A 500-YEAR-OLD manuscript that sheds new light on the Scottish Wars of Independence, William Wallace and the Stone of Destiny, has been made available to the public for the first time.

The handwritten manuscript is a copy of John Mair’s History of Greater Britain, which is regarded as one of the most influential and innovative histories of Scotland and England of the sixteenth century.

It also contains a “hand-copied pamphlet” chronicling Scotland’s earlier history and has been acquired by the University of St Andrews after being held in a private collection in Norway for 34 years.

The contents of this home-made pamphlet include a chronicle for the years 1286 to 1327 which has a few bits of new information (for example, seven—not six—guardians were elected to rule Scotland after Alexander III’s tragic death in 1286, as well as Wallace co-leading the attack on the sheriff of Lanark, rather than leading on his own: it also gives us the exact date—3 May 1297—of when this happened).

“It also has a copy of what is likely to be the earliest version of the legend about the Stone of Destiny.

Source:

https://www.thenational.scot/news/24779057.historic-manuscript-sheds-new-light-william-wallace/