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.
St. ____________ – Patron Saint of England
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 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.
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.
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.
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 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.
This comes from the coat of arms of
William I of Scotland. One of his
nicknames was William the Lion.
a
This is the traditional heraldic symbol of
Scotland. It is chained up because these
animals were thought to be so dangerous.
g
This is the traditional heraldic symbol of
England.
b
c
f
d
e
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 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
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.
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.
Hatch the map above using
different strokes to show who
ruled what.
Athelstan’s land
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.
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?
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4. How did Mel Gibson make William Wallace look like a very
Scottish hero?
1297 1305AD
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.
B.He’s
holding a
weapon
A. There are
lots of people
behind him
C. He is
wearing blue
war paint
F. He is
walking with
his head held
high.
E
D. He is in
the middle of
the picture
E. There are
lots of
English
soldiers
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.
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)
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!
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?
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6a. Why do people in Ireland still care about the Battle of the
Boyne?
1690 AD
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.
I was king until
1688 when there
was a revolution
against me.
James II
My supporters
were called
Williamites.
My supporters
were called
Jacobites.
(Jacobus is Latin
for James).
I won the Battle
of the Boyne.
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.
William III
I lost the Battle
of the Boyne.
6b. Why do people in Ireland still care about 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 Protestant, I think that it is important to
celebrate the fact that Britain has a Protestant
monarch. If William had lost the Battle of the
Boyne, then all of the Kings and Queens
afterwards would have been Catholic.
I also believe that Ireland, at least Northern
Ireland, should always be part of Great Britain.
People who share this view are called Unionists
because they want Ireland to stay united with
the rest of Great Britain. The Battle of the
Boyne was a time when the rightful British
monarch defended his crown against an
imposter.
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
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7. Why did the Jacobites lose the Battle of Culloden?
Charles Edward Stuart (“Bonnie Prince
Charlie”) leader of the Jacobite rebellion
and his fearsome Highland troops.
1745 1746 AD
The Duke of Cumberland, leader of the
government forces and his well-trained
‘Red Coat’ army.
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 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.
8. Why did the Jacobites lose the Battle of Culloden?
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 welltrained 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:
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Bad luck for the Jacobites:
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A problem with the Jacobite army:
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A strength of the government army:
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EXTENSION: Why not play the rather excellent Jacobites: The 1745 Rebellion game at
http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/education/as/jacobites/index.shtml?
9. What can I learn about the Irish Potato Famine?
1845 1850 AD
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).
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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