|
||
1 January 1660: General George Monck, the Military Governor of Scotland, leads troops based in Coldstream south to London to restore Charles Stewart - Charles II - to the throne.
14 May 1660: Charles II is proclaimed King of England, Scotland and Ireland while still in Holland.
25 May 1660: King Charles II sails from Holland to Dover: the monarchy is restored.
28 May 1660: The birth in Germany of George I, the first monarch of the House of Hanover, who ruled as King of Great Britain and King of Ireland from 1 August 1714.
29 May 1660: King Charles II becomes undisputed king of England following his restoration.
January 1661: The Scottish Parliament meets under its Commissioner, the Earl of Middleton. On 28 March it revokes every law passed since the year of Charles I's accession, 1633. This rolls back the Covenants and restores ultimate power to the King in London.
4 April 1661: The death at Balgonie Castle in Fife of Alexander Leslie, 1st Earl of Leven, the professional soldier who became a field marshal in the Swedish army before returning to command the Scottish Covenanter army during the Wars of the Thee Kingdoms.
23 April 1661: Charles II is crowned King of England at Westminster Abbey: he had been crowned King of Scotland ten years earlier.
27 May 1661: The Marquis of Argyll is executed in Edinburgh for his role during Charles II's 1650-1 reign. A number of other extreme Presbyterians are executed later in the year, though Neil Macleod, who had betrayed Montrose at Ardveck Castle, escapes. Charles II is also settling scores in England, where many of those responsible for his father's death are executed and Oliver Cromwell's body is exhumed and symbolically beheaded.
18 August 1661: The death of Robert Gordon of Straloch, the poet, mathematician, antiquary and geographer, primarily remembered for his cartography of Scotland.
6 September 1661: King Charles II restores episcopal government to Scotland by royal decree. Alternative services called conventicles, often held in the open air, that spring up in an effort to retain a Presbyterian approach, are later made illegal.
18 December 1661: The ship Elizabeth of Burntisland sinks off the coast of north-east England, taking with it many of Scotland's most important historical records, en route back to Scotland after their earlier removal to London by Oliver Cromwell.
1 September 1644: The Battle of Tippermuir is fought as James Graham, 1st Marquis of Montrose tries to reclaim Perth for King Charles I.
6 February 1665: Queen Anne is born. She will become Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland on 8 March 1702 on the death of her brother-in-law, William III/II, and the last monarch of the House of Stuart.
25 December 1665: The birth near Greenlaw of songwriter and poet Lady Grisell (or Grizel) Baillie.
28 November 1666: At the Battle of Rullion Green in the Pentland Hills near Penicuik, 3,000 troops led by Tam Dalyell of the Binns defeated some 900 Covenanter rebels.
3 January 1670: The death of General George Monck, Cromwell's Military Governor in Scotland and the man responsible for the restoration of Charles II.
February 1671: Rob Roy MacGregor is born at Glengyle at the head of Loch Katrine.
21 November 1673: The marriage takes place in London of James, Duke of York to his second wife, the Catholic Mary of Modena.
4 November 1677: The marriage takes place in London of William of Orange and Mary, the elder daughter of James, Duke of York.
3 May 1679: Archbishop James Sharp, Primate of Scotland, is attacked and killed while travelling through Fife to St Andrews. The attackers are probably waiting for the Sheriff of Fife, but are happy to murder instead the man leading the forces suppressing the Covenant in Scotland. His murder sparks a wider uprising leading to what is known as the "Killing Time".
29 May 1679: Covenanters under Sir Robert Hamilton take Rutherglen before evading government troops.
1 June 1679: Troops encounter a large conventicle of many thousands of people taking place in Ayrshire at Loudoun Hill. The Battle of Drumclog that follows sees the troops overwhelmed by much larger numbers of largely unarmed Covenanters and they flee.
22 June 1679: Covenanters gather at Bothwell, near the River Clyde, throughout June but are unable to agree a common manifesto. Meanwhile the government gathers its forces under the Duke of Monmouth, one of Charles II's many illegitimate offspring. The two sides meet at the Battle of Bothwell Brig (Bridge) and the Covenanters are routed with the loss of 800 killed and twice as many taken prisoner.
24 November 1679: James, Duke of York - Charles II's brother and heir to the throne - is appointed the King's Viceroy in Scotland.
22 June 1680: Radical Presbyterian Richard Cameron enters Sanquhar with a group of armed followers and makes the Sanquhar Declaration, denouncing King Charles II.
22 July 1680: The radical Presbyterian Richard Cameron attempts to lead an uprising against the King. He is killed by government troops at the Battle of Airds Moss in Ayrshire.
1681: James summons the Scottish Parliament to pass the Test Act under which anyone seeking office in Scotland will have to swear a comprehensive oath to the King. The effect is to alienate large parts of the population.
27 July 1681: The Reverend Donald Cargill, who in October 1680 had excommunicated the entire government, is beheaded in Edinburgh.
12 January 1682: The Presbyterians become an underground movement of resistance to the crown and government. Sporadic violence continues on both sides.
1682: The Advocates' Library is founded. It later forms the core of the National Library of Scotland.
December 1684: The government produce an "Abjuration Oath" which all Scots are required to swear on pain of death. Many Scots are killed as a result, especially in the south-west.
6 February 1685: Charles II dies after conversion to the Catholic Church on his deathbed. He is succeeded by his brother James Stewart, Duke of York as James II of England and VII of Scotland. James Stewart has been a convert to Catholicism for some time.
11 May 1685: The execution as Covenanters of the Wigtown Martyrs. William Johnston, John Milroy and George Walker, are hanged for their beliefs, and two women, the elderly Margaret McLachlan, and the teenage Margaret Wilson, are drowned for theirs.
13 May 1685: The execution of James Kirk near Dumfries for refusing to swear the oath is one of the last of the wave of deaths of the "Killing Time".
20 May 1685: The Earl of Argyll sails from Holland to Campbeltown with 300 men in an attempted uprising. It fails and he is executed.
15 October 1686: The birth in Leadhills of the renowned poet Allan Ramsay the Elder.
29 May 1687: King James VII/II establishes the Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle, an order of chivalry associated with Scotland.
June 1687: James VII/II issues an Indulgence giving complete religious toleration to all denominations. The Scots see it as a precursor to greater Roman Catholic influence.
17 February 1688: James Renwick, leader of the remaining Covenanter Presbyterian rebels, is executed in Edinburgh.
10 June 1688: James VII/II and his wife Mary of Modena have a son, christened James Francis Edward. Many Scots - and English - are concerned by the prospect of a continuing Catholic Stewart dynasty.
30 June 1688: A group of Protestant nobles asks William of Orange to travel to England to overthrow King James VII/II.
5 November 1688: William of Orange lands at Brixham in south-west England with a huge army. He has come at the invitation of representatives of the English nobility and church. His wife Mary is James VII/II's daughter and until the birth of James Francis Edward was the heir to the throne.
9 December 1688: Serious rioting in Edinburgh spreads across Scotland.
23 December 1688: James VII/II sails to France after a largely bloodless coup by William and Mary.
22 January 1689: An English convention declares that James VII/II has in practice abdicated; and sets out the basis on which his daughter Mary and her husband William of Orange can succeed to the throne. This includes their accepting the primacy of Parliament and the stipulation that no Roman Catholic or spouse of a Roman Catholic can take the crown.
14 March-4 April 1689: A Scottish Convention is divided between Williamite supporters of William and Mary, and Jacobite supporters of James VII/II. They consider a reasoned and courteous letter from William, and an arrogant and threatening letter from James Stewart which fatally undermines his own support. The Convention decides James has forfeited his right to the crown, which should be offered instead to William and Mary.
18 March 1689: The King's Own Scottish Borderers are raised in Edinburgh by David Leslie, 3rd Earl of Leven. 800 men are recruited within the first two hours.
11 May 1689: William II/III and Mary II jointly accept the crown of Scotland, though it is unclear whether they have first formally accepted the constitutional principles set by the Scottish Convention.
27 July 1689: The leader of Jacobite dissent in Scotland is Viscount Dundee who gathers an army of Highlanders and a few Irish at Blair Castle. As General Mackay moves a government army of lowland troops north from Dunkeld the two sides meet at the Battle of Killiecrankie. The outcome is a victory for the Jacobites, but at a high cost including the death of Viscount Dundee, or "Bonnie Dundee" as he is remembered.
21 August 1689: The Jacobite highland army attacks government forces in and around Dunkeld and its Cathedral at the Battle of Dunkeld. Both sides suffer heavy losses and much of the town is destroyed.
1 May 1690: The last organised Jacobite forces are beaten by government troops at the Battle of Cromdale, near Grantown on Spey.
1 July 1690: William of Orange defeats James VII/II at the Battle of the Boyne, north of Dublin in Ireland. James returns to France from Ireland, and the hopes of Scottish Jacobites of his return to Scotland evaporate.
June 1691: Highland Clan Chiefs who have been opposed to William are offered bribes and an amnesty on condition they swear oaths of allegiance to him.
1 February 1692: Troops are moved south from Fort William and billeted with the MacDonalds in Glen Coe as a prelude to the Glencoe Massacre.
13 February 1692: The Glencoe Massacre by government troops from Fort William under the command of Captain Robert Campbell takes place to punish the MacDonalds for the failure of their chief to swear allegiance to William. The Secretary of State for Scotland, Sir John Dalrymple is later held responsible for the massacre and resigns. Full details can be found on our Glen Coe feature page.
March 1693: Horse-drawn Hackney cabs come into service on the streets of Glasgow.
4 June 1694: The Merchant Maiden Hospital is established in Edinburgh with considerable support from philanthropist Mary Erskine. Known since 1944 as The Mary Erskine School, it is one of the oldest girls' schools in the world.
27 July 1694: William III/II grants a Royal Charter to the Bank of England, set up by Sir William Paterson.
4 October 1694: The birth at Huntingtower Castle near Perth of Lord George Murray, a professional soldier and Jacobite who was one of Bonnie Prince Charlie's commanders during the ill-fated 1745 uprising.
28 December 1694: Queen Mary II dies, leaving William III/II to rule alone.
26 June 1695: The establishment by an Act of the Scots Parliament of the "Company of Scotland Trading to Africa and the Indies," which is better known as the "Darien Company".
17 July 1695: The Bank of Scotland is established in Edinburgh.
February 1696: The Bank of Scotland opens with a remit to support Scottish business.
1695: The Scottish Parliament passes an Act establishing the "Company of Scotland Trading to Africa and the Indies" with powers to colonise and make trade treaties. In large part this is intended to take advantage of Sir William Paterson's dream of establishing a colony at Darien in Central America. The Scheme attracts between a quarter and a half of all available wealth in Scotland.
5 August 1695: King William III approves the establishment of a General Post Office in Scotland.
27 August 1695: Alexander Selkirk, the model for Robison Crusoe, is summoned to appear before the kirk-session (ecclesiastical court) in Lower Largo for unspecified indecent behaviour in church. He fails to appear, having run away to sea.
2 August 1696: The death in Bruges of Captain Robert Campbell, the 5th Laird of Glen Lyon, and the officer commanding the government troops who massacred the MacDonalds of Glencoe on 13 February 1692.
19 September 1697: The birth in Edinburgh of Alexander Monro (primus) a physician and surgeon, and the first in a line of "Alexander Monros" to be appointed to the post of Professor of Anatomy at the University of Edinburgh.
12 July 1698: The ships of the first Darien expedition sail from Leith with 1,200 settlers, bound for Panama.
2 November 1698: The ill-fated First Darien Expedition arrives in central America and lands in what it christens "New Caledonia" in what is now Panama.
April 1699: King William prohibits English colonies in the new world trading with the Scots in Caledonia. He is anxious not to antagonise the Spanish, who claim Darien for themselves.
June 1699: The survivors of Caledonia set sail for Scotland via New York, with only 300 of the 1,200 who originally left Leith completing the return journey.
September 1699: The second Darien expedition sets sail from Scotland 12 days before news arrives from New York that the colony has been abandoned. The expedition is rapidly supplemented by a small military force.
1699: The Society in Scotland for Propagating Christian Knowledge set out to suppress the Gaelic language.
Click for Timeline: 1700 to 1740
|
||
