Tour Scotland early Autumn travel video of a road trip drive, with Scottish music, East on the A913 road, on ancestry, genealogy, history visit to the Pictish Round Tower in Abernethy in Perthshire. The Scottish round tower dates from around the 9th or 10th century, with 11th century alterations. It was used by Celtic clergy as a steeple and watchtower, perhaps against Viking invaders. Abernethy Tower was built for defence and later it was used as a belfry and a beacon. The clock dates from 1868. Excavations to the tower in 1821 uncovered a skeleton and fragments of an urn. Below these were flagstones and many more human bones, including seven skulls. These burials pre-date the construction of the tower, but by how long is not certain. Abernethy village, Scottish Gaelic: Obar Neithich, was once the " capital " or at least a major religious and political centre of the kingdom of the Picts. The Treaty of Abernethy was signed in the village of Abernethy in 1072 where king Malcolm III of Scotland paid homage to William I, King of England, acknowledging William as his feudal overlord. William had started his conquest of England when he and his army landed in Sussex, defeating and killing the English king Harold, at the Battle of Hastings, in 1066. Most of the English nobility were also either killed at Hastings or replaced by Norman lords in the years following the battle. The battle of Hastings was not the end of the fighting, William's army had to suppress many rebellions to secure the kingdom. As a result of the unrest, some English nobles had sought sanctuary, in Scotland, at the court of King Malcolm III. One of these was Edgar Ætheling, a member of the house of Wessex and thus the last English claimant to the throne of England. Faced with a hostile Scotland, in alliance with disaffected English lords including Ætheling, William rode north with his Norman army and forced Malcolm to sign the Treaty of Abernethy. Although the specific details of the treaty are lost in history, it is known that in return for swearing allegiance to William, Malcolm was given estates in Cumbria and Edgar Ætheling was banned from the Scottish court. The peace secured by the treaty was an uneasy one. When negotiations over the disputed Cumbrian territories broke down with the new King of England, William Rufus, Malcolm invaded northern England again and besieged Alnwick Castle. Unexpectedly a relief column arrived, that was led by the Earl of Northumbria. Malcolm and his son were killed at the ensuing Battle of Alnwick in 1093. In 1173 William the Lion of Scotland supported a rebellion against Henry II of England. In 1174, William was captured at the Battle of Alnwick in 1174. He was transferred to Falaise in Normandy. There William signed the Treaty of Falaise effectively surrendering Scotland to Henry. Henry then handed Scotland back to William as a fief, in return for William's homage to Henry. However, after Henry II's death, William petitioned Richard I of England to be released from the terms imposed on Scotland by the treaty. Richard, needing to raise finance for the Third Crusade accepted William's offer of 10,000 marks, and at Canterbury on 5 December 1189 released him from all allegiance and subjection for the kingdom of Scotland, which remained an independent realm until Edward I's successful revival of English claims of overlordship in 1291. When driving in Scotland, slow down and enjoy the trip
All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.
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