England, Ireland, Scotland and

Wales Year 8 History Homework Booklet

v3

1. Why is our flag so complicated?

If you look at our flag (the Union Flag or Union Jack) and compare it to other countries’ flags it seems very complicated. Why is this so? It’s a story that goes back a long way…

It is really 3 flags put together. These flags are the flags of the patron saints of England, Ireland and Scotland. Find out the names of the patron saints whose flags make up the Union Flag and colour in the flags.

In order to see how these flags fit together, follow the instructions on the A3 sheet tucked into this booklet.

EXTENSION: Wales is not represented on the flag of the United Kingdom. Design a new flag that includes something to represent Wales and staple it into this booklet.

I was probably a Roman soldier from Palestine. People say I killed a dragon! I became England’s patron saint during the reign of

Edward III – he liked soldiers.

St. ____________ – Patron Saint of England

St. ____________– Patron Saint of Scotland

I was one of the followers of Jesus. It is said that in the 10th century (900s) some of my bones magically appeared in Scotland. My flag

is a saltire or diagonal cross.

St. ____________ – Patron Saint of Ireland

I was Roman-British priest – it was my job to persuade people to be Christians. Legend has it that I got rid of all the snakes in

Ireland.

This is medieval French for “Shame on Him Who Thinks Badly of it”. It was first used by Edward III who was from the French Plantagenet family.

2. Why is the Queen’s coat of arms so complicated?

Throughout history, many people have had coats of arms. They were first used in the medieval period to help people identify who was who. This was particularly important on a battlefield!

Every coat of arms is different and there are very strict rules about what they should look like and how they are described. These rules are called heraldry.

Identify the different parts of the coat of arms of the current Queen, Elizabeth II. Write the correct letter next to each of the statements.

a c

de

f

b

g

These are from the coat of arms of Richard the Lionheart. Although he was king of England he only spent 9 months in the country.

This comes from the coat of arms of William I of Scotland. One of his nicknames was William the Lion.

This is the traditional heraldic symbol of Scotland. It is chained up because these animals were thought to be so dangerous.

This is the traditional heraldic symbol of England.

This is French for “God and My Right”. It was first used by Henry V who spoke French.

This is the traditional symbol of Ireland.

EXTENSION II: The Queen uses a slightly different coat of arms when she is in Scotland. Find out what the differences are and explain why you think it is different.

EXTENSION I: In heraldry, many of the terms come from medieval French. In this box are the names of tinctures (colours) used in heraldry. Colour each word appropriately.

Or, Argent, Azure, Gules, Sable, Vert, Purpure

3. When did this kingdom become united?

Athelstan 924-929

I was a Saxon king that no-one remembers! This is weird because I was the first person to be the king of all of England in 924.

Edward I 1272-1307

I was a medieval king of England and I conquered Wales. I also won many battles against the Scots but I died before I could take over completely.

James I 1603-1613(James IV of Scotland)

I was king of Scotland when Queen Elizabeth died. Because she had no children I was asked to be king of England and Prince of Wales as well.

William III 1689-1702

I was a Dutch prince who was asked to become king

of England (and Wales) and Scotland. After the

Battle of the Boyne (1690) Ireland came under my

control. Well, in name at least.

Hatch the map above using different strokes to show

who ruled what.

Athelstan’s land

Edward I’s land

James I’s land

William III’s land

How many years was it between Athelstan taking control of all of England and William III taking control of all of the British Isles?________________

4. How did Mel Gibson make William Wallace look like a very Scottish hero?

William Wallace was a Scottish knight who led a rebellion against Edward I of England’s attempt to take over Scotland. Despite winning the battle of Stirling Bridge (1297) he was eventually caught by the English and was killed by being hanged, drawn and quartered. In 1999, an Australian filmmaker called Mel Gibson made a film about him called Braveheart. It made Wallace look like a Scottish hero. How did he do it? See if you can link the way Gibson shows us Wallace to how this makes him look, not just like a hero, but a Scottish hero.

A. There are lots of people

behind him

B.He’s holding a weapon

F. He is walking with

his head held high.

E. There are lots of English soldiers

C. He is wearing blue

war paint

D. He is in the middle

of the picture

E This suggests that it takes many Englishmen to control him.

This suggests that he is a good soldier.

This makes him look like a Scot as Scottish sports teams wear blue.

Although the English are going to kill him, he looks proud and unafraid.

This makes him look like a good leader.

This suggests that he is important.

EXTENSION: How do you think an English filmmaker, who wanted to show King Edward I (Wallace’s enemy) as a hero, would show Wallace? Draw a picture of what you think Wallace might look like if this film were ever made? Label the features of your picture, explaining why you have drawn what you have and staple it into your booklet.

1297 - 1305AD

5. Why did the Welsh revolt against English rule?1400 -

1415 AD

Look at this castle. It is Carreg Cennan in South Wales. It was attacked and beseiged by Welsh soldiers. They were rebelling against English rule. They were led by Owain Glyndŵr (pronounced Glen-dow-er). In 1399 Glyndŵr declared himself to be Prince of Wales.

He was supported by a powerful English baron, the Earl of Northumberland, French forces and lots of people in Wales.

See if you can work out why each person or group is rebelling?

Owain Glyndŵr

French soldiers

The Welsh people

Percy, Earl of Northumberland. (Nickname = Harry Hotspur)

Eventually, the rebellion was defeated by English forces who came from Ireland. Wales remained under English rule.

EXTENSION: Today, a famous football club in London has its ground on land that was once owned by the Percy family. Which one is it?

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

We are supporting the rebellion because the English who are in charge of our towns are making laws that take

away our money and our rights.

I am rebelling because I think that I should be the Prince of Wales. The son

of an English king should not be the Prince!.

I am rebelling because I think that I should be King of England – not King

Henry IV.I have got more royal blood than him!

We are fighting because we have been fighting the English for many, many

years. We will give help to anyone that wants to fight the English!

6a. Why do people in Ireland still care about the Battle of the Boyne?

Irish history is complicated. Irish history is often not history – it is still a matter of arguments today.

So much of it is tied up with the histories of Rome, England, Scotland, France, Holland and the USA.

So much of it is tied up with arguments about religion.

It would be brilliant if we had the time to explore the ins-and-outs of the last 1,000 years of Irish history in class.The men in the picture above are part of the Orange Order.

They are going on a march to remember a battle that happened in Ireland over 300 years ago.

The boys on the right are throwing stones at men on a similar march.

The event they are remembering (or protesting about remembering) is the Battle of the Boyne which was fought between two men who thought that they should be king of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

These two men were James II (James Stuart) and William III (William of Orange).

Research the Battle of the Boyne and colour-code the statements below.

James II William III

I was king until 1688 when there

was a revolution

against me.

Parliament asked me to become king in 1688. It is

now called the Glorious

Revolution.I was a

Protestant.

I came from Holland where

I was the Prince of Orange.

My supporters were called Jacobites. (Jacobus is Latin for James).

My supporters were called Williamites.

I won the Battle of the

Boyne.

I lost the Battle of the

Boyne.

1690 AD

Now you know a little about the Battle of the Boyne. However, we haven’t answered the question about why so many people, particularly in Ireland, still care so much about this old battle.

The building on the right is in Shankhill in Belfast. It celebrates the victory of William of Orange at the Battle.

Below, are two statements about the importance of the Battle of the Boyne. Use two colours to highlight a) religious reasons and b) political reasons why the Battle of the Boyne is seen as important.

I am a Nationalist. This means that I think that all of Ireland should be part of the Republic of Ireland. At the moment, Northern Ireland is part of Great Britain and I don’t think it should be. James II was popular in Ireland. If the English did not want him as their king, that was their problem, they shouldn’t be able to tell the Irish who their king was. The Battle of the Boyne is another example of British people telling the Irish what to do.

Also, like many Irish people, I am Catholic. I think that it is a shame that James II was defeated because it meant that Catholics were often treated like ‘second-class citizens’. Even today, Protestants like the Orange Order have marches to celebrate the Battle of the Boyne and try and put us down.

Look again at the building in the photograph at the top of the page.

Do you think that this building is owned by a Unionist or a Nationalist? Explain your answer in the space below.

“I think that the house in the photograph is owned by a Unionist/ Nationalist because ___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________”

6b. Why do people in Ireland still care about the Battle of the Boyne?

1690 AD

7. Why did the Jacobites lose the Battle of Culloden?

Despite losing the Battle of the Boyne in 1690, supporters of the Stuart family (known as Jacobites) still wanted them to take back the throne. In 1745, the grandson of King Charles I, Charles Edward Stuart, known as “Bonnie Prince Charlie”, landed in Scotland to try and take the throne from King George II.

Charles’s Jacobites had a lot of success at first; he quickly took control of Edinburgh and defeated the government’s army at Prestonpans. His army marched into England and reached as far south as Derbyshire.

However, by spring 1746 Charles’s army had been completely defeated, he had fled to France and the Jacobites never managed to take back the thrown of England.

Read the account of the Battle of Culloden. Highlight anything that you think helped the Duke of Cumberland's government forces defeat Charles’s Jacobites.

Charles Edward Stuart (“Bonnie Prince Charlie”) leader of the Jacobite rebellion and his fearsome Highland troops.

The Duke of Cumberland, leader of the government forces and his well-trained ‘Red Coat’ army.

Charles Edward Stuart invaded England believing that English Jacobites (supporters of the Stuart family) would join him in his attempt to take over the throne Great Britain. He also believed that a French army would invade England to help him.

The Jacobites had a lot of success at first, they were able to march their army as far south as Derby and looked like they might be able to threaten London. However, despite this success, the French army was still being prepared in France and there were not as many English Jacobites as Charles had thought there would be. Moreover, London was heavily defended and government armies under the command of the Duke of Cumberland and Field Marshall George Wade were approaching. What was worse, was that the Jacobites wrongly believed that there was a third government army about to head their way.

Believing that they were badly outnumbered, Charles’s generals decided, against the advice of the prince himself, to return to Scotland and come back to England with an even larger army.

The march back to Scotland was so tough that the Jacobite army wore out their boots. However, they managed to resupply their army and defeat government forces sent from Edinburgh at Falkirk.

The Duke of Cumberland’s forces were heading north in pursuit and so the Jacobites went even further north to Inverness. At this time, Cumberland’s army was reinforced with German Protestant soldiers while soldiers from the Jacobite army began to drift away, leaving them very short of skilful officers. Both sides sat out the winter, waiting for better weather to continue the fighting.

1745 - 1746 AD

In April 1746, the two armies met near a moor called Culloden. The night before the battle, the Jacobites tried a surprise attack. However, it took too long to reach the government forces and one-third of the Jacobite attackers turned around and gave up. The remaining Jacobites attacked without realising that their comrades were not with them. They were repelled by the government forces and returned to their camp very, very tired. Early in the morning, Cumberland’s government forces headed for the moor and the Jacobite army.

When the two armies formed up, Charles left his men exposed to the government guns for over an hour. This made his generals angry and they demanded that they charge. The charge of Highland Jacobites was a terrible sight. However, on this occasion, the boggy ground meant that they could not hit the government forces as one and the left of Charles’s army broke. What made this worse was the fact that Cumberland’s army were well-trained and had developed a special bayonet drill to defeat the charge. Despite sending in reinforcements, the Jacobite army was forced to retreat. At this point, Cumberland’s cavalry entered the battle and routed the Jacobite forces.

Charles had just enough to time to flee but his army was thoroughly defeated. The Jacobites lost between 1,500-2,000 men while Cumberland’s government force lost just over 300.

For historians, it is not good enough to identify causes of historical events, it is often important to put them into categories. From what you have highlighted, try and find one example of each of the following types of causes:

A bad decision made by the Jacobites: ______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

Bad luck for the Jacobites: ______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

A problem with the Jacobite army: ______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

A strength of the government army: ______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

8. Why did the Jacobites lose the Battle of Culloden?

1745 - 1746 AD

EXTENSION: Why not play the rather excellent Jacobites: The 1745 Rebellion game at http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/education/as/jacobites/index.shtml?

Between 1845 and 1852, there was a terrible famine in Ireland which led to the deaths of many, many people. Use a computer to visit http://www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/schools/4_11/tandy/projects/famine/ (you can also find it by putting “bbc history tandy irish famine” into a search engine). Use the website to answer at least 5 of the questions below. (You may need to staple in additional sheets of paper).

9. What can I learn about the Irish Potato Famine?1845 -

1850 AD

Where did Irish people emigrate to?

What sort of problems did Irish people who emigrated face?

What did many people in Ireland eat in the 19th century?

Why were potatoes so important to Irish people in the 19th century?

What was potato blight? What effect did the famine have on Irish people?

How did people try to help the starving people?

Who tried to help the starving people?

Who owned land in Ireland in the 19th century?

What was life like in the workhouses?

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