History and Legends of the Scottish Thistle

The most commonly heard legend about the Scottish thistle occurred during the 13th century. The soldiers of the Norse king, Haakon, are said to have planned a surprise invasion at Largs in Western Scotland. The Viking force had planned to creep up on the Scottish clansmen and highlanders whilst they slept and use stealth to overcome them. Part of their plan to make as little noise as possible on their approach was ultimately their undoing- they went barefoot!

Unfortunately for the invaders, one of the soldiers had the misfortune of standing down- hard!- on a thistle. His resulting cry of shock and of pain was enough to rouse the sleeping Scotsmen and alert them to the impending attack. The Scots leapt to their feet, charged into battle and were ultimately victorious, and all thanks to the Scottish thistle. If this story is in fact true, it’s no wonder they immediately chose the plant as the Scottish emblem.

(Many believe that this specific incident happened at the 1263 Battle of Largs, which marked the beginning of the departure of King Haakon IV of Norway who, having control of the Northern Isles and Hebrides, had harried the coast of the Kingdom of Scotland for some years. But there are also other versions of a similar story in circulation, from alleged different dates and different locations. Such is the beauty and mystery of legends as they are told and retold from generation to generation I suppose!)

Another legendary tale tells of the Romans, during their conquering of the British Isles. Apparently when on the way up north, they decided to stop two thirds of the way through their original planned route and built Hadrian’s wall. They declared anything north of it to be inhospitable and undesirable and left Scotland untouched. Apparently the fact that they wore sandals to battle had a lot to do with it, and rather than marching on fields full of thistle, they decided to hold back on their plans.

https://www.visitingscotland.com/discover/things-to-look-out-for/the-scottish-thistle

A symbol of resistance for hundreds of years!