Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2009 6:51 am Post subject: On this day in Scottish History
On January 30 1649 King Charles I was executed.
His execution caused a change of sides by most of the Scots who had previously supported the Parliamentarians in the English Civil War as, for all his faults, Charles was still a Scottish Stuart king.
of the BBC _________________ FOA BOB -
Last edited by MadWelshie on Sat Feb 28, 2009 8:24 am; edited 1 time in total
Today in 1788 Prince Charles Edward Stewart, "The Young Pretender", died in Rome.
After leading the '45 rebellion Stuart slid into a life of obscurity. He ended his days as an alcoholic in Rome, known as the Duke of Albany, with a failed marriage behind him, and his dreams of a Stuart restoration unfulfilled. _________________ FOA BOB -
1 February 1919, tanks and soldiers patrolled the streets of Glasgow after "Bloody Friday" when 20,000 strikers gathered in George Square.
By the time the strike ended in early February, up to 10,000 troops had been sent to the city. No Scots troops were deployed, as the government feared they would join the workers if a revolutionary situation had developed in Glasgow. The strike had been called to demand a 40-hour week. After it ended, strikers in the shipbuilding industry negotiated a 47-hour week settlement. _________________ FOA BOB -
On 2 February 1645 a Royalist army led by James Graham, 5th Earl and 1st Marquis of Montrose, routed the Earl of Argyll's Covenating forces in the Battle of Inverlochy.
The events of the battle were recorded by the MacDonald Bard of Keppoch. Much of the blame for the Covenanters' defeat has been attributed to the disputes between the two commanders, the Marquess of Argyll and General Baillie. Both men thought themselves the senior officer, and carried a deep personal enmity for one another. _________________ FOA BOB -
On 3rd February 1660 General Monck's regiment entered London, having marched from Coldstream in the borders.
The regiment kept order during the period of the restoration of Charles II. The regiment escaped being disbanded as a reward for their service during this time. It continued as a standing regiment of the British Army, becoming known as the Coldstream Guards. _________________ FOA BOB -
On the 4th February 1818 Sir Walter Scott supervised the rediscovery of the Honours of Scotland, the Scottish Crown Jewels, in Edinburgh Castle.
The jewels consist of a sword, crown and sceptre. The three items were first used together during the coronation of Mary, Queen of Scots and last used for the coronation of Charles II in 1651. During the Second World War, they were hidden in different parts of Edinburgh Castle in case of German invasion. _________________ FOA BOB -
On this day in 1881 the writer and historian Thomas Carlyle died in London.
Carlyle was a great student of the German "Sturm und Drang" school of romantic literature and was convinced that nations needed a strong leader. His best known work, On Heroes and Hero Worship, is deeply concerned with this idea. Carlyle's influence waned in the 20th Century, as his ideas were often seen as foreshadowing the totalitarianism prevalent at the time. In fact, it is reputed that, during the last months of the Second World War, Joseph Goebbels read Carlyle's history of Frederick II of Prussia to Hitler. _________________ FOA BOB -
Today in 1665, Queen Anne, last of the Stuart monarchs, was born.
Anne had seventeen children during her life but not one survived to succeed her. In 1707, she presided over the union of the parliaments of Scotland and England into the parliament of Great Britain, which first sat on 1 May 1707. _________________ FOA BOB -
On 7 February 1716, the Old Pretender's Jacobite army disbanded at Aberdeen, ending the 1715 uprising.
James, the Old Pretender, had set sail for France three days earlier. The revolt had been badly led by the Earl of Mar and was doomed to failure after the inconclusive result of the Battle of Sherriffmuir. Thirty years later his son, Charles, would try again to recapture the throne for the Stuarts. _________________ FOA BOB -
On this day in 1587 Mary Queen of Scots was beheaded at Fotheringay Castle.
Mary had been imprisoned in England for the best part of twenty years, and had taken to depserate measures to regain her crown. A plot was discovered in 1586 which would involve a Catholic revolt and the assassination of Elizabeth. This sealed Mary's fate. At the time of her death, Mary was 44 and had outlived three husbands. _________________ FOA BOB -
Today in 2002 saw the death of John Noble, co-founder of Loch Fyne Oysters and Loch Fyne Restaurants.
In 1978, he was looking for a way to help support his estate of Ardkinglas, on the shores of Loch Fyne, which he had inherited along with considerable debts. When Andrew Lane, a marine farmer, suggested the idea of growing oysters in the unpolluted waters of Loch Fyne, he jumped at the idea. The venture grew from a few hundred seed oysters to the millions that are laid down today. In 1980, Noble and Lane set up an oyster bar at the head of Loch Fyne. It began as an umbrella and a trestle table and then transferred to a cowshed. Soon the venture became a restaurant, and then evolved into a chain of oyster bars. _________________ FOA BOB -
On 10 February 1567 Henry, Lord Darnley, estranged husband of Mary, Queen of Scots, was murdered in Kirk O' Field.
Darnley's death was almost certainly at the hands of the Earl of Bothwell, whose subsequent marriage to Mary led to a state of civil war in Scotland. Bothwell ended his days insane and imprisoned in Malmo. _________________ FOA BOB -
On this day in 1659 William Carstares, the radical Scottish Presbyterian cleric was born.
Carstares was exiled because of his involvement in the "Rye House Plot" to overthrow King Charles II. He became chaplain to William of Orange, and after the Glorious Revolution in 1688, he headed the Church of Scotland during the reigns of William and Mary, and later Queen Anne. Carstares was instrumental in securing Scottish support for the Act of Unification between England and Scotland. _________________ FOA BOB -
Today in 1624 George Heriot, goldsmith to King James VI and founder of Heriot's School, died.
The school was originally founded as Heriot's Hospital, Edinburgh. He is thought to be the inspiration for the character, Georgie Heriot, in Sir Walter Scott's novel, Fortunes of Nigel. _________________ FOA BOB -
On This Day in 1692, a Royalist force, under the command of Captain Robert Campbell of Glenlyon, carried out the Massacre of Glencoe.
The massacre of 38 MacDonalds was carried out on direct orders from Dalrymple of Stair, orders which were counter-signed twice by King William. Scotland was shocked when news of the massacre reached the general public. Dalrymple lost his position but no action was taken against William and Dalrymple soon returned to favour. The massacre undoubtedly helped the Jacobites gain more support, particularly in the Highlands. _________________ FOA BOB -
Today in 1876 Alexander Graham Bell patented the telephone, patent no. 174461.
Two hours after it was lodged, his rival, Elisha Gray, applied for a similar patent. Bell's was granted. Over 600 law suits followed before the Supreme Court decision ruled in Bell's favour in 1893. Within a year the first telephone exchange was built in Connecticut and within the decade more than 150,000 people in the US alone owned telephones. At this point Bell was not yet thirty. In his later life, Bell experimented with sheep, convinced that sheep with extra nipples would give birth to more lambs.
On February 14 1565, Mary Queen of Scots met Lord Darnley for the first time. They were married in July 1565. Darnley did not prove to be the husband that Mary had hoped for however, and his participation in the murder of Mary's secretary, Rizzio, made their differences irreconcilable . _________________ FOA BOB -
On February 15 1848 the Caledonian Railway company opened.
The Caledonian Railway ran trains from London to Glasgow and was in fierce competition with the Edinburgh based North British Railway. Caledonian trains were painted a distinctive colour of blue, later called Caledonian blue, and carried the Royal Arms of Scotland on the trains. Later it became part of the London, Midland and Scottish group. _________________ FOA BOB -
He was the author of The Works of Ossian, Fingal and Temora, who gained international fame through his translations of early Gaelic poems. However, although they caused a sensation in Britain and Europe, where they were credited with influencing the European Romantic movement, he was also charged with composing the works himself. This accusation gave rise to the so-called "Ossian controversy". The true story behind the poems has never been resolved. _________________ FOA BOB -
Today in 1746 Government forces under Lord Louden attempted to capture Prince Charles Edward Stewart at Moy Hall.
The plan was unsuccessful as the Hanoverians were surprised and routed by a handful of Jacobites. The only death in the Rout of Moy was Duncan Bam MacCrimmon, Hereditory Piper to the MacLeods of Dunvegan, who took the Hanoverian side in the '45.
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