SNP are now in the mood for a bit of territorial expansion....
2 comments:
Anonymous
said...
Newcastle was never territorially part of Scotland. Indeed it was built by William the Conquerer as "the final frontier" of his recently aquired real estate to keep Malcolm Canmore out of England in his aim "to reconquer England for the Wessex line and set his brother-in-law Edgar Athling (brother of St Margaret and nephew of Edward the Confessor) upon the rightful throne of England" - sic
Hexham and Penrith were part of Scotland for a short time during the last years of David I (he died in his newly aquired city of Carlisle) and the early years of his successor and grandson Malcolm IV. Northumbria, Cumbria and Westermorland had been sceded by Stephen for a quiet life after David had attacked England in reprisal so he claimed for Stephen upsurping the English throne from his niece Matilda.
When Matilda's son Henry II came to the English throne, he pressured Malcolm to give the countries back which he did for a pile of cash and some lands in England (just as English kings held land in France I might add). Malcolm's brother William (the Lion) did not like this and waged war against Henry a few years later. He was defeated, captured and forced to renounce his claims, accept Henry as overlord of Scotland and pay a ransom to get out of the Tower. He later had the overlordship thingy lifted when he gave money to Richard the Lionheart who was needing cash for the Crusades.
William's son and grandson (Alexander II and III) subsequently took English princesses as brides to keep the peace until Alexander III's death. The rest is history.
Alexander III's brother-in-law when he invaded Scotland after his puppet Bailiol bit back, first hit Scotland's richest and most southerly city. Berwick. The population was slaughtered and planted with people from Northumbria and othe parts of England.
The Bruce seized it back at the end of the First War of Independence. It was lost again in the second war of independence (along with Roxburgh). After James II was killed trying to take Roxburgh, his enraged widow led the Scottish army to victory in seizing both towns back. Their son James III then lost it finally for Scotland when Richard of Gloucester (the future Richard III) took it as compensation for intervening in a possible Scottish civil war between James and his English-backed brother Alexander.
To summise, Berwick was in the Scottish state on and off for centuries, unlike the other places mentioned. However I am not bothered where it is. If the mainstream SNP were bothered about it, it would have run candidates against Alan Beith long ago.
As John Ross the nationalist writer once put it, Berwick is now an English town and has little knowledge of its Scottish past.
Thanks for that,the whole borders region has a very interesting history. I worked for a time in Carlisle and West Cumbria and folk memories (and a surprising amount of residual anti-Scottish feeling) go back a long way, I heard many a boozy tale of the border reivers and other such scoundrels!
Also interesting this comment: "Even the Berwick-upon-Tweed Borough Council leader, who is a Liberal Democrat, backs the idea and others see the merits of reunification with Scotland.
2 comments:
Newcastle was never territorially part of Scotland. Indeed it was built by William the Conquerer as "the final frontier" of his recently aquired real estate to keep Malcolm Canmore out of England in his aim "to reconquer England for the Wessex line and set his brother-in-law Edgar Athling (brother of St Margaret and nephew of Edward the Confessor) upon the rightful throne of England" - sic
Hexham and Penrith were part of Scotland for a short time during the last years of David I (he died in his newly aquired city of Carlisle) and the early years of his successor and grandson Malcolm IV. Northumbria, Cumbria and Westermorland had been sceded by Stephen for a quiet life after David had attacked England in reprisal so he claimed for Stephen upsurping the English throne from his niece Matilda.
When Matilda's son Henry II came to the English throne, he pressured Malcolm to give the countries back which he did for a pile of cash and some lands in England (just as English kings held land in France I might add). Malcolm's brother William (the Lion) did not like this and waged war against Henry a few years later. He was defeated, captured and forced to renounce his claims, accept Henry as overlord of Scotland and pay a ransom to get out of the Tower. He later had the overlordship thingy lifted when he gave money to Richard the Lionheart who was needing cash for the Crusades.
William's son and grandson (Alexander II and III) subsequently took English princesses as brides to keep the peace until Alexander III's death. The rest is history.
Alexander III's brother-in-law when he invaded Scotland after his puppet Bailiol bit back, first hit Scotland's richest and most southerly city. Berwick. The population was slaughtered and planted with people from Northumbria and othe parts of England.
The Bruce seized it back at the end of the First War of Independence. It was lost again in the second war of independence (along with Roxburgh). After James II was killed trying to take Roxburgh, his enraged widow led the Scottish army to victory in seizing both towns back. Their son James III then lost it finally for Scotland when Richard of Gloucester (the future Richard III) took it as compensation for intervening in a possible Scottish civil war between James and his English-backed brother Alexander.
To summise, Berwick was in the Scottish state on and off for centuries, unlike the other places mentioned. However I am not bothered where it is. If the mainstream SNP were bothered about it, it would have run candidates against Alan Beith long ago.
As John Ross the nationalist writer once put it, Berwick is now an English town and has little knowledge of its Scottish past.
Thanks for that,the whole borders region has a very interesting history. I worked for a time in Carlisle and West Cumbria and folk memories (and a surprising amount of residual anti-Scottish feeling) go back a long way, I heard many a boozy tale of the border reivers and other such scoundrels!
Also interesting this comment:
"Even the Berwick-upon-Tweed Borough Council leader, who is a Liberal Democrat, backs the idea and others see the merits of reunification with Scotland.
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