A history of Scotland

[Beorn]

http://www.open2.net/open2static/source/file/root/0/63/50/261309/neil_hero_index.jpg


A history of Scotland

Neil Oliver charts the birth and growth of the Scottish nation in this insightful new TV series, part of the Scotland's History season.

The last of the free. (http://www.megavideo.com/?v=0VX7KCXB)

Hammers of the Scots. (http://www.megavideo.com/?v=L9THZCD2)

Bishop makes King. (http://www.megavideo.com/?v=FZY0ES8E)

Language is power. (http://www.megavideo.com/?v=QJXIU7RZ)

Project Britain. (http://www.megavideo.com/?v=2RVE89FT)

(Will this stop your pestering, Aemma? :D)

[Graham]

Ta Wat :thumb001: Watched them all at the time, very well made, was very popular . Neil Oliver can make ye dizzy though. What in the hell's happening wae the rest of the series btw. :confused:

[Beorn]

Ta Wat :thumb001:

Nae problem, pal. :D:D:D:D


Neil Oliver can make ye dizzy though. Do you mean the camera angles which can make sufferers of vertigo go insane? :speechless-smiley-0


What in the hell's happening wae the rest of the series btw. :confused:It's apparently coming in the Autumn time. So hold on tight. :)

[Graham]

Nae problem, pal. :D:D:D:D

Do you mean the camera angles which can make sufferers of vertigo go insane? :speechless-smiley-0

It's apparently coming in the Autumn time. So hold on tight. :)
Aw great,
Aye, he just walks round in circles alot, then walks off in some random direction, probably for miles. Seen him in Edinburgh wan day. Didnae walk in a circle though, would've been strange like. :D

[Beorn]

William Wallace was a failure who only won one key battle; Robert the Bruce was a usurper struggling to retain power; Scotland was a willing entrant into the Act of Union. Such claims will infuriate nationalists and unionists alike when the BBC seeks to explode myths in Scottish history in a landmark series.
It will focus on Scotland's sense of identity, charting its progress from a collection of tribes 2,000 years ago to the present-day devolved nation.

It comes as the Scottish incumbent of 10 Downing Street, Gordon Brown, is talking about the importance of Britishness, while Alex Salmond, leader of the devolved government in Edinburgh, wants to break from the UK entirely.
'A lot of people will be surprised by the series because I don't think they are aware of the progress made in academic research over the past few decades,' said Ted Cowan, Professor of Scottish History at the University of Glasgow. 'A lot of what people take for granted has been reviewed and very different conclusions have been made.'

Building on this 'revolution' in historical research over 30 years, BBC producers are aiming to take a fresh look at Scotland and its role within the United Kingdom, but executives deny that they are following a nationalist agenda.

'There is a popular view of Scottish history that it is a tragedy, that Scotland was a victim forced into submission by England, but the opposite is really true,' said producer Richard Downes. 'Scotland is unique in that it has remained unconquered. The Welsh, Irish and English have all been conquered at some time, but Scotland joined with England of its own free will. It agreed to the Union and flourished because of it.'

The programmes' timing - the first five episodes will be shown in the autumn followed by a second series in 2009 - is seen as crucial by senior figures at the BBC who hope it will inform debate on the future of Scotland.

In December a System Three opinion poll showed support for independence running at 40 per cent - though others, including a YouGov survey this month, gave it the support of around 27 per cent of the population. Support for Scotland breaking away from England has also surged south of the border.

Aware of the sensitivity of the subject, BBC bosses have drafted in leading historians as consultants to ensure that the series has as much authority as possible. 'People really know very little about Scotland's past,' argued Downes. 'It's incredible that you can sit a Scottish Higher exam in history and - until 2010 when it becomes compulsory - not have to answer one question about Scotland. People tend to know about Bruce and the spider, but not realise the story was made up by Sir Walter Scott.

'They won't know about the Covenanters, though they were crucial when it comes to the restoration of the monarchy and the union of parliaments.

'In England, chances are you won't have studied any Scottish history at all, it simply doesn't register down there. So we hope to explain why Scotland and England will always remain separate. Their histories are quite distinct and they merge partly because of empire building, from which the Scots benefited. It's been said that the Scots were more British than the English were.'

According to Cowan, academics no longer consider the Union of 1707 as a 'grubby sell-out' to the English. 'There's a lot of evidence to suggest those voting on the act did so as patriotic Scots, just as some now would vote for independence because they are patriotic. At the time, religion was the single major influence over people's lives and the Union was seen as a way of preserving Scottish Presbyterianism.

'It's important to realise that all those Scots who worked in the British empire didn't just do it for Queen and country, they did it to make themselves rich and to bring that wealth back to Scotland.'

While Wallace was romantically portrayed in the Mel Gibson film Braveheart, the idea of him as the ultimate Scottish freedom fighter has been reviewed.

'Many at the time thought he was an embarrassment, a failure and a nuisance,' Cowan said. 'Yet he has been celebrated as a patriotic figure by those seeking independence, and in the 19th century by people who were unionist nationalists, patriotic Scots who saw their role as part of the British empire.

'What we can agree on is that Scottish history is a debate - and the debate has moved on a lot recently.' Source (http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/jan/20/britishidentity.theobserver)

[Graham]

^^ Don't like it when the British press do articles on scottish History to be honest, skip aw the pish and straight to the quotes. Pick and choose the quotes they put in the article. Don't trust them :P

[007]

Hehe, this will piss the whingers off bigtime! :thumb001:

[Murphy]

William Wallace was a failure who only won one key battle;

To describe William Wallace as a failiure is treading on dangerous ground. Many people said that the 1916 Easter Rising was a failure.


Robert the Bruce was a usurper struggling to retain power;

Whose rights to the throne did Robert usurp?


Scotland was a willing entrant into the Act of Union.

Scottish nobles were willing entrants into the Act of Union. However, why has the author not meantioned the peasent opposistion on both sides of the border?

Regards,
Eóin.

[007]

Many people said that the 1916 Easter Rising was a failure.

They did? :eek:

[Graham]

Next series is next sunday, really looking forward too it. :)



http://news.scotsman.com/latestnews/What-are-you-looking-at.5760180.jp
What are you looking at? Historian spoiling for fight over new TV 23 October 2009
By MARTYN McLAUGHLIN
THE historian and archeologist behind a controversial BBC series charting the evolution of the Scottish nation said yesterday he fully expects some academics to "take up the cudgels" when it returns next month.

Neil Oliver, who presents A History of Scotland, said that the makers of the programmes set out to provoke debate as well as "excite" people.

The series aims to follow the progress of Scotland from the 17th century to the present day, and new episodes are due to air next month.

At a preview screening yesterday, Donalda MacKinnon, head of programmes at BBC Scotland, said the programme was "one of the most important series BBC Scotland has ever made, and probably one of the most iconic".

Ms MacKinnon said she had been taken aback by the "dearth of material" on the genesis of her homeland while teaching Scottish history, and expressed hope that the series would leave a "really important legacy for future generations".

First transmitted last year, the first five parts of A History of Scotland proved popular with viewers. However, eminent Scottish historians criticised the series, with Professor Allan Macinnes of the University of Strathclyde claiming a provisional script was "written on the basis as if Scotland was a divided country until the Union came along and civilised it".

Professor Tom Devine also questioned the "old-fashioned" approach to Scottish history.

However, Oliver said the programme makers had not sought to assuage their critics. He said: "We were never trying to make a series that would educate academics, especially those people specialising in Scottish history.

"The series is a primer to inspire people about the country's history, to excite them and help them learn. Parts of the academic community took up the cudgels, and I fully expect they will again with the new programmes. But that is something we wanted to do, provoke debate."

Oliver promised that certain issues, such as an episode looking at the Battle of Culloden, would be "revelatory".

He added: "Painting it as Scotland versus England is to diminish what happened. It was a pan-European civil war."

One future episode looks at the National Covenant of Scotland and its influence on the American Declaration of Independence. It is claimed the declaration's "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" may have been penned by John Witherspoon, a minister from Paisley.

Oliver is, nevertheless, mindful that Scotland still has some way to go. In a book to accompany the series, published this week, he writes: "Scotland still awaits the rise of enough homegrown, entrepreneurial businesses and industries to free her people from the enervating burden of reliance upon help from beyond her borders."

Four hundred years of religion and revolutions in just under five hours

THE five new hour-long episodes of A History of Scotland cover the nation's development from the 1600s to the modern day.

• GOD'S CHOSEN PEOPLE: The episode looks at the Scottish Covenanters, and how they redefined their own place in Britain, and Britain itself. The programme claims they sparked the revolution that struck off the head of Charles I and ultimately led to Cromwell's conquest of Scotland to defeat the Stewarts.

• LET'S PRETEND: Covering the time from the wake of the 1688 revolution that brought William of Orange to power, through to Culloden, the episode looks at the Darien project and the 1707 Union of Parliaments.

• THE PRICE OF PROGRESS: Focusing on the years between 1754 and 1783, the programme looks at the riches Scotland made from transatlantic trade, but questions the moral cost. The episode also claims that the phrase from the American Declaration of Independence, "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness", was coined by John Witherspoon, a minister originally from Paisley. It also relates the story of Joseph Knight, a slave brought to Scotland from Jamaica, who challenged – and defeated – his owner in court.

• THIS LAND IS OUR LAND: The episode examines the conflicts between those who owned Scotland and those who lived in it during the 19th century. It focuses on Sir Walter Scott, and the way his romantic image of Scotland emanated from his fear that revolutionaries in industrial towns would sweep away everything distinctively Scottish.

• PROJECT SCOTLAND: Examining how Scotland went from a pre-war industrial powerhouse to post-war marginalisation in the space of a generation, the episode will look at the mass exodus of Scots in the 1920s and 1930s. It goes on to revisit the work carried out by the Scottish Office in the 1950s and 1960s to reinvigorate the nation, followed by the impact of Lady Thatcher and the path to devolution.

[Grey]

Any chance of this getting put somewhere other than Megavideo? It cuts out after ~70 minutes and tells me I have to wait to continue.

[Dalriada]

The episode on the Covenanters was shameful. This programme would have your average punter believe that only a few leaders and those who took up arms were ever punished; thousands apon thousands of ordinary Scots were murdered, ostracised from their local communities (and left to starve), or had Highlanders billeted on them, who were free to rob, murder and rape as they pleased. A very poor job by people at the BBC who obviously had an agenda. The closing comment of the programme was also disgusting.