fact may indicate non-Indo-European origin. Pictish monarchs, unequally in
medieval Europe, inherited power through the female line.
In the south dwelt another group of tribes, there definitely the Celtic
Britons. As subjects of Rome for quite a while they were strongly
influenced by Roman culture, then formed several early kingdoms of their
own. The biggest of those, Strathclyde, stretched to the borders of Wales,
where the legendary British King Arthur is said to have reigned. Scotland
looms large in the Arthurian romance, and from times immemorial the
highest point of Edinburgh, a city founded in the land of the Britons, was
called Arthur\'s Seat. A less illustrious Briton named Aneirin composed the
epic poem \"Gododdin\", the oldest surviving literary work to come from
Scotland.
It was not, however, the indigenous Picts or Britons who eventually gave
their name to the country Jin the last years of the fifth century a band
of Irish Celts, called Scoti in Latin, crossed over from Ulster to
Kintyre peninsula under Fergus mac Ere. They established a settlement
which soon grew into the tribal kingdom of Dal Riata. From then on, it
coexisted with rival states, engaging in conflicts and mutual contacts.
Differences notwithstanding, the peoples of northern Britain shared a
similar social structure and way of life. A vital force which drew them
even closer together was Christianity. Of the multitude of obscure Celtic
churchmen several saintly preachers stand out - Ninian and Kentigern (or
Mungo), both British, and Columba, the Irish Scot who founded the famous
monastery at lona. The fervent labours of these \"Caledonian Apostles\" and
their followers brought about the conversion of the Picts. Curiously, St.
Patrick of Ireland was very probably born on Scottish soil, in
Strathclyde. As for the veneration of St. Andrew as Patron of Scotland,
his relics were presumably brought from Greece to the Pictish province of
Fife, where the see and city of St. Andrews were dedicated to him. His
diagonal cross (the saltire) became a national emblem in the thirteenth
century.
Relations between all these tribes were far from friendly, and as if the
ethnic picture of northern Britain had not been complex enough already,
pagan Germanic invaders imposed themselves upon it -the Angles from the
south in the sixth century, the Scandinavians from the north in the eighth
and thereafter. The former occupied Lothian (the most fertile part of
Scotland around Edinburgh) and pushed further on, but were rebuffed by the
Picts at the battle of Dunnichen in 685. The fast-sailing Vikings, the
scourge of entire Europe, infested Scottish waters and shores in the first
place, as lying nearest to Norway, and soon seized and colonized the
islands of Shetland, Orkney and Hebrides as well as parts of mainland.
Joint resistance to common enemies, along with dynastic ties, trade and
cultural affinity caused the union of Scots and Picts under Kenneth mac
Alpin. In 843 he became sole ruler of the kingdom of Scotia, or in the
Celtic tongue, both then and now, Alba. The capital was moved to the
heart of the country, Dunkeld and Scone, where kings were enthroned on the
Stone of Destiny. Few of Kenneth\'s successors died in their beds, but they
did all they could to strengthen and augment their dominions. Royal
authority was often threatened from within, by their own kinsmen. One such
case gave birth to the tragedy whose title actors usually avoid for some
superstitious reason, referring to it as \"that Scottish play\". In 1040 a
northern governor named Macbeth rebelled against King Duncan, slew him and
usurped the crown, only to be overthrown by Malcolm, the rightful heir,
with English help. Strangely enough, medieval annals do not support the
image of a wicked tyrant; on his pilgrimage to Rome, for instance, Macbeth
\"scattered money, like seed, for the poor\".
The auspicious reign of David 1(1124-1153), who made himself master of
northern England as far as Lancashire, ushered in a new epoch. In the
twelfth and thirteenth centuries many burghs (i.e. towns), castles and
abbeys were built, as Anglo-French or Flemish knights and tradesmen
settled all over Scotland in significant numbers. In sharp contrast with
England, where the violent Norman conquest wiped out the Saxon elite, it
was a gradual and peaceful penetration, so that Celtic monarchy,
aristocracy and customs stayed very much alive. Feudalism and the clan
system evolved side by side at the same time and, far from being
antagonistic, complemented each other. The avowed differences between
clannish, pastoral. Gaelic-speaking Highlands and feudal, agricultural,
Scots-speaking Lowlands were never clear-cut or insuperable. Despite the
unlikely mixture, Pict, Briton, Scot, Angle and Norseman blended into one.
When the grim hour of trial came, the kingdom rallied and stood firm.
Three Hundred Years\' War
The long spell of peace and prosperity came to a close with the accidental
deaths of King Alexander III in 1286 and his only descendant, the
Norwegian princess Margaret (The Maid of Norway), four years later. Since
the ruling I house became extinct. Scottish magnates wisely appointed six
\"Guardians of the I Realm\" to govern it and protect its privileges, which
they did quite well. But [when the pretenders to the throne took up arms,
the Scots sought advice from their \"good neighbour!\', King Edward I of
England. The man who crushed Wales could not miss this chance to get rid
of the \"Celtic fringe\" altogether. He presided over the election of the
legitimate King of Scots, John Balliol, - then, as a token of gratitude,
received his homage and treated him as a humble vassal. As soon as the
Scots saw their liberties trampled, they concluded an alliance with
England\'s archenemy, France. The clash was imminent, and neither side
imagined how bitter and drawn out it would prove.
In 1296, with deceptive ease, Edward brushed away the raw recruits facing
him, penetrated deep into Scotland, deposed Balliol and removed the Stone
of Destiny, whereon every king of Scots was crowned, to London (despite
doubts of the trophy\'s authenticity, 700 years later it returned home).
Edward could have hardly worried that one William Wallace, a younger son
of an obscure knight, failed to swear fealty to him. Yet Wallace it was
who within a few months raised the Scottish banner again, undid all of
Edward\'s gains and on 11 September 1297 vanquished a strong force sent
against him at Stirling bridge - one of the first successes of foot
levies over heavy cavalry. The victor was then proclaimed Guardian of the
Realm. Even having suffered defeat by a vastly superior army under Edward
himself, Wallace refused to give up. Not until 1305 did the English manage
to take him - through betrayal by a Scot. Condemned for high treason
(though never a sworn subject of the English crown!), he was executed, and
the limbs of his dismembered body were sent to his compatriots.
By then, however, the Scottish cause passed into the hands of an even more
gifted leader, Robert Bruce. Of noble blood, and with his own right to the
throne, he knew there could be no king in a dependent lordship, and
pursued both personal and patriotic aims with relentless vigour. After his
coronation in 1306 the struggle cost him the lives or freedom of his whole
family, but he met defeat only » once - in his very first encounter.
Having subdued his opponents in Scotland, Bruce showed what he meant by
fighting \"with the longest stick that he had\". He made full use of his
country\'s terrain, manoeuvred swiftly, destroyed castles and smaller enemy
units and relied on \"scorched earth\" tactics until punitive expeditions
were starved into retreat. At last he gave the decisive pitched battle the
English hoped for. Near a small stream called Bannockburn on 24 June,
1314, with almost no horsemen to field, he ventured to attack a I host
over twice his strength, described as \"the greatest ever to proceed from
England\"! At the end of the day the English king barely escaped with his
life, and his army ceased to exist.
After Bannockburn the Scottish offensive began in earnest. Bruce expelled
the last enemy garrisons and unleashed a series of devastating campaigns
on English and English-held Irish territory (the term \"blackmail\"
initially meant tribute paid to the Scots). The diplomatic duel went on
with equal ardour. In 1320 Bruce\'s barons dispatched to the pope the
Declaration of Arbroath, an eloquent statement, perhaps the earliest in
Europe, of nascent nationhood: \"As long as but a hundred of us remain
alive, never will we on any conditions be brought under English rule. It
is in truth not for glory, nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting,
but for freedom alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself.
The English government had no choice but to acknowledge the state of
things, which it did by the solemn treaty of 1328. Robert Bruce had only
one year to live, but his quest to become the sovereign of the independent
and united country was fully accomplished.
During the minority of Bruce\'s son David II \"perpetual peace\", not
surprisingly, held for just a few years, and the English onslaught
resumed. King Edward HI, invited and assisted by some disinherited •
Scottish lords, won a notable victory at Halidon Hill and installed a
puppet ruler of Scotland. The Scots reverted to their proven guerrilla
strategy and little by little regained the initiative. When the great
