cyanic-selkie/wikianc huggingface dataset:
Rìoghachd na h-Alba
Foghlam
In 1616 an act in Privy council commanded every parish to establish a school "where convenient means may be had", and when the Parliament of Scotland ratified this with the Education Act of 1633, a tax on local landowners was introduced to provide the necessary endowment. A loophole which allowed evasion of this tax was closed in the Education Act of 1646, which established a solid institutional foundation for schools on Covenanter principles. Although the Restoration brought a reversion to the 1633 position, in 1696 new legislation restored the provisions of 1646. An act of the Scottish parliament in 1696 underlined the aim of having a school in every parish. In rural communities these obliged local landowners (heritors) to provide a schoolhouse and pay a schoolmaster, while ministers and local presbyteries oversaw the quality of the education. In many Scottish towns, burgh schools were operated by local councils. By the late seventeenth century there was a largely complete network of parish schools in the Lowlands, but in the Highlands basic education was still lacking in many areas.
The widespread belief in the limited intellectual and moral capacity of women, vied with a desire, intensified after the Reformation, for women to take personal moral responsibility, particularly as wives and mothers. In Protestantism this necessitated an ability to learn and understand the catechism and even to be able to independently read the Bible, but most commentators, even those that tended to encourage the education of girls, thought they should not receive the same academic education as boys. In the lower ranks of society, they benefited from the expansion of the parish schools system that took place after the Reformation, but were usually outnumbered by boys, often taught separately, for a shorter time and to a lower level. They were frequently taught reading, sewing and knitting, but not writing. Female illiteracy rates based on signatures among female servants were around 90 percent, from the late seventeenth to the early eighteenth centuries and perhaps 85 percent for women of all ranks by 1750, compared with 35 per cent for men. Among the nobility there were many educated and cultured women, of which Mary, Queen of Scots is the most obvious example.
After the Reformation, Scotland's universities underwent a series of reforms associated with Andrew Melville, who returned from Geneva to become principal of the University of Glasgow in 1574. He placed an emphasis on simplified logic and elevated languages and sciences to the same status as philosophy, allowing accepted ideas in all areas to be challenged. He introduced new specialist teaching staff, replacing the system of "regenting", where one tutor took the students through the entire arts curriculum. Metaphysics were abandoned and Greek became compulsory in the first year followed by Aramaic, Syriac and Hebrew, launching a new fashion for ancient and biblical languages. Glasgow had probably been declining as a university before his arrival, but students now began to arrive in large numbers. He assisted in the reconstruction of Marischal College, Aberdeen, and in order to do for St Andrews what he had done for Glasgow, he was appointed Principal of St Mary's College, St Andrews, in 1580. The University of Edinburgh developed out of public lectures were established in the town 1440s on law, Greek, Latin and philosophy, under the patronage of Mary of Guise. These evolved into the "Tounis College", which would become the University of Edinburgh in 1582. The results were a revitalisation of all Scottish universities, which were now producing a quality of education the equal of that offered anywhere in Europe. Under the Commonwealth, the universities saw an improvement in their funding, as they were given income from deaneries, defunct bishoprics and the excise, allowing the completion of buildings including the college in the High Street in Glasgow. They were still largely seen as a training school for clergy, and came under the control of the hard line Protestors. After the Restoration there was a purge of the universities, but much of the intellectual advances of the preceding period was preserved. The universities recovered from the upheavals of the mid-century with a lecture-based curriculum that was able to embrace economics and science, offering a high quality liberal education to the sons of the nobility and gentry.
Daingneachadh is aonadh: 1513–1707
An dèidh aiseag na monarcachd ann an 1660, fhuair Alba air ais a h-inbhe fa leth agus na h-eagrachasan aice ach dh'fhan cridhe na cumhachd ann an Lunnainn. An dèidh an aramaich ghlòrmhoir 1688-89 nuair a chaidh Seumas VII a chur às an rìgh-chathair leis an nighean aice, Màiri agus an duine aice, Uilleam Orains ann an Sasainn, ghabh Alba riutha fo Achd Tagradh Còrach 1689,, dh'fhan sliochd fuadaichte nan Stiùbhartach aig teis-meadhan cùis nan Seumasach is inneadh iomadh oidhirp an tilleadh tro aramach is strì, gu sònraichte air a' Ghàidhealtachd. Bha an eaconamaidh tro chèile gu mòr sna 1690an agus dh'adhbharaich seo aonadh poileataigeach le Sasainn mar Rìoghachd na Breatainne Mòire 1ad dhen Chèitean 1707. Chaidh Pàrlamaid na h-Alba agus Pàrlamaid Shasainn a chur còmhla ann am Pàrlamaid Bhreatainn ach leis gun robh e suidhichte ann am Westminster, lean e air cha mhòr mar a bha e roimhe, mar Phàrlamaid Shasainn ach gun deach 45 ball-pàrlamaid Albannach a chur ri 513 ball Taigh nan Cumantan agus 16 Albannaich ri 190 ball Taigh nam Morairean. ’S e làn-aonadh eaconamach a bh’ ann cuideachd agus thàinig airgead, cìsean is laghan malairt na h-Alba gu crìoch mar shiostam fa leth leis a sin.
Creideamh
During the sixteenth century, Scotland underwent a Protestant Reformation that created a predominately Calvinist national kirk, which was strongly Presbyterian in outlook, severely reducing the powers of bishops, although not abolishing them. The teachings of first Martin Luther and then John Calvin began to influence Scotland, particularly through Scottish scholars who had visited continental and English universities. Particularly important was the work of the Lutheran Scot Patrick Hamilton. His execution with other Protestant preachers in 1528, and of the Zwingli-influenced George Wishart in 1546, who was burnt at the stake in St. Andrews, did nothing to stem the growth of these ideas. Wishart's supporters seized St. Andrews Castle, which they held for a year before they were defeated with the help of French forces. The survivors, including chaplain John Knox, were condemned to be galley slaves, helping to create resentment of the French and martyrs for the Protestant cause. Limited toleration and the influence of exiled Scots and Protestants in other countries, led to the expansion of Protestantism, with a group of lairds declaring themselves Lords of the Congregation in 1557. By 1560 a relatively small group of Protestants were in a position to impose reform on the Scottish church. A confession of faith, rejecting papal jurisdiction and the mass, was adopted by Parliament in 1560. The Calvinism of the reformers led by Knox resulted in a settlement that adopted a Presbyterian system and rejected most of the elaborate trappings of the Medieval church. This gave considerable power within the new Kirk to local lairds, who often had control over the appointment of the clergy, and resulting in widespread, but generally orderly, iconoclasm. At this point the majority of the population was probably still Catholic in persuasion and the Kirk would find it difficult to penetrate the Highlands and Islands, but began a gradual process of conversion and consolidation that, compared with reformations elsewhere, was conducted with relatively little persecution.
Sluagh
Price inflation, which generally reflects growing demand for food, suggests that the population probably expanded in the first half of the sixteenth century, levelling off after the famine of 1595, as prices were relatively stable in the early seventeenth century. Calculations based on Hearth Tax returns for 1691 indicate a population of 1,234,575, but this figure may have been seriously effected by the subsequent famines of the late 1690s. By 1750, with its suburbs, Edinburgh would reached 57,000. The only other towns above 10,000 by the same were Glasgow with 32,000, Aberdeen with around 16,000 and Dundee with 12,000.
Cànain
From the mid sixteenth century, written Scots was increasingly influenced by the developing Standard English of Southern England due to developments in royal and political interactions with England. With the increasing influence and availability of books printed in England, most writing in Scotland came to be done in the English fashion. Unlike many of his predecessors, James VI generally despised Gaelic culture. Having extolled the virtues of Scots "poesie", after his accession to the English throne, he increasingly favoured the language of southern England. In 1611 the Kirk adopted the 1611 Authorized King James Version of the Bible. In 1617 interpreters were declared no longer necessary in the port of London because as Scots and Englishmen were now "not so far different bot ane understandeth ane uther". Jenny Wormald, describes James as creating a "three-tier system, with Gaelic at the bottom and English at the top".
Historical sources, as well as place name evidence, indicate the ways in which the Pictish language in the north and Cumbric languages in the south were overlaid and replaced by Gaelic, Old English and later Norse in the Early Middle Ages. By the High Middle Ages the majority of people within Scotland spoke the Gaelic language, then simply called Scottish, or in Latin, lingua Scotica. In the Northern Isles the Norse language brought by Scandinavian occupiers and settlers evolved into the local Norn, which lingered until the end of the eighteenth century and Norse may also have survived as a spoken language until the sixteenth century in the Outer Hebrides. French, Flemish and particularly English became the main language of Scottish burghs, most of which were located in the south and east, an area to which Anglian settlers had already brought a form of Old English. In the later part of the twelfth century, the writer Adam of Dryburgh described lowland Lothian as "the Land of the English in the Kingdom of the Scots". At least from the accession of David I, Gaelic ceased to be the main language of the royal court and was probably replaced by French, as evidenced by reports from contemporary chronicles, literature and translations of administrative documents into the French language.
Riaghaltas
Ghlèidh rìoghachd aonaichte na h-Alba cuid a ghnàthasan a bhiodh aig na Cruithnich roimhe. Chithear seo sna gnàthasan ealanta aig crùnadh Sgàin. Ged a bha monarcachd na h-Alba sna meadhan-aoisean a' siubhal o àite gu àite a ghnàth, bha Sgàin fhathast am measg nan àitichean as cudromaiche agus dh'fhàs caistealan rìoghail mar Chaisteal Shruighlea agus Chaisteal Pheairt cudromach aig deireadh nam meadhan-aoisean mus do dh'fhàs Dùn Èideann 'na cheanna-bhail ann an dàrna leth na còigeamh linn dheug. Ged a bha iomadh rìgh ann nach robh aig inbheachd, mhair an crùn ann mar phrìomh-eileamaid an riaghaltais. Aig deireadh nam meadhan-aoisean, thàinig an aon at air a’ chrùn ’s a thàinig air feadhainn eile san Roinn Eòrpa. Chaidh teòirigean air cuingeachadh na monarcachd agus comhaireachd a dheasbad ann an Alba, gu sònraiche le Seòras Bochanan san 16mh linn ach bhrosnaiche Rìgh Seumas VI teòirig còir dhiadhaidh rìghrean agus dh'èirich an deasbad seo a-rithist 's a-rithist, rìgh air rìgh, èiginn air èiginn. Dh'fhuirich a' chùirt rìoghail fhathast aig teis-mheadhan an t-saoghail phoilitigich agus b' e a' chùirt prìomh-ionad taisbeanadh nan ealain agus cùl-taic nan ealain a-mach on t-siathamh linn dheug gus an deach a leigeil mu sgaoil aig àm Aonadh nan Crùintean ann an 1603.
Brataichean
The earliest recorded use of the Lion rampant as a royal emblem in Scotland was by Alexander II in 1222. It is recorded with the additional embellishment of a double border set with lilies during the reign of Alexander III (1249–86). This emblem occupied the shield of the royal coat of arms which, together with a royal banner displaying the same, was used by the King of Scots until the Union of the Crowns in 1603. Then it was incorporated into both the royal arms and royal banners of successive Scottish then British monarchs in order to symbolise Scotland; as can be seen today in the Royal Standard of the United Kingdom. Although now officially restricted to use by representatives of the Sovereign and at royal residences, the Royal Standard of Scotland continues to be one of Scotland's most recognisable symbols.
An t-arm
At the Restoration the Privy Council established a force of several infantry regiments and a few troops of horse and there were attempts to found a national militia on the English model. The standing army was mainly employed in the suppression of Covenanter rebellions and the guerilla war undertaken by the Cameronians in the East. Pikemen became less important in the late seventeenth century and after the introduction of the socket bayonet disappeared altogether, while matchlock muskets were replaced by the more reliable flintlock. On the eve of the Glorious Revolution the standing army in Scotland was about 3,000 men in various regiments and another 268 veterans in the major garrison towns. After the Glorious Revolution the Scots were drawn into King William II's continental wars, beginning with the Nine Years' War in Flanders (1689–97). By the time of the Act of Union, the Kingdom of Scotland had a standing army of seven units of infantry, two of horse and one troop of Horse Guards, besides varying levels of fortress artillery in the garrison castles of Edinburgh, Dumbarton, and Stirling, which would be incorporated into the British Army.
In the early seventeenth century relatively large numbers of Scots took service in foreign armies involved in the Thirty Years War. As armed conflict with Charles I in the Bishop's Wars became likely, hundreds of Scots mercenaries returned home from foreign service, including experienced leaders like Alexander and David Leslie and these veterans played an important role in training recruits. These systems would form the basis of the Covenanter armies that intervened in the Civil Wars in England and Ireland. Scottish infantry were generally armed, as was almost universal in Western Europe, with a combination of pike and shot. Scottish armies may also have had individuals with a variety of weapons including bows, Lochaber axes, and halberds. Most cavalry were probably equipped with pistols and swords, although there is some evidence that they included lancers. Royalist armies, like those led by James Graham, Marquis of Montrose (1643–44) and in Glencairn's rising (1653–54) were mainly composed of conventionally armed infantry with pike and shot. Montrose's forces were short of heavy artillery suitable for siege warfare and had only a small force of cavalry.
Riaghaltas
Thog crùn na h-Alba na dreuchdan a bha cumanta ann an cùirtean taobh an iar na Roinn Eòrpa, mar an stiùbhard, seumarlan, constabal, marasgal agus seansalair. Dh'fhàs Comhairle an Rìgh na bhuidheann làn-ùine sa chòigeamh linn dheug agus thar ùine, fhuair daoine nach robh nan clèireach agus a bha tàireil air rian a' cheartais làmh an uachdair ann. Bha a' chomhairle dhìomhair, a thàinig gu bith aig meadhan na siathamh linn dheug, agus oifisean mòra na stàite, a' gabhail a-staigh an t-seansalair, rùnaire agus agus ionmhasair, aig teis-mheadhan rianachd an riaghaltais fad ùine mhòr, fiù an dèidh dha na monarcan Stiùbhartach falbh a Shasainn a-mach o 1603. Ge-tà, chaidh a chur gu taobh gu tric agus chaidh cur às dha an dèidh Achd an Aonaidh ann an 1707 agus chaidh Alba a riaghladh calg-dhìreach o Lunnainn an uairsin. Dh'fhàs a' Phàrlamaid na bhuidheann chudromach cuideachd agus fhuair e smachd air cùisean co-cheangailte ri cìsean is poileasaidhean. Bha i a' suidhe cha mhòr gach bliadhna aig deireadh nam Meadhan Aoisean, gu sònraichte leis gun robh uiread a rìghrean mion-aoiseach is tànaisteachdan ann sna linntean ud, rud a chùm a' mhonarcachd o bhith ga chur gu taobh ma dh'fhaoidte. Bha e air leth cudromach ann an rianachd na dùthcha tràth san linn ùr, a' stèidheachadh laghan is cìsean ach dh'fhàs is chrìon a' bhuaidh aice agus cha robh e a-riamh cho cudromach ann an Alba 's a bha e ann an Sasainn gus an deach cur às dha ann an 1707.
Lagh
Dh'fhàs lagh na h-Alba na lagh fa leth sna meadhan aoisean agus chaidh ath-leasachadh is a sgrìobhadh sìos san t-siathamh is san t-seachdamh linn dheug. Chan eil againn ach tomhas air cò ris a bha lagha na h-Alba coltach ron aonamh linn dheug, ach 's mathaid gun robh e na mheasgachadh de dhiofar thradaiseanan lagha a thàinig a-nuas o na sluaghan a bha a' fuireach ann an Alba aig an àm, a' gabhail a-steach gnàthasan nam Breatannach, Èireannach and Angla-Shasannach. Tha an tràchd laghail air a bheil Leges inter Brettos et Scottos "Laghan eadar na Breatannaich agus na h-Albannaich" a' stèidheachadh rian ath-dhìol airson leòn no bàs a-rèir inbhe agus dlùth-chomann nan dàimhean. Bha cùirtean poblach ann, na còmhdhailean, mar a tha pailteas de dh'ainmean-àite ann an taobh an ear na h-Alba ag innse. Sna ceàrnaidhean a bha fo smachd nan Lochlannach, b' e lagh ùdail bun-stèidh an rian laghail agus tha fhios gun deach cìsean a thogail sna h-Eileanan Siar a rèir ungannan. 'S e cruinneachadh a-muigh aig an riaghaltas a bha sna h-uil-thingean, an làthair iarla agus bha cead aig cha mhòr fireannach saor sam bith a dhol ann. Chaidh co-dhùnaidhean a ghabhail, laghan a chruthachadh agus breithean a thoirt air gearain aig na coinneamhan seo.
Creideamh
In 1635, Charles I authorised a book of canons that made him head of the Church, ordained an unpopular ritual and enforced the use of a new liturgy. When the liturgy emerged in 1637 it was seen as an English-style Prayer Book, resulting in anger and widespread rioting. Representatives of various sections of Scottish society drew up the National Covenant on 28 February 1638, objecting to the King's liturgical innovations. The king's supporters were unable to suppress the rebellion and the king refused to compromise. In December of the same year matters were taken even further, when at a meeting of the General Assembly in Glasgow the Scottish bishops were formally expelled from the Church, which was then established on a full Presbyterian basis. Victory in the resulting Bishops' Wars secured the Presbyterian Kirk and precipitated the outbreak of the civil wars of the 1640s. Disagreements over collaboration with Royalism created a major conflict between Protesters and Resolutioners, which became a long term divide in the Kirk.
At the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660, legislation was revoked back to 1633, removing the Covenanter gains of the Bishops' Wars, but the discipline of kirk sessions, presbyteries and synods were renewed. The reintroduction of episcopacy was a source of particular trouble in the south-west of the country, an area with strong Presbyterian sympathies. Abandoning the official church, many of the people here began to attend illegal field assemblies led by excluded ministers, known as conventicles. In the early 1680s a more intense phase of persecution began, in what was later to be known in Protestant historiography as "the Killing Time". After the Glorious Revolution, Presbyterianism was restored and the bishops, who had generally supported James VII, abolished,. However, William, who was more tolerant than the kirk tended to be, passed acts restoring the Episcopalian clergy excluded after the Revolution. The result was a Kirk divided between factions, with significant minorities, particularly in the west and north, of Episcopalians and Catholics.
Cànain
In the Late Middle Ages, Middle Scots, often simply called English, became the dominant language of the kingdom. It was derived largely from Old English, with the addition of elements from Gaelic and French. Although resembling the language spoken in northern England, it became a distinct dialect from the late fourteenth century onwards. It began to be adopted by the ruling elite as they gradually abandoned French. By the fifteenth century it was the language of government, with acts of parliament, council records and treasurer's accounts almost all using it from the reign of James I onwards. As a result, Gaelic, once dominant north of the Tay, began a steady decline. Lowland writers began to treat Gaelic as a second class, rustic and even amusing language, helping to frame attitudes towards the Highlands and to create a cultural gulf with the Lowlands.
An cabhlach
During the Bishop's Wars the king attempted to blockade Scotland and planned amphibious assaults from England on the East coast and from Ireland to the West. Scottish privateers took a number of English prizes. After the Covenanters allied with the English Parliament they established two patrol squadrons for the Atlantic and North Sea coasts, known collectively as the "Scotch Guard". The Scottish navy was unable to withstand the English fleet that accompanied the army led by Cromwell that conquered Scotland in 1649-51 and the Scottish ships and crews were split up among the Commonwealth fleet. Scottish seamen received protection against arbitrary impressment by English men of war, but a fixed quota of conscripts for the Royal Navy was levied from the sea-coast burghs during the second half of the seventeenth century. Royal Navy patrols were now found in Scottish waters even in peacetime. In the Second (1665–67) and Third Anglo-Dutch Wars (1672–74) between 80 and 120 captains, took Scottish letters of marque and privateers played a major part in the naval conflict. In the 1690s a small fleet of five ships was established by merchants for the Darien Scheme, and a professional navy was established for the protection of commerce in home waters during the Nine Years War, with three purpose-built warships bought from English shipbuilders in 1696. After the Act of Union in 1707, these vessels were transferred to the Royal Navy.
Brataichean
According to legend, the apostle and martyr Saint Andrew, the patron saint of Scotland, was crucified on an X-shaped cross at Patras, (Patrae), in Achaea. Use of the familiar iconography of his martyrdom, showing the apostle bound to an X-shaped cross, first appears in the Kingdom of Scotland in 1180 during the reign of William I. This image was again depicted on seals used during the late thirteenth century; including on one particular example used by the Guardians of Scotland, dated 1286. Use of a simplified symbol associated with Saint Andrew which does not depict his image, namely the saltire, or crux decussata, (from the Latin crux, 'cross', and decussis, 'having the shape of the Roman numeral X'), has its origins in the late fourteenth century; the Parliament of Scotland decreed in 1385 that Scottish soldiers wear a white Saint Andrew's Cross on their person, both in front and behind, for the purpose of identification. The earliest reference to the Saint Andrew's Cross as a flag is to be found in the Vienna Book of Hours, circa 1503, where a white saltire is depicted with a red background. In the case of Scotland, use of a blue background for the Saint Andrew's Cross is said to date from at least the 15th century, with the first certain illustration of a flag depicting such appearing in Sir David Lyndsay of the Mount's Register of Scottish Arms, circa 1542.
Creideamh
The Pictish and Scottish kingdoms that would form the basis of the Kingdom of Alba were largely converted by Irish-Scots missions associated with figures such as St Columba, from the fifth to the seventh centuries. These missions tended to found monastic institutions and collegiate churches that served large areas. Partly as a result of these factors, some scholars have identified a distinctive form of Celtic Christianity, in which abbots were more significant than bishops, attitudes to clerical celibacy were more relaxed and there were some significant differences in practice with Roman Christianity, particularly the form of tonsure and the method of calculating Easter. Most of these issues had been resolved by the mid-seventh century. After the reconversion of Scandinavian Scotland from the tenth century, Christianity under papal authority was the dominant religion of the kingdom.
Lagh
Fo rìgh Seumas IV, chaidh rian nas fheàrr a chur air dreuchdan laghail na comhairle, le Cùirt an t-Seisein rìoghail a' coinneachadh gach latha ann an Dùn Èideann a dhèilig ri cùisean sìobhalta. Chaidh dreuchd a' bhritheimh choitchinn a chruthachadh do Dhiùc Earra-Ghàidheal agus chùm a theaghlach an dreuchd sin gu ruige 1628. Chaidh Colaiste Rìoghail a' Cheartais a chur air bhonn ann am 1532 agus leis an trèanadh a thug sin seachad, thàinig buidheann de luchd-lagha profeiseantach gu bith. Thar ùine, dh'fhàs Cùirt an t-Seisein nas neo-eismeiliche o bhuaidh dhaoine is bhuidhnean, a' gabhail a-staigh an rìgh, agus fhuair e làmh an uachdair air rianan ceartais ionadail agus chuir na britheamhan air Cùirt an t-Seisein smachd air na daoine a leigeadh a-steach ann. Chaidh Àrd-chùirt a' Cheartais a chur air bhonn ann am 1672 le Colaiste a' Cheartais mar àrd-chùirt tagraidh.
Foghlam
The establishment of Christianity brought Latin to Scotland as a scholarly and written language. Monasteries served as repositories of knowledge and education, often running schools and providing a small educated elite, who were essential to create and read documents in a largely illiterate society. In the High Middle Ages new sources of education arose, with song and grammar schools. These were usually attached to cathedrals or a collegiate church and were most common in the developing burghs. By the end of the Middle Ages grammar schools could be found in all the main burghs and some small towns. There were also petty schools, more common in rural areas and providing an elementary education. Some monasteries, like the Cistercian abbey at Kinloss, opened their doors to a wider range of students. The number and size of these schools seems to have expanded rapidly from the 1380s. They were almost exclusively aimed at boys, but by the end of the fifteenth century, Edinburgh also had schools for girls, sometimes described as "sewing schools", and probably taught by lay women or nuns. There was also the development of private tuition in the families of lords and wealthy burghers. The growing emphasis on education cumulated with the passing of the Education Act 1496, which decreed that all sons of barons and freeholders of substance should attend grammar schools to learn "perfyct Latyne". All this resulted in an increase in literacy, but which was largely concentrated among a male and wealthy elite, with perhaps 60 per cent of the nobility being literate by the end of the period.
An cabhlach
There are mentions in Medieval records of fleets commanded by Scottish kings including William the Lion and Alexander II. The latter took personal command of a large naval force which sailed from the Firth of Clyde and anchored off the island of Kerrera in 1249, intended to transport his army in a campaign against the Kingdom of the Isles, but he died before the campaign could begin. Records indicate that Alexander had several large oared ships built at Ayr, but he avoided a sea battle. Defeat on land at the Battle of Largs and winter storms forced the Norwegian fleet to return home, leaving the Scottish crown as the major power in the region and leading to the ceding of the Western Isles to Alexander in 1266.
Part of the reason for Robert I's success in the Wars of Independence was his ability to call on naval forces from the Islands. As a result of the expulsion of the Flemings from England in 1303, he gained the support of a major naval power in the North Sea. The development of naval power allowed Robert to successfully defeat English attempts to capture him in the Highlands and Islands and to blockade major English controlled fortresses at Perth and Stirling, the last forcing Edward II to attempt the relief that resulted in English defeat at Bannockburn in 1314. Scottish naval forces allowed invasions of the Isle of Man in 1313 and 1317 and Ireland in 1315. They were also crucial in the blockade of Berwick, which led to its fall in 1318. After the establishment of Scottish independence, Robert I turned his attention to building up a Scottish naval capacity. This was largely focused on the west coast, with the Exchequer Rolls of 1326 recording the feudal duties of his vassals in that region to aid him with their vessels and crews. Towards the end of his reign he supervised the building of at least one royal man-of-war near his palace at Cardross on the River Clyde. In the late fourteenth century naval warfare with England was conducted largely by hired Scots, Flemish and French merchantmen and privateers. James I took a greater interest in naval power. After his return to Scotland in 1424, he established a shipbuilding yard at Leith, a house for marine stores, and a workshop. King's ships were built and equipped there to be used for trade as well as war, one of which accompanied him on his expedition to the Islands in 1429. The office of Lord High Admiral was probably founded in this period. In his struggles with his nobles in 1488 James III received assistance from his two warships the Flower and the King's Carvel also known as the Yellow Carvel.
There were various attempts to create royal naval forces in the fifteenth century. James IV put the enterprise on a new footing, founding a harbour at Newhaven and a dockyard at the Pools of Airth. He acquired a total of 38 ships including the Great Michael, at that time, the largest ship in Europe. Scottish ships had some success against privateers, accompanied the king on his expeditions in the islands and intervened in conflicts in Scandinavia and the Baltic, but were sold after the Flodden campaign and after 1516 Scottish naval efforts would rely on privateering captains and hired merchantmen. James V did not share his father's interest in developing a navy and shipbuilding fell behind that of the Low Countries. Despite truces between England and Scotland there were periodic outbreaks of a guerre de course. James V built a new harbour at Burntisland in 1542. The chief use of naval power in his reign was a series of expeditions to the Isles and France. After the Union of Crowns in 1603 conflict between Scotland and England ended, but Scotland found itself involved in England's foreign policy, opening up Scottish shipping to attack. In 1626 a squadron of three ships was bought and equipped. There were also several marque fleets of privateers. In 1627, the Royal Scots Navy and accompanying contingents of burgh privateers participated in the major expedition to Biscay. The Scots also returned to the West Indies and in 1629 took part in the capture of Quebec.
Cruinn-eòlas
Its east Atlantic position means that Scotland has very heavy rainfall: today about 700 mm per year in the east and over 1,000 mm in the west. This encouraged the spread of blanket peat bog, the acidity of which, combined with high level of wind and salt spray, made most of the islands treeless. The existence of hills, mountains, quicksands and marshes made internal communication and conquest extremely difficult and may have contributed to the fragmented nature of political power. The Uplands and Highlands had a relatively short growing season, in the extreme case of the upper Grampians an ice free season of four months or less and for much of the Highlands and Uplands of seven months or less. The early modern era also saw the impact of the Little Ice Age, with 1564 seeing thirty-three days of continual frost, where rivers and lochs froze, leading to a series of subsistence crises until the 1690s.
Creideamh
In the Norman period the Scottish church underwent a series of reforms and transformations. With royal and lay patronage, a clearer parochial structure based around local churches was developed. Large numbers of new foundations, which followed continental forms of reformed monasticism, began to predominate and the Scottish church established its independence from England, developed a clearer diocesan structure, becoming a "special daughter of the see of Rome", but lacking leadership in the form of Archbishops. In the late Middle Ages the problems of schism in the Catholic Church allowed the Scottish Crown to gain greater influence over senior appointments and two archbishoprics had been established by the end of the fifteenth century. While some historians have discerned a decline of monasticism in the late Middle Ages, the mendicant orders of friars grew, particularly in the expanding burghs, to meet the spiritual needs of the population. New saints and cults of devotion also proliferated. Despite problems over the number and quality of clergy after the Black Death in the fourteenth century, and some evidence of heresy in this period, the Church in Scotland remained relatively stable before the sixteenth century.
Foghlam
The humanist concern with widening education was shared by the Protestant reformers, with a desire for a godly people replacing the aim of having educated citizens. In 1560, the First Book of Discipline set out a plan for a school in every parish, but this proved financially impossible. In the burghs the old schools were maintained, with the song schools and a number of new foundations becoming reformed grammar schools or ordinary parish schools. Schools were supported by a combination of kirk funds, contributions from local heritors or burgh councils and parents that could pay. They were inspected by kirk sessions, who checked for the quality of teaching and doctrinal purity. There were also large number of unregulated "adventure schools", which sometimes fulfilled a local needs and sometimes took pupils away from the official schools. Outside of the established burgh schools, masters often combined their position with other employment, particularly minor posts within the kirk, such as clerk. At their best, the curriculum included catechism, Latin, French, Classical literature and sports.
Sluagh
Eadar stèidheachadh Rìoghachd na h-Alba san deicheamh linn gu ruige toiseach na plàighe-duibhe ann an 1349, tha coltas gun do dh'fhàs an sluagh o leth-mhillean gu millean, stèidhichte air rannsachadh meud an fhearainn. Ged nach eil cunntas oifigeach ann mu bhuaidh na plàighe-duibhe, tha iomadh cunntas neo-fhoirmeil a' toirt iomradh air fearann fàs sna deicheadan na dèidh. Ma bha car mun aon bhuaidh aig an tinneas ann an Alba 's a bh' aice ann an Sasainn, bhiodh an sluadh air tuiteam gu leth-mhillean aig deireadh na còigeamh linn deug. Seach mar a ghluais an sluagh rè ùpraidean sluaigh eile, can fuadach nan Gàidheal agus san tionndadh ghnìomhachais, bhiodh an aon bhuaidh aice anns gach sgìre, cha mhòr, a' fàgail mun dàrna leth dhen t-sluagh tuath air Abhainn Tatha. Bha mu thuaiream deich sa cheud dhen t-sluagh a' fuireadh sna buirgh a nochd aig deireadh nam meadhan-aoisean, gu sònraichte san ear is taobh a deas na dùthcha. Bhiodh mu 2,000 de shluagh annta sa mheadhan, ach bhiodh mòran nas lugha na 1,000 agus bha barrachd air 10,000 sa bhorgh as motha, Dùn Èideann, aig deireadh nam meadhan-aoisean ma dh'fhaoidte.
Airgead
A thaobh cuibhreann an airgid, bha na buinn a chleachdadh ann an Alba tràth cha mhòr co-ionnann ris an fheadhainn a bhathar a' cleachdadh ann an Sasainn ach a-mach o 1300, chaidh cuibhreann an airgid sìos nas luaithe na ann an Sasainn. Eadar 1300 agus 1603, chaill iad mu 12 sa cheud gach deich bliadhna, trì uiread na chailleadh ann an Sasainn. Cha robh san sgillinn Albannach ach meatailt neo-uasal a-mach on bhliadhna 1484 agus cha robh sgeul air mar bhonn fa leth a-mach o 1513 mu thuaiream. Thoirmisg riaghaltas Shasainn ruith nam bonn Albannach ann an 1423. Chaidh luach a' Phuinnd Albannaich a shocrachadh aig dà dheugamh dhen phunnd Sasannach aig am aonadh an dà chrùn ann an 1603. Ghabh Pàrlamaid na h-Alba ri achd ann an 1695 a stèidhich Banca na h-Alba. Chuir am banca a-mach notaichean a-mach o 1704 de luach £12 Albannach ach chuireadh às dhan airgead Albannach ann an Achd an Aonaidh agus chaidh na buinn Albannach a thogail à ruith agus ath-bhualadh mar bhuinn Shasannach.
Cruinn-eòlas
A-rèir crìochan na h-Alba ann an 1707, bha Rìoghachd na h-Alba mu leth-mheud Shasainn is na Cuimrigh còmhla a thaobh meud na talmhainn ach leis a' phailteas de dh'eileanan, lochan-mara is geodhan, tha cladach na h-Alba mu thuaiream dhen aon fhaid, mu 4,000 mìle. Tha barrachd air 790 eilean-mara ann an Alba, a' mhòrchuid dhiubh ann an ceithir buidhnean mòra: Eileanan Shealtainn, Eileanan Arcaibh, na h-Eileanan Siar agus na h-Eileanan A-staigh. Chan eil ach a' chòigeamh phàirt de dh'Alba nas ìsle na 60m os cionn ìre na mara. 'S e an sgaradh mòr ann an Alba a' chrìoch eadar an talamh àrd 's na h-eileanan, a' Ghàidhealtachd agus na h-Eileanan, ann an taobh an iar is a tuath na dùthcha agus an talamh ìseal ann an taobh an ear agus a tuath na dùthcha, a' Ghalldachd. Tha an Gleann Mòr an uairsin a' sgaradh na Gàidhealtachd ann an dà leth, Iar-thuath na Gàidhealtachd agus Roinn nam Monadh Liath. A thaobh na Galldachd, tha talamh torrachd Meadhan na Galldachd air a sgaradh o thalamh àrd a' Mhonaidh a Deas a tha a' gabhail a-staigh Monadh Cheviot far an robh a' chrìoch eadar Alba agus Sasainn roimhe. Tha bann Meadhan na Galldachd mu 50 mìle a leud sa chuibheas agus, a chionn 's gur ann an-seo a tha a' chuid as motha de dh'fhearann torrach na dùthcha agus deagh cheanglaichean còmhdhalach, 's ann an-seo far an deach Alba a bhailteachadh agus far an deach na riaghaltasan a stèidheachadh. Cha robh agus chan eil fearann a' Mhonaidh a Deas agus na Gàidhealtachd buileach cho torrach agus aig amannan, cha robh smachd ro mhòr aig an riaghaltas sna ceàrnaidhean seo.