Pirate Corner: The Red Reiver
As a proud Scot, fascinated since toddlerhood by all things medieval and all things piratical, it was inevitable that I'd be attracted by a story that connects William Wallace with pirates. But did Wallace's foe-turned-friend, the French pirate Thomas de Longueville, really exist? Image: Kinfauns Castle. Credit: perthshire.blogspot.com The epic poem The Acts and Deeds of the Illustrious and Valiant Champion Sir William Wallace, composed by the minstrel Blind Harry in 1477, ha
Did tenth century Scotland have a black King?
In a few esoteric corners of the Internet, one will come across the assertion that Kenneth III, King of Scots from 997 to 1005, was of African origin. It's a fascinating notion - but is there any truth to it? Image: Victorian engraving of King Kenneth, sourced from www.britannica.com. Content note: othering; slavery, including possible sex slavery. There has been some excellent work done recently refuting the notion that medieval European society was one hundred per cent whit
