Lobey Posted October 29, 2018 Share Posted October 29, 2018 (edited) https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-46015580 So Netflix are about to kick the BBC's arse with a film about Robert the Bruce (something the BBC themselves should have made at some time in their history perhaps ?)- and this is how they report it's upcoming launch - one small snippet of conjecture from a new book by self-employed historian Dr Fiona Watson - a graduate of Glasgow and St Andrews who formerly presented a show on the BBC. (gee, wonder how she got a plug on the BBC ?). If I publish a book that says the BBC are crap - will that get on the news as well ? And in those days the Nobility weren't Scottish or English - they were Norman first.. so I hold no illusions on that score - this is just the BBC in Scotland trying to diss the competition and stop the "jocks getting too uppity". And to be fair to Dr Watson - her book looks pretty thorough and interesting - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Traitor-Outlaw-King-Making-Robert-ebook/dp/B07GZ8L8MF Out of all that, the BBC think they'll go with the amusing ... he was an "Essex boy" ..... pricks - they do the Dr and her book a disservice, they do the film a disservice and they do their viewers a disservice. Edited October 29, 2018 by Lobey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toepoke Posted October 29, 2018 Share Posted October 29, 2018 Can't say I'm too bothered where Bruce was born. As you say he was a Norman noble. His importance in Scottish history is pretty much unrivalled. No Bruce, no Scotland. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hampden_loon2878 Posted October 29, 2018 Share Posted October 29, 2018 It grinds my gears how they try to rewrite history to fit in with their agenda,, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phart Posted October 29, 2018 Share Posted October 29, 2018 The evidence seems to be an english chronciler said he belonged to the english, and his parents owned land in essex. Can't find out anything else. A lot of these subjects use cargo-cult science though. Hell even medical researchers are getting bad for bad science. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kumnio Posted October 29, 2018 Share Posted October 29, 2018 If we can claim Matt Elliott as Scottish, we can claim Robert the Bruce. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lobey Posted October 29, 2018 Author Share Posted October 29, 2018 My initial annoyance was with the the glib "Essex boy" thing on the live news and the dig at what seems to be shaping up to have been a pretty succesfull film venture by Netflix - but I'm actually getting more annoyed on Dr Watson's behalf now - she has obviously been putting a lot of time and research in to her book and they reduce it to a trivial "funny" throwaway like that ? https://fionawatsonhistorian.wordpress.com/ This is out nations national news provider's idea of fit coverage on our nations History ? , Arts ? It's not just cheap tabloidism it's moronic. They do say however that there is no such thing as bad publicity - so everyone watch the film and read the book ..... and don't pay your licence fee... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ErsatzThistle Posted October 30, 2018 Share Posted October 30, 2018 If The Bruce was born in England then so what ? What does it matter ? As pointed out above he was more Norman than Scots anyway. Consider this: Historian Andrew Fisher made a reasonable case a number of years ago, that a young William Wallace may have fought as a mercenary for Edward I in his war against Wales. Hence his knowledge of tactics, strategy and leadership when the time came to fight for Scotland's freedom. Some historians believe that the "Aleyn Waleys of Are" (Alan Wallace of Ayr) listed on the infamous Ragman's Rolls *might* actually have been Wallace's father or uncle. Would it really matter if Wallace had once been a mercenary in the pay of Edward I? No. It was just the cold, hard reality of the unforgiving, brutal world he lived in at the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mindimoo Posted October 31, 2018 Share Posted October 31, 2018 Fyi - it's coming on actual Netflix on 9th November. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hampden_loon2878 Posted October 31, 2018 Share Posted October 31, 2018 11 minutes ago, Mindimoo said: Fyi - it's coming on actual Netflix on 9th November. I haven’t netflix but i am awa to sign up especially for this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mindimoo Posted October 31, 2018 Share Posted October 31, 2018 27 minutes ago, hampden_loon2878 said: I haven’t netflix but i am awa to sign up especially for this You get a free 30 day trial. Maybe leave.it until.nearer the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exile Posted November 2, 2018 Share Posted November 2, 2018 Stuart Hardy questions the significance of the Norman aristocracy in Scotland, in his book Scotland's Future History that I mentioned in another thread (Neil Oliver). https://www.luath.co.uk/history/scotlands-future-history He challenges what sees as a lazy assumption that Scotland was really feudal (a record of a king assigning lands is not evidence of actual control/occupation) or significantly over-run by Norman knights everywhere. He says there are few Norman names on the Declaration of Arbroath, for example. I don't recall all the details but the gist of his argument was that emphasising Norman traditions of feudalism would tend to obscure the actual, local, more kinship based social structure in Scotland, and make it easier to see Scotland as simply a natural extension of Anglo-Norman feudalism (and so an extension of England or a territory that could be readily made subject to the English crown...). This point of view - told and sold as actual history - of course suited (a) the aristocracy (b) the unionist perspective of GB as an entity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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