Scottish Blog

The Battle of Largs was a battle fought between Scotland and Norway in 1263.

The cause of the Battle of Largs was that since 1100 Norway had been excising authority and ruling over the Isle of Man and the Hebrides, which were at the time essentially Scottish Islands. The situation lead to the Scottish king, Alexander II, making a number of attempts to purchase the island of the Norwegian king, Håkon Håkonsson. The requests began in 1240 and by 1262, after the succession of Alexander III to the throne, had escalated to the point where a raid was launched on Isle of Skye to try and win it back by force.

This act was the trigger which caused the Battle of Largs. In retaliation, Håkon sent a number of ships to face the Scottish forces and route them from the island. The exact number of ships and men is unknown, there are two commonly accepted guesses. According to ancient texts, the Norwegian army numbered close to 800 men, while the Scottish outnumbered them 10 to 1, placing them at close to 8000. Some modern historians, on the other hand believe that the battle was fought with roughly 50,000 troops, the Norwegians numbering roughly 20,000 of these.

Although the exact number of troops in the Battle of Largs is unknown, the chain of events is. While the Norwegian ships were moored of the coast of the Isle of Man, they were hit by a storm which saw some ships brought upon the beach. The next day, while attempts were being made to free the ships, the Scottish army attacked. This ultimately led to a long-range skirmish, resulting in the retreat of the Scots. Although this seemed like a victory to the Norwegians, the situations soon turned worse for them. They were running out of supplies and the constant threat of the Scots meant that they could not raid for more. With the approach of winter, the Norwegian army retreated. Theoretically this would have led to a battle the following year, if it had not been for the death of Håkon during the winter.

Although it was not a clear victory for the Scots, the Battle of Largs led to them being in control of the Isle of Man and the Hebrides.

The Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh is the oldest voluntary hospital in Scotland.

The Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh was opened in 1729. The primary purpose envisaged for the hospital was treatment of the poor of Edinburgh. In its early years the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh was referred to as “Hospital for the Sick and Poor”, “Physicians Hospital” or “Little House”. In its first year of service the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh served thirty five patients. Of these, records show that nineteen were cured, five recovered and the rest were either dismissed as incurables with one dying at the hospital. The majority of the patients came from Edinburgh, although there are a number of patients who are recorded as being from other areas of Scotland, like the first patient who was from Caithness.

The idea for the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh arose in 1712 when John Munro had set in motion his plan to establish a “seminary of medical education”, as part of the plan a general hospital was essential. In 1721 a pamphlet was circulated anonymously advocating the need for a hospital as outlined by john Munro. Within years, with the support of various factions like the Church of Scotland and wealthy Edinburgh doctors.

Due to its rapid expansion, the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh was forced to move and expand a number of times. By 1879 it had expanded to become the biggest voluntary hospital in the United Kingdom. Since 2001 the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh has stood in the Edinburgh suburb of Little France.

Somerled was a leader of and ruler in Scotland during the 12th century.

As Somerled (also known as Sorley) was alive and ruling during a time and place when there were no easy methods of information archiving, the date of his birth and death are not known, although an approximation of his time in power can be made. It is believed that Somerled was in control of the area stretching between the Isle of Man and the Butt of Lewis between 1158 and 1164.

The first historical mention of Somerled was in 1140. At tis point he was already King of Kintyre, he is recorded as marrying Raghnailt, the daughter of the King of the Isle of Man.

In 1153 Somerled gained the opportunity to make a political and military move to gain more land, when both the King of Scotland, David I, and the King of Isle of Man, Amhlaibh.

By 1156 Somerled had made progress in his endeavour when he defeated his prime contestant for the Isle of Man, Goraidh, with his fleet of 80 warships. This resulted in the two parties relegating their forces on either side of the isle for a period of two years, after which Somerled once again defeated his enemy. This was the peak of his power.

Closer to 1164, Somerled felt threatened by the expansion of the Stewart family whose power was reaching towards the West. To try and combat this Somerled assembled his forces and faced the Stewarts at a battle at Renfrew in 1164. No details of the battle were ever recorded with some historians even casting doubt as to its occurrence, but none disagree that that period led to the assassination of Somerled and the downfall of his empire.

Raasay is a Scottish island that lies between Scotland and the Isle of Skye.

Although small in size, Raasay is a surprisingly important aspect of Scottish history. Raasay is the birthplace of Clan MacSween and was also ruled by Clan MacLeod for almost three centuries. It is the birthplace of Sorley MacLean. On a natural scale Rassay is also the only home to the Black Vole, a subspecies of the vole family of animals.

The island of Raasay is 6405 hectares in size, the dimensions of which being at most five kilometres in width and twenty three kilometres in length, the 19th biggest in size amongst all the Scottish islands. This area is home to over 190 inhabitants, making it the 33rd most populated Scottish island.

The main population centre of Raasay is Inverrarish. Economically it is supported predominantly by tourism, fishing and catering to the ferry company located on the island.

Although it is known that Clan MacSween was the title holders of Raasay, there are no remaining records proving this. There are records though of Clan MacLeod holding the titles to the island since 1518. It was sold during times of financial trouble in 1843 fro 35,000 guineas by John MacLeod. Currently the island is in the ownership of the Highland and Island Development Board.

1911-1996

Sorley MacLean was a Scottish poet and is said to have been one of the most influential Scottish poets of the 20th century.

Sorley MacLean was born on the island of Raasay, located between the Isle of Skye and the Scottish mainland. The language used on this island is Gaelic, which is where Sorley MacLean drew his roots and inspirations for his Gaelic poetry.

Upon leaving the island Sorley MacLean attended the University of Edinburgh. After his graduation Sorley MacLean returned to his hometown to become a teacher, although this did not last long as he soon joined the military and served in North Africa throughout World War II.

Sorley MacLean was wounded three times throughout his service, the last of which was said to be a serious enough injury to warrant his return. Before his military service Sorley MacLean was an avid shinty player, this came to a stop after his injuries.

Some would almost say that this was a benefit to Scottish culture as this was the true beginning for the Gaelic writing career of Sorley MacLean. It is believed by many that Sorley MacLean was one of the original founders of the Scottish renaissance movement. It is said that Sorley MacLean was one of the first writers of his time to creatively reuse the language along with modernising it.

Sorley Maclean lived the rest of his life in Scotland and passed away in 1996.

Queen Margaret University is a relatively new university in Scotland, named in honor of Saint Margaret.

Queen Margaret University was begun as the “The Edinburgh School of Cookery and Domestic Economy”. It was originally a female only school. It two official purposes were to improve the chances of woman attaining a higher education and also improving the daily diet of middle class Scottish families.

Initially, the Queen Margaret University had no physical campus and all lectures were delivered at the Royal Museum in Edinburgh, Scotland, alongside a number of a smaller public lectures or demonstrations that were delivered throughout the nation.

In 1877 Queen Margaret University moved to the first of its Edinburgh based teaching bases, which was Shandwick Place. It continued to teach from here until 1891 when the campus was shifted to Atholl Crescent, which carried with it the benefit of providing on campus living for students. In 1909, the Queen Margaret University attained the classification as a central institution (a classification of a higher education provider), it was also the year that the university came into jurisdiction of the Scotch Education Department. Soon after, in 1930, the current Queen Margaret University was named “Edinburgh College of Domestic Science”.

By 1972, Queen Margaret University was one step away from being known under its current name, it was named the Queen Margaret College and had by then completed a thorough expansion of its provided courses, encompassing all fields covered by a modern university.
Presently the institution is called the Queen Margaret University and attained the title in early January of 2007. It is also undergoing major renovations which will see its three split campuses converge to one location in East Edinburgh.

St Margaret’s Chapel is the oldest building still standing on the Edinburgh Castle grounds.

As the name might suggest, St Margaret’s Chapel was built in honor of St Margaret. Originally it was believed that the church was named such because it was visited frequently by Saint Margaret herself during her prayers. Although archeological evidence shows that it was built after her death, and therefore most probably by one of her children in her honor, most guesses point to it being her fourth son David, who became King of Scotland.

Physically, St Margaret’s Chapel consists of a design typical of Scottish and Gaelic churches of the time. Its exterior consists a rectangular building that is almost twenty feet in length and fourteen feet in width. The walls are all made with local stone, although the north wall has been replaced due to damage that it has suffered, the exact origin of the new stone is unknown. The interior of the church consists of a single room sixteen feet in length and ten in width, the ceiling is also arched in a the fashion of churches of the time.

In 1329 St Margaret’s Chapel received much funding as a death bed order of King Robert the Bruce. It is recorded that forty Scots pounds were allocated to the renovation, a substantial amount of money at that time.

Between the 16th century and as late as 1845, St Margaret’s Chapel was used as a gunpowder store room. Understandably during this period, the condition of St Margaret’s Chapel fell below that of a standard chapel. Since then it has received at least three major renovations, the most prominent of which was in 1993 in celebration of the 900th anniversary of the death of Queen Margaret.

The Highland Games are a certain breed of events held throughout the world that are synonymous with Scottish culture.

To countless people around the world the Highland Games bring up two images, firstly the Scottish Highlands and secondly muscle bound individuals manipulating heavy objects. Although in essence this is correct, such a simple explanation is far from an adequate explanation of what the Highland Games are.

I have previously written a brief account about of the history of the Highland Games. In today’s article on the Highland Games, I want to explain the idea behind the most popular Highland Games in the Heavy games section and also cover some of the other things that Highland Games are loved for.

The Caber Toss is probably the most iconic of the Highland Games events. While most believe that the object of the game is to merely throw the caber a great distance, it actually revolves around a higher level of fines than this assumption. The ideal caber toss is not measured by its flight away from the thrower but in fact on his ability to toss it such that it lands with its top end on the ground first the turns on to its other end and falls again, all in a perfectly straight line. The difficulty of this is only increased by the fact that the cabers are not uniform in length, weight and density distribution.

The Stone Put in the Highland Games greatly resembles the modern day shot-put. Although there are some differences, namely the weight which is putted is a stone and not of a uniform weight between competitors, for men it usually rests somewhere between sixteen to twenty six pounds, although this varies between the two throwing styles. This event is further subdivided into a standing, no movement throw, and one which allows any form of movement as long as the stone is resting between the throwers hand and neck during.
The Hammer Throw is also another aspect of the Highland Games which is directly comparable to its modern day equivalent. This event features a weight affixed to a shaft made of wood or plastic, which is thrown over the contestants shoulder.

There are also three more games in the Highland Games which are very similar in their nature. These involve throwing a weight a distance, or over a certain height. The distance and one of the height events utilizes a weight which has an attached handle. The third event uses a hail bail which is pierced by a pitchfork.

Highland Games are not only about the display of strength and agility required for the heavy weights section, they are also about the celebration of Scottish culture and Clan identity. Typically Highland Games feature a bag-pipe band performance, Scottish dancing and a number of Clan's tents and displays. As with any fair or event, authentic Scottish cuisine can also be found.

Curling is an international ice-sport that holds its origins in Scotland.

Curling is known by most people around the world, but the knowledge of the sport does not necessarily lead to an understanding of its intricacies and roots in Scottish culture.

The wider perception of curling outside of Scotland and other countries where curling is a prominent sport, is that it involves nothing more than throwing stones at a target and sweeping the ice. In fact this opinion is optimized by a quote from Chris Barley, an American Basketball player, “Curling is not a sport. I called my grandmother and told her she could win a gold medal because they have dusting in the Olympics now.” In fact, the strategic nature of the placement of the stones and physical difficulty in delivering the stones to the correct positions has seen some people dub Curling as “chess on ice”.

Curling is played on various surface specification and rules depending on the nature of the game, be it professional, Olympic or recreational. Ideally though, the curling field (called a sheet) is to be played on a sheet sized to World Curling Federation standards. These consist of a rectangle 45.50 meters in length and 4.32 meters in width, with a surface that is perfectly level. Upon freezing the surface is sprayed with a small amount of water which collects into droplets and freezes, causing friction on the playing surface, which invariably leads the curling stone to bank to either the left or right during its movement. The motion is called a curl, the origin of the sports name. This setup is also the reason behind the iconic sweepers, whose job is to either reduce or increase relative friction on the ice surface to alter the speed and direction of the curling stone. This combined with the fact that there are a number of stones surrounding the target from previous throws, makes curling a difficult sport, as previously mentioned.

Evidently Scotland was the first nation in the world to see curling in a form resembling its modern day from. Although its exact origins are unknown even to the most adamant of researchers, some facts about are known. Curling was first mentioned in an official document in 1541. A tournament was recorded to be held in Renfrewshire. As this was an organized tournament it would indicate that curling enjoyed a relatively strong popularity prior to this in Scotland.

1045-1093

Saint Margaret was the wife of the Scottish King Malcolm III.

Margaret was born in 1045 in Hungary, obviously yet not holding the title of Saint Margaret. She was the daughter of Edward “Outmere” (otherwise known as Edward the Exile). She was also the daughter of Edgar Ætheling (Aetheling), who for a short period of time was the uncrowned ruler of the Anglo-Saxons.

At a young age, the yet to be canonized Saint Margaret was caught in a storm which led her ship to Scotland. The point at which she landed is to the present day referred to as Saint Margaret’s Hope, which lies a short distance from the village of North Queensferry. Her party was met by an envoy of King Malcolm III, king of Scotland. She was taken under the protection of the King. This arrangement soon led to the marriage of the pair and to the title of Queen Consort for Margaret. It is said that a large motivation factor behind this for King Malcolm III was the prospect of marrying of the few remaining members the Anglo-Saxon royal family. This also led to the King of Scotland leading a number of invasions in support of his new found brother-in-law and his conquests into Northumberland.

Saint Margret became canonized and titled a saint in 1251 by Pope Innocent IV. It is said that she spent most of her time during her reign as Queen Consort helping the poor and orphans. She is believed to have risen every night at midnight to attend midnight mass and never have taken a meal before attending and feeding the poor at the church.

Within Scotland, Saint Margaret takes on dual roles in the way she is presented. In the Gaelic tradition Saint Margaret is not recognized by many as a saint. In fact she is often refered to as Margaret the Accursed or Accursed Margaret (Mairead/Maighread nam Mallachd in Gaelic). Margaret is credited by many as beginning the demise of Gaelic culture in Scotland, especially the lowlands. This began with the naming of the children of Saint Margaret and King Malcolm III. All eight of their children were given Anglo-Saxon names in support of their possible claim to the Anglo-Saxon crown, they were also raised with strong respect and reverence for their Anglo-Saxon roots, placing less emphasis on their Gaelic roots.

Arbroath Smokie is a unique Scottish fish recipe.

In essence, the Arbroath Smokie is a salted and smoked haddock. Although this in itself might not sound especially unique, but the preparation process and specific cooking method has made the Arbroath Smokie a favorite in the Scottish cuisine. In fact, the European Commission has designated the Arbroath Smokie as a Protected Geographical Indication in their Protected Food Name Scheme, meaning that similar to Scotch Whisky, there are strict rules and regulations to who, how and where the Arbroath Smokie can be produced.

Originally, the Arbroath Smokie was produced in the small Scandinavian populated village of Auchmithie, located five kilo meters away from Arbroath. The creation of what came to be known as the Arbroath Smokie is thought to date back as early as the 1800s.

The Arbroath Smokie came to the village of Arbroath in the late 1800s. When the fishing industry of the village came into strong decline, the town council offered any fisherman who migrate to village some land and use of the town’s relatively modern harbor. This attracted a great number of Scandinavian fishermen from the village of Auchmithie, amongst the things they brought with them was the recipe of smoking salted haddock, which came to be known as the Arbroath Smokie.

The Arbroath Smokie has a very specific cooking process. Firstly, the only authentic Arbroath Smokie are created using only haddock. When caught, the haddock is gutted at sea and returned to the fish houses. Here they are salted similar to any other salted preserving process. The length of time which the fish are kept in the salting bins depends on the tenderness of the fish, its size and the exact recipe of the Arbroath Smokie producer (one of the fifteen in Arbroath). They are then tied in pairs and dried in preparation for the smoking process. They are then smoked in a barrel, the exact construction and method is similar to the modern Scandinavian smoking method. This creates a very hot, smoky and humidly smoked meat.

As with any iconic local cuisine, the Arbroath Smokie has a number of theories as to its origin. The most likely is that it is a small derivative of the Scandinavian smoking process as employed by the Auchmithie locals. A more entertaining story is that a local store caught fire one night and most of the merchandise was destroyed. By pure chance, a barrel of local fish were cooked and smoked in the fire and upon inspection they were found to be not only edible but some sort of delicacy. With further refinement throughout time, the modern Arbroath Smokey was achieved.

According to BBC, the UK's top 10 most ridiculous British laws were listed as:

1. It is illegal to die in the Houses of Parliament (27%)


2. It is an act of treason to place a postage stamp bearing the British king or queen's image upside-down (7%)


3. It is illegal for a woman to be topless in Liverpool except as a clerk in a tropical fish store (6%)


4. Eating mince pies on Christmas Day is banned (5%)


5. If someone knocks on your door in Scotland and requires the use of your toilet, you are required to let them enter (4%)


6. Pregnant woman can legally relieve herself anywhere she wants, including in a policeman's helmet (4%)


7. The head of any dead whale found on the British coast automatically becomes the property of the King, and the tail of the Queen (3.5%)


8. It is illegal not to tell the tax man anything you do not want him to know, but legal not to tell him information you do not mind him knowing (3%)


9. It is illegal to enter the Houses of Parliament wearing a suit of armour (3%)


10. It is legal to murder a Scotsman within the ancient city walls of York, but only if he is carrying a bow and arrow (2%)