SCOTLAND 



5262 



SCOTLAND 



throne, and Edward I of England claimed the 

 right as overlord to appoint the successor. The 

 Scottish nobles revolted against his choice of 

 John Baliol and formed an alliance with France. 

 Edward then invaded Scotland and as a result 

 of his victory at the Battle of Dunbar declared 

 himself king. The native Scots rallied under 

 William Wallace, the popular hero of Scottish 

 history, and defeated the English forces at 

 Stirling. The long and cruel wars of independ- 

 ence which followed ended in the victory of 

 the Scotch under Robert Bruce in the famous 

 Battle of Bannockburn in 1314, one of the de- 

 cisive battles of the world's history. 



Power of the Nobility. Bruce was crowned 

 king, but the struggles with rival claimants to 

 the throne were not ended. During the reign 

 of his son, the child king, David II (1329-1371), 

 a descendant of John Baliol, supported by Ed- 

 wa"rd III of England, claimed the throne. Added 

 to the perpetual warfare on the English bor- 

 der were the feuds between the powerful clans 

 and the long struggle between the house of 

 Douglas and the Crown. During the reigns 

 of David and his successors, Robert II and 

 Robert III, the powerful nobles were virtually 

 the rulers of Scotland. Robert II was the first 

 of the Stuart dynasty. 



Order was restored and the nobles subdued 

 by James I (1406-1437), and the Scotch-French 

 alliance was renewed. However, during the 

 succeeding reigns of James II and James III, 

 history repeated itself in the renewal of feud, 

 murder and anarchy. James IV, through his 

 alliance with France, then at war with Eng- 

 land, invaded Northumberland and was de- 

 feated and killed at Flodden Field in 1513. 

 James V and his daughter, Mary, Queen of 

 Scots, continued the alliance with France, and 

 this and their Catholic faith made them un- 

 popular in Scotland. The romantic and tragic 

 life of Mary Stuart is given in detail under the 

 heading MARY STUART. During most of her 

 reign the court of Scotland was the center of 

 plot and intrigue. 



Religious Struggles. The religious Reforma- 

 tion in England spread to Scotland and reached 

 its height in 1559 and 1560, under the leader- 

 ship of John Knox. In 1560 a Reform Party Par- 

 liament assembled and established the demo- 

 cratic Presbyterian Church. 



The religious struggles and plots of intri- 

 guing ministers continued during the reign of 

 Mary's son, James VI. In 1603 he left Scot- 

 land to become James I of England, and from 

 this time Scotch history is closely related to 



that of England (which see). Both James and 

 his son, Charles I, attempted to draw the two 

 countries into closer union and to establish 

 the Church of England in Scotland, thus ad- 

 ding to their unpopularity among the Scotch 

 Covenanters. 



In the Civil War in England, 1642-1649, when 

 Cromwell's Parliament Party defeated the Roy- 

 alists and executed Charles I, the Covenanters 

 took the part of Parliament. After the Restora- 

 tion, in 1660, Charles II attempted to reestab- 

 lish Episcopacy in Scotland, and the strict Cove- 

 nanters were cruelly persecuted. They joined 

 the English Revolution of 1688 and proclaimed 

 William and Mary as their sovereigns. Re- 

 ligious freedom was restored, but during the 

 following reign of Queen Anne, the ill feeling 

 between Scotland and England increased, and 

 England saw that a union was necessary to 

 preserve peace. 



Union with England. Not without violent 

 opposition in the Scottish Parliament, the Ar- 

 ticles of Union were passed in January, 1707, 

 and the two kingdoms were united under the 

 name of Great Britain. It was provided that 

 the Presbyterian Church of Scotland be main- 

 tained; that sixteen Scottish lords and forty- 

 five members of the House of Commons be 

 elected to the Parliament at London; that all 

 rights of trade and citizenship be the same for 

 Scotch and English subjects; that Scottish prop- 

 erty laws, customs and private rights remain 

 unchanged. Henceforth the history of Scot- 

 land is part of that of Great Britain. 



Scotland has, without doubt, benefited from 

 the union with England and has never made 

 any aggressive attempt to reestablish "Home 

 Rule." However, in recent years there has 

 been a revival of national feeling which has 

 been reflected in the renewed interest in Scot- 

 tish customs, language and literature. There 

 is also widespread feeling that the Scottish 

 department of government should be situated 

 in Edinburgh, rather than in London. The 

 Scottish troops distinguished themselves for 

 their loyalty and gallant action throughout the 

 War of the Nations, winning special recogni- 

 tion for their conspicuous bravery in the Battle 

 of Loos, in the second attack at Ypres, at 

 Longueval and at Messines. E.B.P. 



Consult Lang's Short History of Scotland; 

 Brown's History of Scotland to the Present Time; 

 Oliphant's History of Scotland for the Young. 



Related Subjects. The reader who is inter- 

 ested in Scotland will find much information in 

 the following articles in these volumes : 



