Dr William Knox shares a selection of lesser-known facts about the Scots’ proud heritage, busting numerous myths along the way
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1 THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A ‘PURE’ OR ‘ORIGINAL’ SCOT
Contrary to popular belief, there is no common ancestral or genetic heritage linking the peoples of Scotland. The country was originally a patchwork quilt of various tribes who certainly never thought of themselves as ‘Scottish’. Their allegiance was firmly with their own kith and kin, and it was only during their campaigns against Roman imperialism that they built federations that laid the basis of kingdoms. Overall, ancient Scotland was made up of four separate groups – Angles, Britons, Picts and Gaels (or Scoti) – who each spoke their own language.
2 KENNETH MACALPIN WAS NOT THE FIRST KING OF SCOTLAND, AS THE POPULAR CLAIM GOES
What ninth-century king Kenneth MacAlpin did was take advantage of the severely weakened Picts, following a wave of Viking raids, and unite the kingdom of the Gaels with that of Pictavia. But while he ruled – from AD 843 to his death in AD 858 – over everything north of the River Forth, large parts of the country remained in the hands of the Vikings, while in the south the Anglo-Saxons ruled. MacAlpin was referred to as King of the Picts, a title conferred on him at his coronation on Moot Hill at Scone, Perthshire. It was not until the reign of Donald II (AD 889–900) that the monarch became known as the ri Alban, or King of Alba. MacAlpin’s achievement was to create a dynasty that gradually extended the territorial borders of Scotland both north and south, although it would not be until 1469 that the Scotland of today was established.
3 WILLIAM THE LION, DESPITE HIS NAME, WAS NOT A STRONG AND FEARLESS KING
Although his reign, from 1165 to 1214, was the second-longest in Scottish history, few kings were as humiliated as William the Lion. Captured by the English at the battle of Alnwick in 1174, he gained his release by signing the Treaty of Falaise, which recognised English dominion over Scotland. He continued to rule only with the permission of the
