Scotland

Scottish poet Robert Burns' depoliticised modern image overshadows his radical history Robert Burns, born on this day in 1759, is the iconic Scottish poet. That much is well-known. But what’s often forgotten is that Burns was a political radical.

On this day in 1820, a Radical Insurrection swept across ScotlandWhen the Napoleonic Wars came to an end in 1815, Radical politics was at a low ebb across the British Isles.

Today all the way back in 1305, the Scottish rebel Sir William Wallace was executed in London. The death of the Scottish outlaw has long since become a symbol of freedom, in Scotland and beyond.

On 6th April 1320, thirty-nine Scottish nobles signed the – a letter to Pope John XXII calling him to support Scotland's claim to sovereignty against King Edward II of England. If you've seen Mel Gibson's Braveheart, you know the story.