Watching historical videos and documentaries often gives me a lot of world building inspiration. There’s are so many juicy stories throughout history, full of twists and turns that you’d never see coming, that you’d never even find in fiction. I’m always happy to stumble upon a new channel or expert to hear from, especially if the host is entertaining. That’s why today I decided to write my post about a channel I recently started watching called Scotland History Tours, which is not nearly as stuffy as the name might imply. The idea is that the host, Bruce, wanders around Scottish parks, neighborhoods, and historical sites while telling stories about Scottish history. As far as roller coaster plots are concerned, I don’t think I could ever beat this little snippet from the linked video in a million years:

“Robert, Duke of Albany had his brother Robert the Third’s son and heir to the Scottish throne abducted, held on trumped up charges, and starved to death in Falkland Palace. So, King Robert the Third sent his second son, James, to France for safety, away from his evil uncle. Now en route he was captured by English pirates and taken as prisoner to the English King. When Robert the Third heard this, the shock killed him.”

I mean if I read that in a story I would think it was so ridiculously contrived just to make Robert the Third’s life as miserable as possible. Somehow when it happens in real life though, it feels poetic, if tragic. It’s no wonder everybody loved a good history in Shakespeare’s day.

Thank you for reading,

Benjamin Hawley