The Scots weren't always so welcoming to strangers. Early inhabitants, the Picts, held would-be conquerors at bay for a very long time - the usually aggressive Romans built Hadrian's Wall to keep the Picts from invading Roman Britain. After the Romans departed, the Scots' stout character was nurtured during a period of fierce interclan rivalries and warfare before they faced an even more intractable foe: the English. In the late 1200s, Edward I of England launched a bloody conquest of Scotland, touching off centuries of animosity occasionally punctuated by warfare. A nationalist army under William
Wallace had considerable success against Edward's army, and Robert the Bruce thoroughly trounced the English forces at Bannockburn in 1306. But it was 1320 before the Scots achieved independence, via a petition to the pope. Conflicts revolving around issues of religion and succession flared, leading to an alliance with France and continuing battles with the English, who perceived the Scots' church and monarchy as threats. (Mary, Queen of Scots, was viewed as such a danger to the English crown that Elizabeth I had her executed.) The hostility seemed resolved with the Act of Union in 1707, which merged the parliaments of both nations into one governing body in London.
But the battles weren't over. In 1715, disgruntled Scots rallied around James Stewart, the Catholic monarch who had been exiled to France. This first Jacobite rebellion fizzled before long, but it was followed in 1745 by another attempt, this time led by James' son Charles, popularly known as "Bonnie Prince Charlie." The Scottish forces seemed poised for victory at first, marching as far south as Derby, only to be dealt a decisive blow some months later at Culloden Moor, near Inverness. The defeat effectively ended hopes for an independent Scotland for the next 250 years.
Nevertheless, a strong patriotic feeling lingered. The Scots never gave up on independence and achieved restoration of their own parliament at the turn of the millennium. Whether complete autonomy ever will be achieved remains to be seen, but the Scottish Nationalist Party remains a strong third-party force continuing to work toward that goal.
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