#p <nat>Irish<n>Ossian<o>poet<b>220(50)<d>280(50)<info>Ossian was a legendary Irish hero and bard of the third century. He was the subject of a cycle of poems by James Macpherson, published 1760-63, purporting to be translations from the original Gaelic manuscripts of Ossian.<ref>Funk & Wagnall's
#e <t>migration<d>426<n>Romans leave Britain<info>The Romans left as Picts and Scots invaded from the north. The Saxons were invited over to assist in expelling them, but gradually took possession of the country.
#e <d>827<n>Egbert forms Kingdom of England<au>Egbert
#p <nat>Scottish<o>king<n>Malcolm III<b>1031(1)<ac>1058<d>1093 Nov 13/*<fa>Duncan I*/<c>Scotland<info>Malcolm lived in exile until he defeated and killed Macbeth in 1057. He succeeded to the throne in 1058 after the death of Lulach, Macbeth's stepson. Malcolm founded the house of Canmore, which ruled Scotland for more than 200 years.
#p <nat>English<o>admiral<n>Horatio, Lord Nelson<sur>Nelson<b>1758 Sep 29<d>1805 Oct 21<info>Nelson entered the Royal Navy at the age of 12 and was a captain by 1778. Nelson fought in the defeat of the Spanish fleet off Cape Saint Vincent in 1797. The following year he was victorious against the French in the Battle of the Nile; finding the French fleet in the Bay of Abukir, he adopted the tactic of approaching his opponents from the shore side. Stationed next at Naples, he began a celebrated liaison with Emma, Lady Hamilton, wife of the British ambassador there; she bore him a daughter in 1801. At the Battle of Copenhagen in 1801, Nelson put a telescope to his blind eye - he had been blinded in battle in 1794 and had also lost his right arm in 1797 - to avoid seeing a signal from his commander, Sir Hyde Parker, that would have prevented him from crippling the Danish fleet. On the renewal of war with France in 1803, Nelson was given the crucial task of blockading the French fleet at Toulon. Although he failed to prevent the French from breaking out and uniting with the Spanish fleet in 1805, he eventually brought the combined navies to battle after crossing and recrossing the Atlantic. He was killed in the resulting Battle of Trafalgar on October 21, 1805, but he lived long enough to know that his victory was complete and that it had saved Britain from the danger of a Napoleonic invasion. The Victory, his flagship at Trafalgar, is preserved at Portsmouth, England.
