May
Beltane's Day 1st May - A pagan
fire festival which goes back to pre-Christian times - originating with
Baal in Phoenicia. It was supposed to encourage the crops to
grow. There has been a holiday at the start of May in many parts
of Scotland for centuries. Young girls would also rise early to
wash their faces in the May dew. The custom of lighting fires at
this time has come through in place names such as Tarbolton in Ayrshire
('tor' meaning hill and 'bolton' from 'Beltane'). The ancient
Druidic Fire Festival has been revived by 'New Age' followers who
gather on the historic Calton Hill in Edinburgh. This also one of
four "Quarter Days
Act of Union 7th May - The
Scottish Parliament voted in 1606 and 1607 to agree the Union and the
Acts of Union were signed. They took effect on 1 May 1707.
The Scottish parliament was dissolved and England and Scotland became
one country. Scotland kept its independence with respect to it's
legal and religious systems, but coinage, taxation, sovereignty, trade,
parliament and a new Union Flag became one.
Empire Day / Victoria Day 24th May
- Flags were flown from public buildings and schools decorated
classrooms with flags of the British Empire. The name was changed
to Commonwealth Day. The nearest Monday to 24th May was a local
trades holiday in many parts of Scotland to celebrate Queen Victoria's
birthday and the tradition has continued long after Queen Victoria's
reign."
History of Scotland
The history of Scotland begins around 10,000 years BP (Before Present),
when humans first began to inhabit Scotland after the end of the Devensian
glaciation, the last ice age. Of the Stone Age, Bronze Age, and Iron Age
civilization that existed in the country, many artifacts remain, but few written
records were left behind.
The written history of Scotland largely begins with the
arrival of the Roman Empire in Britain, when the Romans occupied what is now
England and Wales, administering it as a Roman Province called Britannia. To the
north was territory not governed by the Romans — Caledonia, by name. Its people
were the Picts. From a classical historical viewpoint Scotland seemed a
peripheral country, slow to gain advances filtering out from the Mediterranean
fount of civilization, but as knowledge of the past increases it has become
apparent that some developments were earlier and more advanced than previously
thought, and that the seaways were very important to Scottish history.
Because of the geographical orientation of Scotland and its
strong reliance on trade routes by sea, the nation held close links in the south
and east with the Baltic countries, and through Ireland with France and the
continent of Europe. Following the Act of Union and the subsequent Scottish
Enlightenment and Industrial Revolution, Scotland became one of the commercial,
intellectual and industrial powerhouses of Europe. Its industrial decline
following the Second World War was particularly acute, but in recent decades the
country has enjoyed something of a cultural and economic renaissance, fueled in
part by a resurgent financial service sector, the proceeds of North Sea Oil and
gas, and latterly a devolved parliament.
