The Early Years.

Question:

Why was Scotland so violent?

Answer:

Because Scotland did not really exist. The biggest portion of the country- which thought of itself as Scotland, was Alba, which covered the Eastern Lowlands ,Highlands and Strathclyde, which stretched from Govan to Penrith in present day , which is now Cumbria and Strathclyde .

Both were separate Kingdoms, Galloway was also a separate little enclave,and the Norse Earls of Orkney ruled the far North, while the Vikings are thought to have Ruled the Western Isles.

They all fought each other continuously.

Question:

England was not really an enemy, then?

Answer:

On the contrary-Alba and Northumbria were constantly fighting, usually over land that is now Lothian, by the year 1020, Alba had pushed down as far as the Tweed, making the Border pretty much where it is now.

Question:

Who were the Kings of Scotland at this time?

Answer:

Kenneth II. from 971-995.

Constantine II. from 995-997.

Kenneth III. from 997-1005.

Malcolm II. from 1005-1034.

Duncan from 1034-1040.

Macbeth from 1040-1057.

Lulach the Simple from 1057-1058.

Malcolm III. from 1058-1093.

Question:

Was it a dangerous time?

Answer:

Yes-particularly if you were a King.

Rulers did not tend to last very long. Most died on the Battlefields ,though some were killed in more novel ways.

In 995, for instance ,Kenneth 11 is said to have been lured to the house of a Nobleman, filled up with drink, and then placed in front of a statue, sadly the statue was booby-trapped, and when he touched the statue, a series of cross-bows fired bolts into him .

Question:

What about the lives of ordinary people?

Answer:

There were no Towns as we know ,(Scotland´s population was estimated at between 500.000 and 1.000.000.) everyone lived in the countryside in small stone ,one roomed houses, and worked on the land.

Villages were just little clusters of these homes, and ironically, the rural landscape was probably much busier and more populated than it is now.

Question:

What language did they speak.?

Answer:

Almost exclusively Gaelic, though people in Strathclyde may sill have been speaking a form of Cumbrian or Welsh.

By the year 1000,the old tongue of Pictish may have been spoken in pockets of the country, much as Gaelic is now, but it eventually died out altogether.

Question:

Was Scotland a Christian Country by that time?

Answer:

Absolutely , by the year 1000, Christianity had been established in Scotland for 500 years, and the Church was extremely powerful - even Kings stood in awe of it.

Principal religious centres were Dunkeld and St.Andrews, which was thought to be the home of the ”Thumb of Scotland,s Patron Saint”.

It is said to have been torn off the Saint,s arm, which was kept in Hexham in Northumberland, by a Monk fleeing North, who grabbed it to sell and pay for his keep.

Question:

Are many of their buildings still standing to-day?

Answer:

Very few, however, Restenneth Church, near Forfar, and a round tower at Abernethy, near Perth, are both believed to date from this period.

There are Pictish Monuments such as the stone of Hilton of Cadboil, found in Ross-shire.

Question:

Was the year 1000 significant in any way?

Answer:

It was the beginning of a very important period in Scottish history, because from then on, smaller Kingdoms such as Moray and Strathclyde began to be absorbed into Alba ,and modern Scotland began to form.

Question:

Did they suffer from their own Millennium bug?

Answer:

There were stories of wide - spread fears that the world would end, and wild men were roaming the land in a fury, predicting death, but that might have just been Kenneth 11, trying to get the cross-bow bolts out of his chest.