Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Little is known about the Picts, who inhab-
ited northern and eastern Scotland. The Roman
presence had probably helped to forge dispar-
ate Celtic tribes into a unified group; we can
assume they were fierce fighters given the
trouble the hardy Roman army had with them.
The main material evidence of their culture is
their fabulous carved symbol stones, found in
many parts of eastern Scotland.
Eventually the Romans left Britain and at
this time there were at least two indigenous peoples in the northern region of the British
Isles: the Picts in the north and east, and the Britons in the southwest. A new group, the
Celtic Scots probably arrived around AD 500, crossing from Northern Ireland and estab-
lishing a kingdom called Dalriada at Argyll. St Ninian was the earliest recorded bringer of
Christianity to the region, establishing a mission in Whithorn in Scotland's southwest. In
the 6th century, St Columba, Scotland's most famous missionary, resumed St Ninian's
work. According to legend, Columba was a scholar and a soldier-priest who went into ex-
ile after involvement in a bloody battle. After fleeing Ireland in 563 he established a mon-
astery on Iona, and also travelled to the northeast to take his message to the Picts.
ST COLUMBA
St Columba was a man of fixed ideas. After arriv-
ing on Iona he promptly set about banishing women
and cows as he believed 'where there is a cow there
is a woman, and where there is a woman there is
mischief.' His manner of living was austere - he
slept on the bare floor with a stone for a pillow.
THE DECLARATION OF ARBROATH
During the Wars of Independence, a group of Scottish nobles sent a letter to Pope John XXII requesting support
for the cause of Scottish independence. Having railed against the tyranny of England's Edward I and sung the
praises of Robert the Bruce, the declaration famously states: 'For so long as a hundred of us remain alive, we will
yield in no least way to English dominion. For we fight, not for glory nor for riches nor for honours, but only and
alone for freedom, which no good man surrenders but with his life.' The Pope initially supported the Scottish
cause but English lobbying changed his mind.
The First Kings of Scotland
The Picts and Scots were drawn together by the threat of a Norse invasion and by the
combination of political and spiritual power from their common Christianity. Kenneth
MacAlpin, first king of a united Scotland, achieved power using a mixture of blood ties
and diplomacy. He set his capital in Pictland at Scone and brought to it the sacred Stone of
Destiny, used in the coronation of Scottish kings.
