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| St Giles |
The Scottish Parliament,sat for 400 years ( 1230 - 1707 ) influenced by the Reformation, Enlightenment and great scholars. It set many precedents that were eventually incorporated into the British parliament. It worked to reduce the power of the monarchy. The great scholar George Buchanan, who based his writings on the Scottish clan system and the father of democracy. He wrote that all political power resides in the people, and it must reside in the people: and that it is lawful and necessary to resist kings (or queens) or (we might say all rulers) if (or when) they become tyrants. There were many attempts to suppress his work and he foresaw where stupid Stewart vanity would lead.
It bothers me that the British media portrays the British or English democracy as if it’s the oldest and best in the world. It is not. And while the contributions of the Scots are simply swept aside. Also Britain lagged behind other countries with universal suffrage (votes for all men) and crushed the Peoples Reform movement late 18thcentury, in Ireland and Scotland.
The Scottish Parliament was begun in 1235 under Alexander II and had a political and judicial role. It sat for 400 years and incorporated The Three Estates – clergy, nobility, Burghs – who all sat together in a single chamber. Which contrasts to the divisions in the English parliament with its House of Commons and House of Lords. And the parliament travelled across the country. Later it sat in St Giles 1563 – 1639, and the nearby Parliament Hall 1639 – 1707.
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| The Declaration of Arbroath The Declaration of Arbroath (1320) - Arbroath was the place that the Arbroath Declaration of Independencewas signed by lords, commons and the clergy of Scotland in 1320. In it they had affirmed our right to be free to live our own lives in our own way. Six years after Bannockburn. |
There is a clip of Ian Hamilton, who led the students who stole back the Stone of Destiny 1951 from Westminster abbey, at the Arbroath visitors centre, speaking of his quest to awaken Scotland from its long slumber, his voice chokes as he speaks..
...for, as long as but a hundred of us remain alive, never will we on any conditions be brought under English rule. It is in truth not for glory, nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting, but for freedom – for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself.
The Scottish Parliament determined the religious orthodoxy but at this time more power resided with the church and the monarchy. James Stewart V was Catholic.
The Protestant Reformation happened in 1560, and Bishops were excluded after 1567 - abolished by the Covenanters1638 – 1651.
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| George Buchanan |
Under James VI and I of England, (1603 Union of the Crowns) who was tutored by the highly respected scholar and the father of democracy George Buchannan. Buchanan was one of the most significant literary and political figures of the 16th century: poet, playwright, historian, humanist scholar, teacher to Mary Queen of Scots, and later to her son James Stewart VI of Scotland and I of England. He wrote one of the most important books in literature. A Dialogue on the Law of Kingship among the Scots, a critical edition and translation of George Buchanan's 'De Iure Regni apud Scotos Dialogus
The Lord of the Articles was often appointed by the Crown, and parliament therefore became less independent. There was the War of the Three Kingdoms (not English civil war) and The Thirty years religious war in Europe, 17th century.
Turbulent Times. Oliver Cromwell invaded Scotland in 1651, after Charles I was executed and he went as far north as Dunottar castle, looking for the Scottish crown. (which was hidden elsewhere)
Ten years later in1661, saw Charles II restoration. He sent Commissioners to rule his northern kingdom. His brother Catholic James VII fled into exile 1689. This period is called the Glorious Revolution, but why is it glorious but other revolutions are only ordinary? And this led to divisions Northern Ireland begun under Henry VIII.
The Scottish Parliament nominated William of Orange and they disposed James Stewart VII under the Claim of Rights, and they offered the Crown to William and Mary, with limits to royal power. .
The Union of the Parliaments – was a Trading Treaty - but by 1801 England began colonising Scotland.
After years, the Scottish Parliament was reconvened in 1999, to Robert Burns song A Mans a Man for a That. Can we live up to these expectations and hopes?
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| The NEW Scottish Parliament 1999 to 2019 |
'When on 25 march 1707 James Ogilvie, Earl of Seafield, Chancellor of Scotland, signed the Act of Union, ending Scotland's ancient independence, and merging the two parliaments of Scotland and England into the United Kingdom Parliament, he threw down the quill with these words: 'Now there's the end of an auld sang.'
Ian Hamilton on taking back the Stone of Destiny. "It may be, it just may be, that on Christmas Day 1950 four young people wrote a new verse to that old song. Whatever we did, the song is still being sung."
Ian Hamilton on taking back the Stone of Destiny. "It may be, it just may be, that on Christmas Day 1950 four young people wrote a new verse to that old song. Whatever we did, the song is still being sung."
