Editing James VI and I (section)

===Highlands and Islands===
The forcible dissolution of the [[Lordship of the Isles]] by [[James IV of Scotland]] in 1493 had led to troubled times for the western seaboard. James IV had subdued the organised military might of the [[Hebrides]], but he and his immediate successors lacked the will or ability to provide an alternative form of governance. As a result, the 16th century became known as {{Lang|gd|linn nan creach}}, the time of raids.{{Sfn|Hunter|2000|pp=143, 166}} Furthermore, the effects of the Reformation were slow to affect the {{Lang|gd|[[Gàidhealtachd]]}}, driving a religious wedge between this area and centres of political control in the [[Central Belt]].{{Sfn|Hunter|2000|p=174}}

In 1540, [[James V]] had toured the Hebrides, forcing the [[Scottish clan chief|clan chiefs]] to accompany him. There followed a period of peace, but the clans were soon at loggerheads with one another again.{{Sfn|Thompson|1968|pp=40–41}} During James VI's reign, the citizens of the Hebrides were portrayed as lawless barbarians rather than being the cradle of Scottish Christianity and nationhood. Official documents describe the peoples of the Highlands as "void of the knawledge and feir of God" who were prone to "all kynd of barbarous and bestile cruelteis".{{Sfn|Hunter|2000|p=175}} The [[Scottish Gaelic|Gaelic]] language, spoken fluently by James IV and probably by James V, became known in the time of James VI as "Erse" or Irish, implying that it was foreign in nature. [[Parliament of Scotland|Parliament]] decided that Gaelic had become a principal cause of the Highlanders' shortcomings and sought to abolish it.<ref>{{Harvnb|Thompson|1968|pp=40–41}}; {{Harvnb|Hunter|2000|p=175}}</ref>
[[File:James VI unite 1609 662019.jpg|thumb|left|Scottish gold coin from 1609–1625]]
It was against this background that James VI authorised the "[[Gentleman Adventurers of Fife]]" to civilise the "most barbarous [[Isle of Lewis]]" in 1598. James wrote that the colonists were to act "not by agreement" with the local inhabitants, but "by extirpation of thame". Their landing at [[Stornoway]] began well, but the colonists were driven out by local forces commanded by Murdoch and Neil MacLeod. The colonists tried again in 1605 with the same result, although a third attempt in 1607 was more successful.<ref>{{Harvnb|Hunter|2000|p=175}}; {{Harvnb|Rotary Club of Stornoway|1995|pp=12–13}}</ref> The [[Statutes of Iona]] were enacted in 1609, which required clan chiefs to provide support for Protestant ministers to Highland parishes; to outlaw bards; to report regularly to Edinburgh to answer for their actions; and to send their heirs to [[Lowland Scotland]], to be educated in English-speaking Protestant schools.{{Sfn|Hunter|2000|p=176}} So began a process "specifically aimed at the extirpation of the Gaelic language, the destruction of its traditional culture and the suppression of its bearers."{{Sfn|MacKinnon|1991|p=46}}

In the [[Northern Isles]], James's cousin [[Patrick Stewart, 2nd Earl of Orkney|Patrick Stewart, Earl of Orkney]], resisted the Statutes of Iona and was consequently imprisoned.<ref>{{Harvnb|Croft|2003|p=139}}; {{Harvnb|Lockyer|1998|p=179}}</ref> His natural son Robert led an unsuccessful rebellion against James, and the Earl and his son were hanged.{{Sfn|Willson|1963|p=321}} Their estates were forfeited, and the [[Orkney]] and [[Shetland]] islands were annexed to the Crown.{{Sfn|Willson|1963|p=321}}