Scottish Royal History?

Question

Hi, I just want to ask mainly Americans. When you were at school and learning about the British Monarchy and the UKs history, did it ever involve Scotland,Wales or Northern Ireland. Or was it all English.

The kingdom of Scotland was a state in northwest Europe which existed from 843 until 1707. It occupied the northern third of the island of Great Britain and shared a land border to the south with the Kingdom of England, with which it was united to form a unified Kingdom of Great Britain, under the terms of the Acts of Union, in 1707.

Scotlands most famous King/Queen are:

Kenneth MacAlpin and known in most modern regnal lists as Kenneth I was king of the Picts and, according to national myth, first king of Scots, earning him the posthumous nickname of An Ferbasach, "The Conqueror".

Queen Mary I of Scotland also known as Mary Queen of Scots was Queen of Scotland from December 14, 1542, to July 24, 1567.After a long imprisonment in England she was tried and executed.

Answer 1

Unfortunately, in public school, grades 1-12, it was only English.   Although if it is any consolation to you, I was so intrigued by the English monarchy that I took it upon myself to do some outside readings.  Mind you, for an American at that time, such a thing was extremely rare.

To this day, I am still very fond of the British Royals, and I greatly admire and respect Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.  She has served her country and her Realm well over the years, and I only hope that her successor will be half as good as her.

Answer 2

Yeah, in my first year of high school, I learned a bit about the Stuarts, in particular Mary, Queen of Scots and her son, James VI (I know he was also king of England as James I.)

Answer 3

Nope... not really, we mainly got involved with the major countries that had major crisis's... like war, or anything that had to somehow do with war or America, and I don't really remember learning anything about Scotland at all actually... but we might have just learned a few fun facts about it for like a culture day or something... but thats about it. Hope this is what you were looking for dude!

Answer 4

mostly English, except for Mary & James VI/I.  Didn't even touch that much on the '45 Jacobite Uprising.  On the other hand, it was World History, and so a lot was barely touched on for a lot of countries--like the Scandinavian ones, or most of Asia, Australia, & Africa.

And European history in college focused on the big ones: England, France, Spain, Germany (or what became those countries).

Answer 5

I can't speak for the entire country's curriculum since education is controlled by individual states, but not a lot of formal attention is paid to Scotland at either the university or secondary school level in Texas where students read Shakespeare's "Macbeth" their last year in high school without any mention of the historical Macbeth (unless someone like myself is teaching the play) as well as a few Robert Burns' poems scattered here and there.  Currently, I teach in an inner-city school system that is 90 percent either African American or Hispanic, and at times I've asked high school students to point out the United Kingdom on a map, and they've failed to do so--never mind Scotland.  They also mix up the Scots and the Irish.   Students in my school district, however, do know that they live in a county founded by a Scot, Neil McLennan.  What's more, if they go to the local community college, the mascot is a Highlander. (I won't even touch on similar politically-incorrect associations made about Native American mascots.)

As an elective for a teaching major in history (I had a double major in Engish and history),  I took two semesters of an undergraduate university-level "English" history class that touched on Scottish history as it connected with English history, for example, the succession of to the English throne of James I of England and VI of Scotland, the Act of Union, and the Jacobite Rebellion.  

Of course, children of Scottish Americans are becoming increasingly aware of their own lineage. When I was an undergraduate in college, for instance, my maternal grandmother's cousin  organized a Macquarrie clan society. [Incidentally, the Macquarries are descendants of Kenneth MacAlpin.  The first Macquarrie (or McQuerry) to come to America was a John Macquarrie who was transported to the Colonies because he fought for Bonnie Prince Charles at the Battle of Culloden.]   My nieces and nephews certainly know about their family's ancestry, which is predominantly Scottish, Scots-Irish, and Irish.

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Note to Sue: Rob Roy, who owes his fame in part to Sir Walter Scott, lived from 1671 to 1734 while William Wallace lived from 1270 to 1305.  I don't even think Mel Gibson confused the two, even though most Scots wince at the historical inaccuracies in "Braveheart".

Answer 6

Shame on you Free Scot...what about MacBeth, Robert Bruce, James I (not of England but of Scotland) & James V.

Actually Kenneth was King of Scots, according to legend he slaughtered the Pictish host to take the throne of Pictland, but the more likely explanatoin is that his mother was Pictish & his father a Scot.  since the Picts line of descent passed through the female line as opposed to the male line (the Scots) it is quite possible intermarriage between the two did away with the Picts.

I'm interested to know what American people have to say on this subject though as well.  Just wanted to add a bit of additional information to what you said.

Answer 7

Most Americans know about Mary, Queen of Scots, in relation to the attempted coup of Queen Elizabeth.  And we are well taught that James I of England, was James VI of Scotland, and that was, essentially, how the two monarchies were joined.  We are taught, and probably most of us forget, that the Prince of Wales and that title was granted to appease the Welsh people I don't know what century, and that the Prince of Wales is the heir to the throne, etc.

How on Earth does Ireland fit into this?  There never was a king or queen of Ireland, as it was never truly united (bunches of tribes or clans) until the British "conquered" the Island, and, more or less united them in their hatred of the British (do I have that right?).  So, there really never was a "kingdom" of Ireland or Northern Ireland.

Most of us, through Hollywood (notoriously accurate in its depictions of history) know about Rob Roy (William Wallace)

Some of us are more interested in British/European History than others.  I had the coolest teacher for 10th grade European History.  She was so great that I went back and took the University course in 12th grade, just to have the teacher again.