- Name : Stewart
- Born : c.1340
- Died : 1420
- Category : Kings and Queens
- Finest Moment : Regent of Scotland, 1406.
As an exercise in how to live long and prosper when all around are losing their heads and castles, this devious character has much to offer. Contemporary politicians take note. Born the son of Robert II, the Earl of Fife became his most capable son. His elder brother Robert (christened John) became King in 1390. Two years earlier, Robert had become Governor, retaining that office on the succession of his brother, and becoming 1st Duke of Albany in 1398.
In 1399 his nephew David, Duke of Rothesay and heir to the crown, succeeded him as governor, but the two were soon at odds. Not to be thwarted from his ambitions, it is almost certain that Robert had a hand in the mysterious death of David in 1406, at Falkland, where Robert and the Earl of Douglas had had him imprisoned (apparently death was by starvation). Robert again became Lieutenant and Governor of the Realm.
Aiming now for the throne, he was cheered by the news that the 12-year-old Prince James had been captured by the English. He was further cheered by the death of Robert III, his older brother. At a General Council in Perth, Robert was appointed Regent. He then ruled Scotland for the next 14 years, taking the view that it was better to broker deals with the other big chiefs, rather than fight them. Coincidentally, he grew even richer in the process.
He died at Stirling Castle in September, 1420, at the incredible age of 80-plus. He left a son, Murdoch, who inherited both the Dukedom and the Governorship of Scotland, but he lost his head in 1425.
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Robert William Thomson / Engineer & Inventor
- Name : Thompson
- Born : 1822
- Died : 1873
- Category : Engineers
- Finest Moment : The first india-rubber pneumatic tyre (1845)
From his mother's improved mangle to the world's first india-rubber pneumatic tyre - he invented it.
Born in Stonehaven in 1822, the 11th of 12 children of a local woollen mill owner. Robert was primed to study for the ministry, but an innate inability to learn Latin made him refuse this path. Leaving school at 14 he lived with an uncle in Charleston, South Carolina, USA, being apprenticed to a merchant, but he returned to Scotland two years' later, and taught himself chemistry, electricity and astronomy, with assistance from a local weaver who had some knowledge of mathematics.
His inventive bent was allowed to blossom when his father provided him with a workshop, and by the time he was 17 he had re-designed and re-built his mother's mangle so that it could squeeze wet linen in both directions (think about it; it's like having a kettle which can be poured with either hand). Other original work at this time included a ribbon saw, and a first working model of an elliptic rotary steam engine.
He became an assistant to a civil engineer, and while working on the demolition of Dunbar Castle developed a method of firing explosive charges using an electric current. As this meant the end of lighting dodgy fuses by hand, deaths through 'hung' detonations fell dramatically throughout the world. He demonstrated this invention to Michael Faraday in London, in 1841.
Thomson went on to work for the contractors Sir William Cubitt and Robert Stephenson, later branching out on his own as a consultant in 1844. In 1845 he patented the world's first india-rubber pneumatic tyre, followed by a self-filling fountain pen in 1849. The tyre consisted of a hollow belt of india-rubber inflated with air, so that the wheels presented a cushion of air to the ground, rail or track on which they ran. This elastic belt of rubberised canvas was enclosed within a strong outer casing of leather which was bolted to the wheel.
The further development of these wheels was slowed by the inability to manufacture the necessary strong thin rubber for the inner tubes, and Thomson turned towards developing solid rubber tyres. Some 43 years later another Scot, John Boyd Dunlop, re-invented the pneumatic tyre as a bicycle tyre. Dunlop's patent however was rendered invalid as Thomson's patent preceded it.
In 1852 he accepted a post in Java, designing new equipment and improving other machines for the production of sugar. While out there he married Clara Hertz, with whom he had two sons and two daughters. They returned to Scotland in 1862, with Robert in ill-health, moving to Edinburgh. This did not stop his inventive outflow however, and in 1867 came the first successful mechanical road haulage vehicle, a steam traction engine. He also patented solid india-rubber tyres, allowing the lightweight engine to run over a wide variety of surfaces, with the minimum of damage to that surface. By 1870 they were being manufactured under licence in both Britain and the USA. 'Thomson Steamers' were exported around the world.
Thomson died at the early age of 50, at his home in Moray Place, Edinburgh, in 1873. He had never ceased to work, his last patent, for elastic belts, seats and cushions, being file after his death by his wife, Clara.
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The Romans in Scotland
Period Years 43 AD — 411 AD
43 AD Romans reach Britain.
79 AD Romans first invade southern Scotland.
84 AD Battle of Mons Graupius.
98 AD Cornelius Tacitus first writes down his account of the Roman invasion.
122 AD Start of the construction of Hadrian's Wall.
142 AD Antonine Wall constructed.
185 AD Antonine Wall abandoned.
211 AD Scotland abandoned again by the Romans.
305 AD New Roman campaigns against the Caledonians.
350 AD Ninian born.
411 AD The Romans finally abandon Britain.
Scotland's reputation as a warlike, fierce and independent nation was carved out from its earliest days. Until the coming of the Romans nearly 2000 years ago, the country was home to a series of disparate tribes. However, the arrival of the greatest military force the ancient world has ever seen brought these tribes together in a fight against a single common enemy. The Caledonians could not easily beat the Romans in battle, but they caused them enough trouble to ensure that Scotland never really became part of the empire.
THE ROMANS may have established the greatest empire the ancient world had ever seen - but they never really managed to conquer Scotland.
They won a critical battle to capture the whole country, but had neither the nerve nor the resources to see their victory through.
The result was that Scotland managed to hold on to its independence - a feat which instilled a national pride which remains to this day.
The Romans first arrived in Britain in AD43, but it wasn't until 36 years later that the governor, Julius Agricola, decided to try and bring the north of the island under the empire's control.
His plans were thwarted from the very start. The Caledonians, as the people of Scotland were called at that time, were determined that they would not be conquered.
They were not barbarians, as subsequent history has painted them, but a proud, highly civilised and resistant people who were not prepared to simply fall under the yoke of Rome.
Even then, centuries before the clan system was fully established, Scotland was dominated by tribes with fierce rivalries. However, they had the sense to put their differences aside and join together again the common invading enemy.
Agricola first sent his fleet north to survey suitable harbours for potential landings but at the same time, he alerted the Caledonians to his military strength. They began armed resistance against the invaders, challenging their forts and causing huge concern among the Romans.
Some of Agricola's commanders wanted to retreat back south of the River Forth, but their boss wouldn't hear of it. He pushed forward, narrowly averting serious trouble when he was tipped off about a night attack on his Ninth Legion.
It was a lucky escape, and it became clear that it would only be a matter of time before the two sides met in full combat.
Despite its fearsome reputation, the Roman army in Britain was not as powerful as it looked. Only a small proportion of its membership was composed of Roman troops: most of the soldiers were much less experienced auxiliary troops from conquered lands such as present day Germany, Holland and Belgium.
In the summer of AD84, Agricola mounted a major push north, his army reinforced by soldiers from the south of Britain who he felt could be trusted. But the Caledonians were waiting for them. They were determined to challenge Roman authority once and for all, and had amassed a huge force of their own to take the invaders on.
The battle finally took place at Mons Graupius in North East Scotland. It is estimated that the Caledonian forces had 30,000 men - a huge number and far more bodies than the Romans could muster.
The Caledonians were well prepared. As well as having more soldiers, they knew the landscape intimately and their morale was high. They were fighting for their freedom, while the Roman troops were merely fighting to try and subdue a land they cared little for.
However, the Romans had other advantages. Their army was technically more efficient, meaning it could compensate for its numerical disadvantage. Their troops were also tremendously disciplined.
As the battle raged, the Romans eventually managed to win the upper hand. The bravery of the Caledonians was no match for their superior expertise and their skill in close combat.
The Caledonians, realising that the skirmish was being lost, started to flee the field. They were pursued by their opponents and either hunted down and driven away. By the time the battle had finished, it is estimated that 10,000 natives had died compared to less than 400 Roman troops.
Having secured his authority and reputation, Agricola moved to consolidate his hold on Scotland by sailing his fleet round into the Pentland Firth, seizing control as far north as Orkney and proving for the first time that Britain was an island.
Despite their victory, however, the Romans had little appetite for conquering Scotland on a long-term basis. It was too far north and too troublesome to be of much real value to the empire.
Later that year, Agricola was recalled to Rome, where he retired in comfort. There was little real will to capitalise on his great military success in Scotland. The troops were thought to be needed on continental Europe, so they were withdrawn south. A giant fort at Inchtuthill on the Tay was abandoned even before it had been completed.
It was not, however, the end of Roman influence over Scotland. Some 40 years after Mons Graupius, they began to build Hadrian's Wall, stretching right across the country from the Solway to Wallsend on the Tyne and named after the emperor of the time. The aim was to keep the Caledonians both out of the empire and under surveillance.
The building of the wall - large parts of which can still be seen today - was a major feat of engineering. In 138AD Hadrian's successor as emperor, Antoninus Pius, ordered the troops forward again and a new wall was built across central Scotland from Bo'ness on the Forth to Old Kilpatrick on the Clyde.
The new structure - named the Antonine Wall - was not as impressive as Hadrian's wall - it was probably only about 10 feet high - but it was well fortified, with forts every two miles.
Instead of repelling attacks, however, the new wall just seemed to encourage them. Worn down by constant assaults from the northern tribes, the Romans began to abandon the wall again in 158AD, finally pulling out altogether in 185 and retreating back to Hadrian's Wall.
Eve, this, though, did not calm the Caledonians. In 208, the Roman emperor himself, Septimus Severus, was forced to come to Scotland to quell constant guerrilla attacks.
He pushed as far north as the Moray Firth but failed to win any battles and retreated, leaving his son Caracalla to make a grudged peace with the local tribes and to head back south again.
Once again, Hadrian's Wall became the northern frontier of the empire. Things stayed mostly quiet until there was another attempt against the northern frontier in 367. It was repelled, but pressure continued right up until the time the Roman empire started to crumble and troops were completely withdrawn from Britain in 411.
Scotland, then, was the land the Romans never really managed to subjugate. However, their presence over centuries did have one marked effect. It gradually pulled together the disparate tribes into just one - the Picts.
Others - Angles, Britons and Scots - were also to inhabit Scotland in the coming centuries, and the battles these ancient people fought with each other as well as against the English would last for the better part of 1000 years.
There was something else, too, which still had to come to Scotland. While the Romans were busy subduing the northern tribes, one man was causing a huge stir at the other side of their giant empire.
He called himself the Messiah, and claimed he was the son of God. Eventually he was put to death, but his legacy would have a huge and lasting impact on Scotland as an emerging country.
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Lord Joseph Lister / Medical Pioneers
- Name : Laing
- Born : 1927
- Died : 1989
- Category : Medical Pioneers
- Finest Moment : Publication of The Self and Others (1961)
Born 7 October 1927 in Glasgow, RD Laing, as he was invariably called, was brought up in a working class family. He studied medicine and psychiatry, gaining a doctoral degree in medicine at Glasgow in 1951. After a year as an army conscript psychiatrist, and three years teaching at Glasgow University, Laing moved south to the Tavistock Clinic in 1956, finally settling at the Tavistock Institute of Human Relations from 1960-89. He also had a private practice in London.
As a psychiatrist, Laing had a life-long interest in schizophrenia. His theme was often one of environment, particularly the family, as a cause of the illness. Schizophrenia is a very common illness, affecting about 0.8% of the population between the ages of 15 and 45 at some time in their lives. At one time indeed, about a quarter of all hospital beds were taken by schizophrenic patients, though later better treatment and modified discharge policies have much reduced this.
Laing was opposed to the standard treatment for schizophrenics, including hospitalisation and electroshock. Schizophrenia is often difficult to comprehend, but may be loosely viewed as a shattering or fragmentation of the mind. Many sufferers do not cope well with emotional intensity, and a restrictive and critical family environment for example is often a factor. There is also little doubt that there is a strong genetic factor, perhaps involving several genes.
Laing made several important contributions to the literature from 1960 onwards, including The Divided Self (1960), which argued that insecurity about one's existence could generate the psychotic symptoms characteristic of schizophrenia. Other publications include The Self and Others (1961), The Politics of Experience (1967),The Politics of the Family (1971), and his autobiographical book Wisdom, Madness and Folly: The Making of a Psychiatrist, 1927-1957 (1985). His early approach to the illness aroused much controversy, though he would later modify some of this. He died in St Tropez on 23 August 1989.
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