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The Declaration of Arbroath

Factual: History

The Declaration

Billy Kay presents a major series on one of the most iconic moments in Scottish history.

For the 700th anniversary of the Declaration of Arbroath, Billy Kay presents a major series on one of the most iconic moments in Scottish and world history.

The Declaration of Arbroath: April 6th

April 6th

BBC Radio Scotland - The Declaration of Arbroath, April 6th

Billy Kay celebrates the Declaration of Arbroath and its legacy in America.

Billy Kay celebrates the history of the iconic Declaration of Arbroath and explores its influence in the United States of America.

From the elegance of medieval Latin rhetoric in programme 1, we are  plunged into the very different milieu of modern Manhattan as the Tartan Day parade marches up 6th Avenue. Against the skirl of the pipes, we talk to Scots Americans about the campaign to have their culture recognised on April 6. This is from U.S. Senate Resolution 155, March 20, 1998.
“April 6 has a special significance for all Americans, and especially those Americans of Scottish descent, because the Declaration of Arbroath, the Scottish Declaration of  Independence, was signed on April 6, 1320 and the American Declaration of Independence was modeled on that inspirational document.”    
While there is no direct evidence this is in fact the case, Billy will outline  substantial circumstantial evidence which suggests that the two documents were connected through the influence there of the Scottish Enlightenment.
We will discover how the Declaration was kept alive in Scottish consciousness  before it was finally printed  in the 1680s and hear of its influence in the Union debate of 1707.  In the 18th century, James Boswell quoted from it in his book about the Corsican freedom fighter, Pascquale Paoli, while in the university library in Leipzig during the Grand Tour, he comes across a copy of the Declaration and regales astonished scholars:  
“My old spirit got up. I read them choice passages from the Barons’ letter to the Pope. They were struck with the noble sentiments, at the liberty of the old Scots and they expressed their regret at the shameful Union. I felt too, patriot sorrow -  o infamous rascals who sold the honour of your country to a nation against which our ancestors supported themselves  with so much glory! But I say no more but only,  alas, poor Scotland! “

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