How Scottish Was William Wallace? 

Well im an Irishman and everytime I watch your video's I see an Historian , a great Historian who gives facts , tells about legends and stories , all in a very informative and entertaining way. You may touch on Irish History at times but for me I love History, no matter where and who the history is about. So from Ireland 🇮🇪🇮🇪🇮🇪 , I thank you for all your hard work going into the video's you post. It is much appreciated 👏👏👏👏👏👏

I love how complex family and ancestry can be. I was born in New Zealand, lived most of my adult life in Australia, and now live in Norway. My ancestry is English, Irish, German, and Australian Aboriginal. And through marriage my family now incudes Māori, Cubans, Icelanders, and Norwegians. It’s a wonderful and complicated world 😊

How dare people try to insult you like that. I am Scottish my son's were born here in Australia and their father is Australian but to me and them they're Scottish Australians. Thanks to you Bruce I have been able to educate them with things about Scotland that I didn't know. THANK YOU 👍🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇳🇿

This man is a Scottish treasure

Yet another excellent video Bruce and such a fascinating topic. You must be able to think yourself around a corkscrew to make any sense out of medieval genealogy. How you don't end up tied in knots is beyond me. Well done sir, you're fantastic at what you do and your videos are absolute gold dust to those of us with a thirst for knowledge about our history. Looking forward to your next offering 👍👍

Bruce, I salute you for this. I really do. There's no doubt, you are on the right team 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Your point about Wallace's French is a good one, and quite clear to anyone who has lived in Louisiana. There are two completely distinct dialects of French spoken there. One group of French speakers speaks the French that comes from the French settlers who moved there in the 1600s, and sounds somewhat similar to Continental French. Pretty French, eh? The other group is the Cajuns, and Cajun French is a warmer sounding language, reminding one of French spoken with a thick Gaelic brogue. The Cajuns came from Brittany, via Acadia in Canada. BOTH groups of French speaking people regard themselves as Louisianans and Americans, though they also feel culturally distinct from one another. So it's quite possible to have people of two different racial groups with a linguistically different background living side by side and regarding themselves as the same and different from each other at the same time. It happens in several places around the United States. Thank you for this video. I learned an immense amount about the origins of William Wallace from it.

Yet another great video Bruce, I'm English, born in Ashington Northumberland, so disputed territory lol. I have been living in the Highlands for 48 of my 51 years, my wife is Scottish my bairns are Scottish and I consider mysef British. I feel we are all united on here because we all love history.

Great video. I am a Wallace, I love scottish history and your videos are so full of factual information. Keep up the good work

To make things even more confusing, the Bretons originally settled in France after moving there from southern Britain at the same time as the Anglo-Saxons were moving in, which means that the Breton knights who joined in with William the Conqueror's invasion were arguably moving back to their ancestral homeland. Our modern understanding of nationality would probably be as confusing to people hundreds of years ago as theirs is to us.

Cheers Bruce! Another fantastic video! William Wallace was Scottish because that's who he picked up a sword for and who he died for and that's all that really counts in the end.

I am a descendent of William’s brother, John, and I’m finding this video quite fascinating! Thanks for the time and research you put in; you’ve got a new subscriber in me!

Thank you for the subtitles! As someone with ADHD I use subtitles on everything as it increases my understanding of the content. Your voice in particular is a pleasure to listen to. 😊

Another super video Bruce. I just love how you manage to "get it right up them" with nothing more than the facts. I have to say the effort you are obviously putting in planning and then editing these must be quite strenuous and is really paying off. Keep up the good work!

Excellently done Bruce. Loved the punchline at the end.

Your videos are such a great combination of witty comedy, fascinating history and wholesome goodness. I don't watch as much as I used to, but I am never disappointed anytime I see your content. Thank you for doing what you do ✊

My grandson has heritage from his father, who has black skin, and from me, white skin Scottish American. I teach him that his connections to Scotland are just as important as his connections through his father. A person is NeveR defined by skin color, not ever.

This is fascinating. Thanks, Bruce. The scenery is tremendous, too.

Loving your videos. I am not surprised to hear that you were a teacher, you are a natural. Being descended from Robert the Bruce ( I even look like him), I already knew he was Norman so it’s fascinating to learn more details about our real history. Thank you.

Well, I am English - that is where I was born, my mother was well Scot - and after years in France and the US, my home is Edinburgh and I won't move again. I love Scotland and the people. A long and complicated history, and now a caring society. Keep 'em coming, Bruce.

My mother was born in Llanelli in 1923 and didn’t speak English until she was forced to speak it in school. She told me how the Breton onion sellers (not cheese, sir!) would speak Breton to the Welsh and the Welsh could understand them (and vice versa). It sounds a bit like the way Swedes and Norwegians communicate today.

You should make the snippet about 'Britain, Brittany, the Britons and Bretons' into a short, Bruce, I reckon it's got the qualities to shine like a corona, if you get my drift.

Thanks, Bruce. Your heart is where it should be. ❤

God, you've got it down to a science. You're absolutely right, he had to be from Brittony. He was the man in the middle for the Norman hierarchy. Loved this one. Well done.

Good morning from America. Fine story this morning Bruce my friend, well conceived and we'll conveyed. Have a great October!

Loved this, had to watch it twice to get my head around it. My Dad is Welsh, my Mum was Scots and I'm born in England and live on Lewis in the Outer Hebrides. I class myself as... Me ya barm pot lol. I work with a Hebridean and a Glaswegian and I have to translate! 🤣 Get back up here soon big yin, I missed you last time. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏝️💙

Another great video. I really enjoy how you always put a bit of humour in with all that history. Keep up the great work 👍 👏 Much love from south of the border in Gloucester 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 ❤️ 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

I love how you simplify such a complicated topic! You need to tell your viewers that Wallace never wore a kilt!

Such wonderful and rich history, all told in such a wonderful Scottish brogue it just feels so much more real than most history videos. Fantastic!

Great video about William Wallace. I think that he was not as rustic as portraid in Braveheart. He went to school with monks so Latin was a must. Norman French was spoken by the ruling Edward I and his gang. As they occupied Scotland at that time it stands to reason that Wallace spoke French too. Plus gaelic of course. The connection with Fitzalan I didn't know. Really very well explained all those intricate connections. Thanks for another grand video.

Bruce; I come from an old Reiver family from the south shore of Solway firth outside Carlysle. My mother was lowland Scot. You are, without doubt, a Scot, and a f**kin' national treasure. Carry on, Sir !

Hey Bruce!! That was beautifully and eloquently explained - for both William's and your ancestries!! 😊👍

I cannot ever comment on a political topic when it comes to Scotland...still trying to figure it out. I love your history videos. Labeling people is ignorant. I love that you mentioned that here. Wallace is Scottish...doesn't matter where his ancestors came from. It doesn't matter that my ancestors were from England, Scotland and Ireland...I am American.

Tugarez vraz! (Thank you in Breton.) As a former history teacher in France (regional Lorraine and European) and direct descendant of Walter FitzAlan through the "French" Stewarts, I truly appreciated this video (and all the others - which I am currently binge-watching!) The extent of your research and knowledge is outstanding and I appreciate your presentation and worldview. It's really important to bring in the little-known or (ahem) overlooked details about history. Looking forward to what you will surprise us with next!

Fascinating! There is so much nuance in history that I think it is hard for average people to remember, so they look for shortcuts...thus the pass down of incomplete knowledge. Thank you for explaining the naunce!

Bruce, as an American of Scot, French, English, German, and possibly Native American ancestry, I love your videos and appreciate your time and effort producing them. Carry on, and God bless, Rob

Great video... I'm Scottish but have a northern Irish family line as well as from the Stewarts on my mother's side, though my grampa would say its more the tinker Stewarts with a chuckle 😃 people get too hung up on nationalism and religion it hurts my teeth. Being brought up Presbyterian and marring a catholic, I'm sure it would turn some peoples stomachs but I enjoy being Scottish / British and just a good human being. Bruce, super enjoy your videos and only wish my history teacher was as inspiring. Please keep up your good work and thank you

Aye Bruce, that was brilliant, you certainly do dig up some very interesting information..👍

Bruce, I'm a recent subscriber and enjoying your videos thoroughly. I am a Texan, descended from Scot ancestors who came to Pennsylvania from Scotland. Your DNA discussions are most interesting to me, as I have been studying my genetic roots with DNA. Most DNA discussions are related to autosomal DNA, such as the tests you and your family recently, estimate percentages of origin/ethnicity. These are just estimates, based upon self reporting of previous testers. That is why you see the same person getting different results when submitting tests with more than one testing company. One thing I might suggest, is to do a Y-DNA test to research your male line. Since you know your paternal line is from Ghana, you will almost certainly find your Y-DNA haplogroup is E, as is mine, which is considered sub-Saharan African. My male line goes back to Egypt, and came up through Italy, NE France, and then to Scotland. My Ramsay surname appears to have been fairly continuous back to the 12th century with Simundus de Ramseia, and possibly even earlier. The only testing company I know of doing Y-DNA is Family Tree DNA. Your paternal line might be another interesting video topic. How did E haplogroups get to Scotland, when most are R or I?

Thanks! Another great story Bruce cheers

Loved it. Hoping to catch up for a pint when I get home to Scotland.

I'm Indigenous Canadian and sometimes we are made to feel like foreigners in the land of our ancestors. We are Turtle Island. From my Moms stories I also carry Scottish and Italian blood in my veins. All and all, we're all humans throughout Mother Earth. Remember to be gentle with your words.

Greatgrands born and raised in Eyemouth Scotland. Moved to Alaska. Now, I'm so excited I discovered your page quite a while back, I adore you and LOVE to listen to you! I'm on the correct side of history here in 'merica 😉. (Haven't gotten covid yet, must be all my vacs!) And I certainly don't want to see negative politics here. You crack me up! Love your sense of humor. I'm going to continue to admire and adore you! 🎉❤

I wish you were my kids teacher, mine too! Genuinely find you captivating, your enthusiasm for history mixed with good humour is first class sir, first class.

Heck I'm a week behind how did I miss this little gem.? Nice one Bruce.

A'reyt Bruce. Ignoring those who say Welsh means weird, this reminded me of my cousins moving north of the border and getting Scottish accents. They did not suddenly stop supporting Yorkshire. Nor would my friend who has James Stewart as his first two names. We were a bit suspicious of the cousins who went over to the dark side by moving near Burnley though. As my friend James might say, "Whatever cap fits, Alan".

You are simply a joy to listen to! I recently found out, to my amazement, that I am mostly Scottish and Northwestern European. A lovely gentleman reached out to me after I got my results from Ancestry, who is Scottish and had information that connects me to the Stewart Clan. It’s just so overwhelming, really. So yours are the first videos I pulled up on the Stewart’s. You are a wonderfully entertaining host with obviously a passion for history. Just wanted to say thank you!! I hope you continue! Please! Blessings from Virginia, USA!

The way a scotsman says William Wallace is almost poetic

Another great video! Thanks, Bruce!!!

Turned on subtitles after you had mentioned it Bruce (Dundonian here, so nae bather), and apparently Wallace spoke 'garlic' 😂

Thanks brother. You make me proud of my ancestors. I think there's still a Munroe castle over there still. All the best.

I think we are all some form of mongrel historically. I like to think that I am pure Welsh, but is almost certainly not the case if you dig enough. Absolutely loving the thought provoking discussion and presentation. Also enjoying educating others. Keep evangelising. Excellent channel.

Now that we have cleared that up! 🤣🤣🤣👍. You are amazing and you make history exciting . Love ya! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿👍♥️

Brilliant thanks for this 👍

Brilliant again Bruce. Very interesting

Good stuff, keep it up. Anglo-Scots history is complex - and fascinating.

Love your work. Great video as always. Thank you.

After doing architectural photography of Scottish historic buildings I started to research Wallace and being based in Ayrshire came across Elerlslie outside Kilmarnock on ancient maps funnily not far from where I stay (Perceton) and discovered as time went on that it was getting complicated with so many contradictions from the run of the mill information out there. After six months and upsetting the people from various historical groups I’ve just left it alone and come to the conclusion that he was a complicated man and most of the info out there is poetic license (being kind) I was lucky to have been given copies of ancient maps and documents ancient seals from France which helped 😅

Awesome information about Scotland.

It is good to listen to a historian discussing the differences between the past that was and the past we imagine.

My last name is Wallace, and I’m an American living in Tennessee. I discovered your channel today, this is the 3rd video I’ve watched. I find it very insightful, and I get your humor. I learned of “Braveheart” before Mel Gibson’s movie, and have been interested in the true history for over 30 years now. I really enjoyed this video, thank you for sharing this!

The Best part of my Saturday 🥰 thank you Bruce 😊

Dearest Bruce; I have learned a whole lot of knowledge from you about "all things Scot" and appreciate it very much here in America. I haven't been taught your language even though my ancestors were from Aberdeen... Would you please translate the words that you say at the end of your stories into English so I know what you are saying. No matter what it is, it sounds beautiful. Thank you in advance. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇺🇲♥️☮️

I was born in London but grew up in Scotland till I was 9. I'm also half Austrian through my birth mother. Most of my family is Scottish though many live in Australia now and my niece is half Italian. I have lived in England for most of my life but I identify with Scotland. Its a place where my heart lies

My dad was Gunn clan ( not sure what that means) He spoke of Wallace with great pride and respect love your stories Tina

Whoever he was is, he and always will be scottish ☺ love the video

Im a Jessiman,linked to clan gordon...supporters and fighters both...proud but last of my line.

Another great video. Your point about being both Scot and Ghanaian by birth/family lineage is something most Americans understand completely as everyone here has family ties to somewhere else and yet we are still Americans.

Love your channel!🙋🏻‍♀️NW GA

Bruce are you suggesting that Hollywood got historical fact wrong? I'm shocked (read with much sarcasm)

13.25 mins of my day well spent. Congratulations on another cracking video!

Bruce, love the videos; another great episode. And looking forward to seeing you hit the big screen when The Lost King hits the cinemas next weekend.👍🏻

My favourite channel on RU-vid, even with the bad dad jokes 😂😂😂 from a fellow proud Scot ❤️❤️

History is definitely complex to say the least. I love your videos. I watched the Hollywood movie that took liberties on Wallace. It strikes an interest in that era but do I ever think a movie is actually factual? No I don't. I'm digging into my own history that is in Aberdeen and Dunnottar Castle I discovered that Wallace didn't exactly like my clan 🤣🤣🤣😇. So if someone's really Scottish or not doesn't have a lot to do with anything. I'm always interested in present-day people thinking people 700 years ago didn't speak more than one language! You're surrounded by clans, countries all that have their own way of doing things and their own communication styles and dialects or languages why wouldn't if you spoken in French just right across but channel right! However I will never tire of learning more about history.

Great video. 'Clarity' on Wallace history, and a lovely bit of snark. :) I enjoy your sense of humor.

I know you must know that not all Rangers supporters are pro-Unionist.

Another really good one from Bruce. He concludes that Wallace was Scottish because of what he did in the Wars of Independence. This is the perennial confusion of modern Scots in our understanding of ourselves. The whole concept of political and national identity was just different then from what it is now. Wallace supported the Scottish crown? Yes, and he supported the Balliol dynasty, not the Bruce one. Andrew Murray the leader at Stirling Bridge was also a Balliol man, from the north-east....lands which Bruce later put to the sword. This was not about 'Scotland', was about the dynastic struggles and power-proffering for the Scottish crown and kingdom, by a feudal elite in a feudal, regional society build by fealty. The abstract things we call nations come much later. It was a feudal, not the 'national' order that some folks are obsessed with today. These dynasties and their oligarchic lords and knights, who owed them military service, ruled speaking Anglo-Norman (the default language of the aristocracy, like Wallace) but also Old Welsh (Britonic), Inglis (which became Scots), English, Gaelic and Norse, as Bruce nicely exemplified in the video. The meaning of this period is that it is one of a series of typically civil-war like episodes (others of which we conveniently forget) that helped develop what was to become a pan-Scottish identity. They do not have any lessons for the modern day Nationalist other than romantic blind nostalgia, but blind nostalgia is I admit, a strong motivator. The Unionist point is that those days of dynastic struggle under the classic rules of Norman military behaviour were less than a national cause, they were a feudal war for power, dressed in the complex colours of shifting adopted feudal and regional identites. There were, as Bruce describes many 'British' dimensions: David the First's was a very 'British' story, Wallace's Britonic origins (or adopted origins), Bruce's strong land holding links in the south if England etc. etc. One more thing . One well-known Scottish historian of the Wars of Independence, told me about a primary document which has an outlaw called Wallace helping the English soldiers of Edward 1's occupation by robbing and slaying. It could be the same Wallace. Maybe not, but really all Wallace did was throw his lot in with the Balliols, the rightful Kings of Scotland by feudal convention, which was primarily a politically astute move in the feudal order of things for an ambitious second son, join Andrew Murray at Stirling Bridge, won, and then, with Murry dead, was left out to dry by Bruce and most others of the feudal establishment, to then be made an example of by Edward. One interpretation is that Edward made a meal of Wallace to deflect blame from his Scottish peers so he could woe them further to his plans to dominate the Scottish throne. Also that Wallace was used by the Scottish feudal establishment as a 'fall-guy' for hedging their bets on what to do with Edward. They might or might not have run with Edward, many did. To say Wallace was fighting some abstract cause of national freedom is just bollocks, there was no such abstract concept then. It's even bigger bollocks to fantasise that he was fighting some abstract personal freedom for Scots...folks, that came with the Reformation and the Enlightenment, not Wallace, and least of all Bruce who was a feudal oligarch. The Scotland we know came later. Anyone who is really concerned with our national integrity should say bollocks to Braveheart and to Blind Harry's fiction. PS. Sorry for all the "bollocks", so to speak! :-)

Another great wee video Bruce, very interesting as always 👍🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

It's Unbelievable to me how anybody could be Racist here, Wtf.. Jealousy of talent and natural Charisma I reckon.....Fuck em Bruce ,! We love your stuff,any fool can see that you are ...100% Ahh reet 👌🙂

Always fascinating 👍

Excellent rational explanation of a complex history. As a Martin from Ayrshire I’m intrigued. Thanks Bruce

Very informative, as always

Thank you for another very interesting and informative video. 😊

My Grandfather Was Robert Wallace from Lanarkshire so super interesting, Thanks

Love watching this guy, more info than an encyclopedia

Always love your view of the world today and it's relationship to the past. Thanks again Bruce!

I was first introduced to William Wallace through the book, "The Scottish Chiefs".

I knew it! As soon as I saw you I had a feeling you were like me in a sense. I'm creole and my family speaks a very thick Cajun French that I can't understand most of the time, but it warms my soul when they speak. Similar to you and your family in buchan speaking English. It's nice to know there's people out there with similar complex backgrounds. Just found your channel by the way, and I'm loving it so far! Gonna bindge all of your videos 😂

Another excellent video, you don't miss.

Thanks for the end depths of this part of Scotland history that I didn't know about. Love it

I am going to visit Scotland. Your videos has helped me have a better understanding the history of your beautiful country. Thanks Bruce Cheers from Singapore.

Another excellent video Bruce . Cheers 🍻 from Brisbane 🇦🇺.

The Normans - from Normandy in Northern France - were originally Vikings. They adopted the French language.

Well spoken Bruce. Cmplicated or what but brilliant food for thought!

A brilliant video. Educational and funny, what more can you ask.

Thanks again Bruce, love your stuff. Time you were on STV.or BBC Scotland.

Just to complicate things, Fitzalan would indicate shared Breton/Alan descent. The Alans were a tribe from the Causcaus (modern day Ossetia) that got caught up in the mass movement of peoples around the end of the Western Roman Empire & who eventually settled around the Loire valley next to Britanny.

Englishman here. My family have Lived on the Thames since at least 1600’s as far as can be traced. I’m surrounded by people from all over. The ones who have the best claim to Englishness are those who fought for England, believed in the idea of a nation of the English speakers on this island. I see no reason why Wallace , who fits this mould completely, is anything other than a Scot.

Love your videos. It does amuse me, how things that happened hundreds of years ago, to some, have relevance in a political argument today.

Love the intro. I learned most of what I know from the docu-series Still Game.