Uncovering lost heroes

A series of documentaries to be aired on the BBC next month will uncover a range of Dark Age Scottish figures including Ead, Giric and King Constantine, who are to emerge as nation-building heroes.

Characters such as William Wallace, Mary Queen of Scots and Robert the Bruce are to be discussed alongside introductions to unfamiliar figures in a quest to demythologise Scottish history.

The series, presented by Neil Oliver and shown on both BBC Scotland and BBC2, is the culmination of two years’ work.

Neil McDonald, creative director of documentaries for BBC Scotland claimed, “We've all heard of the big names. We had the opportunity here to come afresh. Many Scots are familiar with Columba and Kenneth MacAlpin—who feature in the first episode—but very few will have heard tales of Ead, Giric and Constantine.”

The three were “crucially important figures,” Mr McDonald said. “They have been overlooked because of a tendency, in Scotland, to cluster around the big names. The end result is not nearly as informed a view of history as people deserve.

“Within the limited resources of a television series, that is what we are trying to address.”

Historians such as Hugh Trevor-Roper have criticised past accounts of Scotland’s history, claiming that most were reliant on myth rather than fact; however, the first private screening of the programme in Glasgow last week was well recieved as an effort to correct these mistakes.

The series opens with the question: “So where to begin?” The starting point is Calagacus, a leader of one of the Caledonian tribes who made an inspiring speech to his warriors before a battle with the Romans and was the first Scot named in history.

The opening is combined with a warning, however, by Neil Oliver in his narration: “This is where the mythologising of Scottish history starts. Be warned.”

Indeed, if Calagacus did exist at all it is likely that his speech was written for him by the Roman historian Tacitus in a passage written to improve the standing of the emperor Agricola.

Mr Oliver has also said that this objective viewpoint is to be applied to all of the figures, including Mary Queen of Scots, who has recently been the object of dramatically contrasting viewpoints.

Christine Grahame, the SNP MSP, called for the bones of this “iconic historical figure” to be repatriated, while University of Edinburgh historian Jenny Wormald said that the “dreadful woman” should remain in Westminster Abbey.

Mr Oliver asserted that such contrasting viewpoints showed the importance of this topic. The 9th century world of Ead is explored in the programme through an obscure medieval text called The Chronicles of the Kings of Alba, kept at the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris, which Oliver has dubbed “Scotland’s birth certificate.”

It contains the first reference from Scottish sources to a land called “Albaniam”—the Gaelic word for Scotland—of which Constantine was one of the first rulers. The Open University has co-produced the series of documentaries.

The makers of the programme have said that they were pleased to be probing sensitive issues such as the Act of Union, and that the series would have a strong evidential basis.

The series will also be seeking to address the controversy as the show was in its embryonic stages when Professor Allan Macinnes claimed that he thought "the whole production was dreadful,” and resigned from the advisory board.

Professor Macinnes said: “The first provisional script I got was so Anglo-centric I couldn't believe it. It was written on the basis that Scotland was a divided country until the Union [with England] came along and civilised it. I felt it was just nonsense.”

University of Edinburgh Professor Tom Devine, one of Scotland's top historians, made it known that he had turned down the offer of a place on the board, complaining of an “old-fashioned” approach to Scottish history and the choice of an archaeologist Neil Oliver as the presenter.

Dr Wormald has remained involved in the programme despite claiming, “I had my own worries."

A History of Scotland is due to air on Sunday 9 November 9 and the series is set to coincide with a programme of events and concerts by the BBC to celebrate Scottish history.