History of the Scottish Ilk

Someone recently put it to me that Robert the Bruce and his captains were fighting for power, not for freedom. He commented that it was just something that Gibson put in Braveheart. Considering that Gibson got almost nothing right about William Wallace...

I suppose that most of you are acquainted with this ballad. It is worth a look not only because it is a lovely ballad, a very old one at that, but also because it is based on a fascinating historical event.
For anyone who does not recall this song, here is my favorite performance by Old Blind Dogs....

King William I is no doubt best known for adopting Scotland's royal Lion Rampant banner, hence his sobriquet 'the Lion'. He was not called that during his lifetime, however, but rather Garbh, 'the Rough'. His reign definitely had its ups and downs, and...

First, I apologize for my several months' absence. I won't gointo health issues, but there have been several. Happily, they were not lifethreatening but did give me a bit of a kicking. But enough about that. Back tothe Knights Templar...
At the Council ofClermons in 1095, Pope Urban II called for the mobilization of Christians to invadethe Levant and retake Jerusalem, which had been held by the Muslims since 638.This began the First Crusade. There was a huge reaction all across Europe...