Gaelic Kingdoms

Kings of Dal Riada

Natives of the Ulster region of Ireland, the Dal Riada Scotti came under pressure from the powerful Clan Ui Neill, from whose ranks were drawn the High Kings of Ireland. From the latter end of the fifth century this extended clan of Scotti migrated en masse to settle on the western coast of Pictland, in the modern region of Argyllshire. The area had been home to the Epidii tribe during the Roman period, but the newcomers quickly founded their own kingdom, settling Dunadd as their capital.

Dal Riadan control thereafter expanded in a piecemeal fashion, with stops and starts as they were alternately made vassals of the Picts or became their overlords. Perthshire fell to them first, then Lothian, after which, hemmed into the south by the powerful Northumbrians, they turned north, gaining Mar and entering the Highlands. This was the heartland of the Pictish kingdom, and it was here that they faced their stiffest opposition. It was a furious battle, much of which has been lost to history, and one that they looked like losing until disaster befell the Picts in 839. The Scotti were now in command of all of Pictland and they would gradually to create the modern country of Scotland.

c.485? - 500

Reuda

c.500? - 501

Fergus mac Erc

501 - 507

Domangrat mac Fergus

507 - 537

Comgall mac Domangrat

537 - 558

Gabrán mac ?Domangrat

558 - 574

Conall mac Comgall

563

St Columba, a descendant of the high kings of Ireland, follows in the footsteps of the Irish Scotti to spread the Celtic Church into Dal Riada and Northern Pictland. Arriving with twelve companions, he is granted land on Iona where he founds a monastery in order to introduce the Picts along the western coast to Christianity. Visiting the king, he wins his respect and subsequently plays a major role not just in winning converts for the church but also as a diplomat.

573

The Dal Riadans are defeated in battle against the powerful King Brudei of the Northern Picts.

574 - 607

Aedan mac Gabrán

m Domlech, Pictish dau. of Maelgwyn Gwynedd.

c.582

Ynys Manau is taken by the Dal Riada Scotti, and ruled by a client king or lesser member of the ruling family.

584

Aedan's son, Gartnait, inherits the Northern Pictish throne.

603

Aedan invades the Anglian kingdom of Bernicia and attacks King Æthelfrith at the Battle of Degsastan. By fighting and defeating Dal Riada, Æthelfrith secures the alliance of Dal Riada's enemies, the southern Picts. His northern flank is now safe and he turns his attention south and west.

607

Cineadh Cerr (Kenneth the Left Handed)

Ruled for three months.

608 - 620?

Echoid Find mac Aedan

620? - 623?

Kenneth mac Conall

623? - 629?

Ferchar? (Fergus) mac Cu?

629? - 642

Domnal Brecc mac Echoid

Known in Welsh as Dyfnwal Frych. Killed at Strathcarron.

Internecine wars between Cenéls Loairn & nGabráin.

642? - 678

Fergar (Fota/ Fearchar Fada) Longus?

Ruled all Dal Riada, from Clan Baedan (d.697).

664 - 680

Malduinus / Maelduin

Ruled jointly or just a section of Dal Riada?.

678

Eochal Lyus?

Negarth mac Coneval

Alrinch Ellac mac Fergar Longus

c.697 Amberkeletus (Ainbhceallach) mac Fearchar (d.724)?

--- mac Fergar Longus

Sealbhach mac Fearchar, killed Amberkeletus?

M. mac Alrinch?

--- mac M.

--- mac Eochal Lyus

Fergus mac ?

His son, Angus, rules the Pictish kingdom for a time.

700 - 719

Selbach mac ?Eogan

719 - 721

?

721 - 741

The kingdom temporarily collapses and three Cenéla dissolve into at least seven families.

732

Mordacus / Muredach

Possibly claimed the throne for a short time.

741 - 748

Divided kings defeated by Picts. Dal Riada is re-united over next few years.

748 - 778

Aed Finn mac Eochu

768

Aed Finn invades Pictland and re-establishes Dal Riadan independence.

758? - ?

Eochal Ueneuofus mac E*albi

Dunegal mac Selbach

Alpin mac Eochal

Died 834.

778 - 781

Fergus

King of Dal Riada & Pictland. Father of Constantine of Pictland.

781 - 792

Donald mac Constantine

(Donncorci.)

789? - 807

Conall mac Tadc / Taidg

Ex-Pictish king.

807 - 811

Conall mac Aedan

811 - 834

Dal Riata ruled by Picts through natural succession.

834 - ?

Talorcan

c.836 - 839

Eoganan / Uven mac Angus

Of Pictland.

? - 839

Aedmac Boanta

Brother(?) and therefore heir to the throne.

839

The line of descent of Pictish kings is broken when the Pictish army is destroyed and Eoganan is killed by Vikings. Pictland eventually merges with Dal Riada through intermarriage to become Scotland, although a few Picts still appear to rule the North for a time.

839 - 850

Kinet (Kenneth) I mac Alpin

First king of Alba (Scotland).

843

Kenneth rules from Scone (Fortriu, modern Forteviot), capital of the Southern Picts.

850

After killing the final Pictish ruler (an event known as McAlpin's Treason), Kenneth rules Pictland and unites most of the country, a feat which is extended to cover all Scotland by subsequent kings.

Kings of Scotland
AD 850 - 1603

The House of Alpin retained the Pictish custom of passing the crown down through matrilineal descent. In modern lists, Constantine I is used for the Pictish Constantine mac Fergus (789-820).

(Additional information on the links with Strathclyde by Mick Baker.)

House of Alpin

850 - 860

Kenneth I mac Alpin

860 - 863

Donald I mac Alpin

Brother.

863 - 877

Constantine II mac Kenneth

Son of Kenneth.

877 - 878

Aed mac Kenneth

Brother.

878 - 889

Giric I

Joint rulers.

878 - 889

Eochaid / Eochu

King of Strathclyde (878-889).

889 - 900

Donald II mac Constantine

King of Strathclyde (889-900). Killed by Danes.

900 - 942

Constantine (Constantinus) III mac Aed

Son of Aed.

934 - 937

The grand alliance including the Scots, Northumbrian Danes at York, Dublin Danes, and the Welsh of Gwynedd and Cumbria, mass their forces north of the Humber in a bold attempt to destroy Æthelstan of Wessex. The plan fails, however, when the West Saxons and Mercians of the south destroy the alliance at the Battle of Brunanburh in 937.

942 - 954

Malcolm (Milcolumbus) I mac Donald

Son of Donald. Killed near Fetteresso.

954 - 962

Indulf mac Constantine

Son of Constantine. King of Strathclyde (943-954).

962 - 967

Duff (Dub`h) mac Malcolm

Son of Malcolm. King of Strathclyde (954-962).

967 - 971

Culen (Colin / Cuilean Finn) mac Indulf

Son of Indulf. 'White Colin'.

971 - 995

Kenneth II

Son of Malcolm I. Lost the Highlands to Olav (971-977).

995 - 997

Constantine IV the Bald

Son of Culen.

997 - 1005

Kenneth III

Son of Duff. killed in civil war near Loch Earn.

997 - 1005

Giric II

1005 - 1034

Malcolm II

Son of Kenneth II.

1018 - 1034

Malcolm is usually credited with being the ruler who finally subdues Strathclyde and appends it to the Scottish crown. The exact date is unknown.

House of Atholl

The reign of Duncan mac Crinan, grandson of Malcolm II, is littered with defeats and poor rule as the king is defeated by his own people and by the English. In a vain attempt to restore his prestige, Duncan engaged on a Royal Progress through the land of Moray, where MacBeth was sub-king. This proved to be a grave error of judgement as MacBeth and his men rose up and kill Duncan at Pitgaveny.

1034 - 1040

Duncan I

Inherited the crown of Strathclyde.

House of Alpin

MacBeth, at the head of the disgruntled men of Moray, rose up and defeated the discredited Duncan, killing him on 14 August 1040 at Bothngouane (now Pitgaveny) near Elgin. MacBeth was a good and strong king; a far cry from the evil villain portrayed in Shakespeare's work of fiction, reigning for a long seventeen years.

1040 - 1057

Macbeth / Mac Bethad mac Findláich

Grandson-in-law of Kenneth III. Killed by Malcolm III.

1046

Siward, earl of Northumbria and former father-in-law to Duncan, succeeds in momentarily expelling MacBeth from Lothian, and briefly installing Duncan's brother Maldred on the Scottish throne. MacBeth swiftly recovers his lost lands.

1054

Siward and Malcolm Ceann Mor set off on a campaign to defeat MacBeth. They do so at Dunsinnen, wresting Lothian and possibly Strathclyde from him, but they fail to depose him. Ceann Mor is set up as Malcolm III, at least of Cumbria (Strathclyde), a client king of the English.

1057

Malcolm Ceann Mor defeats and kills MacBeth at Lumphanon. Lulach, MacBeth's stepson, becomes king. He reigns for just seven months before being slain by Malcolm.

1057 - 1058

Lulach

Step-son of Macbeth. Reigned for seven months.

House of Atholl

1058 - 1093

Malcolm III Canmore / Ceann Mor

Son of Duncan I.

1066

The Norman invasion of England forces Margaret of Wessex (later known as St Margaret, or Margaret of Scotland) to flee to the court of Malcolm III. She is the sister of Edgar the Atheling, Anglo-Saxon king in name only after the death of Harold Godwinson at Hastings. About four years later, Malcolm marries her and the royal couple become parents to three later kings and five other children. Margaret introduces more court ceremony and also founds Dunfermline Abbey.

1093 - 1094

Donald III Bane

Son of Duncan I.

1094

Duncan II

Son of Malcolm III.

1094 - 1097

Donald III Bane

Second reign.

1098 - 1107

Edgar

Son of Malcolm III, the first of those by Margaret of Scotland.

1107 - 1124

Alexander I

Brother. Son-in-law of Henry I of England.

1114

Alexander inaugurates the construction of Scone Abbey on the ancient site of the coronation of Scottish kings.

1124 - 1153

David I the Saint

Brother.

1133

A Norman invasion from England forces King Thorkell to flee Dublin and Ireland altogether for the safety of the Scottish Highlands. In Scotland itself, King David invites large numbers of Normans to settle, build Norman castles, help him control some of the worst in-fighting amongst the lords, and help turn Scotland into a flourishing, multi-ethnic European kingdom.

1139

The title of earl of Northumberland falls vacant until Stephen of England is pressured into appointing a new earl by King David.

1153 - 1165

Malcolm IV the Maiden

Grandson of David I.

1165 - 1214

William I the Lion

Grandson of David I.

1214 - 1249

Alexander II

Son of William I.

1215 - 1217

The barons of Northumberland and York pay homage to Alexander during the First Barons' War of England.

1226

The Isle of Man passes from the overlordship of the Scandinavian crown to that of the Scottish crown.

1249 - 1286

Alexander III

Son of Alexander II by his second wife.

1265 - 1275

The Isle of Man is annexed by and falls under the control of Scotland. From this point the island is controlled directly from either Scotland or England, as the two nations vie for power.

1286 - 1290

Margaret Maid of Norway

Granddaughter of Alexander III. Dau. of Eric II of Norway.

1290 - 1292

First Interregnum. Ruled under English occupation.

House of Balliol

1292 - 1296

John Balliol

Fifth lineal descendant of David I (d.1315).

1295

On 5 July Scotland and France form an alliance, the origin of their 'Auld Alliance', against England.

1296 - 1306

Second Interregnum. Edward I of England rules Scotland. In 1302, in his attempts to suppress Scottish rebel William Wallace and claimant to the throne Robert the Bruce during the Scottish Wars of Independence, Edward I builds a fortress at Linlithgow. In 1305 William Wallace is captured and is subsequently hanged, drawn and quartered by the English at Smithfield, London.

House of Bruce

1306 - 1329

Robert I Bruce

Descendant of David I.

1314

Edward II's defeat at Bannockburn by the Scottish under Robert the Bruce sees the start of a period in which the certainty of Scottish independence from England become more and more established. The drawing up of the Declaration of Arbroath in 1320 involves Pope John XXII in negotiations.

The Battle of Bannockburn by William Hole, part of a mural in three sections, from the Scottish National Portrait Museum in Edinburgh showing Robert the Bruce in the foreground

1328

The Treaty of Northampton, in which England renounces its claim to Scotland, is signed.

1329 - 1371

David II

Son.

House of Balliol

1332

Edward Balliol

Son of John. Rival claimant in Aug-Dec, and 1333-1342.

House of Stewart
AD 1371 - 1707

1371 - 1390

Robert II

Grandson of Robert I (Stewart = Steward of the Palace).

1390 - 1406

Robert III

Son.

1406 - 1437

James I

Son of Robert II. Murdered.

1411

Highland and Lowland Scots clash at 'Red Harlaw', one of the bloodiest battles in Scottish history.

1437 - 1460

James II

Son. Aged 7 at accession.

1437 - 1439

Joan Beaufort

Mother. Regent.

1446

Construction on Rosslyn Chapel begins. It is intended to be one of over thirty-seven collegiate churches to be built during the reigns of James I and James IV between 1406-1513.

1460

James II, about to launch into a war against England, is killed by one of his own canon when it explodes instead of sending a salute to his arriving queen.

1460 - 1488

James III

Son of James II. Assassinated.

1488

Rebels defeat and depose James III at the Battle of Sauchieburn on 11 June, making his son, James, king.

1488 - 1513

James IV

Son. Adopted the thistle as the Stewart emblem.

1493

James takes the title 'Lord of the Isles', a minor kingship in its own right, during the anarchic period in the Highlands following the death of the last MacDonald lord of the Isles.

1513

James takes full advantage of the fact that Henry VIII is campaigning in France and his wife, Isabella, is governing England in his name. James invades England, but Isabella sends an army north. The two forces meet at Flodden and the Scots are annihilated, with around 10,000 casualties, including James himself. This makes him the last British monarch to die in battle.

1513 - 1542

James V

Son.

1542 - 1567

Mary (Queen of Scots)

Dau. of James V by 2nd wife. Executed: Fotheringay (1587).

1547

In the last battle between English and Scottish royal armies, the Scots are routed at Pinkie, Edinburgh on 10 September as the uncle and Royal Protector of Edward VI, Edward Seymour, attempts to impose Anglican reform north of the border and force the infant Mary, Queen of Scots to marry Edward. Mary is smuggled to France where she is betrothed to the young dauphin, Francis.

1559

Scone Abbey is sacked and burned by an angry mob at the height of the Reformation.

1567 - 1625

James VI

Son of Mary by her second husband.

1603

With the death of Elizabeth Tudor, her cousin, James VI of Scotland, is now also king of England. He is one of Elizabeth's closest living relatives, thanks to the marriage between James IV and Margaret Tudor, daughter of Henry VII of England. The Scottish royal court moves to London, and the two kingdoms are ruled from there. Despite this, Scotland continues to have its own judicial system, along with similarly independent educational and religious institutions.

Upon the death of James VI, he was succeeded by his son, Charles I of England and Scotland. Reignal numbering for all names is shown for Scotland first, followed by England in parenthesis.

1603 - 1625

James VI (I)

King James I of England & VI Scotland.

1625 - 1649

Charles I

Son. King of England & Scotland. Executed by Parliament.

1640

The Scots defeat Charles I Stuart in the Second Bishops' War, and the king is forced to recall Parliament, which becomes known as the Long Parliament.

1642 - 1651

Charles Stuart raises his standard, declaring war on a Parliament which is determined to force a confrontation. In 1645 the Royalists are routed at the Battle of Philiphaugh, defeating Charles I's cause in Scotland.

1649 - 1653

Oliver Cromwell supports the execution of the king in January 1649, and leads an army to crush the Irish in August of the same year. In 1650, he also crushes Scotland with his highly efficient New Model Army. In 1653, he dissolves Parliament and by the end of the year has assumed the role of Lord Protector pf the Commonwealth.

1649 - 1658

Oliver Cromwell

Effectively in control of Parliament (1649). First Lord Protector.

1658 - 1659

Richard Cromwell

Second Lord Protector. Abdicated in favour of Charles II.

1660 - 1685

Charles II

Son of Charles I. Restored king of England & Scotland.

1685 - 1688

James VII (II)

Brother. King James II of England & VII Scotland.

1688

Feeling against the blatantly anti-Protestant James II of England and VII of Scotland flares up when his second wife, Mary of Modena, gives birth to a Catholic heir (commonly believed to be a changeling). His brother-in-law, William of Orange, lands in Britain with a Dutch army. The disaffected British army goes over to him, and a bloodless takeover is effected with the support of the British people, named the Glorious Revolution. James flees London for France on 11 December, and by this act is deemed to have abdicated. He and his supporters continue to hold a claim on the thrones of England, Scotland, and Ireland for decades to come, but most of the significant Scottish nobles support William. The Jacobite pretenders to the throne are shown with a shaded background.

1688 - 1701

James VII (II)

The deposed James II of England.

1698

Scottish settlers make landfall in Panama, establishing the ill-fated 'Darien Venture' colony. The project is an ambitious one, and is backed financially by almost every Scottish landowner, many of whom are bankrupted when it fails. This disaster, along with the threat of an invasion by the English under William of Orange, persuades Scotland's nobles to support a formal union with England.

1701 - 1707

James VIII (III) Francis 'Old Pretender'

Son of James II. Prince of Wales. Involved in 1716 rebellion.

1707

The Union of the crowns of England and Scotland is enacted, ending the separate rule of a nominally independent Scotland by the Stewarts and instead merging the two crowns into one. The claim on the throne by the Jacobite Stuarts continues to be upheld, and attempts are made to pursue that claim, starting in 1708.

Early Modern Scotland
AD 1707 - 1837

The Union of the crowns of England and Scotland was enacted in 1707, establishing in fact a union that had existed since 1603. The idea had been recommended by William III, but it took a while to get it through, and it was only during the reign of Queen Anne that it was finally ratified. Primarily, perhaps, it was seen as a method of preventing the possibility of Scotland going its own way, especially as within a few years the Scottish Parliament would refuse to endorse the Hanoverian succession. The joint kingdoms were governed from a single Parliament at Westminster in London. The following year, in 1708, an attempted invasion of Scotland by James Francis Stuart at the Firth of Forth was defeated at sea.

1707 - 1766

James VIII (III) Francis 'Old Pretender'

Son of James II. Prince of Wales. Involved in 1716 rebellion.

1745 - 1746

Bonnie Prince Charlie lands at Eriskay in the Hebrides, Scotland, to lay claim to the British throne. Fighting in his still-living father's name, he raises his standard at Glenfinnan, Scotland on 19 August, igniting the Second Jacobite Rebellion. On 21 September, his Jacobite forces defeat English forces at the Battle of Prestonpans. The following year, in 1746, in the last battle fought on British soil, the Jacobites are routed by the duke of Cumberland at Culloden. The Jacobite cause effective dies, but Charles Edward's claim is passed on, first through his brother, Henry, in 1788, and then the kings of Sardinia from 1807.

The Battle of Culloden saw the destruction of the clans in Scotland at the hands of Britain's modern army

1752

Britain switches from the outdated Julian calendar to the Gregorian one, 'losing' twelve days in the process and moving the start of the year from 25 March to 1 January (except for the tax office, which refuses to budge, up to and including the present day).

1763

The first Tory and first Scottish-born MP to hold office in Parliament, the Earl of Bute's eleven month term of office ends the Seven Years' War against France. Unpopular because he is a Scot at a time when the Jacobite Rebellion is still fresh in people's minds, he resigns after a spate of verbal and physical attacks upon his person.

1766 - 1788

Charles III Edward 'Young Pretender'

Son of James Francis Stuart. Also 'Bonnie Prince Charlie'.

1788 - 1807

Henry I (IX) Benedict Cardinal Stuart

Son of James Francis Stuart. Last Jacobite claimant to throne.

1807

With the death of the unmarried Henry, the Jacobite claim for the English and Scottish thrones (or at least the Scottish throne) effectively dies. Although his successors have a technical claim, none of them attempt to enforce it. Next in line to take up the claim is Charles Emanuel IV of Sardinia, a descendant of Charles I of England and Scotland through Henrietta Anne, the latter king's youngest daughter. Henrietta Anne's daughter was Anne Marie of Orleans, and she had married King Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia.

1807 - 1819

Charles IV

Charles Emanuel IV of Sardinia (1796-1802).

1819 - 1824

Victor

Victor Emanuel I of Sardinia (1802-1821).

1824 - 1840

Mary III & II

Daughter of Victor Emanuel. Maria Beatrice of Savoy

Modern Scotland (Alba)
AD 1837 - Present Day

Formed as a union of the kingdoms of Pictland and Dal Riada, modern Scotland forms the northern third or so of Great Britain, covering territory between Berwick-upon-Tweed on the east coast and Gretna on the west coast, and heading northwards into the Highlands. It also includes over seven hundred islands, along with the Northern Isles, the Western Isles, and the Hebrides. Its capital, and the base for Scotland's modern devolved regional parliament, is Edinburgh, a city founded by the Celtic Britons of the Votadini tribe almost two thousand years ago.

The advent of the House of Saxe-Coburg, created as a result of the marriage between Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, could be said to be a starting point for modern Scotland. The period not only ended the reign of the Hanoverians, which had been somewhat contentious in the eyes of the Highlanders, but triggered a wave of innovation and technological progress that created modern Britain as a whole during the Industrial Revolution.

Despite no longer laying a claim to the Scottish throne, the Jacobite successors of the dispossessed 'Bonny' Prince Charlie still have a technical claim made for them by their supporters, and as such these claimants are shown with a shaded background. Reignal numbering for all claimants is shown for Scotland first, followed by England in parenthesis, with numbering continuing from the Stuart period and ignoring any later legitimate monarchs of England and Scotland.

1840

With the death of Maria Beatrice of Savoy, the title of Jacobite Stuart claimant to the English throne passes first to her son, Francis, duke of Modena, and then to her daughter, Maria Theresia of Austria-Este, queen consort of Ludwig III of Bavaria. Thereafter it remains with the Bavarian Wittelsbachs.

1840 - 1875

Francis

Son of Maria Beatrice of Savoy. Duke Francis V of Modena.

1875 - 1919

Mary IV & III

Maria Theresia of Austria-Este, queen consort of Bavaria.

1914 - 1918

Having jointly guaranteed in 1839 to support the neutrality of Belgium, when the country is invaded by Germany, Britain and all its territories and colonies (including Canada), France and Russia are forced to declare war at midnight on 4 August. The First World War lasts for just over four years, until 1918. A ceasefire is agreed with the remnants of the Austro-Hungarian empire by British, French, and Italian forces on 3 November. Germany, now alone, sees its emperor abdicate on 9 November, and an armistice is agreed to come into effect on the eleventh hour of 11 November, signalling the end of the war, although many less widespread wars continue as a result of the upheavals caused by it.

Edinburgh, the capital city of Scotland, is still overlooked by the Castle Rock upon which sits Edinburgh Castle, a fortress which has existed in this form since the sixteenth century

1922

Despite expectations of prosperity in Scotland's industrial heartland, mostly based around the shipbuilding industry, depression hits the economy. Scotland suffers years of stagnation and high unemployment which does not start to ease until the mid-thirties.

1919 - 1955

Robert I & IV

Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria.

1939

The Nazi German invasion of Poland on 1 September is the trigger for the Second World War. With both France and Britain, under Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, pledged to support Poland, both countries have no option but to declare war on 3 September.

1945

Following the end of the war, Scotland suffers badly again from a poor economic condition. Competition from other countries for its traditional manufacturing services is now intense and decline sets in, only to be eased and eventually reversed in the 1990s.

1953

Some elements of Scottish society takes umbrage at one specific detail of the impending coronation of Elizabeth Windsor. As there has never been an Elizabeth I of Scotland, there could hardly be an Elizabeth II now. The rector of the University of Glasgow, John MacCormick launches a legal challenge against Elizabeth's right to use 'the second' in Scotland, but this fails. It is Prime Minister Winston Churchill who comes up with a compromise. Any future monarch of England and Scotland should use the highest numbering applicable in both countries combined, so that a King James would be James VIII (following on from Scotland's James VII) and a Henry would be Henry IX (following on from England's Henry VIII).

1955

Duke Albert (Albrecht) becomes the head of the House of Wittelsbach in Bavaria and is also now the senior member of the House of Stuart. During his lifetime he is considered by modern Jacobites to be the rightful ruler of England, Scotland, and Ireland. Albert himself does not make any claim to the English throne.

1955 - 1996

Albert

Crown Prince Albrecht of Bavaria.

1964

The UK Continental Shelf Act comes into force in May 1964. North Sea oil fields are quickly discovered and exploited, and Aberdeen forms the mainland base for distribution, gaining it the nickname 'Oil Capital of Europe'.

1996 - Present

Francis

Crown Prince Franz of Bavaria.

1999

Devolution gives Scotland back a parliament of its own to handle its internal affairs. The Scottish Parliament operates from Holyrood in Edinburgh in a purpose-built construction which takes four years to complete, opening in 2004.