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literacy. In Edinburgh's Old Town, visitors can see the John Knox House, where the
reformer may have lived, and St. Giles Cathedral, where he most certainly preached.
Knox vehemently opposed the reign of one of Scotland's most famous (and tragic)
monarchs: Mary, Queen of Scots (1542-87). When Mary eventually took up her
rule, she was a Roman Catholic Scot of French upbringing trying to govern a land
(about which she knew little) in the throes of the Reformation. Following some
disastrous political and romantic alliances, Mary fled Scotland to be imprisoned in
England—her life eventually ended by the executioner's ax on orders of her cousin,
Elizabeth I. Ironically, Mary's son— James VI of Scotland —succeeded the child-
less Elizabeth and became King of England (James I) in 1603. The subsequent cult
of Mary, Queen of Scots has ensured that landmarks associated with her rule and
movements through Scotland, whether Stirling Castle or the Palace of Holyrood-
house, are firmly on the modern tourist trail.
UNION & THE JACOBITES In the 17th century, Scotland's sovereignty ebbed
away as the Scottish royalty spent most of their time in London instead of Edin-
burgh. In 1689, the final Stuart monarch, the staunchly Catholic James VII (and II
of England) fled to France, ending the rule of Scottish kings. In 1707, Scotland had
little choice but to merge with England in a constitutionally united Great Britain.
This union abolished the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh, and those loyal to the
Stuarts (known as the “Jacobites” from the Latin for James) could only vainly
attempt to restore the Stuart line of royalty. Charles Edward Stuart (the Young Pre-
tender), better known as Bonnie Prince Charlie, picked up the gauntlet in 1745.
He was the central figure in a revolt that nearly worked. Initially successful, starting
from the Highlands, Stuart and his supporters easily reached Derby, only 201km
(125 miles) from London. The British capital was reportedly in a panic. But Charlie
2
A Few Famous Scots
W Robert Burns (1759-96): Scotland's
ploughman poet, known in many lan-
guages and countries
W Sir Alexander Fleming (1881-1955):
Nobel Prize winner who discovered
penicillin
W David Hume (1711-76): Laid the foun-
dation for intellectual and philosophi-
cal pursuits using the concept of
secular morality
W David Livingstone (1813-73): Medical
missionary and African explorer who
named Victoria Falls on the Zambezi
River
W Flora Macdonald (1725-90): Key per-
son in rescuing Bonnie Prince Charlie
from British troops after his defeat at
Culloden
W John Muir (1834-1914): Pioneering
conservationist who discovered Cali-
fornia's Yosemite Valley and founded
the Sierra Club
W Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832): Romantic
novelist and poet who occupies a
position of preeminence in English
literature
W Adam Smith (1723-90): Author of the
topic The Wealth of Nations, which
underpins the modern science of
economics
W Muriel Spark (1910-2006): Author
whose classic tale, The Prime of Miss
Jean Brodie, puts her among the elite
of 20th-century novelists
 
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