriculture . The Picts kept slaves (mostly captured in war) through the ninth century. Gaelic influence over Pictland and Northumbria was facilitated by the large number of Gaelic-speaking clerics working as missionaries. Operating in the sixth century on the island of Iona , Saint Columba
18511-766: The fastest ships on the route to Virginia . Until the American War of Independence in 1776, Glasgow was the world's premier tobacco port, dominating world trade. The disparity between the wealth of the merchant classes of the Scottish Lowlands and the ancient clans of the Scottish Highlands grew, amplifying centuries of division. In the Highlands, clan chiefs gradually started to think of themselves more as commercial landlords than leaders of their people. These social and economic changes included
18684-669: The first phase of the Highland Clearances and, ultimately, the demise of clanship. The Scottish Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution turned Scotland into an intellectual, commercial and industrial powerhouse — so much so Voltaire said "We look to Scotland for all our ideas of civilisation." With the demise of Jacobitism and the advent of the Union, thousands of Scots, mainly Lowlanders, took up numerous positions of power in politics, civil service,
18857-612: The first three Scottish parliament elections. The pro- independence Scottish National Party led by Alex Salmond achieved an overall majority in the 2011 election , winning 69 of the 129 seats available. The success of the SNP in achieving a majority in the Scottish Parliament paved the way for the September 2014 referendum on Scottish independence . The majority voted against the proposition, with 55% voting no to independence. More powers, particularly concerning taxation, were devolved to
19030-654: The fourth century. The bulk of written history dates from the seventh century onwards. The Irish annalists and contemporary scholars like Bede use "Picts" to describe the peoples under the Verturian hegemony . This encompassed most of Scotland north of the Forth-Clyde isthmus and to the exclusion of territory occupied by Dál Riata in the west. To the south lay the Brittonic kingdom of Strathclyde , with Lothian occupied by Northumbrian Angles. The use of "Picts" as
19203-830: The group's name meant "Fortress People". Mallory & Adams saw the name as representing tu(:)rjones , derived from Indo European tur meaning "mighty", with the intensive prefix *wer . A reconstructed form in the Pictish language would be something like *Uerteru . A connected Old Irish form of the name appears from the 6th to the 10th centuries in the Annals of Ulster and later sources, which contain repeated references to rex Fortrenn , ("the King of Fortriu"), la firu Fortrenn ("the men of Fortriu") and Maigh Fortrenn ("the plain of Fortriu"), alongside references to battles occurring i Fortrinn ("in Fortriu"). These are examples of
19376-636: The heartland of Fortriu on the shores of the Moray Firth. The Viking Kings of Dublin Amlaíb and Auisle are recorded in the Annals of Ulster going to Fortriu and plundering "the entire Pictish nation" in 866. Although the chronology of written sources is confused, they probably occupied Fortriu for three years and took hostages, before attacking Dumbarton Rock in 870 and returning to Dublin in 871, bringing with them "a great prey of English, and Britons and Picts." Fortriu continued to be recorded into
19549-462: The hoard has a "Z-rod", one of the Pictish symbols, in a particularly well-preserved and elegant form; unfortunately few comparable pieces have survived. Over ten heavy silver chains, some over 0.5m long, have been found from this period; the double-linked Whitecleuch Chain is one of only two that have a penannular linking piece for the ends, with symbol decoration including enamel, which shows how these were probably used as "choker" necklaces. In
19722-540: The idea itself. A northern recension of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle makes it clear that Fortriu was north of the Mounth ( i.e. , the eastern Grampians ), in the area visited by Columba . The long poem known as The Prophecy of Berchán , written perhaps in the 12th century, but purporting to be a prophecy made in the Early Middle Ages , says that Dub, King of Scotland was killed in the Plain of Fortriu . Another source,
19895-414: The imposition of royal authority on the western Highland clans. The 1609 Statutes of Iona compelled the cultural integration of Hebridean clan leaders. In 1641 and again in 1643, the Parliament of Scotland unsuccessfully sought a union with England which was "federative" and not "incorporating", in which Scotland would retain a separate parliament. The issue of union split the parliament in 1648. After
20068-777: The industrial districts switched to Labour by 1922, with a base among the Irish Catholic working-class districts. Women were especially active in building neighbourhood solidarity on housing issues. The "Reds" operated within the Labour Party with little influence in Parliament and the mood changed to passive despair by the late 1920s. During the Second World War, Scotland was targeted by Nazi Germany largely due to its factories, shipyards, and coal mines. Cities such as Glasgow and Edinburgh were targeted by German bombers, as were smaller towns mostly located in
20241-476: The invasion and conquest of the Gaelic kingdom of Dál Riata , located in the area of modern-day Argyll . Onuist became the first Pictish king known to have invaded Northumbria and Strathclyde and may even have invaded Ireland , establishing a domination over northern Britain unmatched by any preceding king, that would not be rivalled again for another 150 years. A period of instability in Fortriu following
20414-557: The issue, with the Supreme Court later ruling against the argument. Following the Supreme Court decision, the Scottish Government stated that it wished to make amendments to the Scotland Act 1998 that would allow a referendum to be held in 2023. The mainland of Scotland comprises the northern third of the land mass of the island of Great Britain, which lies off the northwest coast of Continental Europe . The total area
20587-582: The kingdom recorded as Fortriu in the Irish annals lay south of the Mounth in present-day central Scotland , based on the work of E. W. Robertson and W. F. Skene . Robertson, in his 1862 work Scotland under her Early Kings , identified Fortriu as comprising Clackmannanshire , Menteith and west Fife on the left bank of the Forth , arguing that the names of both Fortriu and the medieval deanery of Fothriff derived from an earlier hypothetical *Forthreim , which he translated as "Forth Realm". This argument
20760-563: The late 6th century. Adomnan 's Life of Columba describes the stronghold of the Pictish king Bridei son of Maelchon , who ruled from 554 to 584, as being by the River Ness , in or near to the heartland of Fortriu. Bridei is depicted by Adomnan as overlord of a regulus or "underking" of Orkney , and was separately described by the Northumbrian historian Bede as rex potentissimus or "very powerful king". Irish annals record
20933-518: The late nineteenth century gave way to the processual archaeology (formerly known as the New Archaeology ) theory. Moreover, there has been significant reappraisal of textual sources written, for example by Bede and Adomnán in the seventh and eighth centuries. These works relate events of previous centuries, but current scholarship recognises their often allegorical, pseudo-historical nature, and their true value often lies in an appraisal of
21106-638: The later 4th century, which included the participation of the Gaelic Scoti and the Caledonians, who were then known as Picts by the Romans. This was defeated by the comes Theodosius ; but Roman military government was withdrawn from the island altogether by the early 5th century, resulting in the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain and the immigration of the Saxons to southeastern Scotland and
21279-580: The likes of Tiree and Coll are much flatter. Scotland comes from Scoti , the Latin name for the Gaels . Philip Freeman has speculated on the likelihood of a group of raiders adopting a name from an Indo-European root , * skot , citing the parallel in Greek skotos ( σκότος ), meaning "darkness, gloom". The Late Latin word Scotia ("land of the Gaels") was initially used to refer to Ireland, and likewise in early Old English Scotland
21452-534: The mainland Pictish genomes, Iron Age Britons and the present-day people living in western Scotland, Wales , Northern Ireland and Northumbria , but less with the rest of England, supporting the current archaeological theories of a "local origin" of the Pictish people. The area occupied by the Picts had previously been described by Roman writers and geographers as the home of the Caledonii . These Romans also used other names to refer to Britannic tribes living in
21625-409: The most mountainous region of the British Isles and contain its highest peak, Ben Nevis , at 4,413 feet (1,345 m). The region also contains many lakes, called lochs ; the term is also applied to the many saltwater inlets along the country's deeply indented western coastline. The geography of the many islands is varied. Some, such as Mull and Skye , are noted for their mountainous terrain, while
21798-568: The name Wærteras . Modern scholars writing in English usually refer to the kingdom using the name Fortriu and the adjective Verturian , and use the name the Wærteras to refer to the people as an ethnic group . Fortriu is first recorded by the Roman author Ammianus Marcellinus , who writing in c. 392 used the Latin name Verturiones to describe one of the two gentes or "peoples" of
21971-449: The name they used to describe themselves is unrecorded. They were first documented in the late 4th century by the Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus , who referred to them in Latin as the Verturiones (or Vecturiones) . The Latin root verturio has been connected etymologically by John Rhys with the later Welsh word gwerthyr , meaning "fortress", suggesting that both came from a Common Brittonic root vertera , and implying that
22144-406: The name, in terms of language, culture, religion and politics. The term "Pict" is found in Roman sources from the end of the third century AD, when it was used to describe unromanised people in northern Britain. The term is most likely to have been pejorative, emphasising their supposed barbarism in contrast to the Britons under Roman rule. It has been argued, most notably by James Fraser , that
22317-405: The native Scots pine forest exist and within these areas the Scottish crossbill , the UK's only endemic bird species and vertebrate , can be found alongside capercaillie , Scottish wildcat , red squirrel and pine marten . Various animals have been re-introduced, including the white-tailed eagle in 1975, the red kite in the 1980s, and there have been experimental projects involving
22490-412: The ninth century, the Norse threat allowed a Gael named Kenneth I (Cináed mac Ailpín) to seize power over Pictland, establishing a royal dynasty to which the modern monarchs trace their lineage, and marking the beginning of the end of Pictish culture. The kingdom of Cináed and his descendants, called Alba, was Gaelic in character but existed on the same area as Pictland. By the end of the tenth century,
22663-520: The northern tip of Britain "Orcas", the source of the name of the Orkney islands. Most of modern Scotland was not incorporated into the Roman Empire , and Roman control over parts of the area fluctuated over a rather short period. The first Roman incursion into Scotland was in 79 AD, when Agricola invaded Scotland; he defeated a Caledonian army at the Battle of Mons Graupius in 83 AD. After
22836-462: The number of Scottish MPs and widened the franchise to include more of the middle classes. From the mid-century, there were increasing calls for Home Rule for Scotland and the post of Secretary of State for Scotland was revived. Towards the end of the century prime ministers of Scottish descent included William Gladstone , and the Earl of Rosebery . In the late 19th century the growing importance of
23009-406: The number of kingdoms, one for each of the seven sons of Cruithne , the eponymous founder of the Picts, may well be grounds enough for disbelief. Regardless of the exact number of kingdoms and their names, the Pictish nation was not a united one. For most of Pictish recorded history, the kingdom of Fortriu appears dominant, so much so that king of Fortriu and king of the Picts may mean one and
23182-407: The parochial structure of the High Middle Ages existed in early medieval times. Among the major religious sites of eastern Pictland were Portmahomack, Cennrígmonaid (later St Andrews ), Dunkeld , Abernethy and Rosemarkie . It appears that these are associated with Pictish kings, which argue for a considerable degree of royal patronage and control of the church. Portmahomack in particular has been
23355-479: The payment of subsidies to keep them from doing so. The very large hoard of late Roman hacksilver found at Traprain Law may have originated in either way. The largest hoard of early Pictish metalwork was found in 1819 at Norrie's Law in Fife, but unfortunately much was dispersed and melted down ( Scots law on treasure finds has always been unhelpful to preservation). A famous 7th century silver and enamel plaque from
23528-464: The phrases "Men of Fortriu" and "Men of Alba" are treated as synonymous. The Historia Regum Anglorum describes King Aethelstan of England wasting Scotia as far as Dunottar and Wertermorum – the "muir of Fortriu" – in 934, indicating that Fortriu was still recognised at this stage as a reference for features in the landscape. The complete disappearance of the name Fortriu beyond this point suggests that it fragmented into its successor polities –
23701-640: The political support for the exiled Catholic Stuart dynasty, remained a threat to the security of the British state under the Protestant House of Orange and the succeeding House of Hanover until the defeat of the Jacobite rising of 1745 . In 1698, the Company of Scotland attempted a project to secure a trading colony on the Isthmus of Panama . Almost every Scottish landowner who had money to spare
23874-513: The region's people and animals, its cold climate, its pearls, and a noteworthy region of wooded hills ( Latin : saltus ) which the 2nd century AD Roman philosopher Ptolemy , in his Geography , described as being south-west of the Beauly Firth . The name Caledonia is echoed in the place names of Dunkeld , Rohallion , and Schiehallion . The Great Conspiracy constituted a seemingly coordinated invasion against Roman rule in Britain in
24047-525: The remnant of a once much larger volcano. This area is relatively low-lying, although even here hills such as the Ochils and Campsie Fells are rarely far from view. The Southern Uplands is a range of hills almost 125 miles (200 km) long, interspersed with broad valleys. They lie south of a second fault line (the Southern Uplands fault) that runs from Girvan to Dunbar . The geological foundations largely comprise Silurian deposits laid down some 400 to 500 million years ago. The high point of
24220-453: The rest of eastern Great Britain. Beginning in the sixth century, the area that is now Scotland was divided into three areas: Pictland , a patchwork of small lordships in central Scotland; the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Northumbria , which had conquered southeastern Scotland; and Dál Riata , which included territory in western Scotland and northern Ireland, and spread Gaelic language and culture into Scotland. These societies were based on
24393-411: The same monarch the kingdoms retained their separate parliaments, laws and other institutions. The first Union Jack was designed at James's behest, to be flown in addition to the St Andrew's Cross on Scots vessels at sea. James VI and I intended to create a single kingdom of Great Britain, but was thwarted in his attempt to do so by the Parliament of England , which supported the wrecking proposal that
24566-429: The same thing in the annals. This was previously thought to lie in the area around Perth and southern Strathearn ; however, recent work has convinced those working in the field that Moray (a name referring to a very much larger area in the High Middle Ages than the county of Moray ) was the core of Fortriu. The Picts are often thought to have practised matrilineal kingship succession on the basis of Irish legends and
24739-443: The south-western peninsula of Kintyre ; Norway is 190 miles (305 km) to the northeast and the Faroe Islands , 168 miles (270 km) to the north. The territorial extent of Scotland is generally that established by the 1237 Treaty of York between Scotland and the Kingdom of England and the 1266 Treaty of Perth between Scotland and Norway. Important exceptions include the Isle of Man , which having been lost to England in
24912-436: The subject of recent excavation and research, published by Martin Carver . The cult of saints was, as throughout Christian lands, of great importance in later Pictland. While kings might venerate great saints, such as Saint Peter in the case of Nechtan, and perhaps Saint Andrew in the case of the second Óengus mac Fergusa , many lesser saints, some now obscure, were important. The Pictish Saint Drostan appears to have had
25085-539: The support of the church, and the apparent ability of a small number of families to control the kingship for much of the period from the later 7th century onwards, provided a considerable degree of continuity. In much the same period, the Picts' neighbours in Dál Riata and Northumbria faced considerable difficulties, as the stability of succession and rule that previously benefited them ended. The later Mormaers are thought to have originated in Pictish times, and to have been copied from, or inspired by, Northumbrian usages. It
25258-412: The technological developments of the Industrial Revolution throughout Britain. In literature, the most successful figure of the mid-19th century was Walter Scott . His first prose work, Waverley in 1814, is often called the first historical novel. It launched a highly successful career that probably more than any other helped define and popularise Scottish cultural identity. In the late 19th century,
25431-596: The term "Pict" would have had little meaning to the people to whom it was being applied. Fraser posits that it was only adopted as an endonym in the late seventh century, as an inclusive term for people under rule of the Verturian hegemony, centered in Fortriu (the area around modern-day Inverness and Moray ), particularly following the Battle of Dun Nechtain . This view is, however, not universal. Gordon Noble and Nicholas Evans consider it plausible, if not provable, that "Picts" may have been used as an endonym by those northern Britons in closest contact with Rome as early as
25604-446: The terms of the Auld Alliance and became the last monarch in Great Britain to die in battle, at Flodden in 1513. The war with England during the minority years of Mary, Queen of Scots between 1543 and 1551 is known as the Rough Wooing . In 1560, the Treaty of Edinburgh brought an end to the Siege of Leith and recognized the Protestant Elizabeth I as Queen of England. The Parliament of Scotland met and immediately adopted
25777-513: The threat of an English invasion, played a leading role in convincing the Scots elite to back a union with England. On 22 July 1706, the Treaty of Union was agreed between representatives of the Scots Parliament and the Parliament of England . The following year, twin Acts of Union were passed by both parliaments to create the united Kingdom of Great Britain with effect from 1 May 1707 with popular opposition and anti-union riots in Edinburgh , Glasgow , and elsewhere. The union also created
25950-511: The thrones of England and Ireland , forming a personal union of the three kingdoms . On 1 May 1707, Scotland and England combined to create the new Kingdom of Great Britain , with the Parliament of Scotland subsumed into the Parliament of Great Britain . In 1999, a Scottish Parliament was re-established, and has devolved authority over many areas of domestic policy . The country has its own distinct legal system , education system and religious history , which have all contributed to
26123-467: The time period in which they were written. The difficulties with Pictish history and archaeology arise from the fact that the people who were called Picts were a fundamentally heterogeneous group with little cultural uniformity. Care is needed to avoid viewing them through the lens of what the cultural historian Gilbert Márkus calls the "Ethnic Fallacy". The people known as "Picts" by outsiders in late antiquity were very different from those who later adopted
26296-422: The total population, though state-sponsored revitalisation attempts have led to a growing community of second language speakers. The mainland of Scotland is broadly divided into three regions: the Highlands , a mountainous region in the north and north-west; the Lowlands , a flatter plain across the centre of the country; and the Southern Uplands , a hilly region along the southern border. The Highlands are
26469-641: The twelfth and thirteenth centuries, much of Scotland was under the control of a single ruler. Initially, Gaelic culture predominated, but immigrants from France, England and Flanders steadily created a more diverse society, with the Gaelic language starting to be replaced by Scots; and a modern nation-state emerged from this. At the end of this period, war against England started the growth of a Scottish national consciousness . David I (1124–1153) and his successors centralised royal power and united mainland Scotland, capturing regions such as Moray, Galloway , and Caithness , although he could not extend his power over
26642-409: The two Pictish groupings, the conspiracy of 367-368 included Scotti from Ireland ; Attacotti whose origins are uncertain but likely to have been somewhere within the British Isles ; and Franks and Saxons from across the North Sea ; suggesting high levels of intercommunication between the Verturiones and the peoples of Ireland and continental Europe. The conspiracy may have been caused by
26815-434: The valley of the River Findhorn in Moray , north of the Mounth; while the fact that Ímar was killed by the "Men of Fortriu" does not prove that he was killed within the territory of Fortriu. Despite Skene's initial suggestion being tentative, this identification of Fortriu as including western Perthshire became established as a consensus. However, new research by Alex Woolf seems to have destroyed this consensus, if not
26988-418: The wettest, with annual rainfall in a few places exceeding 3,000 mm (120 in). In comparison, much of lowland Scotland receives less than 800 mm (31 in) annually. Heavy snowfall is not common in the lowlands, but becomes more common with altitude. Braemar has an average of 59 snow days per year, while many coastal areas average fewer than 10 days of lying snow per year. Scotland's wildlife
27161-407: The whole of Great Britain was forestalled by Roman forces becoming bogged down in punishing guerrilla warfare and the death of the senior emperor Septimius Severus ( r. 193–211 ) at Eboracum ( York ) after he was taken ill while on campaign. Although forts erected by the Roman army in the Severan campaign were placed near those established by Agricola and were clustered at the mouths of
27334-399: The wild. The pastoral economy meant that hides and leather were readily available. Wool was the main source of fibres for clothing, and flax was also common, although it is not clear if they grew it for fibres, for oil, or as a foodstuff. Fish, shellfish, seals, and whales were exploited along coasts and rivers. The importance of domesticated animals suggests that meat and milk products were
27507-488: The wooden sailing vessels of both the merchant fleets and the battle fleets of the world. It became the world's pre-eminent shipbuilding centre. The industrial developments, while they brought work and wealth, were so rapid that housing, town planning, and provision for public health did not keep pace with them, and for a time living conditions in some of the towns and cities were notoriously bad, with overcrowding, high infant mortality, and growing rates of tuberculosis. While
27680-500: The working classes was marked by Keir Hardie 's success in the Mid Lanarkshire by-election, 1888 , leading to the foundation of the Scottish Labour Party , which was absorbed into the Independent Labour Party in 1895, with Hardie as its first leader. Glasgow became one of the largest cities in the world and known as "the Second City of the Empire " after London. After 1860, the Clydeside shipyards specialised in steamships made of iron (after 1870, made of steel), which rapidly replaced
27853-461: Was 35.1 °C (95.2 °F) at Floors Castle , Scottish Borders on 19 July 2022. The west of Scotland is usually warmer than the east, owing to the influence of Atlantic ocean currents and the colder surface temperatures of the North Sea . Tiree , in the Inner Hebrides, is one of the sunniest places in the country: it had more than 300 hours of sunshine in May 1975. Rainfall varies widely across Scotland. The western highlands of Scotland are
28026-511: Was a Pictish kingdom recorded between the 4th and 10th centuries. It was traditionally believed to be located in and around Strathearn in central Scotland , but is more likely to have been based in the north, in the Moray and Easter Ross area. Fortriu is a term used by historians as it is not known what name its people used to refer to their polity. Historians also sometimes use the name synonymously with Pictland in general. The people of Fortriu left no surviving indigenous writings and
28199-445: Was a prominent supporter for the Treaty of Union between Scotland and England had changed his position on the treaty, and unsuccessfully advocated for the treaty to be reversed. The deposed Jacobite Stuart claimants had remained popular in the Highlands and north-east, particularly among non- Presbyterians , including Roman Catholics and Episcopalian Protestants . Two major Jacobite risings launched in 1715 and 1745 failed to remove
28372-655: Was able to enforce adherence of the Picts as a whole; while Nechtan son of Derilei 's church reforms of the 710s were described by Bede as being enacted "throughout all the provinces of the Picts". The kings of Fortriu maintained their control over southern Pictish territories in the 7th and 8th centuries by planting them with loyal Gaelic lords and their military retinues; creating provinces named after leading Gaelic kindreds including Cenél Comgaill in Strathearn , Cenél nÓengusa in Angus and Cenél nGabráin in Gowrie . A series of campaigns under Onuist son of Uurguist between 731 and 741 saw this power extended further with
28545-446: Was built from 142 at the order of Hadrian's successor Antoninus Pius ( r. 138–161 ), defending the Roman part of Scotland from the unadministered part of the island, north of a line between the Firth of Clyde and the Firth of Forth . The Roman invasion of Caledonia 208–210 was undertaken by emperors of the imperial Severan dynasty in response to the breaking of a treaty by the Caledonians in 197, but permanent conquest of
28718-660: Was common. Animals were small by later standards, although horses from Britain were imported into Ireland as breeding stock to enlarge native horses. From Irish sources, it appears that the elite engaged in competitive cattle breeding for size, and this may have been the case in Pictland also. Carvings show hunting with dogs, and also, unlike in Ireland, with falcons. Cereal crops included wheat , barley , oats and rye . Vegetables included kale , cabbage , onions and leeks , peas and beans and turnips , and some types no longer common, such as skirret . Plants such as wild garlic , nettles and watercress may have been gathered in
28891-490: Was complex during this period: Scottish kings tried several times, sometimes with success, to exploit English political turmoil, followed by the longest period of peace between Scotland and England in the mediaeval period: from 1217–1296. The death of Alexander III in March 1286 broke the succession line of Scotland's kings. Edward I of England arbitrated between various claimants for the Scottish crown. In return for surrendering Scotland's nominal independence, John Balliol
29064-429: Was covered in forests, had more bog-land, and the main form of transport was by water. These settlers began building the first known permanent houses on Scottish soil around 9,500 years ago, and the first villages around 6,000 years ago. The well-preserved village of Skara Brae on the mainland of Orkney dates from this period. Neolithic habitation, burial, and ritual sites are particularly common and well preserved in
29237-429: Was derived from a native form, perhaps related etymologically to the Gallic Pictones . The Picts were called Cruithni in Old Irish and Prydyn in Old Welsh . These are lexical cognates , from the proto-Celtic * kwritu 'form', from which * Pretania (Britain) also derives. Pretani (and with it Cruithni and Prydyn ) is likely to have originated as a generalised term for any native inhabitant of Britain. This
29410-399: Was one of the earliest and best-known missionaries. The Vikings began to raid Scotland in the eighth century. Although the raiders sought slaves and luxury items, their main motivation was to acquire land. The oldest Norse settlements were in northwest Scotland, but they eventually conquered many areas along the coast. Old Norse entirely displaced Pictish in the Northern Isles . In
29583-424: Was pronounced king in 1292. In 1294, Balliol and other Scottish lords refused Edward's demands to serve in his army against the French. Scotland and France sealed a treaty on 23 October 1295, known as the Auld Alliance . War ensued, and John was deposed by Edward who took personal control of Scotland. Andrew Moray and William Wallace initially emerged as the principal leaders of the resistance to English rule in
29756-431: Was still under Pictish control – alongside "others almost innumerable". The fact that so many were slain, including the kings of both Fortriu and Dál Riata, suggests that Wen had had time to gather his forces, and that this was the culmination of a campaign rather than a fortuitous raid. This was one of the most important and decisive battles in British history and although its location is uncertain it probably took place in
29929-399: Was used for Ireland. By the 11th century at the latest, Scotia was being used to refer to (Gaelic-speaking) Scotland north of the River Forth , alongside Albania or Albany , both derived from the Gaelic Alba . The use of the words Scots and Scotland to encompass all of what is now Scotland became common in the Late Middle Ages . Prehistoric Scotland , before the arrival of
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