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79 votes
Accepted

If the Union Jack joins the flag of England and Scotland, why does it have a different shade of blue than the Scottish flag?

In 1606, people didn't have pantone guidelines to keep colours consistent - nor did it matter. Heraldry only has a limited number of colors. Variations on blue exist but are not standard, so any blue ...
SPavel's user avatar
  • 6,344
51 votes
Accepted

Why does Edinburgh Castle's one o'clock gun fire at 1pm instead of, say, noon?

Edinburgh Castle's tourist attraction, the One O'Clock Gun, originated as an audible version of the Nelson Monument time ball. The Nelson time ball has dropped at 1:00 pm ever since it was installed ...
Semaphore's user avatar
  • 96.9k
30 votes
Accepted

What made the English the dominant power of the British Isles?

To answer this question, you first have to answer another complex question: Who are the English? This question turns out to be quite complex indeed because to this day scholars are unsure whether to ...
called2voyage's user avatar
26 votes

What made the English the dominant power of the British Isles?

England lies in the warmest, richest, and most fertile parts of the British Isles. These are modern population figures, but they are indicative of past relative strengths: England, 55 million; ...
Tom Au's user avatar
  • 104k
25 votes
Accepted

Can anyone identify the regiment and rank from this WWI photograph?

I agree with Kobunite, but by a different route. I can't make out the cap badge well enough to identify it positively, but the collar badges are either Royal Artillery or Royal Engineers, which are ...
John Dallman's user avatar
  • 30.4k
23 votes

Was Mary Stuart's execution not accompanied by attainder?

Three points: Mary was not the subject of a Bill of Attainder. She was convicted of treason by a jury of English noblemen. The rules about succession rules were still vague in 1600. Succession was ...
Mark Olson's user avatar
  • 6,592
22 votes
Accepted

How was the linen weaving trade learnt in 18th century Scotland?

Weaving generally had been a fairly common occupation during the medieval period in Scotland. The skills were taught to apprentices, who may or may not have been related to the master weaver. This ...
sempaiscuba's user avatar
19 votes

What made the English the dominant power of the British Isles?

The obvious reason for Scotland being "conquered" by England is that King James VI of Scotland was heir to the English throne, and upon the death of Elizabeth I of England (and Ireland) found himself ...
Monty Harder's user avatar
17 votes
Accepted

Was Mary Stuart's execution not accompanied by attainder?

Part One: Chronology. King James VI & I did become king of England and Ireland on 24 March 1603 about 16 years after Mary Queen of Scots was beheaded on 8 February 1587. But James became King of ...
MAGolding's user avatar
  • 18.4k
16 votes
Accepted

Which Scottish regiment is the Queen inspecting in this photo?

The tartan is not clear and the glengarry was shared by most Highland regiments. The hose and sporrans may have differed among regiments but I am having a hard time nailing down exactly which aspects ...
Andrew's user avatar
  • 9,072
15 votes
Accepted

How likely was an enlisted man to have fought at both Falkirk and Bannockburn?

Short Answer Indirect evidence suggests that it is certainly possible that there were some veterans of Falkirk (1298) who fought at Bannockburn (1314). Men could be enlisted on both sides up to the ...
Lars Bosteen's user avatar
14 votes

What made the English the dominant power of the British Isles?

Scotland joining England and Wales: The Darien Disaster was an ill-fated attempt to build a roadway across Central America by the Scots. It was backed by most of the Scottish nobility, and its failure ...
CSM's user avatar
  • 241
12 votes

Can anyone identify the regiment and rank from this WWI photograph?

Starting with the regiment - looking at the cap badge (see below), I believe that he was in the Corps of Royal Engineers. The uniform appears to be that of a commissioned officer, however the exact ...
Kobunite's user avatar
  • 4,770
12 votes

What was the "high Commissioner of the Police in Scotland" in 1777?

The word 'police' is different in its meaning from the modern narrow definition we are likely to hold true for back then. In modern words: much more setting policy, thus mainly more legislative than ...
LаngLаngС's user avatar
  • 80.2k
10 votes

What were the motivating factors in the Scottish Highland Clearances?

The motivating factors that led to the Highland Clearances are manifold and complex. The roots of the clearances lay mainly in the aftermath of the 1745 Jacobite rebellion in which the highland levies ...
sempaiscuba's user avatar
8 votes

Why were bows referred to as "Indian Artillery"?

Indian here means "Red Indian" or Native American. His readers would be aware that Indians used bows and arrows so the writer is mocking the duelists' choice of weapons by calling it "Indian artillery"...
TheMathemagician's user avatar
7 votes
Accepted

Can anyone explain why the Scottish flag on this map from 1504 has a red cross on a white background?

I recently looked at this question again, and thought it might be another example of the colorization process being inaccurate. I thought to find other copies of this map (or other works at least by ...
justCal's user avatar
  • 37.2k
7 votes

Did Hitler spare Dundee from bombing because it "rejected" Churchill as MP?

Personally, I would discard it as an unfounded rumour. It's right up there with the "Hitler’s granny came from Dundee" rumour that you can still hear repeated around the city. Dundee actually was hit ...
sempaiscuba's user avatar
7 votes
Accepted

Was Queen Henrietta Maria (of England) known for scratching her initials into things?

Short Answer The reference to "that famous east window on which Henrietta Maria had once cut her name with a diamond" seems most likely to be a conflation of two or more of various events ...
Lars Bosteen's user avatar
6 votes
Accepted

Why was Ormond Castle in Scotland so called?

Ormond Castle was named after the hill it stood on, Ormond Hill. It is now impossible to trace how the name came about, but the Scottish antiquarian John Pinkerton says it was apparently an ancient ...
Semaphore's user avatar
  • 96.9k
6 votes
Accepted

Did James I link the divine right of kings to apostolic succession in his writings? If so, where?

No, nothing is missing or overlooked in "trew Law" regarding apostolic succession. The text simply does not provide what this unreferenced part of the Wikipedia article claims. What James ...
LаngLаngС's user avatar
  • 80.2k
5 votes
Accepted

Significance of division of Caledonia by Northumbrian Advance

Yes, that's roughly what he's saying. It is very difficult, if not impossible, to run a unified country, or even a unified armed resistance, between two entities separated by hostile territory. Here'...
T.E.D.'s user avatar
  • 115k
5 votes

How did John Duns Scotus live in England during the Scottish Wars of Independence?

In the particular case of John Duns Scotus, we know relatively little about him apart from his work, and the fact that he was a friar. As a member of a religious order and an academic, he would ...
sempaiscuba's user avatar
5 votes

What evidence is there of Asians and Africans in medieval Britain other than Moors in the 7th century?

The Kingdom of Makuria (Nubian peoples, think south of Egypt) was a Christian kingdom and I would suggest that is the likely homeland for Black people who made it into medieval Europe. It's heavily ...
Twelfth's user avatar
  • 2,712
5 votes

Was Ireland really England's first colony?

BBC According to the British Broadcasting Company Pope Adrian IV's Papal Bull in 1155 led the way to England's first colony. BBC The first proper colonisation took place not in the West or East ...
John Strachan's user avatar
4 votes

What is that gold plaque Scottish soldiers wore around their necks?

Not so much evolved from the cuirass as it was a piece of medieval armour; the gorget-the piece of armour that protected the neck and came between the helmet and cuirass. As firearms became more ...
Jonathan Webster's user avatar
4 votes

What were levels of insular migration like in pre-Industrial Britain (1650-1780)?

I've also been researching my family history, and my family seems to be another one with "itchy feet". I've traced a few lines back to the civil war, and - although the distances involved seem to be ...
sempaiscuba's user avatar
4 votes

When was Donald Trump's first visit to his mother's birthplace, the Isle of Lewis?

There might not be clear records of it: Mary Anne Trump's billionaire son Donald visited the house in which his mother grew up, and his cousins in 2008. On that trip, the now president-elect said he ...
gktscrk's user avatar
  • 10.7k
4 votes

What was the role of Scotland during the Hundred Years War?

Auld Alliance It all dates back to a treaty signed between Scotland and France in 1295, named the Auld Alliance, when both nations agreed to help eachother should either country be attacked by England....
John Strachan's user avatar

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