Industrialisation, urbanisation and the Disruption of 1843 all undermined the tradition of parish schools. From 1830 the state began to fund buildings with grants, then from 1846 it was funding schools by direct sponsorship, and in 1872 Scotland moved to a system like that in England of state-sponsored largely free schools, run by local school boards. [265] Overall administration was in the hands of the Scotch (later Scottish) Education Department in London. [266] Education was now compulsory from five to thirteen and many new board schools were built. Larger urban school boards established "higher grade" (secondary) schools as a cheaper alternative to the burgh schools. The Scottish Education Department introduced a Leaving Certificate Examination in 1888 to set national standards for secondary education and in 1890 school fees were abolished, creating a state-funded national system of free basic education and common examinations. [208] We previously recommended Ian Rankin’s Inspector Rebus series for those who love mystery novels. Well, if you’ve read and enjoyed the Inspector Rebus novels, you’ll love reading about the real places that inspired the series’ events. The ideas from philosophers living in Scotland during The Age of Enlightenment shaped the modern world. The intellectual movement sought to understand the natural world and the human mind and ranged across philosophy, chemistry, geology, engineering, technology, poetry, medicine, economics and history. Figures like Thomas Hobbes, David Hume, Adam Smith, Robert Burns and Sir Walter Scott are still celebrated for their achievements.

At the beginning of the 19th century, Scotland’s economy changed drastically. The arrival of industrial technology created a shift in wealth, also caused by the boom in the tobacco, sugar and cotton trades, based largely on the exploitation of enslaved people. Houses like Greenbank House and Harmony were owned by these newly rich businessmen. James VI succeeded the throne at just 13 months old after Mary was forced to abdicate. When Elizabeth I died with no children, James VI succeeded to the English throne and became James VI & I – a historic move that’s now known as the Union of the Crowns. Fraser writes in a way that makes her subjects genuinely come to life. Therefore, even if you don’t usually read non-fiction, you’ll still enjoy this book. A History of Scotland by Neil Oliver

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Journalist Madeleine Bunting heads to Scotland’s Hebrides to capture the essence of these islands over the course of six years. During her adventures, Bunting describes the history, folklore, and religion of this diverse archipelago, tying in its importance to Scotland as well as to Britain as a whole.

While the Rebus novels are focused on fictional mysteries, this book is more of a guided tour around Scotland. Specifically, you’ll notice how much Rebus’s character connects to Rankin and his experiences. Plus, the author describes Edinburgh and Fife in a way that will convince you to plan a vacation to Scotland. The Hidden Ways: Scotland’s Forgotten Roads by Alistair Moffat Your journey through this book will require a bit of focus to follow all of her descriptions. However, many readers love the detail paid to the mountains as well as the seasons, weather, and the plants, animals, and humans who inhabit this space. Rebus’s Scotlandby Ian Rankin The years before the First Wo Of the surviving pre-Roman accounts of Scotland, the first written reference to Scotland was the Greek Pytheas of Massalia, who may have circumnavigated the British Isles of Albion ( Britain) and Ierne (Ireland) [26] [27] sometime around 325BC. The most northerly point of Britain was called Orcas (Orkney). [28] [29] :10 By the time of Pliny the Elder, who died in AD79, Roman knowledge of the geography of Scotland had extended to the Hebudes ( The Hebrides), Dumna (probably the Outer Hebrides), the Caledonian Forest and the people of the Caledonii, from whom the Romans named the region north of their control Caledonia. [30] Ptolemy, possibly drawing on earlier sources of information as well as more contemporary accounts from the Agricolan invasion, identified 18 tribes in Scotland [31] in his Geography, but many of the names are obscure and the geography becomes less reliable in the north and west, suggesting early Roman knowledge of these areas was confined to observations from the sea. [32]

Early Scottish history

The Scottish Reform Act 1832 increased the number of Scottish MPs and significantly widened the franchise to include more of the middle classes. From this point until the end of the century, the Whigs and (after 1859) their successors the Liberal Party, managed to gain a majority of the Westminster Parliamentary seats for Scotland, although these were often outnumbered by the much larger number of English and Welsh Conservatives. [212] The English-educated Scottish peer Lord Aberdeen (1784–1860) led a coalition government from 1852 to 1855, but in general very few Scots held office in the government. [213] From the mid-century there were increasing calls for Home Rule for Scotland and when the Conservative Lord Salisbury became prime minister in 1885 he responded to pressure by reviving the post of Secretary of State for Scotland, which had been in abeyance since 1746. [214] He appointed the Duke of Richmond, a wealthy landowner who was both Chancellor of Aberdeen University and Lord Lieutenant of Banff. [215] Towards the end of the century Prime Ministers of Scottish descent included the Tory, Peelite and Liberal William Gladstone, who held the office four times between 1868 and 1894. [216] The first Scottish Liberal to become prime minister was the Earl of Rosebery, from 1894 to 1895, like Aberdeen before him a product of the English education system. [217] In the later 19th century the issue of Irish Home Rule led to a split among the Liberals, with a minority breaking away to form the Liberal Unionists in 1886. [212] The growing importance of the working classes was marked by Keir Hardie's success in the 1888 Mid Lanarkshire by-election, leading to the foundation of the Scottish Labour Party, which was absorbed into the Independent Labour Party in 1895, with Hardie as its first leader. [218] Industrial expansion [ edit ] New Lanark cotton mill on the banks of the River Clyde, founded in 1786. Main article: History of Christianity in Scotland Thomas Chalmers statue in George Street, Edinburgh So, we’ll start this list with one of his best works and one of the most influential Scottish novels of the 20th century. Lanarkbegins with a man waking up on a train with no memory of how he got there. A monumental achievement. . . . This is a tremendous book, a really significant contribution to Scottish history. It will delight, surprise and irritate in equal measure.”—Christopher Whatley, author of The Scots and the Union Based upon writings from around the 4th century BCE, it appears the Celts called themselves "Cruithne" (the painted ones), as they regularly dyed their faces and bodies. In the Brythonic dialect of Celtic, they called themselves "Pruithne" which, in time, became "Breatan" and then " Briton". The Romans, when they invaded the north of Britain many years later, called the natives they encountered there "Picti" (painted), and so differentiated the people who would become known as Picts from the Britons. The Celts established their own customs and culture throughout Scotland instituting the clan headed by a single chieftain as the family unit and a class structure which placed warriors at the top, priests, bards and merchants in the middle, and artisans, farmers, and slaves at the bottom. Class Structure and Settlements