Words: Julia W. Howe, 1861, alt. This hymn was born during the American civil war, when Howe visited a Union Army camp on the Potomac River near Washington, D. C. She heard the soldiers singing the song “John Brown’s Body,” and was taken with the strong marching beat. She wrote the words the next day:
I awoke in the grey of the morning, and as I lay waiting for dawn, the long lines of the desired poem began to entwine themselves in my mind, and I said to myself, “I must get up and write these verses, lest I fall asleep and forget them!” So I sprang out of bed and in the dimness found an old stump of a pen, which I remembered using the day before. I scrawled the verses almost without looking at the paper. 
Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord;
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;
He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword;
His truth is marching on.
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! His truth is marching on.
I have seen Him in the watch fires of a hundred circling camps
They have builded Him an altar in the evening dews and damps;
I can read His righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps;
His day is marching on.
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! His day is marching on.
I have read a fiery Gospel writ in burnished rows of steel;
“As ye deal with My contemners, so with you My grace shall deal”;
Let the Hero, born of woman, crush the serpent with His heel,
Since God is marching on.
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Since God is marching on.
He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat;
He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment seat;
Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer Him! be jubilant, my feet;
Our God is marching on.
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Our God is marching on.
In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,
With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me:
As He died to make men holy, let us live to make men free;
[originally …let us die to make men free]
While God is marching on.
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! While God is marching on.
He is coming like the glory of the morning on the wave,
He is wisdom to the mighty, He is honor to the brave;
So the world shall be His footstool, and the soul of wrong His slave,
Our God is marching on.
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Our God is marching on.
History and lyrics from www.cyberhymnal.org
A note on tanistry (or why early medieval Scots kings were constantly being murdered by their uncles, nephews and cousins):
In ancient Ireland, the High Kings of Tara were chosen by a group of lesser kings from one of their number based on fitness. Not a bad method. In ancient Pictland, a ruling group of seven nobles families chose from their numbers based on matrilineal descent, with a twist involving the notion of rotating between the families. Very complex and not well understood by the historians.
The Gaels of Dalriada, having brought their Stone of Destiny with them to Alba, developed a system called tanistry which incorporated some elements of both Irish and Pictish tradition. Originally, a Gaelic king would be elected from a wide circle of anyone whose great grandfather had been a king. The heir apparent was called the "tanist". Under Pictish influence, this system resolved into a rotation between the two main branches of the royal house. This led to a lot of rivalry and violence between the houses.
As the idea of direct hereditary descent became current, kings would seek to annihilate claimants of the rival house to ensure succession by their sons and grandsons. MacBeth is the great historical example. Malcolm II had no sons and wanted to secure the kingdom to his grandson, Duncan. So, he killed his predecessor's grandson (of the rival house). However, MacBeth was stepfather of the murdered man's heir and fought for and gained the throne on that basis. In turn, Duncan murdered MacBeth and regained the throne for himself (this short note leaves out quite a bit of the ins and outs).
The Canmore kings were able to establish direct hereditary descent (not without opposition), which made things considerably easier, but primogeniture as practiced in England did not prevail in Scotland until much later. In a nutshell, succession fell to the closest male relative of the old king, until all in that first generation were dead. For example, let's say King Joe had three sons. Each of them would rule in succession (oldest to youngest) before the son of the oldest son could gain the throne. Very messy and confusing when drawing the genealogical charts. History from heartoscotland.com
While David I was Normanizing his portion of medieval Scotland, extending her borders well into England, and, all in all, very capably ruling, the western clans were caught up in their own battles with the Norse. The 12th century is the age of Somerled, the great half-Viking king who recaptured Argyll and the Isles from the Norse. His descendants (the MacDonalds) styled themselves "Lord of the Isles" and were a thorn in the side of the Scottish monarchy for almost three hundred years.Somerled
http://www.clandonaldgatherings.com
David I was succeeded by an 11-year-old grandson, another Malcolm, who proved no match for Henry II, losing much of David's gain in northern England. Fortunately, his brother William (the Lion) who followed, was able to recoup while Richard I abandoned his English kingdom for the Crusades. William was a great warrior and wrested the northern portions of mainland Scotland (Caithness, Sutherland, Ross) from the Norse. His banner was the red lion rampant on a yellow background - the flag of the Scottish monarchy to this day.
Somerled had been killed in battle by Malcolm IV and his possessions nominally came under the rule of Scotland, though his descendants would conspire for centuries with various English kings to gain Scotland's rule for themselves. Nevertheless, it was under 13th century Canmore kings (Alexander II and Alexander III) that the western isles were finally ceded from Norway to Scotland. Only the Orkneys and Shetlands remained under Norse rule until they were peacefully ceded to Scotland as part of a dowry to James II in 1468.
In 1286, after a long and productive reign, Alexander III died, leaving as heir a three-year-old granddaughter, Margaret, the Maid of Norway (her mother had married King Eric II of Norway). A group of six "Guardians" served as regents for four years. At the age of seven, en route to her kingdom, the little girl died without ever stepping foot on Scottish soil. She left a chaotic Scotland, with no fewer than 13 claimants to the throne.
In the 400 years from Kenneth MacAlpin to Alexander III, Scotland traveled from the land of legend and myth into the realm of history. The Picts, Britons and Angles merged into one people with a common law, language and religion. The depth of their national feeling was as yet unmeasured, but the blood of those who had fought tooth and nail against the Vikings flowed strongly in their veins. While having more in common with the Scots than with the Norse or Irish, yet the western lands had never wholeheartedly embraced the Scottish monarcy and its new ways. The highland clan system had also developed during these years, with the great clans growing stronger and their loyalties rigid.
Could medieval Scotland in 1296 hope to retain her independence against the wily Edward I of England? Would the feudal magnates with lands on both sides of the border be willing to die to maintain Scottish sovereignty? Would the clans come down from the mountains to fight for a monarchy and a nation they felt despised them? Could any of the many claimants to the throne win the hearts and minds of the Scots people?
History tells the tale.
History from heartoscotland.com
The glories of the Viking age are well-told in myth and legend. Their blood now flows in the veins of people from Kiev to Iceland. Their cultural impact on all Europe cannot be overestimated. By the mid-700s, the Danes had established their base in Dublin and ruled there for hundreds of years, establishing most of the major coastal cities of Ireland. From Dublin, they sailed around England and established a strong kingdom on the east side, based in Yorkshire. Their power was so great that for years a Danish king sat on the English throne and their laws and customs are incorporated into English Common Law.
In 872 AD, Norway was finally consolidated under the reign of a mighty king, Harold Fairhair. As a consequence, many Norse jarls sought independence in the west and the invasions of northern Scotland began. The Norse gained the Orkneys and Shetlands, holding them for hundreds of years, and took much of Caithness and the Western Isles as well. But the courage and strength of the Scots held firm; medieval Scotland's core remained independent and, over time, the Norse territories were incorporated into Scotland.
Scotland was now surrounded by Vikings and cut off from Ireland and England as never before. The Scots peoples had much in common - except for the Angles, they had a common Celtic background. All were tribal groups and both Celtic and Angle law was based on payment as restitution for crime. The anglish and gaelic languages were beginning to merge in common areas. Most importantly, they were Christians, while the Vikings were pagan.
In the year 1018, the angles of Lothian were finally brought under the Scottish crown by Malcolm II. At the same time, the king of Strathclyde died and the crown passed to Malcolm II's grandson, Duncan. In 1034, when Duncan ascended the throne, he ruled most of modern Scotland, aside from the Norse territories of the isles.
Eleventh century medieval Scotland was an exciting place to live - changes abounded and the century produced several landmarks in Scottish history. Duncan, as we all know, met his fate at the hands of MacBeth, who, after ruling effectively for 17 years, was in turn murdered by Malcolm Canmore (crowned as Malcolm III and progenitor of the Canmore kings who ruled until 1296).
Malcolm III married Margaret, an English princess who had fled to Scotland with her family after the Norman Conquest (1066). Their union had far-reaching effects on Scottish culture and history. Margaret devoted herself to "civilizing" and reforming both the Scots nobility and church. Depending on your inclinations, she either did the church good or harm, as she fought relentlessly to bring the Scots church into greater conformity with Rome. There is no doubt she was extremely pious and her charitable works (hospitals, orphanages, abbeys, etc.) of great benefit to the Scots. She was canonized in 1251. Of cultural import, Margaret convinced Malcolm to make Saxon the official court language. Over time, these languages merged into the unique form of English spoken only in Scotland...
While these changes served to unite the eastern and southern portions of medieval Scotland, they served to further alienate the west, which continued to use the gaelic language and clung to the Celtic Christianity of their ancestors. More and more, the highland clans drifted from the mores of the east, being more influenced by the Norse of the Western Isles (and intermarriage with them) than by the rest of Scotland, which drew more from English (and later Norman) culture.
The divide of east and west became much more pronounced under David I (the Saint, ruled 1124-1153), youngest son of Malcolm and Margaret. David had escaped a murder plot by his uncle, Donald Bane, fleeing to England where he was raised by Henry I. He obtained lands that encompassed both sides of the border (eg, Huntingdon) for which he paid fealty to the English king. His upbringing was Norman, his friends were Norman, his language was French.
When he assumed the throne, he brought the Normans with him, transforming eastern and southern Scotland into a feudal kingdom modeled on the English. Mormaers and thanes became dukes and earls, their lands granted in law by the king to his friends. Many of these new magnates possessed lands in both Scotland and England; in later times they would have to choose where their loyalties lie.
History from heartoscotland.com
When Kenneth MacAlpin achieved his ambition of being styled King of Scots and Picts, the land of Alba began it's 500-year transformation into the fiercely nationalistic medieval Scotland of Wallace and Bruce. The price paid was a heavy one for the Gaels who founded ancient Dalriada, for the very factors that conspired to unite Scotland under one language and one king worked to alienate the clan-based, Gaelic-speaking west so that by 1296 the Highland line was clearly established culturally as well as geographically.
When Kenneth MacAlpin achieved his ambition of being styled King of Scots and Picts, the land of Alba began it's 500-year transformation into the fiercely nationalistic medieval Scotland of Wallace and Bruce. The price paid was a heavy one for the Gaels who founded ancient Dalriada, for the very factors that conspired to unite Scotland under one language and one king worked to alienate the clan-based, Gaelic-speaking west so that by 1296 the Highland line was clearly established culturally as well as geographically.
MacAlpin's kingdom stretched from west to east across the face of Scotland, with a British kingdom firmly established in Strathclyde to the southwest, and the Angles permanently based in Lothian and Northumbria. From now on Alba would be styled "Scotia" and Scottish language and culture, over the next 200 years, would completely overlay and submerge the Pictish language and story, until within three or four generations, the Picts themselves became the stuff of legend.
Of course, the Pictish people were still there - making up the bulk of the population in Scotia, and without them Scotland would be unrecognizable as the distinct country it is. For a very long while, both before and after MacAlpin, the Pictish warriors fought the Britons, the Angles, the Danes, and the Norse, holding them off and preserving the core of early medieval Scotland for the Scots.
MacAlpin's first steps in uniting the Scottish peoples were to move his capital to Forteviot in the east, move the religious capital to Dunkeld (bringing St. Columba's bones with him), and bring the Stone of Destiny to Scone, one of the old Pictish capitals. This shift in powerbase from west to east was permanent and of long-lasting import to the clans of the west.
Little is known of the kings over the next 150 years, besides a recitation of the major battles. For through this time, Scotland's four peoples - Gaels, Picts, Angles, and Britons - forged ties of friendship and cultural exchange through their lengthy and fiercely contested efforts to hold off the Vikings (this is not to say they didn't continue to fight one another!).
History from heartoscotland.com
DalriadaNorthern Ireland is "nae so far" from Scotland, and as early as 258 AD the Romans complain of Scots from the north sweeping down upon them. The ancient Irish kingdom of Dalriada (race of Riada) traces its legendary lineage from the High Kings of Tara. About 500 AD, the sons of Erc, King of Dalriada, Fergus, Loarn, and Angus, established kingdoms in the Western Isles and Argyll, with their seat at Dunadd.
The kings of Scotland are descended from one of Fergus Mor's sons, Gabhran. In the mid-500s, St. Columba established a monastery on the Isle of Iona. From there, he acted not only as missionary to the Picts, but diplomat as well, helping to unite the Scots under Gabhran's son, King Aidan. Nevertheless, the Scots did not fare too well their first three centuries in Scotland, losing to the Britons in the south, and the Picts in the west. Indeed, the Picts continued as the strongest force in the land for 300 years more, both numerically and politically.
Saint Columba
Picture from saintcolumba.org
There are a great many legends surrounding Kenneth McAlpin, Scotland's first Scottish king. They say he killed the members of all seven Pictish royal houses to secure the throne. Such ruthlessness paid off, though. While some future kings were styled "King of the Scots" or "King of the Picts", all were buried on Iona as Scottish kings and the name of the country became "Scotia".
So Pictish power gave way to Scots, and the kingdom of the Gaels stretched from the Western Isles to the eastern coast. But there were Vikings in the north, and Britons and Angles in the south. Future kings would have the task of expanding Scotland's borders to their present extent and preserving her independence. History from heartoscotland.com
Roman BritainIn Iron Age Scotland, based on Celtic tribal society, warfare was common. First millenium BC Scots built hillforts, great duns (stone hill fortresses), crannogs (forts and houses built on stilts in lochs, and, unique to Scotland, brochs. Brochs are round stone towers, tapering inward as they rise from the ground. Hundreds may be found all over north and west Scotland and the Isles.
A Broch
http://www.scran.ac.uk/
When the Romans arrived in ancient Britain, they found numerous fierce tribes which they grouped under some general headings: Britons in England, Scotti in Ireland, and Picts in Scotland. It is believed that all these groupings were fundamentally Celtic. The Gaelic language of the Britons survives in Wales, Scots Gaelic (derived from Irish Gaelic) in western Scotland.
Many scholars believe the Picts spoke a version of Gaelic, related to Welsh but unknown to the later Scots (St. Columba required a translator when he converted Brude, the Pictish king). Other scholars claim evidence of a prior, non-indo-european language, related to Basque. The Pictish script found on stone monuments appears to use similar letter forms to the Irish Ogham, but remains as yet untranslated.
A crannog (I don't know if it is a reconstruction or not).
www.scottish-places.info
Another area of debate concerns the word Picti, meaning "painted" in Latin. Rather than painting themselves, other historical records suggest they actually tattooed their faces and bodies. Irregardless, they were mighty warriors, holding off Romans, Angles, and Vikings before their culture was absorbed by the Scots. The Hadrian and Antonine Walls are a tribute to the fear they instilled in Roman hearts.
Pictish society was one of the very few matrilineal societies of ancient Europe (setting them quite apart from the Irish and British), with kingship conferred through the mother. This is how Kenneth McAlpin, first Scottish King of the Scots and the Picts, came to the throne - his mother was a Pictish princess.
Remarkably, Pictish culture seems to have completely disappeared into legend and myth by the end of the 10th century, leaving behind a wide-open field of lively debate among present-day scholars. History from heartoscotland.com
Iron Age in Ancient Scotland
Now we come to one of the two great areas of debate concerning early British history (the other, found below, involves the Picts). Who were the Celts? When did they get to the British Isles? Are Celts and Druids really a part of the same culture?
First of all, there is a simplistic mental image, produced by reading textbooks, in which we envision "waves" of people hurling themselves across Europe, destroying all in their path, and imposing their ethnic identity and DNA on the hapless prior inhabitants. This is incorrect. DNA testing has revealed that present-day inhabitants of Britain are primarily descended from the mesolithic (early stone age) or original inhabitants of the islands.
It is true that a tribe or group of people may "win the war" and impose their rule and their culture - this happens time and time again. But they intermarry, rather than annihilate, and the basic stock remains the same. Nevertheless, it is remarkable how widespread Celtic culture was in western Europe (Spain, France, and Britain) hundreds of years before the Romans took an interest in their history.
By 400 BC or so, we stand at a crossroads in our study of ancient Scotland. For the Celts are still living in the world of archeological record, while the Mediterranean world has long since moved into the realm of history. The difference? Writing.
From the Greek and Roman historians who first encountered the Celtic peoples we have developed our basic image of the fierce Celtic warrior, woad-painted and naked, howling like a banshee. We've also garnered images of ancient druids, congregating under the sacred oaks, harvesting mistletoe, and supervising human sacrifice.
Some of what they record is likely true and some colored by hearsay, wishful thinking, and political expediency. Unfortunately, the Celts cannot answer back because at that time they had no written language.
There is one point of great debate and historical interest, however. By the time of Julius Caesar, it would appear that the power base of druid religion and culture derived from Britain. In other words, the druid religion may have spread outward from Britain to Europe rather than vice versa. Perhaps, as the Celts migrated into the British Isles, encountering the indigenous culture and its great stone circles, they developed a unique religion, druidism, which then migrated back to France and Germany. The implications are stunning and call on us to do our own research and come to our own conclusions. From heartoscotland.com
Bronze Age in Ancient ScotlandArcheologists believe that new people, called the Beaker people after their most common archealogical product, moved to the Isles around 2500 BC bringing their metalworking skills and culture with them. This was a peaceful influx, a more technologically advanced society influencing and dominating the less advanced. However, the Beaker people embraced wholeheartedly the notion of stone circles and they are the ones who perfected the art. So cultural exchange worked both ways.
Scottish culture changed dramatically with the advent of metalworking. Learning to smelt gold and copper, and later to combine copper and tin into sturdy bronze, opened broad new vistas in trade, the arts, accumulation of wealth, and warfare. All of these produced commensurate changes in class structure and ancient society. Gold and copper were available in Scotland, but the tin had to come from Cornwall, increasing trade traffic all around the Isles.
With metalworking, the days of bonking someone over the head with a club or sailing a stone at them were over. Swords and shields, dirks, daggers and spearheads - all beautifully crafted and carved - and, of course, expensive. They would belong to the man who could get them and hold them, and the age of warrior aristocracy began. Stone age cairns held many people, but the Beaker people buried their aristocracy alone, complete with artifacts and goods for the journey ahead.
While all these changes were taking place in ancient Scotland, a new people were spreading across the face of Europe. Coming from the steppes of southeast Asia, as had so many before them, they made great use of horses to overcome and subdue. By 700 BC, they had reached England and their influence spread until their culture dominated the British Isles. They were the Celts.From heartoscotland.com
I plan to dedicate, or perhaps mainly dedicate, this month's historical/cultural perspectives on all things Scottish. Now, If you are anything like me, you are very much inclined to believe that the world is somewhere in the area of 6,000-years-old. For now, and in furture things that I post, dates may come up where I might think "I don't know about that one". But anyway, let us continue.
Image taken from celtscot.ed.ac.uk
Stone Age in Ancient Scotland
Archeology is a fascinating field of study. You get to spend your life holding, for instance, a small carved stone ball up to the light while saying "What in the world did they use this for?" The two favorite words of archeologists? probably. possibly.
Archeology is a fascinating field of study. You get to spend your life holding, for instance, a small carved stone ball up to the light while saying "What in the world did they use this for?" The two favorite words of archeologists? probably. possibly.
Probably farming began to take hold in ancient Scotland around 4000 BC. Possibly the carved stone balls were used for a game. In the east, people were buried in large barrows (called cairns when made with stones). In the west, they used chambered cairns (everyone got their own spot). Later, possibly, these two cultures merged under the new technologies, greater population, and increased trade of the Bronze Age.
Archeologists do magnificent work, bringing the past to light, but must walk a fine line between assuming ancient peoples thought exactly the way we do with very similar motivations and interests, or conversely lived in a world of such deep superstition and barbarity that we should be unable to relate to their concerns and activities in any way. It's a tough task. Once in a while, archeologists are rewarded with a very well-preserved site, such as Skara Brae in the Orkneys.
Undercovered by a storm in 1850, the village of Skara Brae survived under sand for 5000 years almost completely intact. Why? Because virtually everything was made of stone - houses, beds, dressers and shelves - even wall recesses with drains beneath, suggesting indoor facilities. They had to use stone, since Orkney has few trees.
Other sites, similar to Skara Brae, suggest that the Orkney tribes were totem-based. At Cuween Hill, many dog skulls have been found, while the Ibister were people of the eagle.
These were the early years of the great henges and stone circles, though most were built during the Bronze Age, including some of the largest such as Stone Henge. What is a henge? Henges include the circles of stone, but are surrounded by a ditch, with the earth dug up and piled around the outer perimeter of the ditch, encircling and protecting the stone and timber arrangements inside.
There is a great deal of speculation about the uses of the circles. Many included altars and burials. Some seem oriented toward the sun and some toward the moon. It would seem they may have been used for a variety of purposes depending on the time, place and current culture. Popular imagination peoples the henges with druids, but the circles of stone predate the druids by many, many centuries.
From www.heartoscotland.com
My first blog, emilyandtheyellowhouse, has been kept pretty light-hearted with meals and things. For the most part I would like to keep it that way; but I have a desire to post things concerning religion and history. This blog will probably (mainly) center around those two things.
Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. Matthew 24:42
