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Scotstoun is a district of Glasgow, to the west of Glasgow City Centre. It is bounded by Yoker to the west, Whiteinch to
the east, Jordanhill to the north and the River Clyde to the south.
The areas bounding Scotstoun and beyond (Knightswood, Jordanhill, Temple) were originally lands gifted to the Crusader
Knights of St. John and the Knights Templar in the 12th century. The names of the district themselves are clearly Templar-referencing.
Further evidence to this can be seen in the street names of these districts: Athelstane Road, Talisman Road, Kestrel Road,
etc. — all names from Sir Walter Scott’s Tales of the Crusaders.
By way of digression, significant amount of
confusion surrounds the origins of the name 'Anniesland' — local residents believe it to relate to an unknown Mary who was
the superior of the land in that area during the early years, however this is at best apocryphal. Others, such as the
famous Glasgow historian, Jack House, propose that the name is a corruption of "annual land" — the
Knights Templar having rented a hospice on the land from the feudal superiors on an annual basis. The truth may lie somewhere
in between these theories: it is known that a hospice did indeed exist in the area. The Gaelic words for 'destitute' and
'infirm' are annis and anfham respectively — joining either affix with the root land creates
the phonetic Annies-land.
The first historically-documented event to take place in the area to be known as Scotstoun occurred during the middle of
the 12th century. Somerled ('summer raider' in Old Norse), a military and political 'regulus' or king of the Scottish Isles at that time, had
united Viking and Scot under his reign through a series of opportunistic battles. At one point Somerled's kingdom
stretched from the Isle of Man to the Butt of Lewis.
The Viking-Scots (known as Gall-Gaidheal, literally meaning 'Foreign-Gaels') dominated the seas, however new enemies
arose in the East, most notably Malcolm IV of Scotland. Malcolm's army had made inroads in the west
coast and eventually Somerled assembled a fleet of 164 ships and an army of 15,000 men at Greenock in 1164 to repel them.
He advanced to the centre of the Stewarts' own territory, to Renfrew, which he intended to capture.
At this point, historians disagree. Some state that near Inchinnan (close to the site of today's Glasgow Airport),
Somerled was betrayed and killed by his nephew in the pay of Malcolm IV. His army returned to their galleys
and departed without engaging in a full scale battle. Others, such as Rogerson in his Symbolism of the Sanctuary
(1958) maintain that a great battle did take place on the land now known as Scotstoun, with Walter Fitzalan — the
1st High Steward of Scotland — being credited as the victor there.
What is certain is that Somerled and his son, Gillebrite/Gulbridge were slain and, following the death of their great
leader, Somerled's army was greatly dispirited and retreated from the area. The chronicles of the day attributed the
victory to the intercession of Saint Kentigern (also known as St Mungo). Accounts differ as to whether Somerled was
buried on Iona or at the Monastery of Saddel.
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