LIFE OF JOHN KNOX:, The Man Who Made Scotland and made the Presbyterian Church 

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Can you believe we learnt about John Knox in history classes in the 1960s in South Africa? Will definitely visit the museum as soon as tourists are able to do so. Thank you so much!

Historical perspective without yawning, humour instead of pompous poo, character instead of blah blah bland. I LOVE these videos. Midnight in North Ayrshire and I'm an addict to these beautifully crafted wee gems.

Another excellent, concise humourous vid. Scotland's education system was for centuries the envy of the world. Sadly now our kid's can hardly read, write or count. They are no longer taught ' how to think' but 'what to think' and woe betide any who challenge the 'ministry of truth.'

Its nice to see you honoring John Knox the man who started the persecution of Catholics in Scotland which still goes on till this day, well done.

The lighting on the grass in that one sequence is stunning, and then Bruce walks back across it. Cinematic touches like that make Bruce's videos another cut above.

First time listening to Scottish English. Love it.

Allow me to plug Bruce's tour guide skills. Best guide ever! We're coming back, Bruce, and hopefully we'll be seeing you again. Until then, we'll keep watching!

Great video, John Knox had a huge impact on Scotland. Thank you for producing!

Learned more in a week of discovering this channel about my own country than I ever did in school. Almost everything I learned in school was English history with the odd Scottish bit added in as a sidenote

Bruce, another fantastic video. As an accredited preacher in the Presbyterian Church Knox is one of my heros, warts and all. If you look at Knox's relationship with women in private a very different picture of a rather gentle and teder man emerges. I argued that the Scottish Reformation was not just a bottom up reformation, but middle out Reformation. Tyndall's Bible was being smuggled into Scottish ports. Literate lairds were reading his Bible and turning to the new faith. I would argue that the relationship between the lairds and their people played a large part in the Scottish Reformation. These lairds would later form a Protestant parliament. The only issue was that Scotland had a Protestant parliament and a Catholic queen. Knox and parliament sought to build a good and Godly state in Scotland. Mary was always going to be an obstacle to this because she was throwing out bills to pass reformed laws. Later Church and State clashed in a power struggle, the kirk lost its authority to proceed over offences such as witchcraft and there was set of moral reform laws passed to try to reinvigorate the stalled Scottish Reformation. This is my area of study, early modern witchcraft in Scotland. Have you any Scottish witchcraft videos? Five thousand souls were tortured and burned in Scotland when charmers and witches were put to death. Many of these were people clinging on to the prayers and superstitions of the old faith. Yet, this is a part of Scottish history that no one wants to talk about.

I am born and bred on the West Coast of Scotland. Your videos are an important part of my education. Thanks for sharing 👍😊

A Bhrus, Tapadh leibh gu mòr! I'm a little late to the party but this your best video that I have seen yet. In spite of my Scottish heritage my family is primarily "Irish Irish" and yes, you are 100% correct about the lack of support for true democracy there. It's crying over spilled milk now but John Knox's Protestantism was much closer to the "Irish Church" of the dark ages than Roman Catholicism could ever be. Tìoraidh an-dràsta!

Love this, you're great. Thank you for explaining this. I have always wondered why Macdonalds have the catholic cross in our coat of arms and how we became Presbyterian; at least on my side. Interesting.

My family tree actually links back to John Knox, hence why I’m here trying to research him! Interesting video 👏🏽

Just found out I’m Scottish on my mom’s side! I’ve been learning so much from your videos!!!! Thanks for all the amazing content :)

Beautifully done, Bruce, thank you. That must have given you quite a headache in the planning stage!

Hi. Another great video. I wish I could have downloaded your videos and shown them to the pupils when I was teaching history! ATS and stay safe. Nigel

I just started watching your videos and I love them! I’m going to Scotland on vacation for the fourth time soon and new insight always makes travel richer. Thank you!

Howdy Bruce. I’m a Texas Presbyterian who loved my visit to Scotland, took communion at St. Giles, spit on the appropriate spot and visited John Knox home. It was a great experience and my only regret was not seeing this video first because my visit was likely before you made it. I was fascinated by the ceiling beams in his house. Thanks for the background information. It added greatly to my experience. If you get to Texas, stop by for my haggis with chili peppers.

Brilliant-these intriguing stories are told in such a fine manner as to comprise a rich and remarkable historical treasure. Cannot thank you enough for such wonderfully expressive videos.

A history nerd living in Falkirk here and, to be honest, I've never found Scottish history particularly interesting. I've always spent my days leafing through the stories of antiquity or even researching the escapades of the British empire. But finally.... NOW I understand why Scottish history is so interesting. Thanks Bruce! I've only just found your channell but you've invigorated my desire to live the history in the country in which I live. Thank you

Cheers big yin learning more now than I ever was taught aboot my own country foward the 42 😁🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Great video man, I visited Scotland a couple years ago and seeing those streets is making me want to return lol

This is a great video Bruce. It’s amazing what I learn from you in just a matter of minutes. It’s like a shot of history espresso. Love it!! Thank you!!!

You have a magnificent way with words, thank you so much

Thank you so much, Bruce! I’m taking you up on your invitation. Hubby and I are visiting Scotland in June (2022), Edinburgh first. Thanks for the interesting history lessons!

Always very interesting, Bruce. Love this channel!❤️

It's a wonderful Video.. Loved it! Sharing as much as possible!

Love these Videos you are entertaining and informative keep up the great work

The insistence on schools was the greatest thing he did for the people of Scotland

i just found this channel and i am really enjoying learning more about the history of Scotland Thank you for your efforts

Another great video Bruce. I've just recently discovered your videos and I'm glad I did. I visited Geneva a good few years ago now and was wandering through a park there, when I came across this big memorial to Martin Luther, John Calvin and John Knox. I often wondered to myself how a statue of John Knox ended up in Geneva. Now I know. keep up the good work.

You are a great storyteller. Great video once again!

Love all you do telling the history of Scottish is amazing , and about

I loved the context and nuanced points of view you give in your videos. Thanks for great content.

Yes, I promise to come and see John Knox's house in person! Thanks for all the great videos! 👍😎🇨🇦

I learnt so much! I mostly grew up in Scotland and walked passed his house so often. Only knew folk song history about him though. Yew Tree, Battlefield Band etc. Thanks Bruce. Love hearing my native accent and humour again :)

Very interesting, helps me understand more of the family and it's values that I grew up in.

Particularly good this one. Thistle Do Nicely made me giggle.

You make very good videos, In my school in Aberdeen we were never taught history such as this.

Love the work you do and would like to see some history of pipers and the role they played in Scotland.

As a Presbyterian Minister in SA I'd like to thank you for one of the best documentaries I've ever watched on John Knox. Hanx Bruce

Another interesting video Bruce, it seems that you have many such like videos so I'll keep looking at them, you're educating me about Scotland. Cheers.

“Whisky & Wine” A shop truly after my heart. Or, palate!

I love that you pause in front of the "Scottish Storytelling Centre"!

Sweet, that, pal! Thanks for the tour and history!

I always learn something new even when I've heard about the topic before. 🏆

Entertaining, Informing, and very well presented..This guy is great..

I'm a last generation Presbyterian in my family. Part of my family originally came from Scotland and as a result were Scottish Presbyterians

I'm coming to visit in October 2022!!! Thank you!!

As Reformed Presbyterian studying my churches' roots (and inadvertently my nation's) history, I appreciate your reasonable, well-balanced, and fact-based presentation of history.

Great video, thanks very much!

great stuff as always from Bruce.......one thing is certain: whatever Knox was, he was the seed that sprouted into an anti-Scottish movement among many Scots. This ultimately led to Scotland losing her freedom. there is no argument about this - even Knox's admirers will concede this. Organising the law to proscribe the ancient faith and allying themselves with the English, Knox and his followers could well be regarded as traitors. Its a pity that reformation led to the selling of our country to a foreign power.

again shared another great story!

Excellant historical lectures, most enjoyable

Bruce, I’ve often said that the life of John Knox would make a better movie than the Avengers! Thanks for sharing this story! By the way, I’m a retired Presbyterian minister, so I am a bit biased. ;-)

Wow, Knox was proactive. Look at that fire exit sign! I might though have expected it to say "SALVATION". 😁

Truly brilliant, Learned so much. Various Scots gave me Various accounts over my life. John Knox, diamond geezer!!

I grew up attending a Presbyterian church, so when Mom came to visit us in Scotland, this was rhe first place Mom wanted to go. It's been a longer time than I want to admit now, but it was so cool seeing it. I sang in the choir on the small military base at which my husband was starioned at the time...I'd joimed it right away since I loved singing. They did a musical called "The Witness," & I learned 6the music the first time through. I'd heard many of the individual songs, & I always found music & parts singing easy to learn compared to others. So we hadn't been in Scotland very long when I found myself in a van being driven to Edinburgh to sing "The Witness" in St. Giles Cathedral. I'm pretty sure my husband & I had been in Scotlamd less than a week. We had a cuppa, then were taken on a brief tour. I wanted a longer tour, and Mom's visit was my chance to see more & to show Mom & my husband (who hadn't been able to attend the trip the choir took to St. Giles). When I was a kid, the Presbyterian church I grew up attending had more than its share of what many Americans derisively call "Church Ladies." These are the self-appointed moral guardians of everyone (themselves excepted, of course) from the minister to the unborn babies (& esp. the unborn babies of those who "got the cart before the horse"). I grew up in the 50s & 60s, & my parents divorced...this made us pariahs. The "church ladies" (who, btw, exist in some form in every church I've attended, even those on military bases that have, shall we say, a more fluid population) at that church started in on me for "driving my father away," though both parents hadtold me I did nothing to cause their split, so I was a bit fire-proofed. What they called my Mom was far worse, & looking back now, I can understand them a little better. Mom was curvy, tall, carried herself well, had been schoolmates with many of the women's husbands, was at ease around both male & female friends, & I believe they were jealous, insanely so. Never mind she was still grieving the divorce despite its necessity & wasn't interested in long chats with someone else's spouse, they were convinced they had to stop her before they were all divorced as their husbands fought over my Mom...something one of the non-Church Lady types confirmed for me later when, at 16, I was spending my Saturdays consulting references about the religions of the world. Looking to see if they really all led to God like the hippies claimed, & if there were any that took in refugees from church ladies but didn't have their own. Short answer: No. Every religion seems to have some form of "church lady." I put the research aside, continued being a "good girl," being called evil anyway, & wondering why those people even went to church when they didn't do what the Bible said, when their elder-of-the-church husbands didn't do what the Bible said (esp about ruling their household & not speaking up to stop their wives gossipping, esp about a child). As I watched, I saw that the Bible was being ignored for the most part in the entire life of the church, & even the mission field wasn't driven by the desire to share Jesus, but to set up a way to westernize the missions field (though I imagine there were real missionaries out amongst the Presbyterian missions, it aeemed to me that they were discouraged from sharing Jesus). I knew from history that John Knox was firm in his beliefs, something I was certain he'd have not only done himself, but would have encouraged others to do. Yet, the booklet I had gotten for Communicants class had the latest (at the time) Westminster Confession, & it was, I believed, too watered down for John Knox to have written a word of it. I discovered the bioklet indeed did have the original Westminster confession in it. By the time I discovered that, I finally had learned what the sacrifice of Jesus - & His resurrection - meant for me personally, & had been reborn in my faith. I went back & read the new, then the original, Westminster Confession. I showed it to Mom & said, "I have one question for the Presbyterian church: how did we get from the original, strong-in-the-faith, Bible based original Westminster Confession to this abomination of activism that will do nothing, in the end, to change lives the way John Knox did, & wanted the Presbyterian Church to follow. Let's just say that the church I attended was ahead of its time in being Social Justice Warriors - for anyone far from those in the community at their feet that needed love, understanding, help to see a path forward through grief & loneliness, from loss, & more. I believe if you opened John Knox's grave, you'd find nothing but ashess because the birlin' he'd be doing over the denomination he founded largely pushing spiritual things aside for SJW activities. I think he's been birlin' there for so long, & been birlin' so fast, that nothing but ashes would be left. All any Presbyterian needs to do is read the original Westminster Confession if they want to see Knox's heart for God & for those outside God's family. I'm no Knox scholar, but I do have a bit of evidence in studying him back when American schools taught the history of the Reformation and the impact, good & bad, that it had on the progress of history. Then there was the more in-depth studies from Communicants. Class & from a program the schools had. where every Wednesday, they gave everyone a long lunch break & the kids could opt to attend religious education ckasses, Protestant, Catholoic (Roman & Orthodox), & Jewish. Every denomination of Pritestantism was explored, all their founders, like the Wesley brothers for the Methodists as one example. And it was in the year I had classes in the Mwthodist church that I met my first real Christian. Sad, isn't it? I was 8 & had never met someone who believed the Bible before (when I got my faith sorted, she was the first person I told after telling my best friend's mom, & my best friends were 5 guys I'd met courtesy of my first case of puppy love...but I was closer to him. We did fall in love & marry, 48.5 years ago, & still in love & best friends. His mom, whom I'd first met when he took us all to swim in the nearby river, was a sweetheart & mothered me from the start...the 3rd real Christian I'd met, the 2nd being her son...my husband, whose blue eyes showed Jesus in his life as his actions followed. I fell for him indirectly at first, necause what I really fell for was seeing Jesus in his heart through his eyes. Now, O don't exoect eberyone will believe the things I do, but I believe it was an interesting contrast between what Knox intended for the denomonation he founded on the Bible as the inerrant Word of God, to a group of SJWs who keep their jistice for people fa from them but ignore the missions field at their feet. And I did try to point the way, fortunately, the female minister at that church has done what Jesus would want & what Knox would say was her job: see to the missions field at uour feet first. Don't ignore the wider world, but start with what you can fix now. I hope others follow her example...& I know seminaries for mainline Protestant denominations are stealing the faith of their students because I've heard some of them talking about their faith's destruction & wondering if they should quit. I tell them ignore the devil's voice & read the Bible; pray & ask God for help. In Knox's day, seminaries built faith...now, they destroy it. Sad. Like I said, the friction from the birlin' wouldn'tleave a skeleton intact.

Wonderful metaphor on catalyst

And, another FINE History lesson!!! 🤙🏼🤙🏼🤙🏼🥃🍷🥃

Just found your Chanel and will be keeping track🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

So strange seeing John Knox house again. I worked as a museum assistant there when I was 19 and because I’m a history buff I really enjoyed it. I would encourage all interested to have a look but please don’t expect a house all set out as he used to live in it ( well not when I worked there ) but lovely painted ceilings and certainly an interesting walk through 🙂

Thanks a bunch, John.

I am a Scott who lives in Australia and I am only learning now my actual history,thank you

brilliant yet again.. Thank u

Thank you so much for the information in this video. I did have to look up what neeps and tatties are.

Great man to whom we are all indebted

What an interesting and insightful lesson.

Brilliant stuff. You should be on TV. I wish we had someone as natural and enthusiastic about English history. Keep up the good work!

BRAVO, BRUCE !!

Another awesome video.

Moths and Butterflies are both insects of the order Lepidoptera. I believe that butterflies tend to live in warmer, wetter climates while moths live in drier and colder climates. Much love and appreciation from California!

Thanks!

Brilliant once again Bruce..

Thank you very much for this absolutely great video! I hope I will be ale to visit Scottland from the very far away Chile! And I will give you a call for a guide!

I’m a Johnston. Can you do a video on the lowland clans? 🙏🏻😁 You’re awesome!

Butterflies and moths belong to the same group of flying insects called Lepidoptera, translating as ‘scale wings’ in Greek. Butterflies are considered to have evolved from moths, originally existing as the diurnal - or daytime - equivalent of moths. The colourful butterflies we see evolved much later after flowering plants came into existence.

That's more about John Knox's life than I ever knew, and it was definitely a roller coaster ride. But it didn't necessarily make me a John Knox fan overnight. I come from Scots-Irish stock that ended up in North Carolina, where the fire-and-brimstone Presbyterians later flocked to the Baptist church in these Appalachians hills... bringing their dour fanaticism with them. My forebears were almost entirely Presbyterian... then suddenly Southern Baptist a generation or two later. Catholic, Protestant, Presbyterian, Baptist, whatever - a pox on all their houses! All these wars of religion (both actual and metaphorical) seem to me just steps on a long road to tolerance and freedom without religion. Different flavors of the same drink, so to speak. But I do hope Knox was good for Scotland overall. And thank you for your excellent and thought-provoking videos!

Brilliant 🇨🇦

John Knox was an ancestor of mine

very interesting - what a man

Nice job, Bruce.

Great video! Love it!

There is a book , Cardinal of Scotland: David Beaton. Which gives a very good into Beatons life and his much ignored patriotism. His struggle to keep Scotland Catholic and free from English rule is often forgotten or ignored due to the gate keepers of Scottish History of days gone by.

Your Good San ! Great Information

You are such a great storyteller! If I ever make my way to Scotland, I'll be sure to take one of your tours.

At 10:28 you say that James VI was baptised by John Knox. But both of James's parents were catholics and he had been baptised into the Catholic church. He certainly was brought up as a protestant, but I don't think Knox had anything directly to do with that. It was mainly due to George Buchanan who was his tutor.

Loved this!

oh perfect. I am Christian but sometimes my fellow brothers and sisters get too carried away trying to over spiritualize every thing in my opinion, when all I want is the simply history of a person! And then I can go deeper in the spiritual part of it if I so choose. Fascinating!

That's a fine video, thank you

My grandmother's (on my Dad's side) maiden name was Swingly as in Zwingly, the Swiss reformer. I should get my DNA done to check for that Swiss stuff. Thanks as always for the info and inspiration. 🎶😎🎶

I love listening to you. Thank you. I will come and visit only on the condition I don't have to eat haggis, traditional or otherwise.

Gone yersel big man👍🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

At last a sympathetic view on the much reviled John Knox, well done sir

Brilliant.

Thank you for this educational video! You gave me new interest in John Knox. I grew up in the United States. My family religion was what we would call high church Episcopalian(Anglican), “Anglo Catholic”

Its kind of strange to think all the history that is overlooked in our schools when i was at school i was taught more English history and British English history rather than Scottish history and Scotland in the empire kinda sad to think oh well up to us to change that i guess great video as always

John Knox is the father of balcony rail laws (after watching so many children fall to their death in Geneva)....strange but true. His son son-in-law John Welsh of Ayr had a dream of three travelers coming to a city he was in and they were unknowingly sick with the plague. He was so shook up by the dream he described the three men in full detail and then sent sentries out on the roads to force any men fitting the description back. On one road the sentries encountered three men coming that fit the description perfectly. After some bickering the three men turned and went to another town. That town broke out with the plague. John's daughter, Helen, and her husband, Rev. Alexander Witherspoon went to Knockbreda in Ulster, and their children went to the Black Swamp of South Carolina (Kings Tree / Sumter). Their offspring fought in the American Revolution with Francis Marion the Swamp Fox (the person the movie The Patriot was based off of). Most of their grief came from the Crown and the Tories, not from the natives.