May

Events in Scottish History

1st May 1690: Battle of the Haughs of Cromdale. Jacobite Clansmen under Colonel Cannon defeated by Government Forces under Sir Thomas Livingstone.

1st May 1707: Act of Union brought together Scotland and England under a united Parliament at Westminster.

2nd May 1558: Mary Queen of Scots escaped from Loch Leven Castle.

3rd May 1679: Archishop James Sharp killed on Magus Muir near St Andrews.

3rd May 1768: Charles Tennant, chemist, discoverer of bleaching powder and industrialist, born in Alloway.

3rd May 1860: John Scott Haldane, physiologist, born.

4th May 1799: Major General Sir David Baird led the final assault against Tipu Sultan capturing Seringapatam. He was Sir John Moore’s second in command at Corunna.

5th May 1646: Charles I surrendered to Scottish Covenanters besieging Newark.

6th May 1870: Sir James Young Simpson, who introduced the use of chloroform in childbirth, died.

7th May 1711: David Hume one of the most important figures in Western Philosophy and the Scottish Enlightenment, born in Edinburgh. The David Hume Tower (DHT) at Edinburgh University is now called 40 George Square on account of his comments on matters of race.

7th May 1890: James Nasmyth, engineer and inventor and builder of the first steam hammer, died.

8th May 1854: Captain Robert Barclay Allardice, the famous exponent of “pedestrianism”, precursor to race walking, died. 6th Laird of Ury, commissioned in the 23rd Regiment of Foot he was ADC to the Marquis of Huntly in the ill-fated Walcheren Expedition in 1809.
The Celebrated Captain Barclay: Sport, Money and Fame in Regency Britain, Peter Radford ISBN 0747272220

8th May 1945: VE (Victory in Europe) Day. “A German delegation arrived at the headquarters of British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery at Lüneburg Heath, east of Hamburg, on 4th May. There, Montgomery accepted the unconditional surrender of German forces in the Netherlands, northwest Germany and Denmark. On 7th May, at his headquarters in Reims, France, Supreme Allied Commander General Eisenhower accepted the unconditional surrender of all German forces. The document of surrender was signed on behalf of Germany by General Alfred Jodl and came into effect the following day.
Soviet leader Josef Stalin wanted his own ceremony. At Berlin on 8th May, therefore, a further document was signed – this time by German Field Marshal William Keitel. “
What You Need To Know About VE Day

9th May 1645: The Marquis of Montrose’s Forces defeated Covenanters at Auldearn, near Nairn, remembered in verses of the song “The Haughs of Cromdale”, which was actually 45 years later.

9th May 1860: J M Barrie, the Scottish playwright and novelist, born. Mainly remembered today for “Peter Pan” his works include “A Window in Thrums” and the “The Admirable Crichton”.

9th May 1909: Robert Garioch, poet and translator who wrote mainly in the Scots language, born. He died on 26th April 1981.

10th May 1307: Robert the Bruce defeats the English Army at the Battle of Loudon Hill.

10th May 1941: Hitler’s Deputy, Rudolf Hess, parachuted into Scotland surrendered to farmer David McLean, and asks to see the Duke of Hamilton.

11th May 1672: Charles Seton, 2nd Earl of Dunfermline died. A devoted Royalist he left the country after the execution of Charles I and returned with Charles II.

11th May 1685: Covenanter Martyrs Margaret Lauchlane, or McLachlan, and Margaret Wilson drowned in the Solway Firth after refusing to acknowledge Charles II’s authority on religious matters.

12th May 1999: The Scottish Parliament, which adjourned on 25th March 1707, reconvened.

13th May 1568: Mary Queen of Scots defeated by Regent Moray at the Battle of Langside.

14th May 1689: The Cameronians , (Scottish Rifles), formed. Their first Commanding Officer was William Cleland, who would be killed weeks later at the Battle of Dunkeld, 21st August, and their Colonel, was the Earl of Angus. The Regiment chose disbandment rather than merger, in 1967.

14th May 1752: The Appin Murder. Colin Campbell of Glenure “The Red Fox” shot, allegedly by Alan Breck Stewart (of “Kidnapped” fame). James Stewart was later found guilty and hanged, despite a lack of evidence.

15th May 1567: Mary Queen of Scots married James Hepburn, Duke of Orkney, 4th Earl of Bothwell at Holyrood.

16th May 1568: Mary Queen of Scots crossed the River Solway into exile landing at Workington. She spent her first night at Workington Hall owned by a friend of Lord Herries.

17th May: Norway’s Constitution Day is celebrated each year in Kirkwall, Orkney with a procession to the Norwegian built cathedral. It is also celebrated in Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow.

17th May 1810: Robert Tannahill, poet, died in Paisley.

17th May 1870: David Octavius Hill, photographer, died, Newington, Edinburgh.

18th May 1313: invaded the Isle of Man. See also pp 056-059 – Manx Soc vol 15 ANTIQUITATES MANNIA

18th May 1843: Formation of the Free Church of Scotland.

19th May 1795: James Boswell, biographer of Samuel Johnson, died.

20th May 685: Battle of Nechtansmere, south of Forfar in Angus, Picts, under Bridei son of Bili, defeat the Angles effectively halting their northern progress.

20th May 1303: France and England conclude peace allowing Edward I to turn his attentions to Scotland.

20th May 1469: Christian I of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, having raised only 2,000 of the 10,000 florins of the dowry for the marriage of his daughter Margaret to James III and due before her departure, pledged Shetland for the remaining 8,000.
(Other sources say 28th May)

Reference:
A Source Book of Scottish History: 1424 to 1567, William Croft Dickinson, p 57
Scottish historical documents, Gordon Donaldson p. 86
Shetland – Shetlopedia – The Shetland Encyclopaedia

The Annexation of the earldom of Orkney and lordship of Shetland to the Crown, 20th February 1472

20th May 1747: as a preventive measure for scurvy, a condition which affected sailors on long voyages. The lime juice issued subsequently to the Royal Navy gave rise to the term “limey”, particularly in North America.

21st May 1424: James I crowned at Scone.

21st May 1650: The Marquis of Montrose, having been betrayed at Ardvreck Castle by MacLeod of Assynt, after the Battle of Carbisdale, was hanged at the Mercat Cross in Edinburgh.

21st May 1940: 1st Battalion, The Cameron Highlanders in action at the Escaut Canal. The Camerons were the last Scottish Regiment to fight in kilts.

22nd May 1859: Birth of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in Edinburgh.

22nd May 1915: 214 members of the 7th Battalion, The Royal Scots were killed en route to Gallipoli when their train crashed into carriages of a local train, and then the northbound express collided with the wreckage at Quintinshill.

23rd May 1308: The date is uncertain but the 700th Anniversary of Robert the Bruce’s defeat of the Earl of Buchan at the Battle of Inverurie, otherwise known as the Battle of Barra was celebrated locally on this date in 2008.

24th May 1616: John Maitland, Duke of Lauderdale, Scottish politician, born. He was Charles II’s deputy in Scotland.

24th May 1819: John Maitland, Duke of Lauderdale, Scottish politician, born. He was Charles II’s deputy in Scotland.

24th May 1852: Robert Cunningham Graham, organiser with Keir Hardie of the Scottish Labour Party and who went on to become the first president of the Scottish National Party, born.

25th May 1660: Charles II returned to The United Kingdom, and the date became known as Royal Oak Day.

25th May 1713: John Stuart, Earl of Bute born.

26th May 1424: Act of Parliament of James I banning football: Item that it is statut and the king forbiddis that na man play at the fut ball under the payne of xl.s to be ratit to the Lord of the Land, as oft as he be taintit, or to the Schiref of the land, or his Ministers.

27th May 1532: College of Justice (later Court of Session) established by James V, held its first sederunt in Edinburgh.

27th May 1661: Archibald Campbell, Marquis of Argyll and Covenanter beheaded in Edinburgh.

25th/27th May 1940: 1st Battalion The Royal Scots and 2nd Battalion The Royal Norfolk Regiment fight to hold the La Bassée Canal Line protecting the corridor for the BEF to evacuate at Dunkirk over the following few days Ordered to fight to the last man and the last round (bullet), they did so. By the end of the fighting on 27th May nearly all the survivors were wounded.

28th May 1546: David Beaton the Archbishop of St Andrews was murdered by leading Protestants avenging the execution of Protestant Martyr, George Wishart.

29th May 1630: The future Charles II born.

29th May 1848: Sir Thomas Dick Lauder, author, contributor to Blackwood’s and Tait’s Edinburgh magazines, died.

30th May 1847: Thomas Chalmers, first Moderator of the Free Church of Scotland died.

31st May 1367: Robert III married Annabel Drummond.

31st May 1756: Dr James Currie, biographer of Robert Burns, born.