The very first instigation of formal education in Scotland began with the arrival of Christianity in the sixth century. At that time, Gaelic was the native language and teaching began at birth, in the form of the rhymes, stories and songs passed from a mother to her children.

Scotland was regarded as a wild land inhabited by an entirely unsophisticated race. The measure of an educated man (education of any kind being an exclusively male preserve in those days) was in his ability to read, understand Latin, and, most importantly, his knowledge of the bible. Under those terms, the Scottish population was subject to widespread ignorance.

Some six hundred years later, in the 12th Century, it was still the case that the reading of bible scriptures was carried out only by a learned few and that even spoken recitals were poorly practiced by the people of Scotland.

Although it was strongly advocated by the church and the government, education was not held in such high esteem by the general public. In 1494, an Act of Parliament was issued by the Scottish Parliament, compelling Barons and freeholders (the wealthy upper classes of the day) to send their sons to Grammar school, or else face imperious penalties.

The main incentive behind the education of the Scots was to rid them of their heathen tendencies and instigate mass conversion to Christianity. Education of this kind was the benchmark of a civilised society, which Scotland would have to become if it was to raise itself to the level of the surrounding nations, for whom knowledge & learning commenced with an out pouring of new printed matter.

The next few hundred years were spent in a concentrated effort to increase the learning power of the disadvantaged Scots. The authority of the Kirk prevailed, and while use of the native language diminished along with the oral traditions definitive of the Scottish culture, the roots were set for a system of education which would become the envy of the civilised world.

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