Friday, March 10, 2006

History of Scotland

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Stirling Castle has stood for centuries atop a volcanic crag defending the lowest ford of the River Forth.  The fortification underwent numerous sieges.
Stirling Castle has stood for centuries atop a volcanic crag defending the lowest ford of the River Forth. The fortification underwent numerous sieges.
History of Scotland
Chronological Eras
Prehistoric Scotland
Scotland in the Early Middle Ages
Scotland in the High Middle Ages
Wars of Scottish Independence
Scotland in the Late Middle Ages
Scotland in the Early Modern Era
Scottish Enlightenment
Scotland in the Modern Era
Dynasties and Regimes
House of Alpin (843–878) & (889–1040)
House of Moray (1040–1058)
House of Dunkeld (1058–1286)
Fairhair Dynasty (1286–1290)
House of Balliol (1292–1296)
House of Bruce (1306–1371)
House of Stuart (1371–1707)
Act of Union (1707)
Topical
Economic history
Military history
Colonial history
Scottish Politics
Art history
Literary history
Scottish Culture
Timeline of Scottish history
Scottish Portal


The history of Scotland begins around 10,000 years before the present day, when modern humans first began to inhabit Scotland after the end of the Devensian glaciation, the last ice age. Of the Stone Age, Bronze Age, and Iron Age civilisations that existed in the country, many artefacts remain but few are of writing.

As you can see here, Wikipedia has an excellent history of Scotland. Wikipedia, as you may know, is an online encyclopedia which is written and maintained entirely by volunteers. More about Wikipedia here.

Presbyterians are indebted to Scotland for this is the country of our native church, the Church of Scotland. I had the opportunity to visit the offices of of the Church of Scotland while in Edinburg last year and I talked to some of their staff people about how their church operates. It is similar, as one would expect, to the ways of my denomination, the Presbyterian Church (USA). This is because the Presbyterian Church (USA) is a descendant of the Church of Scotland.

For the past couple of years our congregation has celebrated a Kirkin' 'o the Tartans worship service. This service seeks to connect us to our Scottish Presbyterian heritage through the use of bagpipes in worship and other liturgical elements that herald from the Church of Scotland. The sermon preached by a guest preacher focuses on our heritage and the service is followed by a luncheon in the Fellowship Hall.

My family heritage is partly Scottish as my grandfather Neeley was descended from the McNeils of Scotland. However, all Presbyterians are spiritually descended from Scotland so the nature of ones genealogy is of little concern for the Kirkin' o' the Tartans worship service.

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