Angus History

Angus has a colourful and dramatic history.

The ancient Picts worked these lands and inscribed their images on the local landscape, cutting their inscriptions in to the stones that reveal their presence to us today.

The history of Angus is here to be explored and breathed in. There are many museums, historic sites and buildings to be enjoyed. Each of the burghs is steeped in history that you can see and touch by taking the town heritage trails.

Whether your interest is in ancient civilisations, medieval battles or historical houses, Angus has a rich story to tell.

The Picts

"They tattoo their bodies not only with likeness of animals of all kinds, but with all sorts of drawings."
Herodian AD 208

By the time the Roman Army finally abandoned Britain in the 5th century AD the largest tribe in Scotland was the Picts. Their impact on Angus was great. This is captured on the stones at Aberlemno which depict the famous routing of the Northumbrians in AD 685 in the Battle of Dunnichen and shows their wealth and military might. The Picts left a fascinating legacy: magnificent standing stones which they carved with pictures and mysterious symbols.

Many of these stones still dot the Angus landscape, and you can find out all about these fascinating people at Pictavia Visitor Centre.

The Declaration of Arbroath

"For, so long as a hundred remain alive, we will never in any degree be subject to the dominion of the English. Since not for glory, riches or honours do we fight, but for freedom alone, which no man loses but with his life."
The Declaration of Arbroath, 6 April 1320.


Given at Arbroath Abbey on the sixth day of April AD 1320, the Declaration of Arbroath was seminal in its eloquent plea for the liberty of man. It affirmed Scotland's Nobles' allegiance to Robert the Bruce as their king and declared the right of the Scottish nation to self-determination. This created a tradition in the Scottish understanding of rights which reached its peak in the Scottish Enlightenment, and the philosophers of the eighteenth century who set the tone for our modern understanding of human rights. Many now see it as a precursor to the US Constitution and the UN Declaration of Human Rights.

 

Glamis Castle

"Glamis thou art, and Cawdor, and shalt be what thou art promised"
Shakespeare, "Macbeth"

The legendary seat of Macbeth, Glamis Castle has been the home of the Lyons family since 1372 and over the centuries it has been visited by many of the Scottish and British Royal families. Glamis was the childhood home of Elizabeth Bowes -Lyon, HM Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. It was also the birthplace of her second daughter, the Queen's sister, Princess Margaret Rose.

Angus Listings
Search the Angus Listings for History