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Scottish History Books
The Men of the North
The North Britons represent one of the lesser-known groups among the early medieval inhabitants of Scotland. Similar to the Picts and Vikings, they significantly influenced the development of Scottish history during the first millennium...
Scottish History Books
The Makers of Scotland
In the first millennium AD, the northern part of Britain transformed into the country we now know as Scotland.
This transformation was a gradual process marked by social and political changes driven by powerful...
Scottish History Books
Domination and Lordship
Part of the New Edinburgh History of Scotland, this volume focuses on the period usually known as the 'Making of the Kingdom' or the 'Anglo-Norman' era in Scottish history. It aims to strike a...
Scottish History Books
Strathclyde and the Anglo-Saxons in the Viking Age
This book explores the historical relationship between the kingdom of Strathclyde and Anglo-Saxon England during the Viking period from the ninth to eleventh centuries AD.
It focuses on the North Britons or 'Cumbrians', an...
News
Conservation work begins at Kisimul Castle
Historic Environment Scotland (HES) has announced that essential conservation work has begun at Kisimul Castle, Barra, with the aim of addressing concerns related to the concrete and its reinforcement bars, which shifted during the...
Scottish History Books
Fairlie’s Secret War
During the Second World War, the Royal Navy’s vitally important Anti-submarine Experimental Establishment was secretly moved from Portland in Dorset to the Ayrshire village of Fairlie, to escape German bombing on the south coast....
News
Pictish ring discovered at Burghead Fort
A "remarkable" Pictish ring with an intricate setting has been discovered at Burghead Fort by a volunteer during a dig led by the University of Aberdeen.
The kite-shaped ring with a garnet or red glass...
Scottish History Books
The Lighthouse Stevensons
An exciting new edition of Bella Bathurst’s epic story of Robert Louis Stevenson’s ancestors and the building of the Scottish coastal lighthouses against impossible odds.
‘Whenever I smell salt water, I know that I am...
News
Buildings at Risk Register to be suspended following review
Historic Environment Scotland (HES) has published a review of the Buildings at Risk Register (BARR), the register of historic buildings at risk in Scotland which is currently maintained by HES.
HES engaged Harlow Consultancy to...
News
New reports highlight the strength and contribution of Scotland’s historic environment
Historic Environment Scotland (HES) has released a set of reports providing insights into Scotland’s historic environment sector and a framework to help drive its contribution to Scotland’s economy, communities, and net zero ambitions.
The...
News
HES seeks the public’s help following heritage crime at Kilwinning Abbey
Historic Environment Scotland (HES) is asking the public for help after a heritage crime occurred at Kilwinning Abbey in Ayrshire.
A 13th-century pier, which supports the arched entrance to the abbey's southwest tower, was damaged....
News
Galloway Hoard urn originated in Iran
Experts have revealed that a lidded urn which was part of the Galloway Hoard discovered in 2014 originated in modern-day Iran
The silver vessel was still wrapped in ancient textiles and was found to contain...
Scottish History Books
The Battle of Largs
Over the last seven hundred and sixty years, tales about the Battle of Largs have been many and varied.
From the very first Norse Saga to famous Scottish Historians it is a story that has...
Events
Siege on the Forth event returns to Blackness Castle
Historic Scotland's 'Siege on the Forth' event is set to return to Blackness Castle on Saturday 7 September and Sunday 8 September. This historic landmark, famously referred to as the 'ship that never sailed,'...
On this day in Scottish History
21 August
21 August 1689: At the battle of Dunkeld the Jacobites under the command of Brigadier-General Alexander Cannon attacked a Scottish government force of Cameronians, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel William Cleland, in and around the town...
Events
Meet Scottish poet Robert Fergusson on the 250th Anniversary of his death
The Real Mary King’s Close, one of Edinburgh’s most iconic historic sites, is proud to announce an exciting new experience as part of its 2024 calendar: Meet the Poet: Robert Fergusson. This special event...
On this day in Scottish History
19 August
19 August 1745: The Jacobite standard was raised at Glenfinnan at the head of Loch Shiel in Lochaber, marking the beginning of the Jacobite Rising of 1745.
News
Dallas Dhu Distillery to reopen as a working distillery
Historic Environment Scotland (HES) has announced that the Dallas Dhu distillery in Moray Speyside will reopen as a working distillery.
Aceo Distillers Company Limited (Aceo) will be taking over the management of the distillery...
Scottish History Books
Old Ways New Roads
Old Ways New Roads draws on the output of key travellers – from soldiers, surveyors and scholars to artists, writers and leisure tourists – to consider the connections between the military occupation of 18th-century...
On this day in Scottish History
19 May
19 May 1746: Captain John Fergusson of the Furnace and Captain Robert Duff of the Terror anchored in Loch nan Uamh and put ashore 120 sailors and Argyllshire militia to burn the house of...
On this day in Scottish History
18 May
18 May 1689: At Dalcomera, where the River Spean meets the River Lochy in Lochaber, James VII and II's highland army mustered under the command of John Graham of Claverhouse, Viscount Dundee. It marked...
On this day in Scottish History
17 May
17 May 1654: While campaigning in Perthshire during the Earl of Glencairn's Rising, General George Monck issued orders from Cardross House ordering woodland near Aberfoyle to be cut down as it was giving "great...
On this day in Scottish History
16 May
16 May 1689: In the first military engagement of the Jacobite Rising of 1689, Scottish government forces attacked around 300 Jacobites on Loup Hill at the western end of West Loch Tarbert in northern...
On this day in Scottish History
15 May
15 May 1567: Mary Queen of Scots married her third husband, James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell.
15 May 1689: Captain William Young's 500-strong Scottish government force boarded hired boats at Largs and sailed across to...
On this day in Scottish History
14 May
14 May 1689: The Earl of Angus's Regiment of Foot (the Cameronians) was mustered at Douglas, Lanarkshire. It was commanded in the field by Lieutenant-Colonel William Cleland and was the largest regiment raised in...
On this day in Scottish History
13 May
13 May 1568: Mary, Queen of Scots was defeated in her attempt to regain the throne from her son James VI and his supporters at the Battle of Langside, outside Glasgow. Mary's army, led...
On this day in Scottish History
12 May
12 May 563: Columba and twelve companions land on the island of Iona, where they would establish a monastery. The island of Iona is said to have been granted to Columba by King Conall...
On this day in Scottish History
11 May
11 May 1141: The death at Skelton Castle, Yorkshire of Anglo-Norman magnate Robert de Brus, 1st Lord of Annandale. He was the first of the Bruce dynasty to hold lands in Scotland after he...
On this day in Scottish History
10 May
10 May 1307: At Loudoun Hill, Robert the Bruce and his small force shattered the charge of Aymer de Valence's heavy cavalry on well-prepared ground on the old Roman road (now the A71).
10 May...
On this day in Scottish History
9 May
9 May 1645: a Royalist army commanded by James Graham, Marquis of Montrose heavily defeated a Scottish Covenanter force under Major-General Sir John Urry at the Battle of Auldearn, outside Nairn
9 May 1719: Royal...
On this day in Scottish History
8 May
8 May 1705: Colonel Robert Duncanson was killed in action at Valencia de Alcántara during the War of the Spanish Succession. Duncanson's military career began during the Earl of Argyll's Rising of 1685 and...
On this day in Scottish History
7 May
7 May 1544: After landing in the Firth of Forth and capturing the port of Leith Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford leads an English army into Edinburgh which is burned and looted during the...
On this day in Scottish History
6 May
6 May 1941: The Luftwaffe conducted bombing raids on Greenock over two consecutive nights targeting the shipyards and vessels offshore. 280 people were killed and over 1,200 injured in what became known as the...
On this day in Scottish History
5 May
5 May 1646: King Charles I surrendered himself to General David Leslie, commander of the Scottish Covenanter army besieging Newark-on-Trent. Charles was held in Newcastle until he was handed over to the Parliamentarians in...
On this day in Scottish History
4 May
4 May 1654: General George Monck arrived in Edinburgh and was welcomed by the city magistrates who held a banquet for him. General Monck proclaimed the Ordinance for uniting Scotland into one Commonwealth with...
On this day in Scottish History
3 May
3 May 1679: A group of Covenanters led by John Balfour of Kinloch murdered James Sharp, Archbishop of St Andrews on Magus Muir, Fife. Sharp was returning to St Andrews from Edinburgh with his...
On this day in Scottish History
2 May
2 May 1568: Mary, Queen of Scots escaped from Loch Leven castle where she had been imprisoned following her forced abdication in favour of her infant son James VI. Mary revoked her abdication and...
On this day in Scottish History
1 May
1 May 1455: During the civil war between the House of Stewart and the powerful Black Douglas family, the Black Douglases were defeated by an army loyal to James II at the battle of...
On this day in Scottish History
30 April
30 April 1940: While at anchor at the Tail o' the Bank off Greenock, the French Vauquelin-class destroyer Maillé Brézé suffered an explosion and sank following the accidental firing of one of the vessel's...
On this day in Scottish History
29 April
29 April 1690: At a council of war held at Coulnakyle, Major-General Thomas Buchan decided that the Jacobite army would encamp on the open ground at Cromdale overlooking the fords on the River Spey.