Scotland is a place of history and mystery, it s a magical place of kings and clans,
of cairns and castles, a haven for tourists
delving into connections with the past but, of all the historical sites in Scotland,
which do you think is the most important? If you re interested in the people,
places and events in Scottish history then click the subscribe button at
the bottom right of the screen and click the notification bell
to find out when I upload new videos. In the meantime, let me tell you a story
If you want to know the most important historical site in Scotland s to visit, then I sayTHIS is it
What makes this place so significant? It s connection to our most famous king,
our most celebrated queen, our most transformational monarch...?
There are more kings and queens of Scots buried here than any other place in Scotland....
It was one of the country s richest religious sites,
a place of pilgrimage, the resting place of saint and nobility,
Guardians of Scotland... as well as some more ordinary folk...
It s the birthplace of kings, the shrine of saints
and a scene of transformation. Dunfermline Abbey was at the heart
of Scotland s birth and is still part of the life of the community today.
Today s Abbey was built by Scotland s most transformational monarch,
but its story goes back further still... Let s go inside...
I saw Dunfermline once described as Scotland s oldest abbey.
I immediately thought, hold on, surely Iona...
although to be fair Iona was established before the birth of Scotland.
It was a time of Picts and Scots, Angles and Brittons.
This place was first built as those four peoples came together.
In 1070 the Britons of Strathclyde in the west and the Angles of Northumbria in the east
were in the process of being subsumed into Scotland.
The national geography was taking form... but another bonding was taking place...
between Malcolm III of Scotland and the Saxon Margaret Aetheling...
and it happened right here... not in this building, but here,
in this royal centre where Margaret subsequently built a church
and invited Benedictine monks to establish a religious centre.
Underneath the floor of the current abbey, you can still see the remains of the original church...
you might metaphorically say the foundations on which Scotland was built.
Margaret was buried here in the original abbey,
where the ordinary folks were separated from the clergy.
Her husband Malcolm III s remains were also later buried here
and it s said that when she was re-interred
miraculously her remains wouldn t move without his being brought with her.
Their sons King Edgar, and Alexander III followed them to Dunfermline for burial.
A couple of hundred years and a basket of posthumous miracles later
Margaret was made a saint in 1249 and that added to the mystique of this place.
But before then her youngest son David would rebuild this abbey,
still the best-preserved 12th century Romanesque building in the country.
You can see... typical archways, carved columns...
architectural features that link this place to Durham cathedral
which was also part of David s lands and realm....
He built this as he was rebuilding Scotland....
As he was shaping with Norman architecture here, he was also Normanising;
planting offshoots of this abbey in Moray as he brought the north under his control.
Resources brought in to this Abbey from other parishes...
including as far as St John s Kirk in my own home town of Perth.
The nature of agriculture was changing, population was expanding
and monasteries were part of that. Royal burghs were being established
and David s feudal Scotland was growing. At the heart of that melting pot of transition
was David s rebuilding of this abbey and establishment
of extensive and most impressive monastery. It would have covered the whole of this site;
cloisters, refectory, ....... most of which is gone today
David the transformer was also buried here, with his parents and brothers.
His grandson Malcolm IV rests here. The last of those Canmore kings, of the
House of Dunkeld was also buried here. He was Alexander III, who died
ten miles to the west when he fell from his horse on a stormy night.
He died without an adult heir. I don t need to tell you that it
was his death without heirs That sparked the ambitions of England
s Edward Longshanks to rule over the Scots. It was when Scots agreed the Auld Alliance with
Phillip IV of France that Edward invaded. If you needed a reason for why THIS is our
most important historic site then look no further than the
fact that The Auld Alliance was signed here at Dunfermline.
Edward of England came here during that occupation,
but you might be surprised to know he made donations to the Abbey...
If that seems strange then remember his sister had been married to Alexander III
and she s also buried here at Dunfermline
We all know the war with Edward was won by Robert the Bruce,
with the victory at Bannockburn in the summer of 1314 being decisive.
After Bannockburn a parliament met at Cambuskenneth Abbey in November 1314
to issue a charter that disinherited those who refused to come over to Bruce s patriotic cause.
Two weeks later Robert Bruce was at Dunfermline Abbey declaring his intention to be buried here.
It was almost as if, having settled the destiny of Scotland,
he was setting his own destiny in this place. Now you could argue that the charter signed
at Cambuskenneth was what sparked the second war of independence,
and some of the early heroes of that struggle are also buried here:
Thomas Randolph, the Guardian who followed Bruce during the minority
of his son David II was buried over here
Now they weren t buried in this modern Abbey church.
In fact this has replaced The Lady Chapel, destroyed during the reformation.
When we came from the old Abbey nave to the modern Abbey church
we were passing from pre to post reformation Scotland.
That s a marker of our history built into the very structure of this building.
Reformation mobs destroyed a lot of the contents of the Abbey
although in 1580 there was a complaint that there are still Benedictines of Dunfermline
with doors bolted and barred keeping watch in their choir
by shrines of St Margaret and St David and the sepulchres of Bruce and Randolph.
The shrine to Queen (now Saint) Margaret here was a hugely important pre reformation
religious centre. Well after the reformation
Margaret was still seen as a saint that conferred blessings on pregnant queens and noblewomen.
It s why you get royal births here in the Royal residences.
James VI s wife, Queen Anne transformed the dilapidated residential buildings
next to the abbey, into a royal palace.
Not only that, but seeking out St Margaret s blessing she gave birth to royal children here,
including the last British monarch to be born in Scotland, Charles I.
The fact that the buildings fell into decline again
when the Stuarts headed south to become king and queen in England
is also part of Scotland s story.
By the time the troops of Charles s nemesis, Oliver Cromwell, occupied
Scotland the eastern choir had collapsed, and Cromwell s soldiers plundered the ruins
for stonework and used the site as a ready-made quarry
no doubt with the help of some of the locals
So by the late Georgian period you would have had nave church and ruins,
but they decided to build a new Abbey church that you see today.
You can see the dramatic change from medieval to modern.
By the time they built this new Abbey church in 1818,
this place had lived every stage of the life of Scotland
and as the ground was cleared and excavated for the new church,
they discovered a sarcophagus containing a skeleton... with the sternum split open
as if to cut out a heart to send it on crusade with Good Sir james Douglas.
But there s also connection to emigration and diaspora.
Right next to this site is the Carnegie Birthplace Museum.
...but this isn t the only place commemorating the Scottish businessman and philanthropist.
There s also Carnegie Hall where I ll be on this stage on 4th November 2023
performing my show Stories of Scotland. If you re in Fife why not come to see me.
Click the link top right now for tickets...
or for all tour shows and information click the link in the description below.
For many of the people who come to Dunfermline Abbey and Palace today
it s a modern pilgrimage to see the resting place of Robert the Bruce.
The reason I made this video was to make the point that yes,
that is a reason to visit Dunfermline Abbey... but there s so much more here that ties this
place to the history of our nation I can t think of any site that contains
so much of Scotland s story in one place. Let me know Scotland s most important place
to you in in the comments section. If you d like to know my favourite
castle in Scotland then watch the video coming up on screen now.