Writing on a small island in the Firth of Forth in the 1440s, Walter Bower set out to tell the whole story of the Scottish nation in a single huge book, the Scotichronicon--'a history book for Scots'. It begins with the mythical voyage of Scota, the Pharaoh's daughter, from Egypt with the Stone of Destiny. The land that her sons discovered in the Western Ocean was named after her: Scotland. It goes on to describe the turbulent events that followed, among them the wars of the Scots and the Picts (begun by a quarrel over a dog); the poisoning of King Fergus by his wife; Macbeth's usurpation and uneasy reign; the good deeds of Margaret, queen and saint; Bruce's murder of the Red Comyn; the founding of Scotland's first university at St Andrews; the 'Burnt Candlemas'; and the endless troubles between Scotland and England. 

Weaving in and out of the events of Bower's factual history, like a wonderful pageant, are other subjects that fascinated him: harrowing visions of hell and purgatory, extraordinary miracles; the exploits of knights and beggars, merchants and monks; the ravages of flood and fire; the terrors of the plague; and the answers to such puzzling questions as what makes a good king, and why Englishmen have tails.

• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Preface
• Introduction to Books XV and XVI
• The Manuscripts
• Content and Sources
• Methods of Editing
• 1. Text
• 2. Translation
• 3. Editorial Notes
• Lists of Abbreviations
• I. Sigla
• II. Words
• III. Names of Counties
• IV. Publications
• Scotichronicon - Volume 8
  • Book XV
    • 1. The coronation of the king and queen
    • 2. The king insisted on payment for everything bought for his use
    • 3. The astonishing fight between caterans at Perth, thirty against thirty
    • 4. The knight Morley, the first dukes created in the kingdom of Scotland, and the first earl of Crawford
    • 5. The story of a knight’s artfulness
    • 6. The same topic
    • 7. The treasonable conspiracy of the three Henries; the capture and deposition of King Richard
    • 8. The king’s abdication
    • 9. The coronation of King Henry IV
    • 10. The betrothals and marriage of the duke of Rothesay and the taking of Dunbar Castle
    • 11. The death of Sir Archibald earl of Douglas called the Grim and King Henry’s expedition to Scotland
    • 12. The arrest and death of the duke of Rothesay
    • 13. The second fight at Nisbet
    • 14. The battle of Humble ton
    • 15. The siege of Cocklaws Castle
    • 16. The relief of Cocklaws by the governor
    • 17. The battle of Shrewsbury
    • 18. The capture of King James and the death of his father
    • 19. The character and conduct of King Robert III
    • 20. The burning of the heretic James Resby at Perth
    • 21. The destruction of Jedburgh Castle and the return of Dunbar Castle to the earl
    • 22. The founding of the university of St Andrews
    • 23. Various events and the unfortunate battle of Agincourt in France
    • 24. The dispute between the university and Harding
    • 25. The withdrawal of the Scottish church from Benedict and the rendering of obedience to Martin V
    • 26. How Henry king of England with his son strove to subjugate Wales which was disrupted by treason of its own
    • 27. Help sent to Wales by Charles king of France
    • 28. How the humiliated Welsh regained their possessions through an abbot's preaching
    • 29. How the apostate Welsh lost their country
    • 30. The same topic, and the death of the abbot of Glamorgan
    • 31. The crossing of the earls of Buchan and Wigtown to France to help the French
    • 32. A pestilence called ‘le qwhew’ which caused sickness in lords and others
    • 33. The battle of Bauge
    • 34. The fatal punishment inflicted on the king of England by a certain Scottish saint
    • 35. The battle of Verneuil in Perche
    • 36. The victorious Maid of France
    • 37. The death of the duke of Albany the governor
    • 38. A miracle concerning the merit of the mass
    • 39. The merits of the mass and the advantage of hearing it devoutly
    • Notes for Book XV
  • Book XVI
    • 1. Prologue to Book 16
    • 2. The release from England of our king, James I
    • 3. The various schisms between contenders for the papacy
    • 4. Still on the schisms
    • 5. The same topic
    • 6. The same topic
    • 7. The same topic
    • 8. The duke of Savoy is elected [pope]
    • 9. The arrest of Walter Stewart and a tax
    • 10. The arrest and beheading of the duke of Albany
    • 11. The missions sent from both sides between the kings of France and Scotland regarding the daughter of the king of Scotland
    • 12. The marriage of the eldest daughter of the king of Scotland to the dauphin of France
    • 13. Taxes should not be levied casually
    • 14. Statutes must not be made lightly; the king's Christmas feast
    • 15. The parliament at Inverness and the arrest of the caterans
    • 16. The fight and rout of Badenoch and the birth of James II our king
    • 17. The remarkable fight of the caterans and the slaughter of the earl of Caithness
    • 18. The Carthusian foundation at Perth in the Valley of Virtue
    • 19. A tribute to the Carthusian Order
    • 20. The burning of the heretic Paul Kravar, and the Lollards
    • 21. Still on the same topic
    • 22. The same topic
    • 23. How the English tried cleverly to persuade the Scots to annul the alliance between France and us
    • 24. A dispute among the prelates of the kingdom and the recovery of the castle of Dunbar
    • 25. The fight at Piperdean and the death of the earl of Mar and of the count of Evreux
    • 26. The siege of Roxburgh
    • 27. The treasonable death of our King James
    • 28. A description of the king and his good qualities
    • 29. His skill in the art of music
    • 30. Still on the king's fine qualities
    • 31. Still on the same topic
    • 32. The king's good letter
    • 33. He brought perfect tranquility and peace to the kingdom
    • 34. The happy peaceful state enjoyed by all his subjects during the king's lifetime
    • 35. Here the author laments the wretchedness of the age and the rulerless kingdom
    • 36. It is suitable for a king to have brave attendants at his side
    • 37. The inevitability of death for him and everyone
    • 38. His epitaph
    • 39. Conclusion of this work
    • Notes for Book XVI
• Index