Scotland

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

one of the three kingdoms of the British empire in Europe, and part of the island of Great Britain. In addition to the mainland, there are several groups of islands on the north and west coast. The extreme north point of the islands is Unst, in the Shetland group, lat. 60' 50', and their most westerly point St. Kilda, in the Hebrides, long. 8 ° 35' W. The greatest length of the mainland, from Dunnet Head, in the north, to the Mull of Galloway, in the south, is about 280 miles; and its greatest breadth, from Buchan Ness, in the east, to Ardnamurchan Point, in the west, about 170 miles. Scotland is geographically divided into two distinct regions — the Highlands, north of the Grampian Mountains, and the Lowlands, south of that range. Geologically, Scotland is divided into three distinct regions:

1. The southern, or Older Palaeozoic, which includes the region between the southern boundary and a line running east-northeast from Girvan, on the Frith of Clyde, to the Siccar Point, on the east coast.

2. The central, or Newer Palaeozoic, consisting of the Devonian or Old Red Sandstone and the Carboniferous formations, embraces the basins of the friths of Clyde, Forth, and Tay, with an area of about 5060 square miles.

3. The northern division, of crystalline and metamorphic rocks, comprises the whole of the remainder of Scotland, and has an area of 19,000 square miles. The climate is so tempered by the influence of the ocean that, notwithstanding the high northern latitude of the country, the thermometer rarely falls to zero, nor does it often rise above 80 ° in summer; the mean temperature is 47?.

Politically, the kingdom is divided into thirty-three counties, grouped in eight geographical divisions, with a total area of 30,463 square miles, of which the islands comprise about 5000. The population in 1871 was 3,360,018, of whom 1,603,143 were males and 1,756,875 females. The people are divided into the Highlanders and the Lowlanders, two distinct stocks, differing in language, manners, and dress. The language of the Highlanders is the Erse, or Gaelic, a Celtic dialect bearing no analogy to the English. The peculiarities of language, costume, etc., are gradually falling into disuse. Their chief vices are intemperance and unchastity; so that in 1872 nine per cent. of the births were illegitimate, the proportion rising to sixteen and four tenths per cent. in Banff. In general government Scotland forms an integral part of the United Kingdom, standing on the same footing with England, except in regard to law and law-courts and the form of Church govern-merit, upon which points express stipulations exist in the articles of union between the two kingdoms. The nobles elect of their own sixteen peers to represent them in the House of Lords, and in 1874 the country was represented in the House of Commons by sixty members.

History. — The original Scotland (or Scotia) was Ireland, and the Scots (or Scoff), at their first appearance in authentic history, were the people of Ireland. Scotland was known to the Romans by the name of Caledonia, and was inhabited by savage tribes of Celtic race. They were polygamists and idolaters, their religion being druidical. They were hardy and brave, and offered to their Roman invaders a fierce and obstinate resistance. In the reign of Titus (A.D. 79-81), Julius Agricola led a Roman army beyond the friths of Forth and Clyde, and in 84 defeated the Caledonians under Galgacus. He and his Roman successors failed to thoroughly subdue the country, and withdrew in the early part of the 5th century. Between the two walls in the province Valentia (Northumberland, Dumfries-shire, etc.) dwelt five tribes who had become practically Romanized and civilized, and who, after the withdrawal of the Romans, formed a union called "Regnum Cumbrense." The Saxons arrived in Scotland in 449, conquered and settled the Lowlands, and one of their leaders, Edwin, founded the present capital, Edinburgh (Edwinsburgh). About 503 the Scots, from Ireland, crossed over to Scotland and settled on the west coast, establishing a kingdom under Fergus, son of Erc. His nation had been converted to Christianity by St. Patrick. Under Conal, his grandson, Columba began the conversion of the northern Picts. In the middle of the 9th century the Scots acquired a predominance in the country, the Piers disappearing as a people (probably amalgamated and absorbed by the Scots) during the reign of Kenneth, who became king in 836. In 866 the Danes, under the vikings, began to invade Scotland, and continued their incursions, until, in 1014, after a series of defeats by Malcolm II, they gave up the contest. During the reign of Constantine (904-953), the seat of the ecclesiastical primacy was transferred from Dunkeld to St. Andrew's, and the regal residence fixed at Scone. At the latter place, in the sixth year of his reign, Kellach, the bishop, and the Scots swore to observe the laws and discipline of the faith and the rights of the churches and the gospels.

This seems to indicate the meeting of some sort of council, civil or ecclesiastical, or, more probably, a combination of both, according to the form prevalent at this period both among the Celtic and Teutonic nations. During the reign of Malcolm III (1057-1093), a great social and political revolution occurred in Scotland. In 1072 William the Conqueror invaded Scotland and secured hem. age from Malcolm as his feudal superior, which homage became a source of much dispute between the two countries. Malcolm's residence in England, and his marriage with the English princess Margaret, led to the introduction of English customs, language, and population into the northern and western districts. King Kenneth transferred his residence to Forteviot, in Strathearn, which had been the Pictish capital, fixing, soon after, the ecclesiastical metropolis of the United Kingdom at Dunkeld, where he built a church dedicated to St. Columba. The condition of the country was greatly improved under David (1124-1153), the youngest son of Malcolm, who was all to Scotland that Alfred was to England. Conforming to the rules of the Church and the principles of religion, he never forgot that he, not the clergy, was to rule. He introduced a system of written law superseding the old Celtic traditionary usages. David was as great a reformer in the Church as in the State. He established dioceses, encouraged the erection and endowment of parishes, provided for the maintenance of the clergy by means of tithes, and, displacing the old Celtic monastic bodies, introduced the Benedictine and Augustinian orders. There followed several centuries of internal strife and war with England, resulting in much distress and great disorder. During the reign of James V there were much religious agitation and discord. The practical corruptions of the Church were greater than in almost any other country of Europe, and, as a consequence, the principles of the Reformation were pushed further than elsewhere. The Roman Catholic system being overthrown, a contest began between Episcopacy and Presbyterianism, James VI struggling hard to establish an absolute supremacy both in Church and State. The opponents of the crown bound themselves together, first by the National Covenant, and afterwards, in alliance with the English Puritans, by the Solemn League and Covenant. The Act of Union (with England) was formally ratified by the Parliament of Scotland Jan. 16,1707; it continued unpopular for many years, but the discontent has gradually ceased. For further discussion of the mental and religious life of Scotland consult Church in Scotland, in the Westminster Rev. Jan. 1868; Religious Life in Scotland, ibid. July, 1871; Rudloff, Hist. of Reformation.

The Nuttall Encyclopedia

The northern portion of the island of Great Britain, separated from England by the Solway, Cheviots, and Tweed, and bounded N. and W. by the Atlantic and E. by the German Ocean; inclusive of 788 islands (600 uninhabited), its area, divided into 33 counties, is slightly more than one-half of England's, but has a coast-line longer by 700 m.; greatest length from Dunnet Head (most northerly point) to Mull of Galloway (most southerly) is 288 m., while the breadth varies from 32 to 175, Buchan Ness being the eastmost point and Ardnamurchan Point the westmost; from rich pastoral uplands in the S.—Cheviots, Moffat Hills, Lowthers, Moorfoots, and Lammermoors—the country slopes down to the wide, fertile lowland plain—growing fine crops of oats barley, wheat, &c.—which stretches, with a varying breadth of from 30 to 60 m., up to the Grampians (highest peak Ben Nevis, 4406 ft.), whence the country sweeps northwards, a wild and beautiful tract of mountain, valley, and moorland, diversified by some of the finest loch and river scenery in the world; the east and west coasts present remarkable contrasts, the latter rugged, irregular, and often precipitous, penetrated by long sea-lochs and fringed with numerous islands, and mild and humid in climate; the former low and regular, with few islands or inlets, and cold, dry, and bracing; of rivers the Tweed, Forth, Tay, Dee, and Clyde are the principal, and the Orkneys, Shetlands, and Hebrides the chief island groups; coal and iron abound in the lowlands, more especially in the plain of the Forth and Clyde, and granite in the Grampians; staple industries are the manufacture of cottons, woollens, linen, jute, machinery, hardware, paper, and shipbuilding, of which Glasgow is the centre and commercial metropolis, while Edinburgh (capital) is the chief seat of law, education, &c.; of cultivated land the percentage varies from 74.8 in Fife to 2.4 in Sutherland, and over all is only 24.2; good roads, canals, extensive railway and telegraph systems knit all parts of the country together; Presbyterianism is the established form of religion, and in 1872 the old parish schools were supplanted by a national system under school-boards similar to England; the lowlanders and highlanders still retain distinctive characteristics of their Teutonic and Celtic progenitors, the latter speaking in many parts of the Highlands their native Gaelic; originally the home of the Picts ( q. v .), and by them called Alban or Albyn, the country, already occupied as far as the Forth and Clyde by the Romans, was in the 5th century successfully invaded by the Scots, a Celtic tribe from Ireland; in 843 their king Kenneth was crowned king of Picts and Scots, and by the 10th century the country (known to the Romans as Caledonia) began to be called Scotia or Scotland; government and power gradually centred in the richer lowlands, which, through contact with England, and from the number of English immigrants, became distinctively Anglo-Saxon; since the Union with England ( q. v .) the prosperity of Scotland has been of steady and rapid growth, manufactures, commerce, and literature (in all branches) having flourished wonderfully.