A few months ago when I was setting up a Substack account for Clan Carmichael USA, I revisited the article I had written for the Eagle Gate last year and was surprised at how many additions and revisions I wanted to make. So I started to read, research, make revisions, and ultimately made the decision that it would be helpful to include as a supplement to the article a two-part podcast series with the scholars whose research I had relied on while revising.
I’m really happy with the two shows that resulted and hope you found them to be entertaining and insightful. In case you haven’t listened, Episode 11 with Dr. Laura Harrison and Episode 13 with Dr. Dauvit Broun and Dr. Ewen Cameron are both available now.
Tomorrow is National Tartan Day in the United States and around the world — a day for celebrating our Scottish heritage. (Even Scotland celebrates National Tartan Day now!) To help celebrate the holiday, I wanted to send to you the updated short article about the Declaration of Arbroath found below.
I’m so thankful that so many of you are listening to the podcast episodes and hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoy making them. Please continue to share them with others and help spread the word about the show.
Wishing each of you the very best,
Scott Carmichael
“For as long as a hundred of us remain alive, we will never…be subjected to the lordship of the English; for it is not for glory, nor riches, nor honours that we fight, but for freedom alone, which no good man gives up except with his life.”
As many Scots and those throughout the Scottish diaspora do each April, a good number of you may be planning to don your favorite article of tartan clothing to celebrate National Tartan Day later this month. Be it a tie, a pocket square, a hat, or your favorite kilt, hopefully each of us will find a way to celebrate our Scottish heritage on April 6th. Truly, National Tartan Day is a proud day for Scots and those of Scottish ancestry. But do you know the story behind National Tartan Day and what makes April 6th so significant?
Just over 700 years ago, on April 6, 1320, the Declaration of Arbroath was made official when as many as fifty Scottish barons affixed their wax seals to the sheepskin parchment on which the declaration had been written1. Addressed to Pope John XXII, the declaration had been written on behalf of eight earls, thirty-one barons, and “the whole realm of Scotland,” and is considered to be a “carefully crafted appeal designed to persuade the Pope to reconsider the long-running Anglo-Scottish conflict.”2 Created at a time when King Robert I (better known as Robert the Bruce) “struggled to legitimize his kingship outside of Scotland”3, each earl and baron pledged his support for Robert I in the document and asserted that all Scots were equally as unwavering in their support for the Scottish King.
Following the Scottish victory over the English at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314, the English king Edward II still refused to discontinue raids into Scottish lands, and both he and the Pope refused to recognize Robert I as the rightful king of the Scots. Following Robert I’s capture of a border town named Berwick, the Pope issued a summons to Robert I, ordering him to attend the papal court in Avignon, France, where the Pope was then based.4 When Robert I refused, he was excommunicated by Pope XXII.5 Some historians consider the Declaration of Arbroath to have been the Scots’ “diplomatic counter-offensive” to the Pope’s excommunication6
At only around one thousand words, the document itself is brief by today’s standards. In it, the barons provided to the Pope a short history of the Scottish people, asserting that Scotland had long been a sovereign and independent Christian kingdom. In an attempt to appeal to Pope XXII’s Christian senses, the barons claimed that the Scots were even among the very first Christians in the world, made possible by St. Andrew, brother of St. Peter. The declaration continued by informing the Pope of how the Scots had lived in freedom and peace until Edward I (known as “Edward Longshanks”7 and “Hammer of the Scots”) invaded Scotland under the “guise of a friend” creating chaos and havoc during a time when Scotland was without a king.8 Through divine intervention, the barons claimed, the Scots were saved by Robert Bruce, and they pledged to defend their king, so long as he avoided making the Scots subject to the King of England or the English.
“Yet if [Robert I] should give up what he has begun, seeking to make us or our kingdom subject to the king of England or to the English, we would strive at once to drive him out as our enemy and a subverter of his own right and ours, and we would make some other man who was able to defend us our king.”9
Although not its most notable or widely remembered clause, the above clause of the Declaration was perhaps its most impactful, and no doubt served as a lasting reminder to Robert Bruce. No longer, it declared, would the people of Scotland accept a king simply because of his divine right to rule. Instead, Scots claimed that it was within their right to choose their leader. Some historians even suggest today that this statement of the Declaration of Arbroath equates to the birth of the spirit of democracy and popular sovereignty throughout the world.
Immediately following the aforementioned clause appears what is perhaps the most well-known statement of the Declaration of Arbroath, and is without question the heart and soul of the document:
“For as long as a hundred of us remain alive, we will never on any conditions be subjected to the lordship of the English; for it is not for glory, nor riches, nor honours that we fight, but for freedom alone, which no good man gives up except with his life.”10
Making one last appeal to the Pope’s Christian senses, the Scottish barons warned that should he continue to believe the English version of events and fail to persuade Edward II to leave the Scots in peace, the Pope himself would have to answer to God for the atrocities suffered in the war that would inevitably follow.
While the Declaration of Arbroath ultimately failed to lead to perpetual harmony between the Scots and the English, the Pope did respond on August 28, 1320, urging England and Scotland to make peace. In 1327, following Edward II’s abdication and the subsequent turmoil in England, “an opportunity arose to negotiate a settlement.”11 What emerged from the negotiations was the Treaty of Edinburgh-Northamption of 1328, a document that finally “included the recognition of Robert I as king, and [the recognition of] Scottish independence.”12 Later, in 1329, Pope XXII issued a papal bull (an edict) which allowed the “anointing and crowning of the king of Scots by the bishop of St. Andrews as the Pope’s representative.”13
Today, Scots across the world celebrate National Tartan Day by wearing their favorite tartans to honor those who put the wheels of Scottish independence in motion. Not only did the Declaration of Arbroath change the course of history for Scotland, its impacts were purportedly still being felt by English monarchs nearly 500 years later. Thomas Jefferson14 is believed by some to have been inspired by the Declaration of Arbroath when tasked with drafting of the American Declaration of Independence.15 While many scholars today strongly disagree with these claims, going so far as to say that they are "entirely false," the connection between the two is "perpetuated in both the United States and Scotland"16 today and has widely become part of the legends surrounding both documents.17
On March 20, 1998, the United States Senate unanimously passed Senate Resolution 155, designating April 6 of each year as “National Tartan Day” in the United States “to recognize the outstanding achievements and contributions made by Scottish-Americans to the United States.”18 Perhaps convinced by the legend or having turned a blind eye to scholarship19, the text of the Senate Resolution credits the Declaration of Arbroath as being a model for the Declaration of Independence of the United States, and also cites Scottish-Americans for having played a crucial role in the founding of the United States. “Almost half of the signers of the Declaration of Independence were of Scottish descent,” the resolution states, and “Governors in 9 of the original 13 states were of Scottish ancestry.”20
Following the Senate’s lead, the United States House of Representatives also passed their own resolution on March 9, 2005 to designate April 6 as National Tartan Day to recognize and honor the achievements and contributions made by Scottish-Americans throughout the history of the United States.21
One thing can be certain, though: the Declaration of Arbroath marked an important point in Scotland’s history and is an significant document to all Scots and those of Scottish descent, and for that reason alone you should proudly wear your favorite tartan each April 6th to celebrate National Tartan Day. While doing so, don’t forget to take a moment to remember and honor those proud Scots who bravely withstood English aggression and rule, and our Scottish ancestors who for years fought to give Scotland its freedom.
Abbot Bernard is believed to have been the author of the letter to the Pope, and some scholars believe that he was inspired to a degree by the Roman historian Sallust’s Conspiracy of Catiline.
National Records of Scotland. (2020). The Declaration of Arbroath: 700th Anniversary Display. The Declaration of Arbroath. www.nrscotland.gov.uk/declaration#downloadable-resource
Harrison, L.S. (2017) ‘That famous manifesto’: The Declaration of Arbroath, Declaration of Independence, and the power of language. Scottish Affairs, 26(4), pp. 435-459.
Scottish History Society. (2016). The Declaration of Arbroath. scottishhistorysociety.com/the-declaration-of-arbroath/
This was not King Robert I’s first excommunication, of course. He was first excommunicated by Pope Clement V in 1306 for the murder of his rival John Comyn.
National Records of Scotland. (2020). The Declaration of Arbroath: 700th Anniversary Display. The Declaration of Arbroath. www.nrscotland.gov.uk/declaration#downloadable-resource
Edward I was known as Longshanks (or long legs) because of his height. At 6’2”, his height was extremely rare for his time.
Translation of The Declaration of Arbroath. (2005) National Records of Scotland. Translation compiled by the National Records of Scotland, which was based on Sir James Fergusson’s 1970 translation appearing in his book, “The Declaration of Arbroath, 1320.”
Ibid.
Ibid.
National Records of Scotland. (2020). The Declaration of Arbroath: 700th Anniversary Display. The Declaration of Arbroath.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Both Jefferson and Robert I are reported to have descended from Malcolm III of Scotland.
Weinczok, D. (2020). The Declaration of Arbroath’s Influence. The Scots Magazine. https://www.scotsmagazine.com/articles/declaration-of-arbroath/
Harrison, L.S. (2017) ‘That famous manifesto’: The Declaration of Arbroath, Declaration of Independence, and the power of language. Scottish Affairs, 26(4), pp. 435-459.Ibid.
According to Harrison, a strong association between the two “declarations” may exist because of the similar name given to the Declaration of Arbroath — a name scarcely seen before 1920. Harrison also states that Scotland has deliberately added momentum to the myth that Jefferson was inspired by the Declaration of Arbroath for the purpose of attracting American tourists. As evidence, Harrison recalls the February 1, 2012 remark in Parliament by MSP Graeme Day: “Does the member agree that, in seeking to promote Scotland’s culture to the U.S. market in particular, we should actively highlight the significant historical links between our countries?”
Armitage, D. 2022. “1320, 1776 and All That: A Tale of Two "Declarations"”. Scottish Historical Review 101(3), pp. 512-531.
Armitage suggests in this account that perhaps the connection between the two may have been made because of they are both manifestos and have a similar aesthetic.
S.Res.155 - 105th Congress (1997-1998): A resolution designating April 6 of each year as "National Tartan Day" to recognize the outstanding achievements and contributions made by Scottish Americans to the United States. (1998, March 25). https://www.congress.gov/bill/105th-congress/senate-resolution/155/text
It should be noted here that at least some resources did, in fact, exist around the time the U.S. Senate wrote S.Res.155 to support the claim that America’s Declaration of Independence had been inspired by the Declaration of Arbroath. For example, in Duncan Bruce’s 1997 book, The Mark of the Scots, he states that it was almost certain that the philosophy of America’s Founding Fathers was “basically Scottish.” In 2006, author Billy Kay stated in his book, The Scottish World: A Journey Into the Scottish Diaspora, that he was convinced of the connection due the high percentage of the signers of the Declaration of Independence having been Scots. These are two of the accounts that attempt to tie the two documents together, which may explain Congress’s choice of words in their resolutions.
Ibid.
H.Res.41 - 109th Congress (2005-2006): Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that a day should be established as "National Tartan Day" to recognize the outstanding achievements and contributions made by Scottish-Americans to the United States. (2005, March 9). https://www.congress.gov/bill/109th-congress/house-resolution/41/text