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steps and various formations. The bulk of the book, however, is
given over to descriptions of various popular dances, both RSCDS
and others. It is perhaps unfortunate that the publishers have
picked up the illustrations used for the  Miscellanies showing the
ladies in long white dresses and sashes - not exactly typical of
SCD in the 1990s.

The dance instructions include about 50 popular RSCDS dances; 30
others such as The Bees and Mairi's Wedding and some fun ballroom
type dances like The Palais Glide,  not normally on an SCD
programme and some of which I havent seen done for many a year -
but none the worse for that. I was very interested to see both the
RSCDS and the "County" versions of the Foursome Reel are given in
some considerable detail: time for a revival? Less fortunate in my
view is that the only Strip the Willow is the 40 bar Society
version which is not the one actually danced. Any criticisms are
minor though: overall this is a very useful book and an excellent
buy for any inexperienced dancer.

It has just been announced that the book is one of those chosen for
the Scottish Book Fortnight and various promotional activities for
the book (and by association for SCD) will be taking place around
the country at the end of October. Keep an eye on the local press
for details.

The book is available in book stores for GBP 5.99. RSCDS members
can get a reduction to 5 pounds 9p through HQ.

Book information
----------------
Get more information on the books listed here
via our books page in association with Amazon.
http://www.siliconglen.com/Scotland/books/amazon.html#[10.4]


[10.5] Scottish Highland Dancing

See the end of this article for details of a mailing list covering
step dance and highland dance

contributed by Nancy Burge mailto:nancy.burge@pobox.com
with amendments from
Anselm Lingnau mailto:lingnau@tm.informatik.uni-frankfurt.de

Highland Dancing
================

Introduction
------------
Scottish Highland dancing is one of the oldest forms of folk dance,
and both modern ballet and square dancing can trace their roots back to
the Highlands. Dating back to the 11th or 12th century, the Highland Dances
of Scotland tended to be highly athletic male celebratory dances of triumph
or joy, or warrior dances performed over swords and spiked shield.
According to tradition, the old kings and chiefs of Scotland used the
Highland Games as a way of choosing the best men for their retinue and
men at arms. Highland dancing was one of the various ways men were tested
for strength, stamina, accuracy, and agility. The Scottish military
regiments used to use Highland dancing as a form of training to develop
stamina and agility, but this has become less common these days.
Competitive Highland dancing started during the Highland revival of
Victorian Britain, and was for men only. Ladies began competing
only at the turn of the century. Over the centuries the dancing
style has become more refined and now shares many elements from
classical ballet. Although historically Highland dancing was restricted
to men, today it is mostly performed by females. No matter who dances
them, Highland dances require both athletic and artistic skill.

The Highland dances
===================

The Highland Fling
------------------
This is the oldest of the traditional dances of Scotland and is a dance
of joy performed at the end of a victorious battle. It was danced by
male warriors over a small round shield, called a Targe, that the
warriors carried into battle. Most Targes had a sharp spike of steel
projecting from the centre, so dancers learned early to move with
great skill and dexterity. The Highland Fling is danced on the spot,
and is said to be based on the antics of a stag on a hillside; the
grouped fingers and upheld arms representing the antlers.

I would be interested to see anybody do a Highland Fling on a targe with a
spike without impaling himself. Presumably the toe-and-heel step would be very
interesting to watch. Hopefully there will be a doctor at hand.

The Sword Dance (Gillie Challum)
--------------------------------
It is probable that the tune, _Gillie_Callum_, dates back to the days of
Malcolm Canmore (Shakespeare's MacBeth). The earliest references to the
*dance* are from the 19th century, and it is unlikely that it is very
much older.

One story is that this was a dance of victory, as the King danced over
his bloody claymore (the two-handed broadsword of Scotland) and the even
bloodier head  of his enemy. Some say that no severed head was used and
that the King danced over his own sword crossed over the sword of his enemy.
Another story is that the Sword Dance was danced prior to a battle.
To kick the swords was considered a bad omen for the impending battle,
and the soldier would expect to be wounded. If many of the soldiers
kicked their swords the chieftain of the clan would expect to lose
the battle.


The Seann Triubhas
------------------
Pronounced "shawn trews", this Gaelic phrase means "old trousers".
This dance is reputed to date from the rebellion of 1745 when Bonnie
Prince Charlie challenged the might of England at Culloden, and lost.
As a penalty, Highlanders were forbidden to wear the kilt. Seann
Triubhas is a dance of celebration developed in response to the
Proscription Repeal which restored to the Scots the right to wear their
kilts and play the bagpipes once more. The movements of this dance
clearly depict the legs defiantly shaking and shedding the hated
trousers and returning to the freedom of the kilt. Some of the steps
originate from hard shoe dancing.

It is likely that the kicking-off-of-the-trousers bit was retro-fitted to the
dance much like the bloody-swords-and-head thing with the Sword Dance. The
Seann Triubhas arrived at its present form in the early 20th century, and an
itinerant dance teacher from the 1890s is on record as having invented the
first step of the Seann Triubhas. See Flett & Flett. -- It does not
come as a big surprise that some of the steps in the Seann Triubhas
'come from hard shoe dancing', since that is what people would have
worn for dancing in the old days, anyway (if they wore anything). Before
the RSCDS, the modern ghillie pumps were only used by competing Highland
dancers at Games, and even now there is a certain renaissance of the
hard shoe; only a few years ago even the RSCDS put out a newsletter urging
teachers to teach the steps in a way so that they can be danced in hard shoes.
(Personally, I do prefer the ghillies for SCD, having tried both --
there is much better control.)

Strathspey and Highland Reel and Strathspey and Half Tulloch
The Strathspey and Reel and the Strathspey and Half Tulloch are
performed by four dancers. The Strathspey is never danced on its own
in competition but must be followed by the Reel. These dances
illustrate the "set" and "travel" steps which are common in Scottish
social dancing.

Dress
=====
In Highland dancing competitions, female dancers wear a velvet jacket
with gold or silver braid edging and gold or silver buttons, over a
white shirt with lace ruffles at the neck. They wear a kilt and tartan
hose, and black laced gillies, or dancing shoes. Men wear the kilt
and sporran, with a jacket and bonnet, with tartan hose with a
sgian dhubh. For the National dances either a national costume is
worn, or the costume appropriate to the dance such as the hornpipe
costume, or the Irish Jig costume, which is worn with jig shoes.
The national costume consists of a tartan style gathered skirt, a
velvet jacket of a different style, laced up the front with silver
laces and decorated with silver buttons. There is a plaid which is
attached at the waistband at the back, and then comes up and over the
right shoulder and is fastened with a brooch onto the shoulder of
the jacket. Men wear the kilt and sporran, with a jacket and bonnet,
with tartan hose with a sgian dhubh. They can wear tartan trews or
Highland dress for national dances, and the hornpipe outfit, and a
male version of the Irish Jig costume.

The National Dances
===================

The Flora McDonald's Fancy
--------------------------
This is said to be the last dance Flora McDonald danced for Bonnie
Prince Charlie before he fled overseas, but is more likely to be a
dance named in her honour. Flora McDonald helped the prince escape
from North Uist to Skye disguised as her maid. She emigrated to
America but returned home to Skye later in life.


The Sailor's Hornpipe
---------------------
The Sailor's Hornpipe is a caricature dance developed from the
traditional English version. It has become more popular in Scotland
than in England and is regularly featured in Highland Games. The
movements in this dance  portray actions used in the daily work
routines of a sailor's life, such as pulling ropes, climbing the
rigging, and looking out to sea. A costume like a sailor's uniform is
worn by both male and female dancers.


The Irish Jig
-------------
The Scottish Version of the Irish Jig is another caricature dance
depicting an Irish washerwoman who is angry with her erring husband.
The costume worn for this dance is either a red or emerald green skirt
and bodice and a full white petticoat, with a white blouse, with a
white apron. Red or green jig shoes are worn and there is much
stamping and facial grimacing in this dance. In the male version,
the dancer wears a red or green tailcoat with a waistcoat of the
opposite colour, brown knee britches of corduroy, with a paddy hat
and he carries a shillelagh, which is a club made from the forked
branch of a tree.


Scottish Lilt
-------------
The original tunes for the Lilt are 'Drops of Brandy' (if you happen to
have danced the RSCDS version of the popular ceilidh dance, Strip the
Willow, which is a 9/8 running step, you may have heard the tune; it is also
sometimes played at sessions) and 'Brose and Butter' (for the folkies, this
is the tune used for the song, 'Tak it, Man, Tak it', on the Dublin Lady
album by Andy M. Stewart and Manus Lunny). I do the Scottish Lilt either to
the Battle of the Somme (which is also a 9/8 tune) or to the original tunes
-- I have a very nice recording of them played on the clarsach and bodhran
with duet singing which is suitable for 8 steps of the Lilt, but I don't
know where that tape originally came from :^( The difference in feeling
isn't very pronounced but I do prefer the originals.

There are a number of other National dances, which include "The Earl of
Errol", "Hielan' Laddie", and "Wilt thou go to the Barracks, Johnny?". They
reflect the difficulty of trying to elucidate the history of the dances. The
Earl of Errol was originally a hard shoe dance, from the Aberdeenshire area,
which was collected by Isobel Cramb, recorded on the Hill manuscript yet
there are two different versions. The Scottish Lilt is claimed by
both the Hebrides and Perthshire. It was probably very different
when danced to its original 9/8 jig tune but nowadays it is danced
to a tune called "The Battle of the Somme" which dates from the
First World War. The tune is a retreat and has a completely different
speed and rhythm. There are several different tunes called
"Hielan' Laddie", and different dances to each tune so who knows
which is the original? "Wilt thou go to the barracks, Johnny?" is
a recruiting song and "the barracks" is probably a corruption of
"Berwick", although there was a barracks there.

Many of the National Dances, for example, 'Blue Bonnets' and 'Hielan Laddie'
were actually devised in the late 19th century by a chap called Ewan
MacLachlan, who studied the ballet in France before returning to his native,
I think, Benbecula (at any rate, somewhere in the Outer Hebrides). Some of
them are really quite balletic but do retain their Scottish flavour.

Incidentally, there are new Highland-style dances being devised all the
time (similar to what happens in country dancing). To the SOBHD purists,
the only Highland dances are the Fling, the Sword Dance, the Seann Triubhas
and the Foursome, of course, but there are many dances that were danced
in the Highlands which have become lost or which are very seldom danced
if at all.

IMHO there is also a world of difference between competitive Highland
dancing and the Highland dancing 'for enjoyment' that is done by folks like
me who are too old, sloppy and lazy to compete. From watching dancers
at games, I feel that all the standardisation that's going on is taking
the character of the individual dances away. I've seen 'champions' do the
Lilt, which is a rather soft and relaxed dance, and they would try to jump
twice their own height and do the kind of weapon-grade-steel high cuts one
would tend to expect in, say, the Sword Dance. Sigh. Call it 'sour grapes'.

Competition Dancing
-------------------
Many Highland Games and Highland Dance Competitions are now run
according to the Scottish Official Board of Highland Dancing (SOBHD)
style of dance. The SOBHD was set up in 1950 and its aims were to
stabilise the technique of Highland Dancing (which also includes
the National dances of Scotland), to formulate laws and regulations
covering every aspect of the art and to further the interests of
Highland dancing. Prior to the advent of the SOBHD, dancers
competing at the various games throughout Scotland had to vary
their style and alter their steps according to the district they
were competing in, or to suit the known stylistic preferences
of the judges.

The address is:-

Scottish Official Board of Highland Dancing,
32 Grange Loan,
Edinburgh,
EH9 2NR. Scotland
phone: 0131 668 3965
fax: 0131 662 0404

Dancers compete in one of five groups: Primary (under 7 years old),
Beginners, Novice, Intermediate, and finally Premier. There are
age classifications in each group, so each dancer will be competing
not only in their age group but also against dancers of a similar standard.
Dancers are judged on three basic areas: timing, technique and
general deportment. Timing is the ability to follow the rhythm of the
music in the dance. Technique is primarily the footwork, and
co-ordination with head, arm and hand movements. The positioning of
the feet is of great importance as however graceful or agile the
dancer, it is the neatness and accuracy of the foot positions that
give the dances their essential character.

The interpretation and the ability to capture the spirit of the dance
are also important as are balance, general appearance and bearing,
as well as carriage of the head, arms, body and hands. Although the
dances are very strenuous, they must be danced gracefully with
apparent ease. Music at competitions is usually played by a piper but
may be played on the accordion.

There are many books, records, CDs and videos available, about
Highland dancing and one supplier is the Scottish National Dance Co,
whose address is
http://www.i-way.co.uk/~kelpi/
They have world wide contacts and if you want to find a teacher or
group to learn with, the Scottish National Dance Co would be a good
place to start.

The Highland-Dance mailing list is a forum for the discussion of all
aspects of Highland and other forms of scottish step dancing, e.g., dance
descriptions, dancing technique, the history of dances and dancing,
learning or teaching how to dance, ... We also welcome descriptions of new
dances, announcements of events like courses or competitions, or anything
the subscribers might find interesting.

The mailing list is unmoderated, i.e. everything that is submitted is
forwarded directly to the subscribers of the list.

Articles to be submitted should be sent to

        mailto:highland-dance@tardis.ed.ac.uk

To subscribe to the list, send mail to

        mailto:majordomo@tardis.ed.ac.uk

with

        subscribe highland-dance

in the body of the message. To unsubscribe, send a message containing

        unsubscribe highland-dance your.address@your.domain

To retrieve this message again, include a line saying

        info

in the body of your message.

For any other queries, please send mail to

        mailto:owner-highland-dance@tardis.ed.ac.uk

We look forward to hearing from you.

Disclaimer: This mailing list and its maintainer are in no way officially
connected with the Scottish Official Board of Highland Dancing. They can
be contacted at the address mentioned earlier in this article.


[10.6] Books on Scottish dancing

There is an extensive bibliography on country dancing on the Strathspey
server at
http://www.strathspey.org/

The best book I've seen on Scottish dancing is _A Social History of
Scottish Dance_ (George S. Emmerson, 1972; published by McGill). It
covers everything from the earliest times to the present. It is a superb
synthesis of the social history of Scotland with dance as its centre. The
chapters on the Scotch Reel, Jig, Hornpipe, and Folk Jigs are particularly
good.

Book information
----------------
Get more information on the books listed here
via our books page in association with Amazon.
http://www.siliconglen.com/Scotland/books/amazon.html#[10.6]


[11.1] How do I trace my Scottish ancestry?

Ancestral Scotland
------------------
http://www.ancestralscotland.com/

General Register Office (GRO)
=============================
All the records for births, marriages and deaths in Scotland are held at

New Register House
West Register Street
Edinburgh
EH1 3YY
Tel: 0131 334 0380
Fax: 0131 314 4400
http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/

Scotland's People
=================
http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/

This is an online pay-per-view database of indexes from the
genealogical records of the GRO(s). It costs 6 pounds for 30 page
credits. Each page consists of a maximum of 15 search results. Further
credits can be bought in 30 page increments for a further 6 pound
charge each time.

There is a link to online rates of exchange http://www.oanda.com/cgi-bin/ncc,
although these are provided as a guide only and charges will be made at the
exchange rate current at the time of the actual payment processing.

About the index
---------------
The database contains fully searchable indexes of the GRO(S)
index to births/baptisms and banns/marriages from the Old Parish
Registers dating from 1553 to 1854, plus the indexes to births, deaths and
marriages from 1855 to 100 years ago. One additional year will be added
per annum to protect the privacy of living persons.

Searching is possible on the following fields:

Surname
Event type (birth/christening, marriage, death)
Sex
Forename (or first initial)
Year of registration (or range of years)
Age (or age range) - deaths only
Registration District (Statutory Index)
County (Old Parish Register)

Searching is also possible on other names which are mentioned within a
particular record. This includes spouse's name, father's name, mother's
name and mother's maiden surname, depending on the entry.

Current data includes

Births & Christenings (1553-1901) Old Parish Register Index & Statutory
Register Index. Marriages (1553-1901) Old Parish Register Index &
Statutory Register Index. Death records (1855-1926) Statutory
Register Index  1881 Census. 1891 Census + images. 1901 Census +
images. So if you are looking for the 1901 Census data for Scotland,
this is your place!


Extract Ordering
----------------
An extract is a transcription of all the information held as an
entry in the original records held by GRO(S). Entries themselves
often contain additional information that is not held within the
indexes and can be of historical interest.

Extracts of the original entries in the GRO(S) records can be
ordered directly from the database. Extract orders are processed
by GRO(S) and sent via ordinary mail as paper documents. The cost of
each extract is 10 pounds.

Extracts of entries not accessible via the online database (that is
those which are less than one hundred years old) can be ordered
directly from the GRO(S) website by printing off a form and either
faxing or mailing it.

For further details about the GRO(S), visit their website.
http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/

Manual searches or searches by post
-----------------------------------
If you use New Register House you have to know what you want because it is
a bit bureaucratic and you have to order each item individually and one at
a time. So it is tedious work, but naturally rewarding. The censuses only
started in the 1800s so it is very difficult to track back earlier. Other
records at Register House permit further research. In particular a computer
driven search of parish rolls (sometimes called registers) can be very
productive, very quickly.

I wrote to New Register House six months ago for birth certificates.
They do a very efficient postal service. I think I paid 12 pounds an item.
They will send you the details.

Western Isles
=============
If your ancestors are from the Western Isles, there is a service
there run by Bill Lawson in Harris called "Co leis thu" which may
turn up information not at New Register House.
http://www.seallam.com/

Address:
An Seann taigh-sgoile, An Taobh Tuath, Na Hearadh, HS3 3JA Scotland
Phone: 01859 520258

There is a book published by HMSO (Her Majesty's Stationery Office)
called "Tracing your Scottish Ancestry".

"Surnames of Scotland" by Black gives the general history of surnames,
together with spelling variations and the earliest occurrences in
written texts.

Another useful address or two:
Scottish Ancestry Research Society
296 Albany Street, Edinburgh
Tel 0131 556 4220

Scottish Genealogical Society
15 Victoria Terrace,
Edinburgh EH1
Tel 0131 220 3677

Further Information
===================
There is a newsgroup news:soc.genealogy.britain which may also be of use.
If you don't find what you want there, also try the more general newsgroup
news:soc.genealogy.misc

Scottish sites
--------------
http://www.scotroots.com/
http://www.scottish-roots.co.uk/

Scottish Genealogy information
http://www.rootsweb.com/~genclass/205/gen205.htm
includes some interesting components such as a linkable outline of
Scottish history at
http://www.rootsweb.com/~genclass/205/gen205_2.htm

the Scotland GenUKI pages at:
http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/sct/

GENUKI includes a beginners guide, and general information  on all
sorts of subjects, including such items as the location of parishes,
obsolete occupations, the addresses of local Family History Societies,
archives, libraries and other useful institutions, and surveys of
which records have survived - and where they can be found. There is a
section for each country, and this is then sub-divided into its
assorted parishes. Most counties now have associated surname-interest
lists. On the GENUK site is an introduction to Scottish Family History
http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/sct/intro.html

People looking for Genuki should only use this URL
http://www.genuki.org.uk/

This lists several other books and gives a description of using both
New Register House and the Scottish Record office.

Scottish Genealogy Consultants
http://www.web-ecosse.com/genes/  (Gordon Johnson)
and also Carole Wilson mailto:sfs@cwsoft.demon.co.uk

http://www.impressions.uk.com/ - Clan and Family name information

Scottish Family Search is here to help you locate your Scottish ancestors.
SFS provides a quality service for all kinds of family research. Whether
your ancestors came from Scotland in recent times or in the past then we
can help trace them.
http://www.lineages.co.uk/

Genealogy FAQ
-------------
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/RJWinters/gene-faq.htm

Scottish Family Research
------------------------
Scottish Family Research is a professional genealogical service agency
based in Edinburgh.

Scottish Family Research can be found at
http://www.familyresearch.org.uk/

The Statistical Accounts of Scotland
------------------------------------
http://edina.ed.ac.uk/StatAcc/

The two Statistical Accounts of Scotland, covering the 1790s
and the 1830s, are among the best contemporary reports of life
during the agricultural and industrial revolutions in Europe.
Learn more about the area in which you or your ancestors have lived,
or use this key source to study the emergence of the modern British
State and the economic and social impact of the world's first
industrial nation.

Based largely on information supplied by each parish church
minister, the old (first) Statistical Account and the New (second)
Statistical Account provide a rich record of a wide variety of
topics: wealth, class and poverty; climate, agriculture, fishing and
wildlife; population, schools, and the moral health of the people.

General sites
-------------
http://awt.ancestry.com/
http://www.genealogy.com/
http://www.familysearch.org/
http://www.scottishdocuments.com/ (Search for Scottish wills)

Book information
----------------
Get more information on the books listed here
via our books page in association with Amazon.
http://www.siliconglen.com/Scotland/books/amazon.html#[11.11]


[11.2] Scottish Monarchs

Kenneth I MacAlpin              843 -  858
Donald I                        858 -  862
Constantine I                   862 -  877
Aed                             877 -  878
Eochaid                         878 -  889
Donald II                       889 -  900
Constantine II                  900 -  943
Malcolm I                       943 -  954
Indulf                          954 -  962
Dubh                            962 -  966
Culen                           966 -  971
Kenneth II                      971 -  995
Constantine III                 995 -  997
Kenneth III                     997  - 1005
Malcolm II                      1005 - 1034
Duncan I                        1034 - 1040
Macbeth                         1040 - 1057
Lulach                          1057 - 1058
Malcolm III Canmore             1058 - 1093
Donald Ban                      1093 - 1094
Duncan II                       1094 - 1094
Donald Ban (again)              1094 - 1097
Edgar                           1097 - 1107
Alexander I                     1107 - 1124
David I                         1124 - 1153
Malcolm IV                              1153 - 1165
William I 'The Lion'            1165 - 1214
Alexander II                    1214 - 1249
Alexander III                   1249 - 1286
Margaret, Maid of Norway      1286 - 1290
John Balliol                    1292 - 1296
Robert Bruce (Robert I)         1306 - 1329
David II                        1329 - 1371
Robert II (the Stewart)         1371 - 1390
Robert III                      1390 - 1406
James I                         1406 - 1437
James II                                1437 - 1460
James III                               1460 - 1488
James IV                                1488 - 1513
James V                         1513 - 1542
Mary (I)                                1542 - 1567
James VI                                1567 - 1625
Charles I                               1625 - 1649
Charles II                              1649 - 1685
James VII (II of England)       1685 - 1688
William 'III' & Mary II         1689 - 1694
William 'III'                   1694 - 1702
Anne                                    1702 - 1714
George I                                1714 - 1727
George II                               1727 - 1760
George III                              1760 - 1820
George IV                               1820 - 1829
William 'IV'                    1829 - 1837
Victoria                                1837 - 1901
Edward 'VII'                    1901 - 1910
George V                                1910 - 1936
Edward 'VIII'                   1936
George VI                               1936 - 1952
Elizabeth 'II'                  1952 -


The Scottish Monarchy merged with the English Monarchy in 1603 when
James VI of Scotland became James I of England and VI of Scotland.
After James VII and II the Scottish numbering system was ignored in
favour of the English one (William III and not William III & II). The
current practice is now to use the higher of the Scottish and English
numbering systems to derive the next in the sequence.


[11.3] Declaration of Arbroath

The Declaration of Arbroath (English Translation)
Source: Charles Macgregor
mailto:chic.m@zetnet.co.uk

To the most Holy Father and Lord in Christ, the Lord John, by divine
providence Supreme Pontiff of the Holy Roman and Universal Church, his
humble and devout sons Duncan, Earl of Fife, Thomas Randolph, Earl of
Moray, Lord of Man and of Annandale, Patrick Dunbar, Earl of March,
Malise, Earl of Strathearn, Malcolm, Earl of Lennox, William, Earl of
Ross, Magnus, Earl of Caithness and Orkney, and William, Earl of
Sutherland; Walter, Steward of Scotland, William Soules, Butler of
Scotland, James, Lord of Douglas, Roger Mowbray, David, Lord of
Brechin, David Graham, Ingram Umfraville, John Menteith, guardian of
the earldom of Menteith, Alexander Fraser, Gilbert Hay, Constable of
Scotland, Robert Keith, Marischal of  Scotland, Henry St Clair, John
Graham, David Lindsay, William Oliphant, Patrick Graham, John Fenton,
William Abernethy, David Wemyss, William Mushet, Fergus of Ardrossan,
Eustace Maxwell, William Ramsay, William Mowat, Alan Murray, Donald
Campbell, John Cameron, Reginald Cheyne, Alexander Seton, Andrew
Leslie, and Alexander Straiton, and the other barons and freeholders
and the whole community of the realm of Scotland send all manner of
filial reverence, with devout kisses of his blessed feet.

Most Holy Father and Lord, we know and from the chronicles and books of
the ancients we find that among other famous nations our own, the
Scots, has been graced with widespread renown. They journeyed from
Greater Scythia by way of the Tyrrhenian Sea and the Pillars of
Hercules, and dwelt for a long course of time in Spain among the most
savage tribes, but nowhere could they be subdued by any race, however
barbarous. Thence they came, twelve hundred years after the people of
Israel crossed the Red Sea, to their home in the west where they still
live today. The Britons they first drove out, the Picts they utterly
destroyed, and, even though very often assailed by the Norwegians, the
Danes and the English, they took possession of that home with many
victories and untold efforts; and, as the historians of old time bear
witness, they have held it free of all bondage ever since. In their
kingdom there have reigned one hundred and thirteen kings of their own
royal stock, the line unbroken a single foreigner. The high qualities
and deserts of these people, were they not otherwise manifest, gain
glory enough from this: that the King of kings and Lord of lords, our
Lord Jesus Christ, after His Passion and Resurrection, called them,
even though settled in the uttermost parts of the earth, almost the
first to His most holy faith. Nor would He have them confirmed in that
faith by merely anyone but by the first of His Apostles -- by calling,
though second or third in rank -- the most gentle Saint Andrew, the
Blessed Peter's brother, and desired him to keep them under his
protection as their patron forever.

The Most Holy Fathers your predecessors gave careful heed to these
things and bestowed many favours and numerous privileges on this same
kingdom and people, as being the special charge of the Blessed Peter's
brother. Thus our nation under their protection did indeed live in
freedom and peace up to the time when that mighty prince the King of
the English, Edward, the father of the one who reigns today, when our
kingdom had no head and our people harboured no malice or treachery and
were then unused to wars or invasions, came in the guise of a friend
and ally to harass them as an enemy. The deeds of cruelty, massacre,
violence, pillage, arson, imprisoning prelates, burning down
monasteries, robbing and killing monks and nuns, and yet other outrages
without number which he committed against our people, sparing neither
age nor sex, religion nor rank, no one could describe nor fully imagine
unless he had seen them with his own eyes.

But from these countless evils we have been set free, by the help of
Him Who though He afflicts yet heals and restores, by our most tireless

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