Scottish History before the Union Quiz

Answer: Kenneth mac Alpin

Kenneth was king of the western Scottish kingdom of Dalriada, in c.843. He became king of the Picts too, uniting the two kingdoms as Scotia. Donald was his brother and immediate successor.

Robert the Bruce was Scotland's hero-king who won Scotland's independence back from the occupying English. James was the first Scottish king to rule England also, he was James VI of Scotland before ascending the English throne.

Answer: The Wolf of Badenoch

The Wolf of Badenoch was a name given to one of Robert II's sons, Alexander. Malcolm IV, was known as the Maiden, either because he never married (dying at the age of 23) or because of his "gentle and kindly disposition" or perhaps for both reasons. Constantine III was known as the Bald and Robert II as King Bleary (because of his bloodshot eyes).

Answer: Queen Margaret

Margaret (known as the Maid of Norway) had become Scotland's first Queen Regnant following the death of her grandfather. The daughter of the King of Norway, she was brought to Scotland four years into her reign but a sickly child, she died without setting foot on Scottish soil.

Margaret's death left no obvious successor to the throne, so the nobles invited King Edward of England to chose who should be the next king - that's when the real trouble started. Alexander II was Margaret's great-grandfather.

Alexander III was Margaret's grandfather, his 3 children all died before him leaving Margaret as his heir. He died when his horse threw him over a cliff during a storm in 1286. Yolande was Alexander III's second wife. After her husband's death she claimed to be pregnant, delaying Margaret's succession by some months until it became obvious it was a phantom pregnancy.

Answer: John Balliol

All four competed for the throne. Bruce, Balliol and Hastings were all descended from King David I, Erik of Norway was the son-in-law of Alexander III. Edward decided Balliol had the best claim, in part because he was weak and could be easily bullied by Edward. Scotland had been without a monarch for two years by this time.

Bruce's grandson was the famous Robert the Bruce, King of Scots 1306-1329.

Answer: Battle of Stirling Bridge

In the film "Braveheart", Stirling Bridge is portrayed as the Battle of Stirling, without a bridge in sight, despite the fact that this was the key to Wallace's victory - he attacked the English army as they crossed and they could not bring enough troops forward to be effective due to the narrowness of the bridge. Wallace was defeated at Falkirk the following year, 1298.

Bannockburn was a great victory for the Scots under Robert the Bruce in 1314 but Wallace had been dead 9 years by then. Flodden was a disastrous defeat for the Scots in 1513 in which the king, James IV and most of his nobles were killed.

Answer: Edward II

Edward II was not nearly so competent a general as his father, Edward I who was known as the Hammer of the Scots. King Edward had to be dragged from the battlefield when it became apparent his army had lost and narrowly escaped capture. Although the battle was a major turning point in the Wars of Independence, the war itself dragged on for a further 14 years until a treaty was signed between Robert the Bruce and Edward III, Edward II's son.

Answer: Robert was David's nephew

Although several years older, Robert was David's nephew. Robert was the son of Marjory Bruce, daughter of Robert the Bruce by his first marriage. David was Robert the Bruce's son by his second wife. David and Robert did not always get on very well but when David died childless the throne passed to Robert, the first member of the family which was to reign over Scotland for the next 300 years.

Answer: Eating poisoned mushrooms

Both Mary, Queen of Scots and her grandson, Charles I, were beheaded. James I and his grandson, James III, were stabbed to death. James II was killed when a cannon he was standing next to exploded during the siege of Roxburgh Castle. James IV was killed in battle and his son, James V, died shortly after another battle of unknown causes. Most of the other Stewarts/Stuarts managed fairly peaceful ends although James VII was deposed and died in exile.

The Roman Emperor Claudius is belived to have been died after being given a plate of poisoned mushrooms by his wife, Agrippina.

Answer: Just over a week old

Mary was the only surviving child of James V and his second wife, Mary of Guise. James V took to his bed following the disastrous defeat of his army at the Battle of Solway Moss, he was informed of his daughter's birth shortly before he died, leaving the eight-day old Mary as Queen. Mary of Guise ruled as Regent for much of her daughter's minority.

Answer: Robert Dudley

Robert Dudley was the Earl of Leicester, a one-time favourite of Queen Elizabeth of England. He was suggested as a possible husband for Mary but the suggestion was considered an insult as Dudley was rumoured to have murdered his wife in order to improve his chances of marrying Elizabeth.

Francois was the French Dauphin, the eldest son of King Henri II of France. When Henri died Francois succeeded him as Francois II and Mary became Queen of France. However, Francois died only a few years later and Mary returned to Scotland.

Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, was Mary's cousin and the father of her only child, the future James VI. Their happiness did not last long because they did not get on very well and Darnley resented Mary's position as monarch. When he died in mysterious circumstances, Mary was suspected of conspiring in his murder. James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell was also suspected of involvement in that murder and may have been Mary's lover - he certainly abducted her and may have raped her prior to their marriage. He fled Scotland when Mary was deposed and died in a Danish prison.

Answer: France

Often known as the Auld Alliance, Scotland entered into the alliance with France because both were enemies of England. It is often credited as beginning when King John signed a treaty with the French in 1295 and ending when French troops were forced to leave Scotland in 1560 following the Protestant Reformation.

Answer: 1603

England's Queen Elizabeth died in 1603 James, who had worked hard to win her favour and be recognised as her heir, became King of England as the great-grandson (through both his mother and father) of Margaret Tudor, daughter of King Henry VII of England. James adopted the title of King of Great Britain but this was never recognised by either Scotland or England which still considered themselves different countries, if with the same king.

1567 was the year James's mother, Mary, Queen of Scots, was forced to abdicate the Scottish throne in favour of the one-year old James. Mary was executed by Elizabeth of England in 1587 - James, who had never known his mother, did not protest too hard. 1605 was the year the Gunpowder Plot took place when a group of disgruntled Catholics attempted to blow up both Parliament and the king.

Answer: Massacre of Glencoe

38 MacDonalds were killed by the Campbells, hundreds more escaped but many then died in the snows. There is still bad blood between many MacDonalds and Campbells to this day.

Answer: The Darien Scheme

The venture was a disaster, the land was already claimed by the Spanish, and the English government had no interest in seeing it succeed either. Most of the colonists died and the remainder surrendered to the Spanish. The scheme almost bankrupted Scotland and its failure is often cited as one of the main reasons Scotland agreed to the Treaty of Union with England.

Answer: Anne

Anne was the last monarch of Scotland and of England as seperate nations. The Union took place in 1707 and Anne reigned Queen of Great Britain until her death in 1714 when she was succeeded by her distant cousin, George of Hanover as George I.