The Scots are really a blend of many ancient races which were present before the Romans invaded Britain. These ancient races were Pictish, Dalriadic, Ancient British, Norsemen, Irish, Normans, Flemish, and even some Angles. It was this blending of peoples which created the hearty Scottish stock we now know.

The many of the ancient Scots lived in a clan society. Clan means family group in the Gaelic tongue. It is not known exactly what portion of Scotland actually had clans. It is thought that first there was tribalism which encouraged the development of the Clans. It appears that feudelism was a more prominent form of government for the lowland regions rather than clans. The clan system of government began to develop in the 12th and 13th centuries. Initially the Chief and his close kin were the leaders of the clan and their followers were local people or tenants who looked to them for defense and leadership. In later years those individuals who were not a clan member by name, became known as members of the clan septs. The members of these septs had sworn allegience to the Chief of a particular clan.

Around 43AD the Romans invaded the north and called the central portion of what we now know as Scotland Calidonia. They referred to the inhabitants of this region as Picts, who in turn, called their land located north of the Forth and Clyde rivers asAlba. The Romans penetrated but failed to conquer Scotland and built Hadrian's Wall (c.120AD) to mark the northernmost point of their empire in Britain. Eventually, by around 200 AD, the Romans left the north.

In 500 AD, the Scots from Ireland took over the Argyll and southwest area of the Scottish Highlands, calling their new kingdom Dalriada. It was these Scots who eventually overcame the Picts of the region. In 843 AD King Kenneth MacAlpin joined together the Alban Picts and the Dalriadic Scots into one united kingdom. From this joining the name of Scotland evolved. This Celtic monarchy lasted until the end of Macbeth's reign (1057) and Malcolm III came to the throne. Malcom III had an English wife and was educated in England. It was at this time that Scotland became an organized fuedal state.

The Scottish kings gradually expelled the Norse who had moved into the northeast region and the insland. After 1263 the Norse only retained Orkney and Shetland, which they held until the 15th century.

Except for the time of the occasional English invastion, the Kings of Scots ruled Scotland from 843 to 1603. Many of the repeated disputes with the English often resulted in Scottish kings having to do homage to English kings. The most notable of these homages was after the death of Alexander III (1286) and his heiress, Margaret, Maid of Norway (1290). At that time King Edward I of England claimed suzerainty over Scotland and placed John de Baliol as the new Scottish king. When John tried to assert his independence in 1926 Edward proclaimed English Rule. The Scots were first led by Sir William Wallace and later by Robert the Bruce. Robert the Bruce was crowned King Robert I of Scotland in 1306, revolted, and then finally defeated the English in the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314. During the reign of David II (1329-71) the English were partially able to gain control of Scotland, but the Hundred Years' War with France distracted them since France was Scotland's ally.

A series of monarchs succeeded the Scottish throne until Mary of Guise, the French widow of James V of Scotland became regent for her young daughter, Mary, Queen of Scots. During the time of Mary, Queen of Scots reign, the protestant reformation occurred forcing her to abdicate in 1567. Mary, Queen of Scots fled to England and was later imprisoned and executed by her half sister Elizabeth I.

In 1603 James VI of Scots, son of Mary Queen of Scots, inherited the throne of England upon the death of the childless Queen Elizabeth I of England. So James became James VI of Scots and I of England, bringing about a unity between Scotland and England. Although they were united by a single crown, Scotland and England remained a separate state for another century. The Scottish Presbyterians resisted the efforts of King Charles I to impose episcopacy in Scotland and allied with the English parliamentarians against Charles I in the first English Civil War (1642-46).

After the Restoration (1660) the English efforts to impose an episcopal church were renewed. It was only after the Glorious Revolution (1688-89) which deposed the catholic James II in favor of his protestant daughter Mary II and her husband William III, that Presbyterianism was guaranteed in Scotland. The Act of Union of 1707 united the parliaments of Scotland and England and guaranteed that Presbyterianism would remain in Scotland.

After the death of the protestant Queen Anne (a Stuart) in 1714, many of the Scots opposed the succession of the Hanoverian dynasty and supported the Jacobites who sought to restore the catholic Stuarts to the throne. Major Jacobite uprisings occurred in 1715 and again in 1745, but were harshly suppressed. These uprising are considered to be the last serious efforts to resist English control.

During the late 18th and early 19th centuries much of the Highlands were forcibly depopulated by the landlords. These landlords then began large-scale sheep grazing in the Highlands. At the same time, however, the Industrial Revolution had begun to create major industrial centers in the Central Lowlands. In the late 19th century a stong labor movement had developed, and by the mid-20th century a new nationalist movement had begun to emerge. "Home Rule" failed to win approval in a 1979 referendum, but gained new support and won vote in the mid 1990's.