Scottish History

Intro.: A Moment in Time with Dan Roberts.

Content: In the 1290s English King Edward I was meddling in Scottish affairs. He forced the Scottish nobles to heel and to accept his candidate for the empty throne, John de Balliol. This was a bit too much for the Scots who rebelled and took up with the French. Edward invaded in 1296 and beat them badly, confiscating the sacred Stone of Scone on which Scottish kings had been crowned. Edward also crushed William Wallace’s popular rebellion at Falkirk in 1298, but the English king, despite prodigious campaigning, could not completely subdue the Scots.

Intro.: A Moment in Time with Dan Roberts.

Content: Since ancient times, Scotland has often been the suffering unfortunate in a long and troubled relationship with its southern neighbor, England. The Scots are a hearty race, independent and at times fierce in defense of home and hearth, but they also inhabit a wild and rugged country, not particularly rich in natural resources. The population was always smaller than England’s and suffered a climate that is severe during much of the year. The Clan structure of the Highlands and internal disputes generally prevented Scotland from mounting a united front when facing challenges from the south, a circumstance the English were all too happy to exploit.

Intro.: A Moment in Time with Dan Roberts.

Content: England had conquered Scotland, but not the national spirit. Whereas many of the Scottish nobility were prepared to bow the knee to England, resistance continued under partisan leaders such as commoner William Wallace. In September 1297 he led a ragtag brigade to Stirling Castle, northwest of Edinburgh, an important English outpost. On September 11th an English army under the Earl of Surrey arrived to deal with this west-country upstart. Wallace was vastly outnumbered, but the English troops had to cross a narrow wooden bridge to get to him. When they did he and his band slaughtered them mercilessly as they poured off the bridge at the other side. As many as 5,000 English died in the day’s fighting. Wallace became a national hero.

Intro.: A Moment in Time with Dan Roberts.

Content: In the years following the death of Scottish King Alexander III, King Edward I of England, had, with ill-disguised intensity, interfered in the affairs of his neighbor to the north. He tried to marry his son to Alexander’s heir, Margaret, but when she died, he shamelessly played the Scottish nobility against one another in their internecine conflict to determine who would be the next King of Scotland. Edward’s choice was John de Balliol whom he thought could be easily manipulated. When Balliol proved more resistant than expected, in 1297 Edward marched north and in five months had defeated the weak Scottish army, deposed and imprisoned John Balliol, and had himself made ruler of Scotland. To add insult to injury, he confiscated the legendary Scottish Coronation Stone of Scone and had it shipped south to Westminster.

Intro.: A Moment in Time with Dan Roberts.

Content: Historian Ernest Renan insists that ‘forgetting history’ or perpetuating ‘historical error’ are essential in the formation of a nation. As Graeme Morton points out, Renan’s conclusions work precisely in the case of William Wallace. The Scottish rogue was a child of wealth and privilege, son of a knight, grandson of a sheriff, born in County Ayr in southwest Scotland. He was a teenager in 1286 when Scottish King Alexander III died leaving as heir a four-year old daughter living in Norway. Her death four years later left the succession and Scotland in hopeless confusion. Scottish independence was imperiled by the struggle for the throne within the Scottish aristocracy, but also by the imperial intentions of English King Edward I known as “Old Longshanks” because of his height.