Arbroath

Sir Adam de Gordon was the ambassador who conveyed the Scottish Declaration of Independence or as it is also known, the Declaration of Arbroath, to the Pope in 1320. It was an appeal to the Pope against Kings Edward I and Edward II of England’s invasion of Scotland. A notable patriot of the time was Sir William Wallace.

On the sixth of April, 1320 A. D., King Robert (the Bruce) of Scots authorized the sending of a letter to Pope John XXII which has become what many call "Scotland's most precious possession." The document is known today as the "Declaration of Arbroath" or "The Scottish Declaration of Independence." It is kept in a shallow glass case in the Register House of Edinburgh.

The Declaration of Arbroath took the form of a letter or petition sent from the Scottish nobles to the Pope. In it the nobles argued for their claim to independence and sovereignty under Robert the Bruce, promising obedience and allegiance, and requesting to be left alone by the English.

At the time this famous document was drawn up, a two year peace was in effect between Scotland and England. The Pope had taken the side of the English because Robert Bruce had failed to show the 'proper' respect the Pope deemed was due him. Robert recognized that if peace was to be restored it would be necessary for the Pope to see the wisdom of a negotiated settlement and to use his influence upon King Edward II. The author gives the following account of this famous letter's arrival on the historical scene:

"In April of the year 1320 A.D., King Robert Bruce called the Scottish Parliament into session, at Arbroath Abbey, to hammer out a letter of protest to the Pope. The letter, composed in memorable Latin prose, recorded the great antiquity of the Scottish people and how they had always been ruled by their own kings. . . . they reminded the Pope of the shameful English contention that they had found it impossible to free the Holy Land from the heathen on account of the war they were having with their neighbours.

". . . The letter described Robert Bruce as a king, 'who, that he might free his people and heritage from the hands of the enemy, rose like another Joshua or Maccabeus, and cheerfully endured toil and weariness, hunger and peril.' . . .

The Pope acknowledged receipt of the letter and was apparently somewhat mollified by the declaration, because he promptly suspended his proceedings against the Scots. . . . However, King Edward II refused to conclude a peace settlement with the Scots and in August 1322, when the two-year-old truce was over, again invaded Scotland, where they met the Scots army at the now famous Bannockburn, near Stirling.

Bruce had chosen his ground carefully at Bannockburn, in the battle that ensued, on the 23rd and 24th of June, Bruce won a tremendous victory over a vast English army. Edward II, was nearly caught up in the catastrophe, and only just escaped. Here was perhaps his greatest hour and the most enduring memory of Robert the Bruce - fighting for his nation's independence against a hugely superior English force and winning, just as Wallace had done at Stirling Bridge 17 years earlier.

This famous document was not only significant in medieval times but it is said to have been the model for the American Declaration of Independence, bringing its importance and relevance up to the present day.

“…… we know, and we gather from the deeds and books of the ancients, that among other distinguished nations our own nation, namely of Scots, has been marked by many distinctions. It journeyed from Greater Scythia by the Tyrrhenian Sea and the Pillars of Hercules, and dwelt for a long span of time in Spain among the most savage peoples, but nowhere could it be subjugated by any people, however barbarous. From there it came twelve hundred years after the people of Israel crossed the Read Sea and, having first driven out the Britons and altogether destroyed the Picts, it acquired, with many victories and untold efforts, the places which it now holds, although often assailed by Norwegians, Danes and English. As the histories of old times bear witness, it has held them free of all servitude ever since. In their kingdom one hundred and thirteen kings of their own royal stock have reigned, the line unbroken by a single foreigner.’
‘It is in truth not for glory, nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting, but for freedom - for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself.”

Extract from the Declaration of Arbroath, 1320.

April 6 was designated Tartan Day by a US Senate resolution of 1998, recognizing the contribution that Scottish Americans have made to the development of the United States. It is the anniversary of the Declaration of Arbroath (1320), a model for the American Declaration of Independence. Almost half the signatories of the Declaration of Independence were of Scottish descent, and as US President Woodrow Wilson said, “every line of strength in American history is a line coloured with Scottish blood”.

In the USA there are more than 20 million people who can claim descent from Scotland, and most take immense pride in where they, or even their distant ancestors came from. Throughout the whole of the US in the week April 1-6 a wide range of activities, including cultural events and ceilidhs ('KAY-lees' - parties with singing and dancing), will celebrate the Scots-American tradition in the USA.

The significance of the 6th April 1320 relates to the Declaration of Arbroath when 6 years after Bannockburn 100 men gathered at Arbroath to write a Declaration of their loyalty to Scotland and forward this to the Pope in Italy to have him support their case for Independence. Some 8 years later 1328 Edward III of England acknowledging that Scotland was an Independent Nation and that Bruce was the Independent King of Scotland signed the Treaty of Northampton. Bruce died a year later.

The significance of the 1st July is the fact that on the 1st July 1782 an Act was passed called the Repeal Proclamation. This Act repealed the Act of Proscription 1747 which made it an offence to wear tartan amongst other things. Many believe the significance of this anniversary acknowledges this Act as having far greater relevance to Tartan and therefore the International promotion of a Tartan Day of recognition and celebration.

By celebrating Tartan Day on the 1st July we can also acknowledge the restoration of the Scottish Parliament took place on the 1st July 1999.