mcleanscotland  are local Scots who pride ourselves on showing you the nooks & crannies other tours companies pass on by.   We can show you those hidden gems even Scots do not know!  mcleanscotland lead you into a we Scottish history lesson of Scottish regiments and general history of Scotland

A WEE BIT 'O HISTORY

This is our brief step into Scottish history.  We are not trying to give you a huge historic journey through our history but some stories (true) that some history books have missed.

www.mcleanscotland.co.uk/DALRIADAGROUP.asp the Kingdom of Dalriada

THE SCOTTISH REGIMENTS  BEFORE TONY BLAIR MERGED THEM INTO ONE SCOTS REGIMENT!

The Liverpool Scottish a link to this virtually unknown regiment

The New Brunswick Kilties information and pictures here

ARCHAEOLOGISTS believe that they have unearthed one of Scotland's oldest churches. A dig underneath the historic Kirk of St Nicholas in Aberdeen has found graves which are thought to date back to the sixth century or possibly even earlier. The hugely significant find has now opened a new window into the past and allowed experts to delve into what life was like fifteen hundred years ago. The team has found skeletons buried in logs in stone graves and one with a rare pewter badge. Material which could be the oldest fabric found in Scotland has also been uncovered.
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Many people are unaware of a battle which was fought on September 1st, 1644,  a few miles from Perth: when it was all over the victors claimed they could walk on dead men all the way back into town. Where is this battle site?  ‘Tibbermore’.  A we road off the main A9 leads down a country road past fences, trees, hedges and an old kirkyard before reaching a little line of white cottages. It is an isolated, rustic corner.
Most passers-by do not even realise that a small, fenced, moss-covered stone in one of the fields commemorates this major battle which historians call Tippermuir rather than the modern Tibbermore. It is one of Scotland’s least known battle sites.  On one side, James Graham, Marquis of Montrose, for Charles 1st in what became known as the Scottish Wars of the Covenant. Montrose was aided by a ferocious warrior - Sir Alexander MacDonald, better known by his Gaelic name of Alasdair MacColla (or Alexander, son of Coll). He was also referred to as Colkitto (coll ciotach or left handed Coll). The losers in this bloodstained conflict were the forces of the Solemn League and Covenant, a mainly Campbell-led alliance supported the Scottish Parliamentarians who helped their English counterparts to oppose the monarchy and who in turn wanted a more Presbyterian hue. Typical Campbells.
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The Picts and Scots defeat Athelstan's Angle (England) army in East Lothian. In 832AD a raiding party made up of Picts under King Angus (Ununst or Hungus) and Scots led by Eochaidh, King of Dalriada, were fleeing from a large contingent of Northumbrian Angles under the command of Athelstan.  The Northumbrian force pursued the Picts to Markle, in East Lothian - now Athelstaneford. There they found their passage barred by the wide valley of the River Peffer. The Northumbrian army surrounded the Picts and King Angus realised he’d have to turn and fight. The night before the battle, as the forces mustered around him, he prayed for a miracle. According to legend, Saint Andrew came to him in a vision and not only promised that he would survive but also that he would be victorious in battle. King Angus vowed that if this came true he would adopt Saint Andrew as the patron saint of Alba (Scotland). As the two armies met the next day it is said that a white cloud formation of a Saltire - or X-shaped cross - formed against the blue sky. This highly effective morale-boost encouraged the Picts to fight on, and they triumphed on the battlefield, killing Athelstan and routing the Angle army. From that day on, the Saltire was adopted as the emblem of Scotland and Saint Andrew was indeed adopted as our national Saint.  This is now our National Flag - well, the people's flag, the Royal Flag is the Rampant Lion red on a yellow ground. NINTH century Scotland didn't really exist as a united nation. The Picts ruled over much of the east and north, while the Scots ruled out of the Kingdom of Dalriada (see link above - now Argyll) in the west.

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above; the battle of Bushy Run

The Black Watch and Red Indians  It wasn't just the 7th Cavalry who fought the Red Indians. The Black Watch were there long before and beat the red indians at the Battle of Bushy Run.
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Argyle Highlanders  SEVENTY-FOURTH HIGHLAND REGIMENT. 1778—1783.
THIS regiment was raised by Colonel John Campbell of Barbreck, who had served as captain and major of Fraser’s Highlanders in the Seven Years’ War. To him letters of service were granted in December 1777, and the regiment was completed in May 1778, when it was inspected at Glasgow by General Skene. The 74th embarked at Greenock in August 1778, for Halifax, in Nova Scotia, where they were garrisoned along with the Edinburgh Regiment (the 80th) and the Duke of Hamilton’s (the 82d), all under the command of Brigadier-General Francis Maclean. The battalion companies, with a detachment of the 82d regiment, under the command of Brigadier-General Maclean, embarked at Halifax in June of the same year, and took possession of Penobscot. With the view of establishing himself there, the brigadier proceeded to erect defences; but before these were completed, a hostile fleet from Boston, with 2000 troops on board, under Brigadier-General Lovel, appeared in the bay, and on the 28th of July effected a landing on a peninsula, where the British were erecting a fort. The enemy immediately began to erect batteries for a siege; but their operations met with frequent interruption from parties that sallied from the fort. Meanwhile General Maclean proceeded with his works, and not only kept the enemy in complete check, but preserved the communication with the shipping, which they endeavoured to cut off. Both parties kept skirmishing till the 13th of August, on the morning of which day Commodore Sir George Collier entered the bay with a fleet to relieve the brigadier. The enemy immediately raised the siege, and retired to their ships, but a part only were able to escape. The remainder, along with the sailors of some of their ships which had grounded, formed themselves into a body, and attempted to penetrate through the woods; but running short of provisions, they afterwards quarrelled among themselves, and fired on each other till all their ammunition was spent. After upwards of 60 had been killed and wounded in this affray, the rest dispersed in the woods, where numbers perished. In this expedition, the 74th had 2 sergeants and 14 privates killed, and 17 rank and file wounded. General Maclean returned to Halifax with the detachment of the 82d, leaving Lieutenant-Colonel Alexander Campbell of Monzie with the 74th at Penobscot, where they remained till the termination of hostilities, when they embarked for England. They landed at Portsmouth, whence they marched for Stirling, and, after being joined by the flank companies, were reduced in the autumn of 1783.

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Recognised as one of the fiercest conflicts of early modern Europe, the Thirty Years War was a series of bloody battles between the opposing religions of the mighty Holy Roman Empire under the Hapsburgs and an alliance of Protestant powers that included Denmark, Holland and Sweden. The conflict became not only a civil war in Germany but also a religious clash of international dimensions, massacres became so widespread that fresh troops from other nations were welcomed, especially from Scotland. The motives of those Scots. Some fought fervently for religious principles, others risked lives for mercenary reasons. Most Scots simply enjoyed a good fight and the war offered an outlet for their martial prowess.
Several regiments were raised in Scotland to support the Protestant cause in central Europe; none more so than those raised by Sir Donald McKay of Strathnaver in 1626.  Topped up with fresh men over the years from Scotland, this corps played a huge role in several battles - it became known as the Invincible Regiment.  Sir Donald had initially raised the 4,400-strong force to aid King Frederick of the Palatinate who had accepted the crown of Bohemia. Frederick was related to both Scottish and English royalty. Raised in the far north this regiment’s ranks were full of McKays, Monroes, Mackenzies, Sinclairs, Rosses, Gordons and Gunns, while a small but belligerent band of MacGregors, languishing in Edinburgh’s Tolbooth for various misdemeanours, also found it prudent to volunteer for overseas duty.
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Battle of Carham - 1018  An army from Northumberland, seeking to recover Lothian which had been captured by King Malcolm II of Scotland, clashed with Malcolm at Carham on the river Tweed. The Scots were victorious and henceforth the river Tweed became accepted as the border between Scotland and England.

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Battle of the Clans - 1396 To resolve a dispute between the clans Chattan and Kay, King Robert III arranged for representatives of the two clans to meet in combat on the North Inch in Perth. Watched by the king, his courtiers and a large crowd, clan Kaye was routed - supposedly only one survived, by swimming across the nearby river Tay.

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Battle of Dunnichen - 685  It has been argued that if the King Bruide of the Picts had not defeated an invasion by Ecgfrith, King of Northumbria on May 20, 685, Scotland as a separate nation would not have come into being. The Northumbrians had already advanced as far as Lothian, south of the river Forth and defeated the Gododdin and had subjugated the southern lands of the Picts. The Picts had suffered a serious defeat on the plain of "Manau" (near Grangemouth) and 12 years later a huge force of Northumbrians adavnced into the land of the Picts. But using local knowledge of the area around Dunnichen (known as Nechtansmere to the later southern historians), the Picts won an overwhelming victory, bringing to an end the northern advance of the Northumbrians.

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Battle of Inverlochy - 1645 The Marquis of Montrose, after his success at the Battle of Tippermuir (see above), was being pursued by a Covenanting force led by the Marquis of Argyll and his Campbell clan (though a General Baillie also though he was in command and the two men could not stand the sight of one another!). Argyll's forces amounted to 3,000 experienced Highland fighters; Montrose had about half that but they were also well trained - and included Macleans and MacDonalds (all hero's) who had scores to settle with the Campbells. Montrose showed his skill as a general and confused Covenanters who were subsequently routed - it is said that 1,500 Campbells and their allies were killed that day.

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Battle of Mons Graupius - AD84 The precise place where the Caledonian leader, Calgacus, met the Roman advance led by Agricola is not known but it was probably in north-east Scotland in what is now Aberdeenshire. There were said to be 30,000 Caledonii who were defeated by the disciplined Roman legions in the only known set piece battle in the north. 1,300 years later, a transcription error led to the name becoming "Grampian" which is the name now given to the Cairngorm mountains, east and south of the river Spey.

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Battle of Sherrifmuir - 1715 The Earl of Mar, leading the Jacobite forces in support of James Francis Edward Stewart (the "Old Pretender"), had taken control of most of Scotland north of Perth. The government forces led by the Duke of Argyll advanced from the south and the two armies met on the hills of Sherrifmuir, east of Dunblane in November 1715. The battle was inconclusive but afterwards the Jacobites withdrew. The Old Pretender arrived in Scotland (much later than expected) in December 1715 but stayed only six weeks before being persuaded to return to France.

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Battle of the Standard - 1138  Taking advantage of the precarious hold King Stephen of England had on the throne, King David I of Scotland made a number of successful incursions into northern England. In 1138, in another push into Northumberland, his mixed force of Lowlanders, Highlanders and Galloway men were confronted by an army of Northern nobles recruited by the Archbishop of York. Their flying banners gave the battle, beyond Northallerton in Northumberland. A number of charges were beaten back by English bowmen and King David decided to make an orderly withdrawal back across the border.

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THE BATTLE OF FLODDEN

STORY TO FOLLOW SOON

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Flora MacDonald: Jacobite  She was born in Milton, South Uist, but moved to Skye on the death of her father and her mother's re-marriage to Hugh MacDonald of Sleat. Uist in 1746 proved to be a dangerous place.  Bonnie Prince Charlie had been on the run since the defeat at Culloden, with a bounty of £30,000 on his head – an enormous sum at the time - trying to outrun his pursuers he landed on Uist he heard that General Campbell (there we go again, those Campbells have lots to answer for eh ) was on the island searching for him. A plan was formed to help him escape east to the Isle of Skye. The person chosen to help carry out the plan was Flora MacDonald. She agreed, and on 20 June the young prince and Flora met for the first time. They remained in hiding as they planned the escape. The prince was to be smuggled off the island in colourful fashion - disguised as "Betty Burke", Flora's Irish serving-maid. They left on 27 June. As they made for open water they were buffeted and thrown by high winds and tempestuous seas. They battled for days until catching sight of the isle, where they landed between the west-coast towns of Uig and Mogstad at a point now known as Rudha Phrionnsa (Prince's Point). Once safe they hid overnight in a cottage and then slowly, and in secret, travelled overland to Portree. When they reached Portree, the prince and Flora MacDonald had to part. Bonnie Prince Charlie continued on to Raasay, a narrow island between Skye and the mainland, where a ship was waiting to take him to France. Flora returned home. As they left, the prince gave Flora a locket with his portrait, and he was believed to have said, "I hope, madam, that we may meet in St James's yet." She never saw him again.

The story does not end there: the loose tongue of a ferryman led to Flora being arrested. She was imprisoned in Dunstaffnage Castle, and briefly in the Tower of London before being released in 1747 under a general amnesty. She married Allan MacDonald in 1750 and 24 years later they emigrated to North Carolina. Her husband fought with the Hanoverians in the American War of Independence - strange to think of what Flora did and ricked, just to marry a guy who fought on the opposite side! Flora returned to Skye with her family. Flora MacDonald died on 4 March, 1790 in the same bed in which Bonnie Prince Charlie had slept.
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more to follow ...

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