HISTORY
Scotland can be pretty cold and rainy, but it’s been a popular place to live!
Lots of people have invaded and then settled in Scotland over thousands of years, like the Vikings, the Romans and the English. There have been lots of arguments about religions and culture because of this.
Today Scotland is part of the United Kingdom, although it might decide to become independent in the future.
The Romans
Many thousands of years ago, the Roman Empire was very important in Europe. The Romans controlled all around the Mediterranean Sea, and from Iraq in the Middle East, all the way across to Spain and Portugal in the West.
Eventually the Romans decided to invade the island of Britain. In AD 43 the Romans crossed over the English Channel to fight against the tribes who lived there. The Romans won.
They brought lots of things to Britain, like big towns and real roads (not just muddy tracks). The Romans also did lots of building. They built bridges, forts and walls. Lots of their buildings were made of stone, so they lasted thousands of years.
Mexico City is enormous!
Activity 3: Hadrian’s Wall
When the Romans got to the north of England, they decided not to go any further. Instead they built a huge wall, close to the border between England and Scotland. It was named after the Emperor at the time, Hadrian.
Some people think this wall was built to keep out the people who lived in the far north, who were called the Picts.
Other people think the wall was built to make money from the people who had to travel across it every day and pay a fee.
Some people think it was so that Hadrian could show how powerful he was.
Can you help fill in this infographic with some missing facts about Hadrian’s Wall? Remember to look for the star! ⭐
There’s a copy of the infographic to fill in on page 5 of your worksheets.
The Vikings
The Vikings originally came from Norway, Denmark and Sweden, but they explored and lived all over Northern Europe. The Vikings were sailors and travelled across the seas in longboats with large sails.
Lots of people were scared of them because they would sometimes steal food and animals. Sometimes they would take people too.
The Vikings travelled to Scotland a lot, because it’s so close to Norway and Denmark. Sometimes they stole, sometimes they settled down and married Scottish people, and sometimes they traded food and animals.
The Vikings or Norsemen even owned most of the Scottish islands like the Orkneys and Hebrides for some time. Lots of links with the Vikings can still be seen in Scotland today.
Activity 4: Viking SuDoku
Have you ever done a sudoku?
Here’s a special Viking sudoku (Vikoku). Every one of six Viking icons can only be placed once in every row, column and rectangle of six squares.
If you find it difficult try and replace the icons with the numbers 1 till 6. You can always get a grown up to help you as well.
You can find a copy of this SuDoku on page 6 of your worksheets to fill in.
Some words that are often used in Scotland come from Viking words, like these ones:
• bairn means child
• kerk means church
The Viking word kjalta means “to fold”. In Scotland it survives in the word for a folded skirt which men often wear.
What is it called? _ _ _ _ ⭐
Great job!
On to the next activity…
The Highland Clans
In the Middle Ages many Scottish people, particularly in the Highlands, lived in groups called clans. Each clan had a chief and clans controlled different areas of land.
For example, the island of Skye was controlled by Clan MacDonald for a long time. Clan chiefs looked after the people who lived on their land and managed them.
They had several important jobs, like:
• Collecting taxes
• Sorting out arguments
• Protecting their people from other clans
Here are some different clan tartans…
Sometimes different clans would go to war against each other or steal food and animals from each other. Clans had different tartans, crests (which were like symbols) and mottos which belonged to their clan. Only people who belonged to that clan were allowed to wear the clan tartan.
During the Jacobite Rebellion (which you’ll learn about in the next activity), some clans supported the English Government and some others fought against it. After the Battle of Culloden the Highland clans were basically banned. Clan tartans were banned, so were bagpipes (which the clans played before going to war) and clansmen weren’t allowed to carry weapons.
Some clansmen decided to leave Scotland and move to America. Lots of Americans these days are still proud of their clans, and wear the tartans or visit Scotland.
Activity 5: Which clan motto?
On page 7 of your worksheets, you can find the symbols of 5 different clans, with their motto written on them
(some are in different languages like French or Scots Gaelic)
Can you match the motto to the right clan?
You’ll need to Google some of the clan mottos to find out who they belong to.
Don’t forget to check for the star! ⭐
The Jacobite Rebellion
In the 1700s most of England was Protestant but most of Scotland was Catholic. Scotland was ruled by the English King who was Protestant.
The Catholic Scots didn’t like this and tried several times to overthrow the English King and have a Catholic King to rule Scotland.
The Highland clans supported several different men in the 1700s, including James the Second, his son James Stuart and his grandson Charles Stuart (who was also called Bonnie Prince Charlie).
They were all from the same family, the Stuarts, and each one tried at different times to become King of England.
They all failed.
Activity 6: Bonnie Prince Charlie’s Timeline
Charles Stuart was born in Italy and had never been to Scotland before 1745 when he tried to become its King. Both his father and his grandfather tried to be King as well. Although Charlie was popular he didn’t know much about Scotland and wasn’t a very good leader.
In 1745 Charles Stuart tried to take over Scotland. He was almost successful but ended up losing at the Battle of Culloden. He had to run away back to France and many Highland clansmen died or were put in prison.
Can you put these sentences in the right order? Put numbers in the white boxes on pages 8 & 9 of the printed worksheets.
To find the correct answer, find the last event in the timeline. What colour is this box? ⭐
Awesome work, that’s 6 answers you’ve got now!
Activity 7: Should Scotland be independent?
This is the flag of the UK
Scotland is a part of the United Kingdom, which is made up of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Most of the big decisions about Scotland are made in the UK Parliament in London but some decisions are made in the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh.
In 2014 there was a referendum, which is when the government asks the people what they think.
The referendum question was “Should Scotland be an independent country?”. This would mean Scotland would all of its own decisions.
This is the flag of Scotland
The result…
... so for now, Scotland will stay part of the UK.
There are some arguments for why Scottish independence is a good idea and some arguments for why it is a bad idea. You can read some of them below.
What do you think? Should Scotland be independent?
There’s space on page 10 of your worksheets. Write a few sentences about why you think Scotland should or shouldn’t be independent.
If you want to, you can tell us what you think. Click on the purple button to send us an email - we’ll write back and tell you what we think too!