Writing on a small island in the Firth of Forth in the 1440s, Walter Bower set out to tell the whole story of the Scottish nation in a single huge book, the Scotichronicon—‘a history book for Scots’. A modern edition of this monumental history, in nine volumes, has recently been published. Now the General Editor, Professor Donald Watt, has made a one-volume selection from the whole work with the aim of putting Bower’s epic of Scotland into the hands of the general reader.

Scotichronicon begins with the mythical voyage of Scota, the Pharaoh’s daughter, from Egypt with the Stone of Destiny. The land that her sons discovered in the Western Ocean was named after her: Scotland. The author goes on to describe the turbulent events that followed through the centuries, among them the wars of the Scots and the Picts (begun by a quarrel over a dog!).

Bower’s characters are vivid, his stories unforgettable. He tells of the poisoning of King Fergus by his wife; Macbeth’s usurpation and uneasy reign; the good deeds of Margaret, queen and saint; Bruce’s murder of the Red Comyn; the founding of Scotland’s first university at St Andrews; the ‘Burnt Candlemas’; and the endless troubles between Scotland and England. Weaving in and out of the events of his factual history, like a wonderful pageant, are other subjects that fascinated him: harrowing visions of hell and purgatory, extraordinary miracles; the exploits of knights and beggars, merchants and monks; the ravages of flood and fire; the terrors of the plague; and the answers to such puzzling questions as what makes a good king, and why Englishmen have tails.

It was twenty-five years ago that Professor Donald Watt and a team of scholars began work on the modern nine-volume edition of the complete Scotichronicon. Volumes began to appear in 1987 and the final volume was published in 1998. The new edition has been acclaimed as ‘a massive achievement for Scottish cultural history’ (Sally Mapstone). Professor Watt, who supervised the whole edition and edited the selection in A History Book for Scots, is an Aberdonian who has taught for many years in the University of St Andrews, where he is now Emeritus Professor of Scottish Church History.

EXCERPT:

James de Douglas and King Robert’s heart

Bower includes this romantic, but factual, tale of King Robert’s commission to James de Douglas to take his heart for burial at Jerusalem. The Scottish party travelled via Spain, and Douglas died with the hon-oured status of a Crusader while helping the king of Castile to fight the Moslem Moors near Cordova—a death which Bower regards as fortunate. It was Barbour in The Bruce who recorded the return of Bruce ‘s heart to Scotland for burial at Melrose Abbey.

‘Accordingly, as the renowned king was approaching his last, he arranged for the disposal of his property; and among other things he bequeathed his heart to be sent to Jerusalem and buried at the Holy Sepulchre. He chose James de Douglas to carry it, the most loyal champion in all his wars.

In 1330 on 26 August the king of Spain and the noble James de Douglas, who was carrying King Robert’s heart, fought against a sultan and his countless Saracens, after armies from various parts of the world had gathered together to aid the Holy Land. At length they had the good fortune to defeat the Saracens and put them to flight; and after first killing many of them and distributing their spoils, the said king and his army returned from the battle unharmed. But alas! Sir James de Douglas kept with him very few men of his own force. And this was not unobserved by another sultan who was hiding in ambush. He came out of his hiding place with his men and offered the challenge of battle. Recognizing his force and standards from afar, the said James, fearless as he was, immediately and eagerly attacked them with his own [tiny] force. After many Saracens had been killed, James himself had the good fortune to end his last day with his men there as a martyr for Christ. With him the knights Sir William de Sinclair and Robert Logan, and many other nobles of Scottish birth laid down their lives. This noble James was in his day a powerful hammerman of the English, on whom the Lord conferred such grace during his life that he triumphed over the English everywhere.’

REVIEWS:

‘A History Book for Scots provides an accessible and entertaining introduction to the work of a chronicler and historian whose significance had been consistently underrated before the appearance of the new edition of the Scotichronicon. The title is a clever and appropriate one for this avowedly popular edition, reflecting not only Bower’s aims and achievements as a chronicler and historian in his own time, but also the way in which D E R Watt feels Bower’s work should be appreciated and understood by his countrymen at the end of the twentieth century.’—Times Literary Supplement

‘If you don’t fancy all nine volumes of the Scotichronicon then try this wonderful selection of highlights, in which Joan of Arc and even Robin Hood appear alongside the rulers, saints and natural wonders.’—Scotland on Sunday

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY:

Donald Watt is an Aberdonian who has taught for many years in the University of St Andrews, where he is now Emeritus Professor of Scottish Church History in the Department of Medieval History.