SCOTLAND

People and Culture

 Scotlands population numbers just over 50 milion and it

declaining. Like the rest of Britain, its people descend from

various nothen tribes, including the Picts, Celts,
Scandinavians and, to a lesser extent, Romans.

Scottish, Scotch or scots?

A Scottish person is called a Scot. Never describe a Scot as
English or, at best, theyll never speak to you again. Scots
are above all else Scottish. Similarly, dont refer to Britain as
England and dont call a thistle a rose.
Scottish is the adjective used to describe something or
someone that originates from Scotland, as in Scottish
castle.
Scotch describes certain Scottish products, for example
Scotch whisky and Scotch eggs.
Scots is used in limited contexts, for example to describe
certain regiments, as in Scots Guards

Language
Scotland has two recognised languages: Gaelic,

spoken mainly in the Highlands and Western

Isles, and English.
Scots English has some marked regional
accents but all are distinctively Scottish.
Did you know?
The Gaelic alphabet has 18 letters : J, K ,Q ,V
,W ,X ,Y and Z are not used. A stroke or grave
above a vowel indicaes that sound of that vowel
is lengthened , ex: a- is sounded like ah as in
father, and not short a as in dad.

Literature
Scotland has long fostered generation of world-class

writers and poets, most natably Roberts Burns, Sir Walter

Scott, Robert Louis Stevenson, Iain Banks etc. More
recently, JK Rowling created the Harry Potter
phenomenon, writing from Edinburgh caf.

Religion
Scotland is a Christian country, the

official denomination begin

Presbyterianism, represented by the
Church of Scotland, although Roman
Catholicism also maintains a strong
following.
St. Andrew is the patron saint of
Scotland, a role he also plays in Greece,
Russia and Romania. The brother of St.
Peter and one of the original Apostles,
fied on the same shape cross as Christ,
he has crucified on an X-shaped Saltire,
whici subsequenly became his symbol.

National symbols
The Scottish national flag is the Saltire-

a white diagonal cross on the blue

background-that derives from the shape
of the cross on which St. Andrew was
crucified.
The thistle in one of the most identifiable

symbols of Scottishness.One legend

tells how sleeping Scots warriors were
saved from invading Viking when one
attaker trod on a wild thisle and his cries
woke the Scots who dulydefeated the
Danes

 Tartan is a Scottish brand that is instantly recognizable

around the world. The word tartan derives from an old

French word tiretaine, which was a woolen cloth. What
sets tartan apart from other checkered fabrics is the
gallantry, romance, and stirring tales of Highland clans
that seem to be woven into the very fabric.

 The Bagpipe is Scotlands

national instrument. It is
reed instrument with a small
cane blade or pair of blades
inserted into the end of pipe
that vibrates under air
pressure to produce the
distinctive note. Three pipes
are called drones, and
chanter - a pipe pierced
with finger holes and played
with both hands