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Here is a memoir of Peter
Hume Brown taken from the Scottish Historical Review and written by C H
Firth.
You can read this memoir in pdf
format here Read his History of Scotland in three volumes
PREFACE
IN accordance with the plan of the Series to
which this book belongs, it should have dealt with Scottish history
mainly during the last four centuries. In the case of Scotland, however,
there was a special reason for departing from this plan. There is not in
existence a compendious history of Scotland which at once supplies a
consecutive narrative of events, and seeks to trace the gradual
consolidation of the various elements that have gone to the making of
the Scottish people. It is as an attempt to meet this want that this
book was conceived and written.
But there was another reason which seemed to justify a preliminary
volume exclusively devoted to early and mediaeval Scottish history.
Since the publication of the works of Dr Hill Burton and Dr Skene
considerable additions have been made to our knowledge regarding various
periods dealt with in the present volume. On many points, also, the
latest critical opinion constrains us to reject or modify conclusions
accepted even by such recent authorities as Burton and Skene. To adduce
a single instance, though an important one—Dr Skene’s elaborate account
of the Roman occupation is largely rejected by the highest modern
authorities. On the other hand, the researches of Dr Skene have
superseded the portion of Burton’s History which treats of the centuries
that followed the Roman occupation; and the same remark applies in a
considerable degree to the period between the coming of the Saxon
Margaret and the death of Alexander III. In my own account of Celtic
Scotland I have availed myself of the original authorities brought
together by Dr Skene in his Chronicles of the Picts and Scots and his
Collectanea de Rebus Albanicis, as well as of other sources, and have
endeavoured to construct a narrative as intelligible as the scanty
materials would permit. So scanty, indeed, are the materials for
Scottish history from the invasion of Agricola to the death of Alexander
III that, if authorities be critically construed and theories be set
aside, the following narrative is nearly as full as is justified by
ascertained facts.
During recent years our knowledge of the period of the War of
Independence has been both corrected and extended; but even with the
fresh material at our disposal, a detailed and trustworthy narrative is
still impossible. Though the number of contemporary documents is
considerable, they are inadequate to form the basis of a comprehensive
history of the period; while the Scottish and English Chronicles are at
once so conflicting, meagre, and untrustworthy, that the work of
reconciling them is probably beyond the ingenuity of criticism. In
consistency with the nature and aim of the present work I have confined
myself to what seems to be indisputable fact.
It is from the middle of the reign of David II onwards that the
following narrative will be found to differ most materially from
previous histories of Scotland. It is not too much to say, indeed, that
from the materials that have come to hand in recent years this period of
the national history had virtually to be rewritten. Yet even with regard
to this period we experience, though in a less degree, the same
difficulty as in the case of the earlier times: while at certain points
our information is surprisingly full, at others it is so fragmentary
that it is difficult to follow the mere sequence of events. It is
necessary to emphasize this fact, as it explains why the events of one
reign are, for no apparent reason, related with so much greater fulness
than the events of another. The reign of James I, alike from its
importance and from the personality of James himself, is one of the most
interesting in Scottish history, yet from the information we possess we
are unable to treat it on the scale which it would demand. On the other
hand, it is with increasing amplitude that we can recount the reigns of
his immediate successors—those of James IV and James V supplying
materials of special abundance and value. It has been my endeavour to
guard as far as possible against the misconceptions likely to arise from
this unavoidable disproportion of treatment.
It should perhaps be added that the bibliography at the end of the
volume is not meant to be exhaustive. Such as it is, however, the list
of authorities given may be of service both to the general reader and to
the student who may wish to investigate a particular period. The copious
table of contents will to a large extent supply the place of an index
which is reserved for the concluding volume.
I here take the opportunity of thanking Dr James Macdonald, Rhind
Lecturer for 1897, for his invaluable assistance in connection with the
chapter on the Roman occupation of North Britain. To Sheriff Mackay and
Professor Mackinnon, of the University of Edinburgh, I am also indebted
for information on points regarding which they are recognized
authorities. Through the great kindness of Mr Matthew Livingstone,
Deputy Keeper of the Records, I was enabled to examine a mass of
unpublished Charters, extending from the reign of Malcolm IV, which he
has been engaged in transcribing for some years past; and by the
courtesy of the Rev. John Anderson, of the Register House, Edinburgh, I
had the privilege of inspecting the Laing Collection of Charters, a
calendar of which is about to be published under his supervision.
Finally, I have to express my great obligation to Professor Prothero,
the Editor of the Series, to whose wide knowledge and experience I am
indebted for valuable suggestions in the course of his revision of my
proofs.
P. H. B.
December, 1898.
Volume 1 | Volume 2 | Volume 3
Scotland before 1700
From Contemporary Documents edited by P. Hume Brown (1893) (pdf)
"The historians have told us about the kings
who reigned and the wars carried on. But if we desire to obtain some
exact and reliable knowledge of the social condition of the people, say
during the reign of the 1 peaceful king ' Alexander III., and thus be
able to estimate the degree in which the country was impoverished and
the progress of civilization checked, for at least a hundred and fifty
years, by the troubles that followed, the historians help us but little.
And it is to the writings of such early travellers as Mr Hume Brown has
dealt with, along with any inedited records that may yet be made
available, that we must look for the desired light." — Free Press,
Aberdeen. |
