Scotland - The history

The original inhabitants of Scotland were the Picts and the Scots- the picts were people of Celtic origin, and the scot came from Ireland. The Picts and the scots defended Scotland against the Romans. In 120 AD the Roman Emperor Hadrian built a wall between England and Scotland to keep the Scottish out. Hadrian’s Wall can still be seen today, and it is a major tourist attraction. Scotland was converted to Christianity in the sixth century by missionaries from Ireland. In the ninth century Scotland was united under the same king for the first time, as the country struggled to fight off invasions from the vikings. By the tenth century the Scottish had successfully repulsed the vikings, and so the themselves began to attack Northumbria, but wothout much success. Then the scottish King Malcolm II Mackenneth defeated the Northumbria in 1018. His grandson became his successor as Ducan I. This is the king Ducan of Shakespear’s play. His reign was not peaceful and in 1040Ducan was killed by his general, Macbeth. Macbeth ruled until 1057, when he was defeated by Ducan’s son Malcom III Cammore. Malcolm had spent many years in exile in England, and he eventually married an English princess. This further increased the influence of England on Scotland.
The English King Edward I defeated Scotland in the thirteenth century, and he seemed to have defeated the country. In 1314, however, the Scots rebelled against the English, and their leader, Robert Bruce, defeated the English army at teh Battle of Bannockburn. After this battle England and Scotland remained separated countries for nearly three hundred years.