A Short History of Scotland

A Short History of Scotland

The Project Gutenberg eBook, A Short History of Scotland, by Andrew
Lang
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Title: A Short History of Scotland
Author: Andrew Lang
Release Date: May 31, 2005 [eBook #15955]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII)
***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A SHORT
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND***

Transcribed from the 1911 William Blackwood and Sons edition by
David Price, email [email protected]

A SHORT HISTORY OF SCOTLAND


CHAPTER I.
SCOTLAND AND THE ROMANS.
If we could see in a magic mirror the country now called Scotland as it
was when the Romans under Agricola (81 A.D.) crossed the Border, we
should recognise little but the familiar hills and mountains. The rivers,
in the plains, overflowed their present banks; dense forests of oak and

pine, haunted by great red deer, elks, and boars, covered land that has
long been arable. There were lakes and lagoons where for centuries
there have been fields of corn. On the oldest sites of our towns were
groups of huts made of clay and wattle, and dominated, perhaps, by the
large stockaded house of the tribal prince. In the lochs, natural islands,
or artificial islets made of piles (crannogs), afforded standing-ground
and protection to villages, if indeed these lake- dwellings are earlier in
Scotland than the age of war that followed the withdrawal of the
Romans.
The natives were far beyond the savage stage of culture. They lived in
an age of iron tools and weapons and of wheeled vehicles; and were in
what is called the Late Celtic condition of art and culture, familiar to us
from beautiful objects in bronze work, more commonly found in
Ireland than in Scotland, and from the oldest Irish romances and
poems.
In these "epics" the manners much resemble those described by Homer.
Like his heroes, the men in the Cuchullain sagas fight from light
chariots, drawn by two ponies, and we know that so fought the tribes in
Scotland encountered by Agricola the Roman General (81-85 A.D.) It
is even said in the Irish epics that Cuchullain learned his chariotry in
_Alba_--that is, in our Scotland. {2} The warriors had "mighty limbs
and flaming hair," says Tacitus. Their weapons were heavy iron swords,
in bronze sheaths beautifully decorated, and iron-headed spears; they
had large round bronze-studded shields, and battle-axes. The dress
consisted of two upper garments: first, the smock, of linen or other
fabric--in battle, often of tanned hides of animals,--and the mantle, or
plaid, with its brooch. Golden torques and heavy gold bracelets were
worn by the chiefs; the women had bronze ornaments with brightly
coloured enamelled decoration.
Agriculture was practised, and corn was ground in the circular querns
of stone, of which the use so long survived. The women span and wove
the gay smocks and darker cloaks of the warriors.
Of the religion, we only know that it was a form of polytheism; that
sacrifices were made, and that Druids existed; they were soothsayers,
magicians, perhaps priests, and were attendant on kings.
Such were the people in Alba whom we can dimly descry around
Agricola's fortified frontier between the firths of Forth and Clyde,

about 81-82 A.D. When Agricola pushed north of the Forth and Tay he
still met men who had considerable knowledge of the art of war. In his
battle at Mons Graupius (perhaps at the junction of Isla and Tay), his
cavalry had the better of the native chariotry in the plain; and the native
infantry, descending from their position on the heights, were attacked
by his horsemen in their attempt to assail his rear. But they were swift
of foot, the woods sheltered and the hills defended them. He made no
more effectual pursuit than Cumberland did at Culloden.
Agricola was recalled by Domitian after seven years' warfare, and his
garrisons did not long hold their forts on his lines or frontier, which
stretched across the country from Forth to Clyde; roughly speaking,
from Graham's Dyke, east of Borrowstounnis on the Firth of Forth, to
Old Kilpatrick on Clyde. The region is now full of coal-mines,
foundries, and villages; but excavations at Bar Hill, Castlecary, and
Roughcastle disclose traces of Agricola's works, with their earthen
ramparts. The Roman station at Camelon, north-west of Falkirk, was
connected with the southern passes of the Highland hills by a road with
a chain of forts. The remains of Roman pottery at Camelon are of the
first century.
Two generations after Agricola, about 140-145, the Roman Governor,
Lollius Urbicus, refortified the line of Forth