History of Scotland

Scotland’s written history begins with the Romans. The Romans invaded Scotland in 80 AD led by Agricola. They advanced into southern Scotland and then marched into the northeast. In 84 the Romans severely defeated the Picts at a place called Mons Graupius (its exact location is unknown). However, in the years after the battle, the Romans slowly withdrew and in 123 Emperor Hadrian began building a wall to keep out the Picts.

Later in the second century, the Romans advanced again and in 140 they built the Antonine Wall from the Clyde to the Forth. However, the Romans finally abandoned the Antonine Wall in 196 AD. Afterward, Hadrians Wall became the frontier. The Romans advanced into Scotland again in 209 AD but only temporarily. In 367-68, the Picts took part in a great raid upon Roman Britain.

In the 6th century a people from Ireland called the Scots invaded what is now Scotland. They settled in what is now Argyll and founded the kingdom of Dalriada.

Meanwhile, Christian missionaries had begun the work of converting the Picts. Some Picts in southeast Scotland accepted Christianity in the 5th century. Columba who went there in 563 converted southwest Scotland to Christianity. He founded a monastery at Iona, which became very important in the history of Christianity in Britain. During the 6th and 7th centuries, Christianity spread across Scotland, and by the end of the 7th century, all of Scotland was Christian.

Further south in the 6th century Angles invaded Northeast England and they created the kingdom of Northumbria. In the early 7th century the Northumbrians expanded into southeast Scotland and as far as Dunbar and Edinburgh. Then, in 843 Kenneth MacAlpin who was king of the Scottish kingdom of Dalriada also became king of the Picts of northern and central Scotland. So the Scots and Picts merged to form a single kingdom.

Rosslyn Chapel, Dunfermline Abbey and Stirling Castle Day Tour from Edinburgh