Double Family Coat of Arms Wedding Display.
Family History Long Version and Coat of Arms Display.
Coat of Arms Wood Plaque Engraved on Marble Background
Coat of Arms Wood Plaque Engraved on Silver Background
Coat of Arms Wood Plaque Engraved on Black Background
Coat of Arms Wood Plaque Engraved on Gold Background
Coat of Arms & Long Surname History Wood Plaque
Coat of Arms & Short Surname History Wood Plaque
Name Origin of Both Surnames in Your Family Genealogy.
Single Coat of arms and Family Crest.
Family Name with Origin of Surname.

The history of Scotland and the Scottish heritage behind it has some of the most amazing stories. From battles and wars in and around its borders to great growths in the size and prosperity of the country, Scotland has a rich history. The Tree Maker hopes that some of the information on the history of Scotland will be helpful to our customers that are in the process of researching their family genealogy. Please let us know if we can help with any questions you may have in regards to our products or genealogy site.

Place Your Order By Calling 615-696-0202


Due to Covid-19 our hours of availability and order processing have been shortened to Mondays and Fridays only as we are a small family business. If you have any questions please email us at sales@thetreemaker.com for the fastest response possible. If you have concerns about processing times you may email those concerns prior to placing your order. We are working as fervently as possible on existing orders and appreciate your patience during this time. Thank you for your business. From our family to you and yours stay safe and blessings to you all.

History of Scotland and its Scottish Heritage

Display your Scottish coat of arms or your Scotland heritage


Early Scottish History: Scotland is one of the oldest nations of Western Europe. In its formation Gaels, Picts, Scots, Britons, Anglo-Saxons, and Norsemen all took part. The Gaels belonged to a branch of the Celtic peoples that reached Scotland from Central Europe in the sixth century B.C. There they found the Picts, a people of mysterious origin who may have come from the Continent as early as 1000 B.C. The Gaels and Picts joined in defying the Romans when these world conquerors began their invasion of northern Britain about 80 A.D. Although the Romans succeeded in getting as far north as the central lowlands, they never succeeded in subduing the fierce barbarians, and early in the fifth century the Roman legions were finally withdrawn. All of Britain then became the prey of new invaders and new settlers.

The first of the colonies in western Scotland was Dalriada, founded early in the sixth century by Irish Celts called Scots in what is now Argyll County. The kingdom of Strathclyde arose in the seventh century, when Britons driven northward from England by the invading Anglo-Saxons settled in the Clyde Valley. The Teutonic migration reached southeastern Scotland in the sixth century, when the Anglo-Saxons established Bernicia, later part of Thekingdom of North-Ubria. Although the Gaels and Picts maintained their hold over Pictavia, the Norsemen extended their control along the northern coast and on the three outlying archipelagoes between the ninth and eleventh centuries.

Scotland had its first contact with Christianity early in the fifth century, when the British missionary St. Ninian converted the southern Picts. During the latter part of the sixth century the Irish missionary which he had established on Iona in the Hebrides.

Scottish Medieval Period: The first political union in Scotland was achieved in 844, when Pictavia and Dalriada were united under Kenneth MacAlpin as Kenneth I. The strong kingdom thus formed against encroaching Norsemen and Anglo-Saxons was known as Alba until early in the thirteenth century, when it was named Scotland. In 1018, Malcolm II, after defeating the Anglo-Saxons, annexed the Lothian district of Northumbria, thus extending the southern frontier of Scotland to approximately its present limit. Most of the mainland country was finally united in 1034, when Duncan I, King of Strathclyde, succeeded Malcolm II, his maternal grandfather.

In 1040 his general Macbeth killed Duncan, who despite Shakespeare's villainous characterization, ruled competently until overthrown in 1057 by Duncan's son, Malcolm III. Because of the influence of Malcolm's English-born queen, Margaret, the central lowlands in particular became an English-speaking region, with a culture modeled on that of the Anglo-Saxons to the south. Early in the twelfth century Malcolm's son, David I, not only introduced feudalism but developed a ruling class whose interests differed greatly from those of the Celtic masses of Scotland. Although some of the clan chieftains became vassals, the majority of the King's liegemen were Anglo-Normans who, in doing homage for their land, held most of the southern peasants as serfs.

Finally, in 1174, when William the Lion of Scotland was captured on his invasion of northern England, he was forced to sign the Treaty of Falaise, whereby he not only became the vassal of Henry II but also placed the entire Scottish Kingdom under the lordship of the English Crown. The Scots did not regain their independence until 1189, when Richard I of England sold them their freedom for funds with which to finance the Third Crusade.

The consolidation of Scotland was practically completed during the reign of Alexander III, when the Scots defeated the Norsemen in 1263 and thus gained control of the Hebrides and the coastal plain of the Highlands region. But the Orkneys and Shetlands were not acquired until 1472, when Norway transferred them to the Scottish Crown.

Scottish War of Independence: Upon the mysterious death of the young Norwegian Princess Margaret, granddaughter and heiress of Alexander III, thirteen claimants to the throne appeared. The strongest were John de Baliol and Robert de Bruce. Edward I of England arbitrated the claim, and when he awarded the crown to Baliol in 1292, the new monarch had to swear fealty to him. Four years later, goaded into rebellion by Edward's oppressive measures against the Scots, Baliol made an alliance with France. In protest, the English invaded Scotland in 1296, and the massacre of the citizens of Berwick was the prelude to a ruthless war that resulted in Baliol's abdication.

Although Scotland was now under an English military government, Sir William Wallace, who won one of the greatest victories in Scottish history at the Battle of Stirling Bridge in 1297, renewed the popular revolt. A year later, however, the Scots were defeated at Falkirk, and Wallace was eventually betrayed to the English and executed in 1305. In 1306, Robert Bruce, grandson of the original candidate for the Scottish throne, was crowned as Robert I. After seven years of guerrilla warfare Bruce routed Edward II's army at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314.

In 1333, during the reign of Bruce's son, the incompetent Daved II, English forces scored a great victory at Halidon Hill and made Edward de Baliol their vassal king. Baliol ceded almost half of the southern uplands to England's Edward III, and it was not until 127 years later, during the reign of James II, that the Scots finally expelled the English from the southeastern counties.

Rise of the House of Stuart: The death of the childless David II in 1371 brought the first of the Stuart dynasty to the Scottish throne - Robert II. The ablest of his successors was James I, who for about eighteen years was a prisoner of England's Henry IV and Henry V. When finally released and crowned in 1424, James initiated reforms that to a certain extent curbed the power of the feudal lords, and brought about commercial, agricultural, and legal improvements. He also established a two-chamber Parliament similar to that of England, but retained the Council of the Lords of the Articles to function between sessions.

Scotland took part in England's Wars of the Roses on the side of the House of Lancaster and recognized the claim of Perkin Warbeck, who attempted to oust the Tudor King Henry VII. In 1497, however, James IV concluded a truce with England and six years later he obtained English recognition of an independent Scottish crown by marrying Henry's daughter Margaret. Although this "union of the thistle and the rose" led a century later to the union of the Scottish and English crowns, it did not prevent the outbreak of hostilities when Scotland once again allied itself with France. After Henry VIII went to war with France, James invaded northern England and was defeated and slain in the Battle of Flodden Field in 1513.

James V tried to improve the lot of the common Scottish people when he assumed control in 1528. He also protected the Roman Catholic Church, refusing to follow the example of his uncle Henry VIII in severing all ties with the Papacy and founding a national church like the Church of England. The Scottish alliance with France was strengthened through the King's two marriages, the first to a daughter of Francis I, and the second to Mary of Guise.

The child of James's second marriage was the ill-fated Mary Stuart, who became queen one week after the English had defeated her father in the Battle of Solway Moss in 1542. her reign was a particularly turbulent one because of the attempt of her Catholic followers to place her on the English throne, which the Protestant-supported Elizabeth I ascended in 1558. The story of her unfortunate marriages, of her forced abdication in favor of her infant son, and of the nineteen years she spent in English prisons before her execution is told in her biography {Mary Queen of Scots}.

During the regency of Mary of Guise, the short reign of Mary, Queen of Scots, and the minority of James VI the Reformation gained momentum in Scotland. John Knox let this Reformation. He had been influenced during his exile on the Continent by the teachings of John Calvin. In 1560 Knox drew p a Confession of Faith that paved the way for the establishment of the church government and doctrine known as Presbyterianism.

Union of Scotland and England: Mary's ambitions were fulfilled in her son, who acceded to the English throne as James I on Elizabeth's death in 1603. In his attempt to establish a uniform church government in both Scotland and England, James initiated the long struggle between the Church and the Crown that was carried on by all of his Stuart successors. His object was to substitute the episcopacy {government by bishops appointed by the king} for the presbytery {government by democratic assemblies of ministers and elders}. The struggle reached its height under Charles I, who, with thee aid of Archbishop Laud, continued to impose the rites of the Anglican Church despite the signing of the National Covenant, by which the Scottish Presbyterians pledged defense of their faith.

The indecisive Bishops' Wars of 1639-1640 were followed by the English Civil War between the King and the Puritan-dominated Parliament. In the Civil War the Scots sided with the Puritans, helping Cromwell to win the Battle of Marston Moor in 1644, but five years later, outraged by the execution of Charles I, they defied the Commonwealth by recognizing his son, Charles II. After Charles II had been restored to the English throne in 1660, Charles broke faith with the Scots in regard to his promise of Liberty of conscience, and the Covenanters' uprisings, which followed in the wake of Restoration attempts to re-impose the episcopacy, continued until suppressed at the Battle of Bothwell Bridge in 1679.

The Scots did not achieve freedom from royal absolutism until the reign of William III. The crowning of William and his wife Mary, a daughter of James II, was accompanied in 1689 by the enactment of the Declaration of Rights and the passage of the Act of Toleration, which restored religious freedom to the realm. Finally, in 1707, five years after Queen Anne came to the throne, both the Scottish and English Parliaments accepted the treaty, which permanently united the two countries. Thenceforth the history of Scotland was interwoven with that of Great Britain, the hopes of the Stuarts for ousting Anne's Hanoverian successors having twice come to no avail, in the Jacobite uprising of 1715 and in the overthrow of the Young Pretender in 1746. The British union has had both economic and political advantages, especially since the Scottish Reform Acts of 1832 and 1885 extended the franchise and increased Scotland's representation in the House of Commons.

Of course much has changed since then and the nation of Scotland is a thriving country proud of its heritage. Scotland is a place that you would be proud to display your Scottish genealogy, family coat of arms or surname history.




Genealogy Charts to Display Your Scottish Family History

The history of Scotland is full and rich with its stories of wars and battles, along with the brave men and women who lived throughout these times. The family tree chart shown here can display the Scottish heritage that your family line comes from. You can display the blazon of arms or clan badge as well as the direct lines from your genealogy. Free pedigree chart if needed.

Customized Charts With Names

9-Generation Fan Chart Plain

9-Generation Fan Chart with 2 Surname History

9-Generation Fan Chart with Coat of Arms and Surname History

9-Generation Fan Chart with 2 Coats of Arms

7-Generation Bow-Tie Chart

6-Generation Chart

6-Generation Chart 2

5-Generation Chart

5-Generation Couples Chart

4-Generation Couples Chart

Cousin's Chart

Blank Charts With No Names

9-Generation Fan Chart Plain

9-Generation Fan Chart with 2 Surname History

9-Generation Fan Chart with Coat of Arms and Surname History

9-Generation Fan Chart with 2 Coats of Arms

7-Generation Bow-Tie Chart

6-Generation Chart

6-Generation Chart 2

5-Generation Chart

5-Generation Couples Chart

4-Generation Couples Chart



The family tree chart shown above can easily display your Scottish coat of arms or clan badge along with the rich heritage that can be found in Scotland. The surname history of any surname can be listed on most of our genealogy charts. The blazon of arms and family crest are normally created straight from the description, which was written using the Heraldry knowledge that is needed to know how to put together each coat of arms. Let us know if you have any questions or ideas for our genealogy products.




Family Crest - Alphabetic Surname Listings
A| B| C| D| E| F| G| H| I| J| K| L| M| N| O| P| Q| R| S| T| U| V| W| X| Y| Z
Coat of Arms - Alphabetic Surname Listings
A| B| C| D| E| F| G| H| I| J| K| L| M| N| O| P| Q| R| S| T| U| V| W| X| Y| Z




The Tree Maker ask that you please read the "Frequently Asked Questions" section before ordering. It covers a number of subjects in detail. Most of the questions are in regards to customization to family tree charts, family coat of arms, family crest symbol, Design Your Own Coat of Arms Symbol, surname history, family rings, and last name meaning, but the first few apply to everyone. This will help avoid any problems that could arise about your order. Free pedigree chart if needed. These family tree products make great birthday gifts, Christmas presents, or a Wedding and Anniversary gift.