Viking Scotland - Part Two: The King of the Isles It was the summer of 1158, and two rival navies faced each other across the Sea of the Hebrides; one led by Godred, King of Man, the other by his brother-in-law the upstart Somerled, Lord of Argyll. It was yet another clash between warlords in this most contentious of arenas where Gaelic Scotland met Viking empire; but the outcome of this battle would alter the balance irrevocably. For nearly 400 years Norwegian Vikings had first raided and then settled the Irish Sea, Hebrides and the Northern Isles, establishing a substantial territorial … [Read more...] about Viking Scotland – The Hebrides
Battle
Battle of Culloden
Fives miles east of Inverness, the windswept moorland of Culloden, saw the last great battle on British soil on April 16, 1746, a turning point in the history of the Scottish nation, when the Jacobite cause was finally defeated. The Jacobite rebellion The second Jacobite rebellion had begun on August 19, 1745, when the standard was raised at Glenfinnan on the west coast shortly after Edinburgh had fallen into Jacobite hands, and Bonnie Prince Charlie had started his march on London. The English however, had appointed the well respected Duke of Cumberland to command their forces, and this … [Read more...] about Battle of Culloden
Marquis of Montrose – Scotland’s greatest warrior
The ancient struggle between Campbells and MacDonalds to control Islay and Kintyre features heavily in BBC Scotland’s offering for St Andrew’s Day The film, Scotland’s Greatest Warrior (Friday November 30th on BBC2) reveals how the Marquis of Montrose, a military genius, led an outnumbered army to victory in six successive battles during the civil wars of the 17th century. Some call him the greatest general that Scotland has ever produced and General Montgomery, commander of the D-Day land forces in 1944, quoted Montrose’s poetry to his men on the eve of the Normandy landings: He either … [Read more...] about Marquis of Montrose – Scotland’s greatest warrior
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