the kings of alba scotland’s first kingdom. the kings of alba kenneth mac alpin ( -858) his...

The Kings of AlbaThe Kings of Alba

Scotland’s First KingdomScotland’s First Kingdom


• Kenneth Mac Alpin ( -858)

• His descendants after 900AD: power-sharing of the descendants.

• The kingship was explicitly Gaelic.

• End of the family’s monopoly in 1034. Mael Coluim (Malcolm) mac Cineada (1005-34).


• New breed of kings.

• Duncan I (killed by Macbeth in battle r. 1040-1057). (Both descended from Kenneth M Alpin through their mothers).

• MacDuff (the last descendant of Kenneth to rule).


• They did not rule the whole of Scotland.

• The west and SW were infrequently under their rule.

• The earlier Celtic royal residences on hilltops gave way to large churches or a string of local courts across the country.

Malcolm IIIMalcolm III

Mael Coluim mac DonchadaMael Coluim mac Donchada

(1057-93)(1057-93)

Malcolm and David Malcolm and David

Malcolm III and MargaretMalcolm III and Margaret

The Canmore Dynasty The Canmore Dynasty (the ten kings)(the ten kings)

• After Macbeth’s reign came Malcolm III who probably used Edinburgh Castle as one of his strongholds.

• (11th century).

• It was during this dynasty after David I that the Celtic method of appointing a new king gave way to the now familiar method of ‘primogeniture’ (first-born).

The Canmore DynastyThe Canmore Dynasty

• Many changes came to Scotland during this dynasty strongly influenced by the Anglo-Norman system of rule (landholding and allegiance, Normans in Britain after 1066).

• Growth of the Roman church, supplanting of the Celtic-style monasteries.

• Centralization of administration.

The Canmore Dynasty (12The Canmore Dynasty (12th-13thth-13th century)century)

• Taxation and trading on the basis of the ‘burgh’ system.

• Especially in the 13th century the influence of England on the Scottish state. Uncertainity about the status of the Scottish monarchy.

The Canmore DynastyThe Canmore Dynasty

• Many Scottish nobles owned land in both Scotland and England which meant that legally they owed allegiance both to the Scottish and English crowns.

David I (1124-53)David I (1124-53)

• David I- his reign led to the dynamic Scottish monarchy of the 12-13 centuries.

• During his time

• : rapid reform of church

• Economic development driven by burgess colonists

David IDavid I

David IDavid I

• Son of Mael Coluim mac Donnchada.

• He received a Norman-style education in England.

• He ruled initially as ‘prince of the Cumbrian region’.

• He introduced English and Continental techniques of government.

• King of Scotland 1124.

David IDavid I

• South of the Forth after 1124 feudal lordships for friends and dependants.

• Reform of the church, brought in European monastic orders :Austinians and the Cistercians.

• New elite of government.

• He was opposed by the Gaelic nobility.

David IDavid I

• String of royal castles and burghs from Aberdeen to Inverness.

• 1136 unprecedented degree of power. Stability of his kingdom.

• Tried to integrate parts of northern England into his kingdom (Northumbria).

• First native coinage.

Language during the time of David ILanguage during the time of David I

• It is during the time of David and his predecessor that Gaelic reaches its status as the language of most of Scotland (excluding the northern islands of Shetland and Orkney).

Spread of GaelicSpread of Gaelic

• The spread of Gaelic culture eastwards

• The use of Gaelic by the Columban Church (Iona) and their missonaries.

• The use of Gaelic in the courts of the first Scottish kings in eastern Scotland (Pictland) (from c850- ).

languageslanguages

• After c500AD various forms of Germanic/English arrived in Scotland and developed.

• Dumfriesshire, Galloway.• It was the towns that eventually promoted

English. The ‘burghs’. • Under David I’s rule, we see the promotion

of English language and custom in the Lowlands.

Wars of IndependenceWars of Independence

1286-c13531286-c1353


• The attempted subjugation of Scotland by its neighbour to the south.

• Amicable relationship between the two for much of the 13th century.

• But Edward I intervened at the death of Alexander III.

• Edward’s son and Margaret, Alexander’s grand-daughter.


• William Wallace, battle of Falkirk, 1298, his death 1305

• Robert Bruce- new king (having killed John Comyn). Descendant of David I

• Edward I (dies 1307)

• Battle of Bannockburn 1314 (Bruce accepted as king)

• Robert Bruce’s reign 1306-29

Robert Bruce and Isabella of MarRobert Bruce and Isabella of Mar


• The recognition of Scotland’s independence.

The Lordship of the IslesThe Lordship of the Isles

http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/histhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/history/articles/lords_of_the_isles/ory/articles/lords_of_the_isles/

Lordship of the Isles

Power-Lordship of the IslesPower-Lordship of the Isles

• When the centre of Gaelic power moved from Dal Riata in the west to Pictland in the 9th century, a new political entity took shape in the west.

• By then there was an important Scandinavian presence there.

• The first so-called ‘king of the Isles’ (Ri Innse Gall or Triath nan Eilean) was Godfrey son of Harald (d.989).


• In the ensuing century there was competition for the lordship from Norway, Scotland, earls of Orkney, kings of Dublin, and some Irish local kings.

• Authority was divided between Scotland and Norway.

• Finally, in 1266, Norway ceded their part to Scotland (treaty of Perth).


• During the Wars of Independence, the MacDoughalls oppossed Robert the Bruce.

• By the 14th century, the Isles had become the centre of Gaelic culture in Scotland with close links with Ireland.

• The Council of the Isles (justice and administration). Control of the seaways.


• The Lords of the Isles (Righ Inse Gall) and the chiefs encouraged their younger men to become mercenaries. They were known as Gall-Oglaigh (Gallowglasses), and fought for the waring Irish kings of the period. They were described:

• These sort of men be those that do not lightly abandon the field, but bide the brunt to the death.


• The Gallowglasses became much sought-after in Europe, and were greatly feared.

• Many were given lands in Ireland. MacDonalds, MacDonnells, MacSweens.

• A warrior society.

GallowglassesGallowglasses


• By the 15th century, there was greater and greater conflict with the Crown of Scotland.

• By the beginning of the following century, the break-up of the Lordship.

• The power-vacuum is largely taken up by the various powerful clans.

The end of the Lordship of the IslesThe end of the Lordship of the Isles

• An attempt in 1462 by the Lord of the isles (John of Islay) to topple the ‘king’ of Scotland James III (Stewart family) with the help of the English king (Edward IV) failed, and John lost his lands, and within three generations, the old Lordship had crumbled.

• This led the whole west of Scotland to become a patchwork of clan territories.

After the Lordship of the IslesAfter the Lordship of the Isles

• One important achievement of the old principality was the ‘Great Music’ (An Ceol Mor). I.e. the pipers.

• The canon of the pipers went to 300 pieces.

• The piping college of the MacCrimmonds was in existence well before the first reference in 1580.

The Scottish ClansThe Scottish Clans

From the beginnings to Culloden..From the beginnings to Culloden..

The ClansThe Clans

• The clan was the most obvious manifestation of the centrality of kinship to the organisation of society in Gaelic Scotland.

• This was a key legacy of the medieval Scottish kingdom from its Gaelic prototype.

The word clannThe word clann

• The word mainly used before clan was cenel, other words were cinneadh, siol and sliochd.

• Clan was used from c11th century.

• Surnames began at the very highest levels as a means of identifying members of a ruling lineage..

The origins of the ClansThe origins of the Clans

• Clan is from clann, the Gaelic word for children. Clansmen and women saw themselves as descended from common name-fathers, often distant ancestors who in some meaningful sense were the first of that name.

• So, Clan Donald (Clann Domhnaill) were originally the children of Donald.


• The Clan Campbell , the most powerful grouping in the SW of Scotland insisted they were descended from the Irish mythic hero Diarmaid the Boar.

• (In fact, the Campbells more likely descended from the Old Brittonic speaking peoples of the SW of Scotland, related to the Britons in the south.)


• Even before the fall of the Lordship of the Isles, the extreme rivalry between the clans was coming to a head.

• A famous event was the ‘battle of the clans’ in 1396. This event between the Clan Cameron and Clan Chattan was fought without protective armour between thirty men on either side.


• The lawlessness of some of the clans can be seen in the person of the ‘Wolf of Badenoch’. In 1390, he burned down the town and cathedral of Moray because the bishop had criticized him.

• He belonged to the family of the Stewarts.

• His family had been one of the Anglo-Normans who settled in Scotland.

The Time of the Forays The Time of the Forays (Plunder)-the clans and the (Plunder)-the clans and the

time of the Stewartstime of the StewartsThe period between the break-up of The period between the break-up of

the Lordship of the Isles and the the Lordship of the Isles and the Jacobite rebellions (1715, 1745) is Jacobite rebellions (1715, 1745) is

often called in Gaelic often called in Gaelic Linn na CreachLinn na Creach (the Time of Plunder).(the Time of Plunder).

Linn na CreachLinn na Creach

• Yet, the Lowlands and the king of Scotland were not oblivious to such untamed behaviour.

• The Stewarts had now long occupied the throne of Scotland, beginning in the 1400s.

• The first Stewart to be king of both Scotland and England-James VI (James I of England) needed he could control the whole of his Scottish kingdom if he were to be taken seriously.

James VI (1566-1625)James VI (1566-1625)

• Attempts were made to found towns in the Gaelic areas of the west of Scotland.

• During the same period the Statutes of Iona were introduced to try and eradicate the Gaelic culture and the society which had built it.

• The clan bards were made illegal. The sons of the chiefs were to receive an English education.

Education Act 1616Education Act 1616

• The Gaelic language was blamed as one of the chief and principal causes of the continuance of barbarity and incivility amongst the Isles and Highlands. It was to be abolished and removed.

• One clan the MacGregors were deprived of their name. The chief Alasdair MacGregor was executed for refusing to change his name. The power of names in clan culture.

Rob Roy MacGregorRob Roy MacGregor

• He became a leader in what was to be one of the first Jacobite rebellions (1689). This was in protest at the expulsion of James II and the enthronment of William of Orange.

• The battle of Killiecrankie.

• Rob Roy was finally obliged to take another name, and he chose Campbell.

Rob Roy MacGregorRob Roy MacGregor

• When the clans rose again in 1715 and 1719 Rob Roy marched with them. He was badly wounded in the defeat at the Battle of Glen Shield.

• He finally surrended in an amnesty and died in 1734.

• He was an educated man, who wrote in both English and Gaelic.

• Sir Walter Scott wrote a novel in 1818 called Rob Roy.

The Jacobite CauseThe Jacobite Cause

Change in the AirChange in the Air


• The Jacobite ‘rebellions’.• Why?

• The long dynasty of the Stewarts (nine monarchs) was seen as the legitimate line of succession in Scotland.

• Merging of the Crowns 1603.

• Resistance to the Act of Union 1707

• The Creation of the United Kingdom.


James VI of Scotland(James I of Eng)

Charles IJames VII of Scot(James II of Eng)

James VIII (not crowned)

(the old pretender)

Charles‘Bonny Prince Charlie”

Charles II (of ScotlandAnd England)

Grandson of James IVAnd Margaret Tudor

Bonnie Prince Charlie(Charles Edward Stewart)

1720-88

The Jacobite RisingsThe Jacobite Risings

• There were several, leading to the rightly famous rising of 1745.

• But, in 1715, the earl of Mar gathered twenty-six clan chiefs to Braemar and raised the banner for the exiled James.

• It was not supported by all the clans, the it ended in a stalemate.

The Jacobite Rising of 1745The Jacobite Rising of 1745

• No other event in Scottish history has inspired so much heated debate as this Rising. It has been analyzed as an internal dynastic struggle, an an international power play and as an internal Civil War.

• The feelings of the contemporary Gaels is reflected in a large corpus of song and story. That poetry is overwhelmingly Jacobite. (map)

A Gaelic History of ScotlandA Gaelic History of Scotland

• That Gaelic poetry of the time displays the deep values of traditional Gaelic society in Scotland:

• Loyalty to the rightful ruler.

• The signs that presaged a Gaelic resurgence.

• The right to reject tyranny.

• The yearning for religious tolerance.

Highland gentleman mid 18th century


• The conflict was not a rebellion of Gaelic Catholics against Protestant Lowlanders and English.

• Many Presbyterians fought on the Jacobite side, as did many Episcopalians.

• The real sense of the rebellion was to restore the ‘proper’ king to the throne, but also to restore Scotland’s independence.

Analysis of the battleAnalysis of the battle

• The command structure of the Jacobite Army was not well organized.

• The Prince was commander in chief, but strategic decisions were taken by Colonel Sullivan.

• There was poor co-ordination at a tactical level.

CullodenCulloden

• The battle of Culloden was not in the ordinary sense a battle between the Scots and the English.

• There were Scots in the Loyalist Army (under Cumberland). Four of his 16 infantry units were Scottish.

• This having been said, it is fair to say that King George’s soldiers were there to protect the new United Kingdom, whilst the Jacobite army was there to restore Scottish Independence.


• This Anglicization had the effect of destroying the old link between the clan and his people. The Gaelic-speaking tenantry could now be removed at will by the landlords, who saw that people could not produce the profits that the new economic system required.

• This led to large-scale clearances where people were forcilbly evicted from their homes (the first was in Glengarry 1785).

The ClearancesThe Clearances

• Highland landlords had greater powers over their tenants than any in contemporary Europe.

• A number of factors combined (including the Potato Famine of 1846-7) made Clearance a recurring catastrophe of the nineteenth century.

• In the Gaelic poetry of the time, the recurring image is that of the Lowland shepherd who arrives in the Highlands with his flocks of sheep which displace the Highlanders for the profit of the landlords.


• After the ‘rebels’ had been crushed at Culloden, the Highlanders no longer posed a threat to the Anglo-British state.

• Especially after the popularity of MacPherson’s Ossian in the 1760s, the Highlander came to be identified as a ‘noble-savage’.

• The popular potrayal of the ‘lost world’ of the Celts reinforced its disconnection from the reality of industrialisation and empire.


• The ever-deepening social and cultural crisis in the Highlands led to a retreat into religion as an internal community.

• The Church of Scotland saw a disruption of its unity in 1843, and the formation of the Free Church. This was evangelical inspiration, and rejecting the the world. In Galeic terms it also rejected secular culture, music, song and dance.


• Catholicism had been identified with the Jacobite cause. (incorrectly)

• Many Catholic communities in the Highlands and Islands left Scotland in the 19th century for Canada and the USA. By 1878, almost all the Gaelic Catholics were in the county of Inverness and the diocese of Argyll and the Isles.

Crofter’s cottage c1760

Clan SocietyClan Society

• Kinship was the organizing principle of Highland clans, although in reality not everyone in a given clan was related.

• The clan was a political institution which claimed an ideology of kinship, but which is also based on an historical reality.

• The people who operated as members of a clan accepted tha authority of a common leader:


• One writer commenting on the clan system at the time of the battle of Culloden (1746) said:

• A Highland clan is a set of people all bearing the same surname and believing themselves to be related to one another and to be descended from a common stock.


In each clan there are several subordinate tribes who own their dependence on their immediate chief, but all agree in owning allegiance to the supreme chief of the clan or kindred and look on it as their duty to support him in all his adventures.’


• Despite the ideology of kinship, people who were of different origins could find themselves dependent upon a particular chieftain, living on his estate, and effectively becoming members of his clan.

• They often took his surname as their own.


• There are a number of terms in Gaelic for referring to lineages and kin. (clann, siol, sliocht)

• The term clann itself appears in family names by c1100 in Scotland (The Book of Deer), but most of the known clans are names after founding ancestors who can be dated to the era 1150 to 1350.


• For example, the MacDougalls, called Clann Dughaill in Gaelic are named after a Dughall who lived in the later twelfth century.

• The children of a ruler and their children would found new lineages , called Sliochdan. They might take on a new name like the Clan Ranald, a branch of the Clan Donald descended from Raghnall, the second son of the Lord of the Isles.

Clan Society: chieftainsClan Society: chieftains

• Clann chieftains often inherited many of the attributes of the earlier local kings (righe) of earlier Gaelic society.

• One commonly expressed belief (by the bards) was that the chieftain had a special relationship with the territory. This can be seen in the laments in which nature mourns the death of a chielftain.

Clan Society: chieftainsClan Society: chieftains

• As late as the mid 1700s, when Prince Charles Edward Stewart was anticipated to return to Scotland, he was pictured in the Gaelic poetry of the time as restoring the bounty of the land.

• When the same Bonnie Prince Charlie died in 1788, William Ross sang:


• Tha gach beinn, gach cnoc ‘s gach sliabh

• Air am faca sinn thu ‘triall

• Nis air chall an dreach ‘s am fiabh

• O nach tig thu ‘chaoibh nan cian.

• Every mountain, hill and moor-side

• On which we saw you travelling

• Has now lost its comeliness

• Since you will never return.

Clan Society: warrior/clansmenClan Society: warrior/clansmen

• Amongst the specialized, high-ranking professions in Gaelic society was that of the warrior.

• An 18th century writer said that ‘they were well trained in managing the sword, in wrestling, swimming, jumping, dancing, shooting with bows and arrows, and were stout seamen’.


• Before about 1600, most of the fighting men were taken from the higher ranks of society. The buannachan were a kind of permanent fighting force, together with the Leine-chneas or bodyguard.

• After that date many more fighters were taken from the tuath (common people), with the growth in that period after c1600 of warfare.


• Despite the strict assignment of rank, people were not segregated from each other, because of being inferior in status.

• Rather everyone celebrated their ties of kinship and inter-dependence with the noble leaders of society, and these ties created a sense of self-esteem amongst Highland people as a whole (Gaels).

The Aftermath of CullodenThe Aftermath of Culloden

• It could be said that many communities of the Gàidhealtachd lost their sense of involvement in the physical and political world in exchange for a belief in a personal spiritual struggle (Compare North American natives= the Ghost Dance).

• Once Gaeldom no longer seemed to pose a threat, it was pilfered for elements to add local colour to the British Empire.

Gaeldom in RetreatGaeldom in Retreat

• In a period when Gaelic was already in decline, An Comunn Gaidhealach (The Highland Society) was established in 1891 with the express aim of encouraging the Gaelic language and tradition.

• It has been the patron of an annual competition called the Mod, modelled on the Welsh Eisteddfod.


• Such institutions, laudable though they may be, tended to impose new styles of performance typical of the late Victorian era.

• The same kinds of innovation and ‘improvement’ effected the traditions of bagpipe playing.

• Contrary to popular belief, the bagpipes were never prohibited after Culloden.


• Rather a lack of native institutions led to a certain decline, although the British military became the principle patron of piping in both the Lowlands and the Highlands. (Highland Games).

• Such Highland Games, often far from the realities of the Gaelic world, led to the introduction of ideas and styles once foreign to Gaelic music. (changing the tempo).

Scottish identityScottish identity

• In the context of the Scottish revival in the twentieth century, major writers such as Somhairle MacLean (Gaelic), Hugh MacDiarmid (Lallans), William Auld (Esperanto) emerged who brought Scottish writing back to the foreground.

Scottish identityScottish identity

• It is interesting to see how some aspects of the Gaelic history of Scotland have been integrated into a more generalised Scottish identity.

• The kilt can be seen frequently in Glasgow, and learning Gaelic is more found in the Lowlands than the Highlands. The pipes and the tartan now belong to all Scots whatever their origin.

the kings of alba scotland’s first kingdom. the kings of alba kenneth mac alpin ( -858) his...

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