Laura MacDuncan, age 15, of Bennington, Vt., for her question:
WHEN DID SCOTLAND AND ENGLAND UNITE?
Scotland is the second largest of the four main political divisions of the United Kingdom. In 1707 Scotland and England were formally united under one Parliament, giving Scotland the right to keep its own laws. Scottish peers serve in the House of Lords and representatives to the British House of Commons are elected by the Scottish people.
Scotland's history goes back to 2500 B.C. in the Late Stone Age when a group of people arrived from the Mediterranean area. They were hunters, sailors, farmers and herdsmen. Celtic peoples arrived from western and northern Europe about 1000 B.C. bringing bronze and iron tools with them. These were the Britons found by the Romans when they invaded in 55 B.C.
After the Romans left there were other invasions. The Scots, a Christian people from Ireland, founded a kingdom and later gave their name to Scotland. In 843, Scot King Kenneth MacAlpine became ruler of the total area.
The English tried many times through the years to make the kings of Scotland report to them. In 1174 it seemed as though they achieved success when William the Lion was captured by Henry II of England and a treaty was signed. But in 1189 the treaty was cancelled when Henry's son, Richard the Lionhearted, sold his title of overlord to pay for the Third Crusade.
In 1292 Edward I of England tried again to take control of Scotland. But Scotland joined France in an alliance against England.
In the 16th century Mary Stuart, queen of the Scots, fled to her cousin Elizabeth I, Queen of England. She lost her throne, was imprisoned and later executed. But Mary's son, James VI of Scotland, was Elizabeth's heir and in 1603 he became James I of England. His family ruled until 1688 although the Scots kept their government separate and their church different. Three more times the Scots rebelled against the English. Then in 1707 the Scottish Parliament voted itself out of existence and Scotland became part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
Scotland, England, Northern Ireland and Wales are the four countries that make up the United Kingdom. Scotland takes up the northern third of the island of Great Britain in the British Isles. England is on the south while Ireland lies to the southwest, across the narrow North Channel. To the north and the northwest is the Atlantic ocean and to the east is the North Sea.
Scotland is about the same size as the state of Maine. It stretches about 275 miles from north to south and at its widest point it is about 150 miles from east to west. Edinburg is the capital.
Scotland has unusually mild climate for a country so far north, but this is because of its location at the eastern end of the Gulf Stream.
Scotland has three land regions: a group of high mountains in the north called the Scottish Highlands, some rolling hills in the south called the Southern Uplands, and a belt of flat land in between and running east and west called the Scottish Lowlands.