The Kings & Queens of Scotland

by Richard Oram

The history of the Scottish monarchy can be presented as a long tale of triumph over adversity, characterized by the personal achievements of its truly remarkable rulers who transformed their fragile kingdom into the master of northern Britain. This volume charts that process, tracing it through the lives of the men and women whose ambitions drove it forward on the often rocky path from its semi-mythical foundations to its integration into the Stewart kingdom of Great Britain. It is a route filled with such towering personalities as Macbeth, Robert the Bruce, and Mary Queen of Scots, whose lives have made an indelible imprint in world history, but directed also by a host of less well-known figures, such as Causantin mac Aeda, who challenged the heirs of Alfred for the mastery of Britain; David I, who extended his kingdom almost to the gates of York; and James IV, builder of the finest navy in northern Europe. Their will and ambition, successes, and failures not only shaped modern Scotland, but have left their mark throughout the British Isles and the wider world.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Scotland, Biography, Royalty

336 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2001

About the author

Professor Richard D. Oram F.S.A. (Scot.) is a Scottish historian. He is a professor of medieval and environmental history at the University of Stirling and an honorary lecturer in history at the University of Aberdeen. He is also the director of the Centre for Environmental History and Policy at the University of Stirling.

He received his undergraduate training at the University of St. Andrews, where he also carried out his doctoral research, on medieval Galloway. In 2000 he published The Lordship of Galloway (Birlinn). He has since written a biography of King David I of Scotland (Tempus, 2004), and the High Medieval volume, volume 3, in the New Edinburgh History of Scotland series, entitled Domination and Lordship: Scotland, 1070-1230 (2011).

Reviews

[Ian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although Richard Oram is listed on GR as the author of this compilation, he is the editor and one of four contributors, the others being Michael Penman, Christine McGladdery and Maureen Meikle. The book is basically a collection of “mini-biographies” of each monarch, with an assessment of their impact.

The early parts of this book provide a general picture of the petty kingdoms that existed in what is now Scotland during the Dark Ages. The kings that are known about are mentioned but information is too sparse for anything more than a few lines on each. The first monarch to get a section in the book to himself is Malcolm III Canmore, who reigned 1058-1093, and the last to be featured is Queen Anne (1702-1714). She was obviously Queen of England as well as of Scots, but I think her reign is a sensible place to stop for two reasons. One is that it was during her reign that Scotland and England merged in 1707, and the other is that she was the last of the Stewart Dynasty, the former rulers of Scotland who had inherited the crown of England as well. The first Hanoverian monarch, George I, was a great-grandson of James VI and I, but via his daughter Elizabeth and granddaughter Sophia. In royal genealogy this didn’t count as the direct Stewart line.

Most of the 12th century kings get little more than a page or two each although David I, (1124-1153) gets about a dozen pages – he was a significant monarch in the country’s history. I liked the entry on Alexander III (1249-1286), who died in a riding accident and whose children all predeceased him. It was the succession crisis that followed that prompted Edward I of England to invade. In my schooldays, Alexander’s reign was portrayed in textbooks as a sort of Golden Age. He kept good relations with England whilst successfully prosecuting a war with Norway that allowed Scotland to recover the Western Isles, which had been ceded to Norway in 1098. Richard Oram provides a measured summary of Alexander’s reign, including the remark that he had a penchant for “clandestine visits to nunneries where his objective was not religious devotion.” (!)

Robert I The Bruce is obviously a stand-out monarch in Scottish history, winning the Wars of Independence against colossal odds. His son David II has been portrayed negatively in Scotland (he had a very hard act to follow) but Michael Penman gives him a reasonably sympathetic assessment. I’ve always found James II (1437 – 1460) an interesting character. He was nicknamed “Fiery Face” as he had a vivid red birthmark down one side of his visage. Medieval people believed this this was an outward sign of a fiery inner personality, and James seems to have done his utmost to live up to this image.

Christine McGladdery’s entries on James IV and James V were notable. James V married Mary of Guise-Lorraine, from one of France’s most powerful families. Henry VIII of England had also bid for her hand, and was furious to have been rejected in favour of James. McGladdery comments wryly of “an element of self-preservation perhaps affecting her choice”. Maureen Meikle gets the task of summarising the tempestuous life and legacy of Mary, Queen of Scots, which I think she does fairly.

One feature of the Scottish monarchy, which I’ve mentioned in other reviews, is that the economic and social circumstances of Scotland never allowed for the development of a strong central government as happened in England. It meant that almost all the Scottish monarchs struggled against a rebellious and over-powerful nobility, as well as being continually threatened by their powerful southern neighbour.

This would be reasonably decent as a reference book to be kept on the bookshelf, although I won’t be able to do that as I borrowed the book from my local library. I suppose I will have this review to fall back on…

[ClareT · Rating 3 out of 5]

Despite living in the UK, I knew virtually nothing about the history of Scotland. I know a bit more now, but perhaps not as much as I had hoped. The book starts with a few chapters about the different 'kingdoms' before there was a unification under one main family / clan - for example the Picts. Then from the 11th Century there are individual chapters for each of the kings and queens (ok, mainly kings). These are often short chapters and follow a similar theme, as history so often repeats itself. Lots of family infighting to gain control of the crown, some killing of each other, maybe a battle, and crown passing between bits of the same family, depending on whether there are any male offspring or not. Then, particularly later in the Stewart line there seem to be a lot of children coming to the throne as their father dies or is killed. The relationships with England and France, and to a lesser extent, Scandinavia are also covered plus whether the king / queen had a lasting impact on Scottish politics.
I still found myself confused about who was who, couldn't really keep up with the various dukes etc and often needed to reference the family trees at the back of the book. It was covering a large time span, so I am not sure what else the author(s) could do.

[Farah Mendlesohn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've put this under Not Work Related which is a bit of a cheat as I got this first to help with writing a book on fiction and the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. But I've returned to it after the book went in and read it cover to cover.

So first, it's not by Richard Oram, it's edited by him. Sections are written also by Christine McGladdery (St. Andrews), Maureen Miekle (Sunderland), and Michael Penman (Stirling) but in order to create a smooth read and market it popularly, the only indication of this is initials at the *end* of each chapter.

Which is unfortunate, because, while up to then the book was pretty good (a straight forward account, no sentiment, a weighing of different historians) the chapters by Maureen Miekle (Mary Queen of Scots right the way through the rest of the Stuarts) are -- and I can't say this strongly enough--a crock of badly written, sentimentalised, biased crap right up there with H. E. Marshall's Scotland's Story: A History of Scotland for Boys and Girls (1906) which I have actually read from the beginning and through the Stuarts.

So my overview is "Good book but stop at chapter 25, James V).

[Keith Johnstone · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting book that provides an overview of the Scottish monarchy, my only criticism is it wasn’t detailed enough with some useful detail missed out but then it would need to be a much larger book or series of books.

[Henk12310 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wel een geinig boek dat een redelijke indruk geeft van de geschiedenis van Schotland en vooral alle koningen die erover geregeerd hebben en hun persoonlijkheid, maar voor de rest wel een beetje simplistisch. Wat meer historische diepgang had dit een beter boek gemaakt

[Eileen · Rating 5 out of 5]

They were a treacherous lot .

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed this book. One of the reviews said it was difficult to recall and keep track of the names and tribes at first, which I would second, but there is no test at the end.
Not sure what my favourite bit was but i don't really enjoy King Charles 1 history although I would now really like to read the Waverley novels.
I found the approach taken by this author made the Stewart Kings quite clear despite political intrigue, so every James, until James VI was characterised and distinguishable, while maintaining continuity.

[Catherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting book, though I still can't remember the dates and order of Scottish kings! Think that may be old age! The copy I read could have done with tighter proof reading as there were quite a few errors of grammar there.