July

Events in Scottish History

1st July 1782: Repeal of the Act of Proscription of Tartan that followed the 1745 Rising.

1st July 1916: Battle of the Somme saw the worst losses in the history of the British Army. Nearly 20,000 men lost their lives and more than 40,000 were wounded. The 16th Battalion of The Royal Scots (The Royal Regiment), known after their Commanding Officer as “McCrae’s Own” were in the the thick of the action and almost three-quarters became casualties, including several Heart of Midlothian footballers who had volunteered in 1914. Despite their heavy losses this battalion gained the most ground that day. This was remembered in the week of the 90th Anniversary of the Battle by a documentary “Supreme Sacrifice”, based on Historian, Jack Alexander’s history of McRae’s Battalion, broadcast on BBC2 Scotland.

2nd July 1266: Treaty of Perth. Norway transfers sovereignty of the Hebrides and the Isle of Man to Scotland.

2nd July 1644: The Scots and Parliamentarian Army defeated Charles I at the Battle of Marston Moor. A Battle of the “Wars of Three Kingdoms”.

2nd July 1645: The Battle of Alford, Aberdeenshire. The Marquis of Montrose, Charles I’s Commander in Scotland defeated General Baillie’s Army on what is now called Battle Hill opposite the old West Kirk. Modern Alford grew up around the old railway station. The battle took place near the Bridge of Alford. The victory was marred by the death of George, Lord Gordon, and the Alford’s local history society has marked with a plaque the “Gordon Stane” where he lay mortally wounded .

3rd July 1582: James Crichton “The Admirable Crichton”, scholar, soldier and adventurer, died.

3rd July 1728: Robert Adam born in Kirkcaldy.

3rd July 1928: John Logie Baird transmits the world’s first colour television pictures.

4th July 1913: Oswald Wynd, author of “The Ginger Tree”, born to Scottish Missionary parents in Tokyo. He graduated from Edinburgh University, joined the Scots Guards at the outbreak of WWII, and was commissioned into the Intelligence Corps. He was captured in Malaya and became a Prisoner of War in Japan.

5th July 1820: William John Macquorn Rankine, civil engineer, born in Edinburgh. He was the first president of the Institution of Engineers in Scotland.

6th July 1560: The Treaty of Edinburgh saw the withdrawal of French and English Troops from Scotland.

6th July 1747: John Paul Jones, founder of the United States’ Navy born in Born in Arbigland, Kirkcudbrightshire.

6th July 1988: “PIPER ALPHA” disaster. 167 lives were lost following an explosion and fire on the North Sea platform off Aberdeen.

7th July 1548: Treaty of Haddington proclaimed the betrothal of Mary Queen of Scots to François, the Dauphin of France.

7th July 1559: John Knox was appointed as the first Protestant minister in Edinburgh.

7th July 1814: First publication of Sir Walter Scott‘s Waverley novels.

7th July 1930: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle author of the Sherlock Holmes detective stories, died.

8th July 1249: < Alexander II buried at Melrose having died on the island of Kerrera, Argyllshire whilst preparing to take the Hebrides from Norway. Ref: A History Book for Scots, selections from Walter Bower’s Scotichronicon, p. 144 ISBN 978-1-873644-84-3

8th July 1296: John Balliol abdicated at Montrose, Angus.

8th July 1758: The 42nd Regiment (Later The Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) and now 3 SCOTS) took part in either the Battle of Ticonderoga or Battle of Carillon, a French victory which saw heavy American and British losses.

8th July 1773: The “HECTOR” left Loch Broom, near Ullapool, carrying around 200 emigrants bound for Pictou, Nova Scotia, the start of a wave of Scottish immigration to Canada.

8th July 1823: Sir Henry Raeburn, artist and portrait painter, died.

9th July 1917: “HMS VANGUARD” blew up in Scapa Flow with the loss of all but 3 of her crew of 670.

10th July 1451: The future James III born in Stirling Castle.

10th July 1560: Following the Treaty of Edinburgh on the 6th July the Scottish Parliament (otherwise known as the Reformation Parliament convened in Edinburgh on 10 July 1560, attended by 14 earls, 6 bishops, 19 lords, 21 abbots, 22 burgh commissioners, and over 100 lairds.

10th July 1633: The sailing ship “BLESSING OF BURNTISLAND” sank off Burntisland in the Firth of Forth carrying gold, silver and jewellery belonging to Charles I.

11th July 1274: Robert I, The Bruce, born at Turnberry Castle, Ayrshire.

11th July 1370: Marjorie Stewart, daughter of Robert II, received Papal Dispensation to marry her cousin, John Dunbar, later created the Earl of Moray.

11th July 1774: Robert Jameson, mineralogist and naturalist, born in Leith.

12th July 1570: Matthew Stuart, 4th Earl of Lennox and father of Lord Darnley made Regent of Scotland.

12th July 1850: Robert Stevenson, died. He is best known as a builder of lighthouses and was the engineer in charge of the construction of the Bell Rock, and grandfather of the novelist, Robert Louis Stevenson.

13th July 1174: William the Lion captured by the English at his siege of Alnwick Castle.

13th July 1249: Alexander III crowned at Scone.

13th July 1469: James III married Margaret Oldenburg, Princess of Denmark.

14th July 1779: The Great Siege of Gibraltar began, which would last 3 years 7 months and 12 days, ending in February 1783. Gibraltar is defended by a determined Scot, George Augustus Eliott, one of the few Scots remembered by the issue of a postage stamp outside Scotland.

14th July 1927: The Scottish National War Memorial opened.

15th July 1889: Scottish National Portrait Gallery opened.

15th July 1914: Gavin Maxwell, author of “A Ring of Bright Water”, born.

16th July 1832: 31 Shetland “sixareens” were lost, with a total of 105 men. This is still remembered in Shetland as “The Bad Day”. Sixareen – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Shetland Museum and Archives: Sixareen

17th July 1453: Battle of Castillon. The last battle of the 100 Years War. The French with Scots allies defeat the English.

17th July 1652: The Great Fire of Glasgow destroyed one third of the City.

17th July 1695: The Bank of Scotland was founded.

17th July 1790: Adam Smith, known as “the father of economics”, author of the “The Wealth of Nations” died.

18th July 1290: Treaty of Birgham. The Scots agreed that Margaret, the Maid of Norway, the heiress to the Scots Throne, should marry Prince Edward, eldest son of Edward I. Scottish independence is guaranteed. See also the Treaty of Salisbury. Records of the Parliaments of Scotland

18th July 1743: Three men from the 43rd Regiment (Later the 42nd Regiment and finally The Black Watch(The Royal Highland Regiment)) (now part of The Royal Regiment of Scotland) were shot at the Tower of London having been found guilty of mutiny and desertion. The Regiment were being posted to Flanders as reinforcements though they had been raised for service in the Highlands, but a rumour spread that they were being sent to the West Indies, and over 100 turned around at Finchley Common to head home. 104 were arrested near Northampton and sent to the Tower. Corporals Samuel Macpherson and Malcolm Macpherson and Private Farquhar Shaw, were shot by the Regiment of Footguards, then on duty in the Tower, unusually within the Tower, and their remains are interred under a grey and black striped marble slab by the corner of the Chapel Royal of St Peter ad Vincula. In 2010 the slab was raised, revealing three coffins. The slab was replaced without further inspection. Several of the deserters made good their escape, though one was thought to have died en route, and the remaining prisoners were posted to other regiments in the Colonies. The 43rd Regiment continued to Flanders as planned.

19th July 1333: Battle of Halidon Hill near Berwick. The Scots Army led by Sir Archibald Douglas were defeated by the English Army led by Edward III and Edward Balliol. The Scots lost some 4,000 including their leader, mainly due to the Welsh longbows.

19th July 1896: A J Cronin born, best known for his “Dr Finlay” books.

20th July 1651: Battle of Inverkeithing or Pitreavie. The Royalist Army lead by Generals Brown and Holborn was defeated by the Cromwellian Army lead by Generals Overton and Lambert.

20th July 1889: John Charles Walsham Reith, later Lord Reith, born in Stonehaven, son of a Church of Scotland Minister. He was General Manager/Managing Director of the BBC from 1922 to 1927 and set the non commercial model for the corporation that has continued to this day. The Reith Lectures are held in his Memory.

21st July 1796: Robert Burns, the National Bard, died. Despite saying in his last hours to fellow member of the Dumfries Volunteers, John Gibson, “John, don’t let the awkward squad fire over me,” his funeral was with full military honours. His request gave rise to the term “the awkward squad“.

22nd July 1298: The Battle of Falkirk. William Wallace defeated by Edward I.

22nd July 1484: The Battle of Lochmaben Fair. A party of cavalry led by the rebel Earl of Douglas and the Duke of Albany, crossed from England and clashed with local forces loyal to James III, the Scottish king. The raiders were defeated; and while Albany managed to escape Douglas was captured, spending what remained of his life as a royal prisoner.

23rd July 1637: Jenny Geddes hurled her stool at the Dean of St Giles Cathedral, Edinburgh calling “Daur ye say mass at my lug?”, protesting at the new unpopular form of service introduced by Charles I, which led to the signing of the National Covenant.

23rd July 1745: Prince Charles Edward Stuart “The Young Pretender” lands on Eriskay with eight supporters, no supplies and no funds at the start of the ’45 Rising

23rd July 1773: Sir Thomas Makdougall Brisbane (1773-1860), 6th Governor of New South Wales, was born at Brisbane House, near Largs, Ayrshire.

24th July 1411: The Battle of Harlaw. In a dispute over the Earldom of Ross, Donald II, The Lord of the Isles brought the Highland Army into Aberdeenshire, where the Earl of Mar gathered his forces at Inverurie to prevent them attacking Aberdeen. The action was intense, but though no clear victor emerged, the Highland Army withdraw to the Highlands and Aberdeen was safe. The battle is remembered in folklore and song.

25th July 1843: Charles Macintosh who patented the waterproof cloth he was using to make raincoats, died.

26th July 1513: James IV in response to a request from France in accordance with the “Auld Alliance” declared war on England, sending a letter to Henry VIII with the Ross Herald. James was also displeased at the English seizure of two Scottish ships in a dispute over the payment of the dowry for his wife, Margaret Tudor. This would lead to the disaster at Flodden in September that year, when James and “The Flower of Scotland” were to lose their lives.

27th July 1689: The Battle of Killiecrankie. The Government sent an Army north under General Mackay to stop the advance of the Jacobite Army led by John Graham of Claverhouse, “Bonnie Dundee”. The Armies met at the pass of Killiecrankie, near Blair Atholl, and the Government soldiers were scattered by a Highland charge lead by Claverhouse. Their victory was short lived as John Graham was felled by a ball from a leather cannon carried as light artillery by the Government infantry, and his Army was subsequently defeated at Dunkeld. The bullet hole in his breastplate now at Blair Castle is a later addition for dramatic effect.

27th July 1777: Thomas Campbell, poet, born in Glasgow. He married his cousin, Matilda Sinclair in 1803 or 1804. Poet’s Corner.

27th July 1896: Air Vice Marshal Sir Robert Allingham George, Governor of South Australia, born in Ross and Cromarty.

28th July 1683: Anne Stuart married Prince George of Denmark. The second daughter of James II, she was raised a protestant by her uncle, Charles II. None of her children survived her, and she died without an heir.

28th July 1914: The First World War began with Austria-Hungary’s declaration of war with Serbia.

29th July 1567: James VI was crowned at Stirling. The one year old James was crowned James VI of Scotland in a Protestant ceremony in the Church of the Holy Rude, close to the Castle. John Knox preached the sermon.

29th July 1763: Admiral Sir Philip Charles Calderwood Henderson Durham born Largo Fife.

30th July 1547: The Protestants who were responsible for the murder of Cardinal David Beaton surrendered St Andrews Castle to French forces. Cardinal Beaton had executed Protestant Preacher George Wishart in 1546 and the Protestants leaders reacted by seizing the castle and killing Beaton. They held out for a year. One of their number, John Knox, served subsequently for 19 months on French galleys, but eventually he and the others, but for one who died either escaped or were released.

31st July 1423: Battle of Cravant. 4,500 French and Scots soldiers, commanded by John Stewart, Earl of Buchan and Seigneur of Aubigny fell in defence of the town against the English.

31st July 1786: First publication of the “Kilmarnock Edition” of the poems of Robert Burns “Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect”.