I am not talking about King Arthur and Lady Guinevere. I am referring to the cult of celtic separatism which has become fashionable since the 1960s, specifically in Scotland.
Some would have you believe that the Scots are a race apart: a fierce tribe of plaid-clad wildmen with their own language, customs and genetic heritage, permanently at odds with the English, who have over the centuries raided, and oppressed them.
Films such as Braveheart and The Bruce have of course propagated the image. It in turn, has developed its own weight and is expressed frequently in Scottish media. The result of course, is a new-found national pride, a suspicion of things "English" or "British", the rejection of a shared heritage and a growing independence movement which looks set to be successful. Call it independence, but it merely subjugates Scotland to the EU directly, rather than via United Kingdom. Mel Gibson's cry of "Freedom" is a rallying-cry toward deception, Alec Salmond an EU stooge every bit as much as Gordon Brown.
That there were once tribes of celtic-speaking people living peacefully in the glens is difficult to deny. That they were invaded and conquered, repeatedly, is difficult to deny also. Our historic record is fairly good. Before the Romans came Scotland was inhabited by the celtic-speaking Britons (sometimes called Welsh) in the south and the mysterious Picts in the north.
We know little about the picts and little or nothing remains of thei language. But it seems certain they were descended from the original post-glacial inhabitants of these islands. Genetic studies indicate these early Brits came from the Atlantic seaboard of Iberia and their strain remains, to this day, the major part of our genetic legacy, right across Britain. The subsequent invasions of the last 2000 years have been nothing more than icing.
Fast forward. The Romans arrived, and had no joy against the men north of Hadrian's wall. Pictish and British (Welsh) kingdoms to the north, Romano-Britons (Romano-Welsh) to the south. Fast forward again to the 4th century and the first Scots, or Gaels started settling in the Western Isles. In the 5th and 6th centuries AD, further south and the Romans are replaced by Angles (angle = the root of England, English and anglo), Jutes and Saxons migrating across the North Sea from Denmark and northern Germany. Historians tell us at this point the Welsh-Roman Britons pack their bags and retreat westwards and northwards.
The northernmost Angle kingdom, Bernicia grows and extends as far as the Forth in the north. Bernicia and Deira merge to form the Kingdom of Northumbria. The Northumbrian Angles found the city of Edinburgh. Northumbrian influence grows across Pictish territories Dumfries, Galloway and farther north until repulsed. Scotland was at this stage a land of (indigenous) Picts, Angles, Britons and of course Scots.
The Scots brought with them their language, Gaelic, which eventually replaced varieties of Pictish and British (Welsh). Scots also invaded parts of northern England and the Severn estuary but did not impact the language significantly. Scots Gaelic is very similar to Irish but not to be confused with lowland Scots or old Scots, largely derived from Northumbrian Anglish.
If that wasn't enough the vikings started to invade all over Britain. The Orkneys, northern and western mainland of Scotland and Cumbria were settled by fair-haired Norsemen (from Norway). Across central and eastern England and scattered parts of Scotland, it was the Danes, close relatives of the Angles.
It was a Scot (or Gael), Kenneth McAlpin who finally united with the Picts and carved out a kingdom called Alba in 844 AD. It was not the Scotland we know today. The 'capital' was at Dunadd, and it did not include Strathclyde, Lothian, Galloway, Orkney, Shetland or the Hebrides. Edinburgh was still Northumbrian.
When York fell to the Danes in 866, the power of Northumbria was smashed. The Danes, Angles and Saxons fought it out until an English kingdom was established in 927 AD. The Normans (themselves French speaking vikings) upset the applecart down south in 1066. Malcolm III opportunistically struck south but William the Conqueror quickly struck back. Malcolm paid homage to William and Norman influence grew in Scotland, especially under David I. Jostling to keep his own power he surrendered much of Scotland's land to the Normans, who, rather like in England, became the backbone of the aristocratic class. It is perhaps for this reason that the most truly British strain of people in this island is the upper class.
Seminally Scottish clan names like Ramsey, Fraser, Hunter, Ogilvie, Cameron, Douglas, Hamilton, Sinclair, Wallace and Gordon (and many more) are all of Norman origin. The ultimate Scottish patriot Robert the Bruce was Robert de Brus. Thus Scotland came to have three languages: Gaelic, Scots and French.
It was not until 1237 AD that the modern borders were established between the two kingdoms under the Treaty of York, and 1266 that the Hebrides were finally won from Norway.
Not long afterwards began the messy squabbling between the pretenders to the throne that led to two invasions of Scotland from England. They became known as the wars of Scottish independence. It was never quite that simple. Scotland was divided into factions on both sides of the division and the whole mess would not have started if the Scots had not invited Edward I to arbitrate, then accepted him as Lord Paramount of Scotland, and then turned coat against him with the French.
During the first war William Wallace made his name, winning at Stirling, losing at Falkirk. He was not much like the character portrayed by Mel Gibson. He was a lowland aristocrat, whose ancestors are thought to have come from Shropshire, the name Wallace itself thought to be a Frenchification of 'Welsh'. Robert the Bruce's father wouldn't get involved, but eventually his son won a famous victory at Bannockburn in 1314.
The losing faction of the first war got together with Edward III's (keen for revenge after the humiliation at Bannockburn) support for a second (unsuccessful) try, to put the obsequious Edward Balliol on the Scottish throne. Scotland remained independent until in 1603, their king, James VI, a Stuart (another Norman clan) took the English crown (as James I) and unified the kingdoms.
His son, Charles I was famously decapitated by Cromwell's roundheads during the English civil war. The Scots were rightfully incensed. He was their king too, and the English parliament had killed him. Cromwell's puritanism had much in common with the Scots covenanters, but they did not rally to his banner. He invaded, and defeated the Scots at Dunbar. Thus Scotland was absorbed into the short-lived Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland. The restoration followed, and Charles II came to power. His son James VII/II was deposed on both sides of the border during the Glorious Revolution. His daughter Mary (a protestant) was then crowned, sparking the Jacobite rebellions.
Often portrayed as conflicts between Scotland and England it was not that simple. The Stuarts were arguably the rightful heirs of the throne. They drew much support from the Scottish highlands but had support also in northern England, southwest England and Wales. Their symbol was the white rose of York. And not all highlanders were for James. It was a struggle between British supporters of catholic James Stuart and British supporters of his usurper, protestant William of Orange.
The massacre of Glencoe is one of the most memorable episodes in the Jacobite risings. On 13 February 1692 soldiers of the Campbell clan, loyal to William, murdered 78 unsuspecting MacDonalds, loyal to James. It sent a powerful warning to the other Jacobites and also signalled the end of the clan lifestyle. And by the way, each clan did not have its own tartan. That was a fashion introduced 150 years later, long after the clans had any significance.
1707 saw the legal creation of the nation of Great Britain, debt-ridden Scots allegedly bribed with English gold. Peace would reign but for the Jacobites twice more. The first rebellion (1715) started in London when Tory Jacobites conspired against the Hanoverian monarch. They were joined by a miner rebellion in Derbyshire and the weavers of Monmouth. Plotters in Cornwall and Devon were arrested, forestalling armed conflict. A large army of highlanders marched on Sherrifmuir. A second Jacobite army marched on Preston. They both lost.
1745 was the turn of Charles Edward Louis John Casimir Silvester Severino Maria Stuart, otherwise known as Bonnie Prince Charlie. Born and raised in exile in Italy, the young pretender is said to have spoken no Gaelic and no Scots. After victories at Falkirk and Prestonpans he marched to Derby but finding support lacking was forced to retreat. It was the wrong move. London was defenceless.
The Stuarts' ambitions died on the field at Culloden the next year and Charles fled to France. Again, often portrayed as an English invasion of Scotland, a British Hanoverian army (composed of highlanders, lowlanders and English recruits) defeated the Jacobite army (of highlanders and Frenchmen) for the final time. Fearing the danger of a recurrence the British government instigated the highland clearances. It was particularly cruel, and forced many to emigrate to north America. But was it any worse than the enclosures act?
In any case, the peace of sorts that followed allowed empire-building to begin in earnest. The British empire became the biggest the world has ever known. Scotland, throughout retaining autonomy of religious practice, law, education and (eventually) sport, prospered through the industrial revolution and Scots, numerically much inferior to the English have been at the vanguard of British affairs ever since.
Scottish - English relations have been at times volatile. You would expect nothing else between neighbours. But there has been no perpetual emnity, no irredeemable schism. The conflicts that there have been have had nothing to do with inter-racial hatred, everything to do with the power games of the ruling classes - ruling classes which, remember, are close kinsmen of Norman extraction.
What we today call Scotland has become home to Picts (probably Iberian), Britons/Welsh (celts), Scots/Gaels (celts), Angles (germanic), Norse (germanic), Danes (germanic) and Normans (franco-germanic). Pretty much the same components as the English...
A study commissioned by the BBC in 2001 for the programme Blood of the Vikings studied Y-chromosome DNA on males across Britain. It found some interesting results. Men who were tested in mainland Scotland had a percentage of Celtic genetic heritage similar to the population of southern England. Two myths were dispelled in one swoop. The Britons did not all pack up and march off when the Angles and Saxons arrived in England. They mingled. And the Scots are no more celtic than the English.
The border has been porous for centuries, with large numbers of Scots (of all strains) moving south, large numbers of English (of all strains) moving north. The so-called 'indigenous' language, Gaelic, (present in Scotland only slightly longer than forms of English) is spoken by only 1% of the population. English is spoken everywhere. Our heritage is indeed so similar that the process of differentiation is only achieved by rampant symbolism - the stamping of thistles, blue saltires or lions rampant on every stamp, milk bottle and number plate.
This is accompanied by a Scoto-centric insularity prevalent in all forms of media. Scots are increasingly believing that what happens in England, Wales or Northern Ireland is not relevant to them. Forgetting that theirs is only 8% of the UK population they have come to expect parity of representation in all things with England (with 84% of the population). It is impossible and it can only breed dissatisfaction.
As a colonial empire both Scotland and England have inherited new genetic input from all corners of the globe, and with the open border arrangements of the EU, all corners of Europe. This policy is of course making notions of nationhood and tribal affiliation weaker. It plays into the hands of the superstate on two counts. Firstly, nationalism is a natural reaction to mass immigration. Secondly, that nationalism and its natural conclusion, separatism, weakens the central authority of the state (Great Britain). This leaves the EU as the only authority. It is a classic divide and conquer strategy and it is working beautifully.
Is it a coincidence that the advent of Scottish nationalism coincided with the rise of the EEC? The EU now makes no secret of the fact its aim is a superstate. Most Scots nationalists overlook the fact that already around 70% of their laws are made in Brussels, not London. Of the remaining 30%, only a small amount are made in London. True Scottish independence is not from the UK, but from the EU! So far the signs are that Scottish independence, when it comes, will be as phoney as clan tartans.
Some would have you believe that the Scots are a race apart: a fierce tribe of plaid-clad wildmen with their own language, customs and genetic heritage, permanently at odds with the English, who have over the centuries raided, and oppressed them.
Films such as Braveheart and The Bruce have of course propagated the image. It in turn, has developed its own weight and is expressed frequently in Scottish media. The result of course, is a new-found national pride, a suspicion of things "English" or "British", the rejection of a shared heritage and a growing independence movement which looks set to be successful. Call it independence, but it merely subjugates Scotland to the EU directly, rather than via United Kingdom. Mel Gibson's cry of "Freedom" is a rallying-cry toward deception, Alec Salmond an EU stooge every bit as much as Gordon Brown.
That there were once tribes of celtic-speaking people living peacefully in the glens is difficult to deny. That they were invaded and conquered, repeatedly, is difficult to deny also. Our historic record is fairly good. Before the Romans came Scotland was inhabited by the celtic-speaking Britons (sometimes called Welsh) in the south and the mysterious Picts in the north.
We know little about the picts and little or nothing remains of thei language. But it seems certain they were descended from the original post-glacial inhabitants of these islands. Genetic studies indicate these early Brits came from the Atlantic seaboard of Iberia and their strain remains, to this day, the major part of our genetic legacy, right across Britain. The subsequent invasions of the last 2000 years have been nothing more than icing.
Fast forward. The Romans arrived, and had no joy against the men north of Hadrian's wall. Pictish and British (Welsh) kingdoms to the north, Romano-Britons (Romano-Welsh) to the south. Fast forward again to the 4th century and the first Scots, or Gaels started settling in the Western Isles. In the 5th and 6th centuries AD, further south and the Romans are replaced by Angles (angle = the root of England, English and anglo), Jutes and Saxons migrating across the North Sea from Denmark and northern Germany. Historians tell us at this point the Welsh-Roman Britons pack their bags and retreat westwards and northwards.
The northernmost Angle kingdom, Bernicia grows and extends as far as the Forth in the north. Bernicia and Deira merge to form the Kingdom of Northumbria. The Northumbrian Angles found the city of Edinburgh. Northumbrian influence grows across Pictish territories Dumfries, Galloway and farther north until repulsed. Scotland was at this stage a land of (indigenous) Picts, Angles, Britons and of course Scots.
The Scots brought with them their language, Gaelic, which eventually replaced varieties of Pictish and British (Welsh). Scots also invaded parts of northern England and the Severn estuary but did not impact the language significantly. Scots Gaelic is very similar to Irish but not to be confused with lowland Scots or old Scots, largely derived from Northumbrian Anglish.
If that wasn't enough the vikings started to invade all over Britain. The Orkneys, northern and western mainland of Scotland and Cumbria were settled by fair-haired Norsemen (from Norway). Across central and eastern England and scattered parts of Scotland, it was the Danes, close relatives of the Angles.
It was a Scot (or Gael), Kenneth McAlpin who finally united with the Picts and carved out a kingdom called Alba in 844 AD. It was not the Scotland we know today. The 'capital' was at Dunadd, and it did not include Strathclyde, Lothian, Galloway, Orkney, Shetland or the Hebrides. Edinburgh was still Northumbrian.
When York fell to the Danes in 866, the power of Northumbria was smashed. The Danes, Angles and Saxons fought it out until an English kingdom was established in 927 AD. The Normans (themselves French speaking vikings) upset the applecart down south in 1066. Malcolm III opportunistically struck south but William the Conqueror quickly struck back. Malcolm paid homage to William and Norman influence grew in Scotland, especially under David I. Jostling to keep his own power he surrendered much of Scotland's land to the Normans, who, rather like in England, became the backbone of the aristocratic class. It is perhaps for this reason that the most truly British strain of people in this island is the upper class.
Seminally Scottish clan names like Ramsey, Fraser, Hunter, Ogilvie, Cameron, Douglas, Hamilton, Sinclair, Wallace and Gordon (and many more) are all of Norman origin. The ultimate Scottish patriot Robert the Bruce was Robert de Brus. Thus Scotland came to have three languages: Gaelic, Scots and French.
It was not until 1237 AD that the modern borders were established between the two kingdoms under the Treaty of York, and 1266 that the Hebrides were finally won from Norway.
Not long afterwards began the messy squabbling between the pretenders to the throne that led to two invasions of Scotland from England. They became known as the wars of Scottish independence. It was never quite that simple. Scotland was divided into factions on both sides of the division and the whole mess would not have started if the Scots had not invited Edward I to arbitrate, then accepted him as Lord Paramount of Scotland, and then turned coat against him with the French.
During the first war William Wallace made his name, winning at Stirling, losing at Falkirk. He was not much like the character portrayed by Mel Gibson. He was a lowland aristocrat, whose ancestors are thought to have come from Shropshire, the name Wallace itself thought to be a Frenchification of 'Welsh'. Robert the Bruce's father wouldn't get involved, but eventually his son won a famous victory at Bannockburn in 1314.
The losing faction of the first war got together with Edward III's (keen for revenge after the humiliation at Bannockburn) support for a second (unsuccessful) try, to put the obsequious Edward Balliol on the Scottish throne. Scotland remained independent until in 1603, their king, James VI, a Stuart (another Norman clan) took the English crown (as James I) and unified the kingdoms.
His son, Charles I was famously decapitated by Cromwell's roundheads during the English civil war. The Scots were rightfully incensed. He was their king too, and the English parliament had killed him. Cromwell's puritanism had much in common with the Scots covenanters, but they did not rally to his banner. He invaded, and defeated the Scots at Dunbar. Thus Scotland was absorbed into the short-lived Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland. The restoration followed, and Charles II came to power. His son James VII/II was deposed on both sides of the border during the Glorious Revolution. His daughter Mary (a protestant) was then crowned, sparking the Jacobite rebellions.
Often portrayed as conflicts between Scotland and England it was not that simple. The Stuarts were arguably the rightful heirs of the throne. They drew much support from the Scottish highlands but had support also in northern England, southwest England and Wales. Their symbol was the white rose of York. And not all highlanders were for James. It was a struggle between British supporters of catholic James Stuart and British supporters of his usurper, protestant William of Orange.
The massacre of Glencoe is one of the most memorable episodes in the Jacobite risings. On 13 February 1692 soldiers of the Campbell clan, loyal to William, murdered 78 unsuspecting MacDonalds, loyal to James. It sent a powerful warning to the other Jacobites and also signalled the end of the clan lifestyle. And by the way, each clan did not have its own tartan. That was a fashion introduced 150 years later, long after the clans had any significance.
1707 saw the legal creation of the nation of Great Britain, debt-ridden Scots allegedly bribed with English gold. Peace would reign but for the Jacobites twice more. The first rebellion (1715) started in London when Tory Jacobites conspired against the Hanoverian monarch. They were joined by a miner rebellion in Derbyshire and the weavers of Monmouth. Plotters in Cornwall and Devon were arrested, forestalling armed conflict. A large army of highlanders marched on Sherrifmuir. A second Jacobite army marched on Preston. They both lost.
1745 was the turn of Charles Edward Louis John Casimir Silvester Severino Maria Stuart, otherwise known as Bonnie Prince Charlie. Born and raised in exile in Italy, the young pretender is said to have spoken no Gaelic and no Scots. After victories at Falkirk and Prestonpans he marched to Derby but finding support lacking was forced to retreat. It was the wrong move. London was defenceless.
The Stuarts' ambitions died on the field at Culloden the next year and Charles fled to France. Again, often portrayed as an English invasion of Scotland, a British Hanoverian army (composed of highlanders, lowlanders and English recruits) defeated the Jacobite army (of highlanders and Frenchmen) for the final time. Fearing the danger of a recurrence the British government instigated the highland clearances. It was particularly cruel, and forced many to emigrate to north America. But was it any worse than the enclosures act?
In any case, the peace of sorts that followed allowed empire-building to begin in earnest. The British empire became the biggest the world has ever known. Scotland, throughout retaining autonomy of religious practice, law, education and (eventually) sport, prospered through the industrial revolution and Scots, numerically much inferior to the English have been at the vanguard of British affairs ever since.
Scottish - English relations have been at times volatile. You would expect nothing else between neighbours. But there has been no perpetual emnity, no irredeemable schism. The conflicts that there have been have had nothing to do with inter-racial hatred, everything to do with the power games of the ruling classes - ruling classes which, remember, are close kinsmen of Norman extraction.
What we today call Scotland has become home to Picts (probably Iberian), Britons/Welsh (celts), Scots/Gaels (celts), Angles (germanic), Norse (germanic), Danes (germanic) and Normans (franco-germanic). Pretty much the same components as the English...
A study commissioned by the BBC in 2001 for the programme Blood of the Vikings studied Y-chromosome DNA on males across Britain. It found some interesting results. Men who were tested in mainland Scotland had a percentage of Celtic genetic heritage similar to the population of southern England. Two myths were dispelled in one swoop. The Britons did not all pack up and march off when the Angles and Saxons arrived in England. They mingled. And the Scots are no more celtic than the English.
The border has been porous for centuries, with large numbers of Scots (of all strains) moving south, large numbers of English (of all strains) moving north. The so-called 'indigenous' language, Gaelic, (present in Scotland only slightly longer than forms of English) is spoken by only 1% of the population. English is spoken everywhere. Our heritage is indeed so similar that the process of differentiation is only achieved by rampant symbolism - the stamping of thistles, blue saltires or lions rampant on every stamp, milk bottle and number plate.
This is accompanied by a Scoto-centric insularity prevalent in all forms of media. Scots are increasingly believing that what happens in England, Wales or Northern Ireland is not relevant to them. Forgetting that theirs is only 8% of the UK population they have come to expect parity of representation in all things with England (with 84% of the population). It is impossible and it can only breed dissatisfaction.
As a colonial empire both Scotland and England have inherited new genetic input from all corners of the globe, and with the open border arrangements of the EU, all corners of Europe. This policy is of course making notions of nationhood and tribal affiliation weaker. It plays into the hands of the superstate on two counts. Firstly, nationalism is a natural reaction to mass immigration. Secondly, that nationalism and its natural conclusion, separatism, weakens the central authority of the state (Great Britain). This leaves the EU as the only authority. It is a classic divide and conquer strategy and it is working beautifully.
Is it a coincidence that the advent of Scottish nationalism coincided with the rise of the EEC? The EU now makes no secret of the fact its aim is a superstate. Most Scots nationalists overlook the fact that already around 70% of their laws are made in Brussels, not London. Of the remaining 30%, only a small amount are made in London. True Scottish independence is not from the UK, but from the EU! So far the signs are that Scottish independence, when it comes, will be as phoney as clan tartans.
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