Scots Who Made a Difference

JOHN LOGIE BAIRD

Inventor (1888–1946)

Baird, born in Dunbarton, is credited with being the first man to televise pictures of objects in motion. Alone at Hastings, Baird discovered how to transmit and receive recognizable images. Baird then became the first person to televise images across the Atlantic in 1928.

ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL

Inventor (1847–1922)

Bell, the remarkable inventor and teacher of the deaf was born in Edinburgh. The family moved to Canada and in 1871, he went to Boston to a School for the Deaf and then opened his own school. He began experimenting with electricity to send sound across the wires and, in 1875, when testing a harmonic telegraph, he transmitted his own voice. Bell was issued a telephone patent the next year.

ELIZABETH BOWES-LYON

British Queen Mother (1900–2002)

Queen Mother of Elizabeth II was born Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon. Lady Elizabeth married George, the Duke of York, in 1923 and had two daughters Elizabeth and Margaret. In 1936, her husband became King George VI and she served as the last Queen of Ireland and Empress of India. At her coronation, Elizabeth was created the first ever Lady of the Thistle. In London during World War II bombings, she gained special affection and admiration from the people. Hitler described her as “the most dangerous woman in Europe.”

ROBERT (the) BRUCE

Military and Political leader (1274–1329)

Robert Bruce is the greatest of all Scottish heroes. He offered patience and cunning to face English Kings Edward I and II. Earl of Carrick, Robert Bruce was born at Turnberry Castle, Ayrshire. His astonishing victory at Bannockburn in 1314 over the larger British forces ensured Scottish freedom from the English. In 1328, a peace treaty was signed at Northampton by the English King, recognizing Scotland as an independent kingdom and Robert Bruce as King.

THOMAS CARLYLE

Historian and Philosopher (1795–1881)

Thomas Carlyle, from the Scottish Lowlands, in 1837 wrote the great masterpiece of historical writing, The French Revolution. His philosophy was influenced by his idea of the Divine Will. His most remembered line is “No great man lives in vain. The history of the world is but the biography of great men.”

ANDREW CARNEGIE

Industrialist & Philanthropist – (1835–1919)

Carnegie was born in Dunfermline and his family emigrated to the USA in 1848. By a combination of luck, talent and ruthlessness, he advanced in a railroad company and became a millionaire at 30. He invested in oil wells and by the 1880’s he was the leader of the iron and steel industry. Twenty years later he stopped earning money and started spending it to benefit others, stating that “The man who dies rich, dies disgraced.” He established over 2,500 public libraries throughout Britain and North America and gave away over $350 million.

CHARLES EDWARD STUART

“Bonnie Prince Charlie” (1720–1788)

Charles Stuart, (“Young Pretender” or Bonnie Prince Charlie) was born in Rome, the grandson of deposed king James II of England (James VII of Scotland) and the son of the “Old Pretender,” James Stuart. In 1745 he made an attempt to reclaim the throne, landing in Scotland with a handful of men, raised an army, and invaded England. But the lack of promised support forced him to retreat to Scotland, where his forces suffered a major defeat at the Battle of Culloden in 1746.

Bonnie Prince Charlie became a fugitive. After several months on the run, Flora McDonald smuggled him to the island of Skye and from there he made his way safely to France. His supporters abandoned him and he became an alcoholic drifter, finally settling in Rome as the “Duke of Albany.” He married a princess but they separated, and he died in 1788.

ST. COLUMBA

Missionary – (521–597)

St. Columba was born in Ireland and founded monasteries there before leaving in 563. At age 42, he arrived in Argyle and located an island known as “I” (Latinized into “Iona”). Conal, king of the Christian Scots of Argyle, presented the island to him for his monastery. St. Columba, with 12 disciples, created a great school of Christian education, then converted Brude, leader of the Northern Picts. In a few generations, Scotland was Christianized due to St. Columba’s 34 years of devoted service.

SIR ALEXANDER FLEMING

Scientist (1881–1955)

Alexander Fleming, from Ayrshire graduated from London University Medical School in 1906, served with the Royal Army Medical Corps in World War I, and joined the staff of the Royal College of Surgeons. In 1928, while working with bacteria, he discovered a substance he called “penicillin.” Fleming was knighted in 1944 and won the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1945.

SIR SANDFORD FLEMING

Time Lord (1827–1915)

Fleming was the Scottish-born Chief Engineer who built the transcontinental Canadian Pacific Railway. His team laid 3,700 miles of track across North America, but he realized that his system needed a reliable timetable. He divided the world map into 24 time zones and for 5 years worked to persuade governments to set their clocks to the new single standard. On November 17, 1883, time was synchronized worldwide for the first time.

DAVID HUME

Philosopher (1711–1776)

Credit for the idea of philosophy as the inductive, experimental science of human nature belongs to Edinburgh native David Hume. His core writings include Treatise of Human Nature (1739) and his influential Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding (1748). He explained how the mind works to acquire knowledge. Hume’s greatest popular success came in the writing of History of England from the Invasions of Julius Caesar to the Revolution of 1688 (completed in 1762).

ELSIE INGLIS

Medical Reformer and Suffragette, 1864–1917

Elsie Maud Inglis was a Victorian heroine who was born in India. Her family returned to Edinburgh in 1878 and helped establish the second women’s medical school in Edinburgh and began a maternity hospital staffed by women. In 1906 she founded the Scottish Women’s Suffrage Federation, which sent women surgical units to the war in Europe. She went to the front in Serbia in 1915 and Russia, which broke her health. She died the day after her return to Newcastle.

KING JAMES VI (of Scotland); I (of England)

(1566–1625)

James’ father, Lord Darnley, was murdered, and his mother, Mary, Queen of Scots, was beheaded. He became King of Scotland as an infant and was brought up strictly by Scottish nobles. He was a highly intelligent man, loved peace, and tolerated religious differences. He became the first Stuart King of England, but in 1605, he was nearly blown up in the Gunpowder Plot. In his reign a fine new English translation of the Bible was made, still called the “The King James Bible.”

DAVID LIVINGSTONE

Missionary and Explorer (1813–1873)

From a poor family, Livingstone worked and saved to become a doctor. In 1841 he joined a Christian mission station in Botswana. In 1853, he began his first expedition for new trade routes through Africa, returning to Britain in 1856 a hero. His second expedition, up the Zambezi River, was a disaster; his wife and others died and the expedition collapsed in 1864. Livingstone’s third expedition for the source of the Nile began two years later. Then he vanished, but in 1871, American journalist Henry Stanley found him on the shores of Lake Tanganika. When Livingstone died in 1873, he was buried in Westminster Abbey.

JOHN LOUDON MACADAM

Road Maker (1756–1836)

Born in Ayr, Macadam emigrated to America in 1770. He was a loyalist and returned to Britain in 1783 and developed an interest in road engineering. His idea of a road consisting of a drained bed with a layer of small stones on top, to be bonded by the pressure of traffic, was soon adopted.

CHARLES MACKINTOSH

Inventor (1766–1843)

Born in Glasgow, MacKintosh developed the technology for raincoat “Mackintoshes”. He experimented with naptha, a by-product of tar, and used it in conjunction with rubber to invent the water-proofing process (patented in 1823).

CHARLES RENNIE MACKINTOSH

Architect, Designer, Painter (1868–1928)

As a child in Glasgow, Mackintosh wanted to be an architect. He became the leader of the “Glasgow Group” of artists, designers and craftsmen, combining the best of Scottish art with the Art Nouveau from Europe. Mackintosh gave up architecture at age 41, spending the rest of his life painting. Today, he is regarded as a pioneer of modern design.

MARY STUART,

Queen of Scots (1542–1587)

Mary was born in Linlithgow Palace, the daughter of James V and his French wife, Mary of Guise. Becoming Queen of Scotland at a week old, Mary was sent to the French court at age six and married the Dauphin (1558), later Francis II, but was widowed at 18 (1560) and returned to Scotland (1561).

She married Henry, Lord Darnley in 1564 but refused to make him king. Jealous of her favorite, David Rizzio, Darnley had him killed in 1566. In this period Mary gave birth to a son, James VI of Scotland. The next year, Darnley was murdered by the Earl of Bothwell and his friends. Bothwell then married Mary to the shock of the Scottish people and the couple were forced to escape. Mary’s army was defeated and she was forced to abdicate the throne. Imprisoned, she escaped and, trying to flee to France, landed in England.

There, her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I had her locked up for nineteen years since Mary still had aspirations and claims to the British throne. After a final plot against her was uncovered, Elizabeth signed Mary’s execution warrant and the life of this tragic, beautiful and intelligent heroine was ended with a beheading on the morning of February 8, 1587. Mary was later buried at Westminster Abbey by her son, James VI of Scotland (James I of England).

WILLIAM MURDOCH

Lighting Pioneer (1754–1839)

Born in Ayrshire, Murdoch got a job at Watt’s Birmingham Soho Works. He was then sent to Cornwall to the company’s steam engine business in the tin mines. In 1785 he built the first road-going ‘car’ – a steam tricycle. Around 1795, he had managed to light his house by gas; in 1802, the company factory in Birmingham had its front lit; by 1813 Westminster Bridge in London was lit up.

COINNEACH ODHAR

the Brahan Seer (17th Century)

A contemporary of Nostradamus, Odhar was a Scottish farm worker who made strikingly accurate prophesies. His gift of “second sight” was reputed to come from a small blue and black stone. Odhar moved near Strathpeffer and worked on the Brahan estates. He predicted the Battle of Culloden and the demise of the Highland way of life. He also said that “the clans will become so effeminate as to flee from their native country before an army of sheep.” He claimed that Scotland’s Parliament would return when a man could walk from England to France without getting their feet wet; the Channel Tunnel was built and the Scottish Parliament soon followed.

ALLAN PINKERTON

Detective (1819–1884)

Allan Pinkerton, the son of a Glasgow policeman, emigrated to the USA in 1842 and became deputy sheriff in Chicago. In 1852 he formed group of detectives responsible for solving railway robberies. He was Chief of Union intelligence in the Civil War, and, after the war, his agency grew and expanded, making him the head of the world’s first detective agency. Yet Pinkerton also sent in “heavies” to break strikes by organised labour unions.

JOHN DUNS SCOTUS

Theologian and philosopher c. (1266–1308)

John Duns Scotus founded a school of Scholasticism known as Scotism. During his tenure at Oxford, the systematic study differentiating theology from philosophy and science began in earnest. When he started to teach in Paris, he gained recognition and the epithet “Scotus” was given him. Although he died at 42, he revolutionised teaching at European universities. His sarcophagus bears the Latin inscription: “Scotia brought me forth. England sustained me. France taught me. Cologne holds me.” He was made a saint by Pope John Paul II in 1993. The modern word “dunce” comes from the name “Dunse” given to his followers.

MICHAEL SCOTT

Wizard (1175–1234)

Michael Scott came from the Borders region, but was educated at Oxford, Paris and Padua. His interest and expertise were in Astrology and the Occult, including Alchemy, Sorcery and Prophecy. At the height of his powers, around 1220, he became court astrologer to the Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick the Great. Scott was said to fly through the air on an invisible horse, and sail on a demon ship. He foretold the Emperor’s death and also predicted he would die as a result of a blow to the head by a stone. Though he constantly wore a solid metal helmet, when he removed it during Mass, he was instantly struck dead by a small falling stone.

ELIZABETH FAIRFAX SOMERVILLE

Scientist and Mathematician (1780–1872)

Mary Fairfax Somerville wrote the book Mechanisms of the Heavens, published in 1831, which became a standard text in higher mathematics for the next 70 years. Born in Jedburgh, Mary’s father, a British Naval officer, took charge of her early education. By chance, she was introduced to Algebra, which sparked her intellectual curiosity. She married Dr. William Somerville, and had 6 children. In 1827 in London, Mary interpreted the French mathematician and astronomer, Laplace. The resulting book made Mary, aged 51, a celebrity in scientific circles. Oxford University named Somerville College after her.

THOMAS THE RHYMER (Thomas Learmont)

Poet and Seer (c.1220)

Sir Walter Scott has a ballad of this quaint figure. Thomas of Ercildoune was a soothsayer and also a noted poet and reputed author of one of the oldest-known Scottish stories, “Sir Tristrem”. Thomas was a real person and his written predictions were taken seriously. Legend has it, that Thomas fell asleep, and was spirited away by the enchantingly beautiful Queen of Elfland to be her lover. In gratitude, she gave him the gift of prophesy. He used his new powers to prophesy several significant historical events including the death of King Alexander III; the succession of Robert the Bruce to the throne; the defeat of the Scots at Flodden; the defeat of Mary, Queen of Scots’ forces in 1567; and the Union of the Crowns in 1603. In 1603 his prophesies were first collected and published. According to legend he will return one day to help Scotland in her hour of greatest need.

SIR WILLIAM WALLACE “Braveheart”

Warrior (1270–1305)

Wallace’s helped Scotland keep alive the belief that Scots were an independent and sovereign people. In 1296, the Scottish King, John Balliol, was deposed by English King Edward I, who declared himself ruler of Scotland. Significant resistance began across Scotland when William Wallace with around 30 men killed the English sheriff of Lanark in May 1297. An army of men joined Wallace’s side, attacking English garrisons across central Scotland. On September 11 the English tried to cross the River Forth and were slaughtered at the Battle of Stirling Bridge and the strategic fortress of Stirling Castle fell to Wallace, who went on to ravage the North of England.

He was knighted and proclaimed guardian of Scotland and his base was among common people, but support from the Scottish nobles was limited. Edward of England headed once more to Scotland with a powerful army. Wallace’s army fell to the English archers and heavy cavalry in the Battle of Falkirk but Wallace escaped. Edward was given the dubious title of ‘Hammer of the Scots’.

Wallace was in hiding until 1305, when he was betrayed. The next year, he was publicly hanged, disemboweled, beheaded and quartered and his body parts were displayed in Newcastle, Berwick, Perth and Stirling. In the same year as Wallace died, Robert Bruce (Robert I) took up the cause and soon won lasting independence for Scotland.