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Post by dreamy on Nov 21, 2005 7:54:18 GMT 10
FINALLY....a big day indeed.
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Elly
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Post by Elly on Nov 21, 2005 18:12:22 GMT 10
November 17
November 17, 1292 John Balliol acceded to Scottish throne. Following the premature death of Margaret, "the Maid of Norway" and heiress to the Scottish crown, thirteen claimants to the throne had appealed to Edward I to choose which of them should be the next Scottish king. On this date, Edward awarded the crown to John Balliol, as he seemed the easiest man to manipulate. Edward's price for adjudicating was recognition of his overlordship of Scotland. Balliol and the other claimants had agreed to this, but it soon began to cause problems when the scale of the demands became clear. John rebelled and Edward forced him to abdicate. War ensued. Scotland remained without a true king until Robert the Bruce, the grandson of one of Balliol's rival claimants, took the crown in 1306.
November 17, 1823 Lord Erskine, the Lord Chancellor, died. During his lifetime he became Britain's foremost advocate through his defence of people accused of treason and corruption. His defence of Thomas Paine, accused of high treason for his Republican treatise 'The Rights of Man', cost him his position as Attorney General to the Prince of Wales. Later, Erskine totally alientated George IV by defending Queen Caroline against her husband's attempt to deprive her of her rights and title.
November 17, 1855 David Livingstone reached Victoria Falls in Africa.
November 17 ,1858 Robert Owen, Welsh-Scottish industrialist and social reformer, founder of New Lanark community, died.
November 17 1959 Prestwick and Renfrew airports in Scotland became the first in the UK to offer duty free goods for sale.
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Elly
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Post by Elly on Nov 21, 2005 18:13:17 GMT 10
November 18
November 18, 1785 Sir David Wilkie, the Scottish painter, was born. Son of the minister in the parish of Cults in Fife, Wilkie's talent was precocious: the self-portrait opposite was painted when he was only 20, and indeed by the early age of 19 he had produced one of his most famous works, 'Pitlessie Fair'. He sketched the faces of his Fife neighbours during church services to use in this work, and the accuracy of detail of real-life characters was a trait for which Wilkie was renowned. He became one of the most sought-after society portrait painters of his day. His detailed paintings of events mean that his pictures are often used for historic illustrations, most notably his painting of John Knox preaching in the pulpit.
November 18, 1998 Robin Hall, the Scottish folk singer and musician, died. Hall achieved national fame in the sixties along with fellow Scot, Jimmie Macgregor, on the BBC TV show, 'Tonight'. Hits included 'The Mingulay Boat Song' and schoolboy favourite, 'Ye Cannae Shove Yer Grannie Aff a Bus'.
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Elly
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Post by Elly on Nov 21, 2005 18:15:24 GMT 10
November 19
November 19, 1600 King Charles I born.
November 19, 1960 "National Service" which required all fit young men to train in the armed forces, was brought to an end
November 19, 1976 Sir Basil Spence, Scottish architect, died. Basil Spence is arguably the most internationally renowned 20th-century British architect, known principally for his breathtaking work rebuilding Coventry Cathedral. Born in India, he was the son of an Orcadian and was sent home to have his schooling at George Watson's College in Edinburgh. Spence was an eclectic architect whose work ranged from vernacular-styled fisherman's dwellings in Dunbar to opulent traditional country houses to ultra-modern pieces like the Edinburgh University library. He has been compared to Robert Adam by some for his detailed attention to interiors.
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Elly
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Post by Elly on Nov 21, 2005 18:18:16 GMT 10
20 November
1695 James Dalrymple, the 1st Viscount of Stair, Covenanter, professor at Glasgow University and Lord President died. He opposed the Test Acts and fled to Holland, a supporter of William of Orange he is best known for his masterly systematising of Scots Law in his "Institutions of the Law of Scotland", 1681.
1706 A copy of the Articles of the Treaty of Union between Scotland and England was burnt at the Mercat Cross, Dumfries, along with a list of the Commissioners signing for the Union before an audience of many thousands on horse and foot.
1745 Lord George Murray and approximately half the Jacobite army marched south from Carlisle. Prince Charles Edward Stewart followed the next day with the remainder. Dividing the army in two was an attempt to ensure that all man could find adequate nightly quarters.
1776 William Blackwood, the noted Scottish publisher and bookseller was born. He was the founder of the firm of 'William Blackwood & Sons Ltd', and also published the conservative satirical periodical, 'Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine'.
1863 James Bruce, 8th Lord Elgin, the Scottish Liberal statesman and diplomat, died. During his career he served as Governor-General of Canada, 1847-54, and India, 1862-63 and was special envoy to China and Japan. During a visit to China he burnt down the emperor's famous Summer Palace in Beijing, destroying thousands of priceless works of art, in order to intimidate the emperor and force him to sign an unratified treaty.
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Elly
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Post by Elly on Nov 21, 2005 18:20:40 GMT 10
21 November
November 21 1218 -
A Bull of Pope Honorius III affirmed the independence of the Catholic Church in Scotland.
November 21 1673 - King James VII married Mary of Modena.
November 21 1835 - Poet James Hogg, the Ettrick shepherd, died in Ettrick.
November 21 1918 - German battle fleet surrendered to the allies at Scapa Flow in Orkney.
November 21 1958 - Construction began on the Forth Road Bridge.
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Elly
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Post by Elly on Nov 28, 2005 18:00:25 GMT 10
November 22
November 22
November 22, 1515 Mary of Guise, the French Queen Consort of James V, was born. She was an astute and capable stateswoman who was regent of Scotland during the minority reign of her daughter, Mary, Queen of Scots. However, in spite of being a member of the de Guise family, the champions of Roman Catholicism in France during the French wars of religion, she was unable to stop the Scottish Protestant Reformation, which began during her reign.
November 22, 1926 The publication of "A Drunk Man Looks at the Thistle" by Hugh MacDiarmid, Scotland's Greatest Twentieth Century poet. MacDiarmid was the principal character in the forming of the Scottish Renaissance of the inter-war years and a founder member of the National Party of Scotland.
November 22, 1942 Actor Tom Conti born.
November 22, 2001 Jack McConnell elected First Minister of Scotland, succeeding Henry McLeish who had resigned.
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Elly
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Post by Elly on Nov 28, 2005 18:01:24 GMT 10
November 23
November 23
November 23, 1332 Edward Balliol formally acknowledged King Edward III of England as his feudal superior.
November 23, 1844 Thomas Henderson, the famous Scottish astronomer, died. Henderson was the first person to measure the parallax, or distance, of a star (alpha centauri), from the Earth, and from the Sun. Henderson went on to become the first Astronomer Royal of Scotland.
November 23 ,1847 Historian Walter Biggar Blaikie born.
Novemer 23, 1909 On this day in 1909 the historical novelist, Nigel Tranter, was born in Glasgow. Tranter is known as the most prolific Scottish writer of all time, leaving five books written but not yet published at his death. His novels were all based around Scottish history, and many Scots felt that their first introduction to their own history came through these books.
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Elly
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Post by Elly on Nov 28, 2005 18:02:30 GMT 10
November 24
November 24
November 24, 1331 David II (aged 7) crowned at Scone.
November 24, 1542 The Scots army defeated at the Rout of Solway Moss. King James V had sent a huge force of 10,000 men into England which was defeated by an English force under the command of Sir Thomas Wharton. James died shortly afterward, and was succeeded to the throne by his baby daughter, Mary, Queen of Scots.
On November 24, 1572, John Knox, the leading light of the Scottish Reformation, died. Knox had been taught by Calvin in Switzerland and was a fierce champion of Presbyterianism. It was Knox's sermon at St John's Kirk in Perth that set the fire of the Reformation ablaze in Scotland, and also led to the iconoclasm that destroyed much of the nation's artistic heritage.
On 24 November 1996 Sorley MacLean, the noted Scottish poet, died. MacLean is widely regarded as the greatest Gaelic poet of the Twentieth Century, and he is to be credited with giving a new literary standing to a language which at times seemed close to extinction. Works include 'Dain do Eimhir agus Dain Eile' (Poems to Eimhir and Other Poems), a selection of mainly love poems written after MacLean returned from service in North Africa in 1943.
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Elly
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Post by Elly on Nov 28, 2005 18:03:32 GMT 10
November 25, 1681 General Tam Dalyell raises a regiment to suppress Covenanters which later became the Royal Scots Greys.
November 25, 1835 The steel magnate and philanthropist, Andrew Carnegie, was born in Dunfermline. Carnegie's family emigrated to America when he was still a child, and after a succession of jobs working on the burgeoning raliways there, he became convinced that steel would be where his fortune was to be made. Deeply affected by the deaths of striking workers at one of his steel mills, Carnegie became convinced that he should use his wealth for the benefit of others. By the time of his death in 1919 he had given away over 350 million dollars.
November 25, 1853 John Gibson Lockhart, biographer and critic, editor Blackwood's magazine, died. He married Sir Walter Scott's daughter and wrote a 7 volume biography of Scott. Buried Dryburgh Abbey, at the feet of Sir Walter Scott.
November 25, 1897 Helen Duncan, the noted Scottish medium, was born in Callander. In 1944, she became last person in the UK to be tried, convicted and imprisoned under the 1735 Witchcraft Act. While in prison she was visited by Winston Churchill, who repealed this law on his return to power in 1951.
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Elly
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Post by Elly on Nov 28, 2005 18:04:50 GMT 10
November 26
On this day in 1836
John McAdam, the inventor of the "tar macadam" road surface, died. Although born in Ayrshire, McAdam had been a colonist in America, but returned after the American War of Independence, having supported the Crown. As a Deputy-Lieutenant in Ayrshire, he despaired at the condition of the roads, and began experimenting with different methods of road surfacing. He finally settled on a technique of using layers of crushed stone, getting smaller towards the top, which compacted under the weight of vehicles, creating a solid durable road surface.
On this day in 1917
Elsie Inglis
Elsie Inglis, the Scottish nursing pioneer and suffragette, died. Inglis is perhaps best remembered for her role in the First World War, where, convinced that women could play an active role in the conflict, she led volunteer medical units of women who served in France and in Serbia, where Inglis herself was taken prisoner. Winston Churchill wrote that Inglis and her nurses "would shine in history".
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Elly
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Post by Elly on Nov 28, 2005 18:06:00 GMT 10
November 28
On this day in 1786 Robert Burns, on a hired horse, left Mossgiel for his first visit to Edinburgh.
On this day in 1666 Battle of Rullion Green in Galloway, in which the King's army led by Sir Tam Dalyell defeated the Covenanters.
More on Tam Dalyell:
General Tam Dalyell (1599-1685), son of Thomas, was a staunch royalist and fought for Charles II against Cromwell at the Battle of Worcester in 1651. He was captured and imprisoned in the Tower of London from which he escaped and made his way to Russia where he served in the Russian army as a general of the Cossack cavalry. He earned the nickname 'The Muscovite Devil' from his liking for roasting prisoners on a spit. He was later recalled by Charles II at the restoration of the monarchy in 1660 and became commander-in-chief in Scotland from 1666-85, suppressing the Covenanters at Rullion Green in 1666. His opponents accused him of being in league with the Devil. Local legend has it that he often played cards with Satan who usually won. On one occasion Tam won and in a fit of temper the Devil threw the card table at him but missed and the table went out of the window to land in what was known as the Sergeant's Pond. Needless to say, when the pond was drained in 1878 a heavy marble table was found in the mud. The present day descendant of the general is also a Tam Dalyell - a Labour Member of Parliament and a former Trooper in the Royal Scots Greys.
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