Scotland
Scotland
Geography
Scotland, or in Gaelic Alba, is the northern part of Great Britain, bordering to the south on England. Scotland consists of the mainland area plus several island groups, including the Shetland, Orkney, and the Hebrides, divided into the Inner Hebrides and Outer Hebrides. The mainland is divided into three geographical and geological areas, from north to south, the generally mountainous Highlands, the low lying Central Belt, and hilly Southern Uplands. The majority of the Scottish population resides in the Central Belt, which contains the four of five main cities, and many large towns.
History & Culture
Almost all residents speak English although many speak various Scots dialects which are quite different from Standard English and some few, mostly from the Western Isles, still speak Scots Gaelic. The Scots dialect which was spoken in the Scottish Court and Parliament is known as Lallans. It was one of several that developed from the Anglian spoken in the Northumbrian kingdom of Bernicia which in the 6th century conquered the British kingdom of Gododdin and renamed its capital of Dunedin, Edinburgh.
Historically Scotland was divided into two cultural areas - the mainly English (dialect Scots) speaking Lowlands and the mainly Gaelic speaking Highlands. These caused divisions in the country where the Lowlands were, historically, more influenced by the English to the South due to the greater ease with which they could be attacked by invading armies.
The clan system in Highland Scotland was one of its more distinguishing features. It had many similarities to the American Indian tribal system. Notable clans include MacGregor, MacDonald, MacLeod, Robertson, Campbell...
Historically the Lowlands adopted a variant on the Feudal system after the Norman Conquest of England, with the major families providing most the monarchs after approximately 1100AD. These families included Stewart or Stuart, Bruce, Douglas, Murray or Moray
Modern Scotland
Scotland today is made up of 32 unitary council Regions:
- City of Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Angus, Argyll and Bute, Clackmannanshire, Dumfries and Galloway, City of Dundee, East Ayrshire, East Dunbartonshire, East Lothian, East Renfrewshire, City of Edinburgh, Falkirk, Fife, City of Glasgow, Highland, Inverclyde, Midlothian, Scotland, Moray, North Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire, Orkney Islands, Perth and Kinross, Renfrewshire, Scottish Borders, Shetland Islands, South Ayrshire, South Lanarkshire, Stirling, West Dunbartonshire, West Lothian, Western Isles.
Scotland originally consisted of the following 33 counties:
- Aberdeenshire, Angus, Argyllshire, Ayrshire, Banffshire, Berwick, Buteshire, Caithness, Clackmannanshire, Dumbartonshire, Dumfriesshire, East Lothian, Fife, Inverness-shire, Kincardineshire, Kinross-shire, Kirkcudbrightshire, Lanarkshire, Midlothian, Morayshire, Nairnshire, Orkney, Peeblesshire, Perthshire, Renfrewshire, Ross and Cromarty, Roxburghshire, Selkirkshire, Shetland, Stirlingshire, Sutherlandshire, West Lothian, Wigtownshire.
The five major cities in Scotland in order of size are:
Glasgow; Edinburgh, which is the capital; Aberdeen; Dundee and Stirling
Waterways in Scotland:
- Major Rivers
- Lochs and Lakes
- Loch Linnhe, Loch Long, Loch Ness, Loch Tay, The Lake of Menteith,...
- Artificial & Enhanced
Scotland is also known for:
- Bagpipes
- Robert Burns, Burns night, Burns supper
- Haggis
- Kilts and Tartan
- Loch Ness, said to contain the Loch Ness monster "Nessie".
- The soft drink called Irn Bru.
- Scotch whisky
- Hills (Cairngorms, Aviemore, Munros) and islands (Hebrides, Orkney, Shetland)
- Hogmanay (New Year's Eve)
- Scottish country dancing
- Shortbread
- Tweed, especially Harris Tweed
- Whisky distilleries
After the Union Scotland retained its unique legal system, based on Roman law, which combines the best features of civil law and common law. It is distinct from England's common law system.
In banking there are differences as well. Although the Bank of England is the nationalised bank for the UK Government, its banknotes are not legal tender in Scotland. There are three Scottish private banks which still issue their own banknotes. These are not legal tender in England, or in Scotland for that matter, but banknotes issued by any of the four banks are commonly accepted throughout the UK.
Scotland has also retained a separate State church and education system.
In 1603 the Scottish King James VI inherited the throne of England, and became James I of England. James moved to London and never returned to Scotland. In 1707 a Treaty of Union was signed between the Scottish and English Parliaments. The English and the Scottish Parliaments were dissolved and all their powers transferred to a new Parliament in London which then became the British Parliament. A customs and currency union was also declared. This state of affairs remained until May 1999 when a new Scottish Parliament was created. Though whereas the old Scottish parliament was a national parliament of a sovereign state, the new parliament is a home rule parliament, in effect a sub-parliament under the United Kingdom parliament which both created and can abolish a devolved parliament by a simple Act.
For a list of kings of Scotland see the List of British monarchs.
- See also : National parks (Scotland), Wars of Scottish Independence, Historic houses in Scotland, Castles in Scotland, Museums in Scotland, Abbeys and priories in Scotland, Gardens in Scotland
External Links
- General Register Office for Scotland, where you may view census data
Scotland is also the name of some places in the United States: