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My Anderson-Blaker Family is from Scotland
This is the family that I adopted as my “Foster Parents”
when I was 17. Apparently they came
from Scotland and Northern England. Further
research will be needed to determine when they arrived in the United States Scotland From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotland England and Scotland The
word "England" is often used colloquially—and incorrectly—to refer
to Great Britain or the United Kingdom as a whole.[14]
There are many instances of this usage in history, where references to
England are actually intended to include Scotland and Wales as well.[15] The term is used throughout the world and even by
English people; the usage is problematic and causes offence in many parts of
Britain.
Scotland (Gaelic: Alba) is a nation in
northwest Europe
and one of the four constituent countries[5] of the United
Kingdom. It occupies the northern third of the island of Great
Britain and shares a land border to the south with England. It is
bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic
Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea
to the southwest. Apart from the mainland, Scotland consists of over 790 islands.[6] Edinburgh,
the country's capital
and second largest city, is one of Europe's largest financial centres.[7]
Scotland's largest city is Glasgow, which is the centre of the Greater
Glasgow conurbation. Scottish
waters consist of a large sector[8] of the
North Atlantic and the North Sea, containing the largest oil
reserves in the European Union. The Kingdom of Scotland was an independent state until May 1, 1707, when the Acts of Union, despite widespread protest
across Scotland,[9][10] resulted
in a union with the Kingdom of England to create the Kingdom of Great Britain.[11][12]
Scotland's legal system continues to be separate
from those of England, Wales, and Northern Ireland; Scotland still constitutes
a distinct jurisdiction in public and in private law.[13] The
continued independence of Scots law, the Scottish education system, and the Church of Scotland have all contributed to the
continuation of Scottish culture and Scottish national identity since the
Union.[14]
However, Scotland is no longer a separate sovereign
state and does not have independent membership of either the United
Nations or the European Union. Etymology
Main article: Etymology of Scotland
The founders of Scotland of late medieval legend, Scota with Goídel
Glas, voyaging from Egypt, as depicted in a 15th century manuscript of the Scotichronicon
of Walter
Bower.
Skara
Brae, a neolithic
settlement, located in the Bay
of Skaill, Orkney. The
word Scotland is derived from the Latin Scoti, the term
applied to Gaels.
The Late
Latin word Scotia
(land of the Gaels), was initially used to refer to Ireland. By the
11th century at the latest Scotia was being used to refer to
(Gaelic-speaking) Scotland north of the river
Forth, alongside Albania or Albany, both derived from the
Gaelic Alba.[15] The use of the words Scots and Scotland
to encompass all of what is now Scotland became common in the Late Middle Ages.[11] History
Main article: History of Scotland Early history
Main article: Prehistoric Scotland Repeated
glaciations,
which covered the entire land-mass of modern Scotland, have destroyed any
traces of human habitation before the Mesolithic
period. It is believed that the first post-glacial groups of hunter-gatherers
arrived in Scotland around 10,000 years ago, as the ice sheet
retreated after the last glaciation.[16] Groups
of settlers began building the first permanent houses on Scottish soil around
9,500 years ago, and the first villages around 6,000 years ago. A site from
this period is the well-preserved village of Skara Brae
on the Mainland of Orkney. Neolithic
habitation, burial and ritual sites are particularly common and
well-preserved in the Northern Isles and Western
Isles, where lack of trees led to most structures being built of local
stone.[17] The
written protohistory of Scotland began with the arrival of the
Roman
Empire in southern and central Great Britain, when the Romans occupied
what is now England
and Wales,
administering it as a province called Britannia.
Roman invasions and occupations of southern Scotland were a series of brief
interludes. In 83–4 AD the general Gnaeus Julius Agricola defeated the Caledonians
at the battle of Mons Graupius, and Roman forts were briefly
set along the Gask Ridge close to the Highland line (none are known to have been
constructed beyond that line). Three years after the battle the Roman
armies had withdrawn to the Southern
Uplands.[18] They erected Hadrian's
Wall to control tribes on both sides of the wall,[19] and
the Limes
Britannicus became the northern border of the empire, although the
army held the Antonine Wall in the Central
Lowlands for two short periods—the last of these during the time of
Emperor Septimius Severus from 208 until 210.[20]
The extent of Roman military occupation of any significant part of Scotland was
limited to a total of about 40 years, although their influence on the
southern section of the country occupied by Brythonic
tribes such as the Votadini and Damnonii
would still have been considerable.[19]
A replica of the Pictish Hilton of Cadboll Stone. Medieval period
Main articles: Picts, Scotland in the High Middle Ages,
and Scotland in the Late Middle Ages The Kingdom of the Picts (based in Fortriu by the
6th century) was the state which eventually became known as "Alba"
or "Scotland". The development of "Pictland", according
to the historical model developed by Peter Heather, was a natural response to
Roman imperialism.[21] Another
view places emphasis on the Battle of Dunnichen, and the reign of Bridei m. Beli (671–693), with another
period of consolidation in the reign of Óengus mac Fergusa (732–761).[22]
The Kingdom of the Picts as it was in the early 8th century, when Bede was writing, was
largely the same as the kingdom of the Scots in the reign of Alexander (1107–1124). However, by the
tenth century, the Pictish kingdom was dominated by what we can recognise as Gaelic culture, and
had developed an Irish conquest myth around the ancestor of the contemporary
royal dynasty, Cináed mac Ailpín (Kenneth MacAlpin).[23][24][25] From
a base of territory in eastern Scotland north of the River
Forth and south of the River Oykel, the kingdom acquired control of the
lands lying to the north and south. By the 12th century, the kings of Alba
had added to their territories the Anglic-speaking
land in the south-east and attained overlordship of Gaelic-speaking Galloway and
Norse-speaking Caithness; by the end of the 13th century, the kingdom
had assumed approximately its modern borders. However, processes of cultural
and economic change beginning in the 12th century ensured Scotland looked
very different in the later Middle Ages. The stimulus for this was the reign
of King David I and the Davidian Revolution. Feudalism,
government reorganisation and the first legally defined towns (called burghs) began in
this period. These institutions and the immigration of French and
Anglo-French knights and churchmen facilitated a process of cultural osmosis,
whereby the culture and language of the low-lying and coastal parts of the
kingdom's original territory in the east became, like the newly-acquired
south-east, English-speaking, while the rest of the country retained the
Gaelic language, apart from the Northern Isles of Orkney and Shetland, which
remained under Norse rule until 1468.[26][27][28] The
death of Alexander III in March 1286, followed
by the death of his granddaughter Margaret, Maid of Norway, broke the
succession line of Scotland's kings. This led to the intervention of Edward I of England, who manipulated this
period of confusion to have himself recognised as feudal overlord of
Scotland. Edward organised a process to identify the person with the best
claim to the vacant crown, which became known as the Great Cause, and this
resulted in the enthronement of John
Balliol as king. The Scots were resentful of Edward's meddling in their
affairs and this relationship quickly broke down. War ensued and King John
was deposed by his overlord, who took personal control of Scotland. Andrew
Moray and William Wallace initially emerged as the
principal leaders of the resistance to English rule in what became known as
the Wars of Scottish Independence. The
nature of the struggle changed dramatically when Robert de Brus, Earl of Carrick, became king
(as Robert I). War with England continued for several decades, and a civil
war between the Bruce dynasty and their long-term Comyn-Balliol rivals, the
flashpoint of which could be traced to the slaying in a Dumfries church of
John 'the Red' Comyn of Badenoch by Bruce and his supporters, lasted until
the middle of the 14th century. Although the Bruce dynasty was successful, David II's lack of an heir allowed his
nephew Robert II to come to the throne and
establish the Stewart Dynasty.[29][27] The
Stewarts ruled Scotland for the remainder of the Middle Ages. The country
they ruled experienced greater prosperity from the end of the 14th century
through the Scottish Renaissance to the Reformation. This was despite continual
warfare with England, the increasing division between Highlands and Lowlands, and a large number of royal
minorities.[29][30] Modern history
The Scottish Parliament Building In
1603, James VI King of Scots inherited the throne
of the Kingdom of England, and became also King James I of England. With the
exception of a short period under the
Protectorate, Scotland remained a separate state, but there
was considerable conflict between the crown and the Covenanters
over the form of church government. After the Glorious Revolution and the overthrow of the Roman
Catholic James VII by William
and Mary, Scotland briefly threatened to select a different Protestant
monarch from England.[31] In
1707, however, following English action against cross-border trade and free
movement, through the Alien Act, the Scots Parliament and the Parliament of England enacted the twin Acts of Union, which created the Kingdom of Great Britain.[12] The
deposed Jacobite
Stuart claimants had remained popular in the Highlands and north-east,
particularly amongst non-Presbyterians. However, two major Jacobite risings
launched from the Highlands in 1715 and 1745 failed to remove
the House of Hanover from the British throne. This
paved the way for large scale removals of the indigenous populations of the
Highlands and Islands, known as the Highland Clearances.[12] The Scottish Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution made Scotland into an
intellectual, commercial and industrial powerhouse. After World
War II, Scotland experienced an industrial decline which was particularly
severe.[32] Only in recent decades has the country enjoyed
something of a cultural and economic renaissance. Economic factors which have
contributed to this recovery include a resurgent financial services industry,
electronics manufacturing, (see Silicon
Glen),[33] and the North
Sea oil and gas industry.[34] The Scottish Parliament was established by the United Kingdom Parliament, by the Scotland Act 1998. Government and politics
Main articles: Politics of Scotland, Scottish Parliament, and Scottish Government Further information: Scottish Parliament
general election, 2007
The Arms of Queen Elizabeth II as used in Scotland, a version of which is
used by the Scotland Office. As
part of the United Kingdom, the head
of state in Scotland is the monarch of the United Kingdom,
currently Queen Elizabeth II (since
1952). Scotland
was granted limited self-government after a referendum on devolution
proposals in 1997. Executive and legislative powers have been
constitutionally delegated to, respectively, the Scottish Government and the Scottish
Parliament at Holyrood in Edinburgh.
The United Kingdom Parliament retains power
over a set list of areas explicitly specified in the Scotland Act 1998 as reserved
matters, for example, Scotland's taxes,
social security system, the military,
international relations and broadcasting.[35] The
Scottish Parliament has legislative authority for all other areas relating to
Scotland, and has limited power to vary income tax, a power it has yet
to exercise. The Scottish Parliament can refer devolved matters back to
Westminster by passing a Legislative Consent Motion if United
Kingdom-wide legislation is considered to be more appropriate for a certain
issue. The programmes of legislation enacted by the Scottish Parliament have
seen a divergence in the provision of public
services compared to the rest of the United Kingdom. For instance, the
costs of a university education, and care services for the elderly
are free at point of use in Scotland, while fees are paid in the rest of the
UK. Scotland was the first country in the UK to ban smoking in enclosed
public places.[36]
The debating chamber of the Scottish Parliament Building The
Scottish Parliament is a unicameral legislature
comprising 129 Members, 73 of whom represent
individual constituencies and are elected
on a first past the post system; 56 are elected in
eight different electoral regions by the additional member
system, serving for a four year period. The Queen appoints one Member of the Scottish Parliament,
(MSP), on the nomination of the Parliament, to be First Minister. Other Ministers are
also appointed by the Queen on the nomination of the Parliament and together
with the First Minister they make up the Scottish Government, the executive arm of government.[37] In
the 2007 election, the Scottish National Party (SNP), which
campaigns for Scottish independence, won the largest
number of seats of any single party. The leader of the SNP, Alex
Salmond, was elected as First Minister, heading a minority government, on May 16, 2007. In addition to
the SNP, the Labour Party, the Conservative Party, the Liberal Democrats, and the Green Party are also represented in the
Parliament. Margo MacDonald is the only independent MSP sitting in Parliament.[38] Scotland
is represented in the British House of Commons by 59 MPs elected from
territory-based Scottish constituencies.
The Scotland Office represents the UK government in
Scotland on reserved matters and represents Scottish interests within the UK
government.[39] The Scotland office is led by the Secretary of State for Scotland,
who sits in the Cabinet of the United Kingdom, the
current incumbent being Des Browne.[35] Administrative subdivisions
Main article: Subdivisions of Scotland
Glasgow
City Chambers viewed from George Square Historical
subdivisions of Scotland include the mormaerdom,
stewartry,
earldom, burgh, parish, county and regions and districts. The
names of these areas are still sometimes used as geographical descriptors. Modern
Scotland is subdivided in various ways depending on the purpose. For local government, there have been 32
council
areas since 1996,[40] whose
councils are unitary authorities responsible for the
provision of all local government services. Community councils are informal organisations
that represent specific sub-divisions of a council area. For
the Scottish Parliament, there are 73 constituencies and
eight regions. For the Parliament of the United Kingdom there are 59 constituencies.
The Scottish fire brigades and police forces are still based on the system of
regions introduced in 1975. For healthcare and postal districts, and a number
of other governmental and non-governmental organisations such as the
churches, there are other long-standing methods of subdividing Scotland for
the purposes of administration. City
status in the United Kingdom is determined by letters
patent.[41] There are six cities in Scotland: Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow and
more recently Inverness, and Stirling.[42] Law
Main article: Scots law
Parliament House, in Edinburgh, is
the home of the Supreme Courts of Scotland. Scots
law has a basis derived from Roman law,[43]
combining features of both uncodified civil law, dating back to the Corpus Juris Civilis, and common law
with medieval
sources. The terms of the Treaty of Union with England in 1707 guaranteed
the continued existence of a separate legal system in Scotland from that of
England and Wales.[44] Prior
to 1611, there were several regional law systems in Scotland, most notably Udal law in
Orkney and Shetland,
based on old Norse law. Various other
systems derived from common Celtic or Brehon
laws survived in the Highlands until the 1800s.[45] Scots
law provides for three types of courts responsible for the administration of
justice: civil, criminal
and heraldic.
The supreme civil court is the Court
of Session, although civil appeals
can be taken to the House of Lords. The High Court of Justiciary is the supreme
criminal court. Both courts are housed at Parliament House, in Edinburgh, which
was the home of the pre-Union Parliament of Scotland. The sheriff
court is the main criminal and civil court. There are 49 sheriff courts
throughout the country.[46] District
courts were introduced in 1975 for minor offences. The Court of the Lord Lyon regulates heraldry. Scots
law is also unique in that it allows three verdicts in criminal cases
including the controversial 'not proven' verdict.[47][48] Geography and natural history
Map of Scotland Main article: Geography of Scotland Scotland
comprises the northern third of the island of Great
Britain, which lies off the northwest coast of Continental Europe. The total land mass is
78,772 km² (30,414 sq mi).[49]
Scotland's only land border is with England, and runs for 96 kilometres
(60 mi) between the basin of the River
Tweed on the east coast and the Solway
Firth in the west. The Atlantic
Ocean borders the west coast and the North Sea
is to the east. The island of Ireland lies only 30 kilometres (20 mi) from the
southwestern peninsula of Kintyre;[50] Norway is
305 kilometres (190 mi) to the east and the Faroes,
270 kilometres (168 mi) to the north. The geographical centre of Scotland lies a few miles from the
village of Newtonmore in Badenoch.[51] The
territorial extent of Scotland is generally that established by the 1237 Treaty
of York between Scotland and England[52] and the
1266 Treaty of Perth between Scotland and Norway.[12]
Important exceptions include the Isle of
Man, which having been lost to England in the 14th century is now a crown
dependency outside of the United Kingdom; the island groups Orkney and Shetland,
which were accquired from Norway in 1472;[49]
and Berwick-upon-Tweed, lost to England in 1482. Geology and geomorphology
Main article: Geology of Scotland
Relief map of Scotland The
whole of Scotland was covered by ice sheets during the Pleistocene
ice ages
and the landscape is much affected by glaciation.
From a geological
perspective the country has three main sub-divisions. The Highlands and Islands lie to the north and
west of the Highland Boundary Fault, which runs from Arran
to Stonehaven.
This part of Scotland largely comprises ancient rocks from the Cambrian and Precambrian
which were uplifted during the later Caledonian Orogeny. It is interspersed with igneous
intrusions of a more recent age, the remnants of which have formed mountain
massifs such as the Cairngorms and Skye Cuillins. A
significant exception to the above are the fossil-bearing beds of Old Red Sandstones found principally along the Moray
Firth coast. The Highlands are generally mountainous and the
highest elevations in the British Isles are found here, including Ben Nevis,
which reaches 1,344 metres (4,409 ft). Scotland has over 790 islands,
divided into four main groups: Shetland,
Orkney,
and the Inner Hebrides and Outer
Hebrides. There are numerous bodies of freshwater
including Loch Lomond and Loch Ness.
Some parts of the coastline consist of machair, a low lying dune pasture land. The Central
Lowlands is a rift valley mainly comprising Paleozoic
formations. Many of these sediments have economic significance for it is here
that the coal and iron bearing rocks that fuelled Scotland's industrial revolution are to be found. This
area has also experienced intense volcanism, Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh
being the remnant of a once much larger volcano. This area is relatively
low-lying, although even here hills such as the Ochils
and Campsie
Fells are rarely far from view. The
Southern Uplands are a range of hills almost 200 kilometres
(125 mi) long, interspersed with broad valleys. They lie south of a
second fault line running from Stranraer
towards Dunbar.
The geological foundations largely comprise Silurian
deposits laid down some 4–500 million years ago.[11][53][54] Climate
Main article: Climate of Scotland
Ben
Nevis, the highest peak in the British
Isles The
climate of Scotland is temperate and oceanic,
and tends to be very changeable. It is warmed by the Gulf
Stream from the Atlantic, and as such has much milder winters (but
cooler, wetter summers) than areas on similar latitudes, for example Copenhagen,
Moscow, or the
Kamchatka Peninsula on the opposite side of Eurasia.
However, temperatures are generally lower than in the rest of the UK, with
the coldest ever UK temperature of -27.2 °C
(-16.96 °F) recorded at Braemar in the Grampian Mountains, on 11
February 1895.[55] Winter
maximums average 6 °C (42.8 °F) in the lowlands, with summer
maximums averaging 18 °C (64.4 °F). The highest temperature
recorded was 32.9 °C (91.22 °F) at Greycrook, Scottish
Borders on 9 August 2003.[56] In
general, the west of Scotland is usually warmer than the east, due to the
influence of Atlantic ocean currents and the colder surface temperatures
of the North
Sea. Tiree,
in the Inner Hebrides, is one of the sunniest places in the
country: it had 300 days of sunshine in 1975. Rainfall varies widely across
Scotland. The western highlands of Scotland are the wettest place, with
annual rainfall exceeding 3,000 mm
(120 in).[56]
In comparison, much of lowland Scotland receives less than 800 mm
(31 in) annually.[56]
Heavy snowfall is not common in the lowlands, but becomes more common with
altitude. Braemar
experiences an average of 59 snow days per year,[57] while
coastal areas have an average of fewer than 10 days.[56] Flora and fauna
Main article: Fauna of Scotland
Scotland's
wildlife is typical of the north west of Europe, although
several of the larger mammals such as the Lynx,
Brown Bear, Wolf
and Walrus
were hunted to extinction in historic times. There are important populations
of seals
and internationally significant nesting grounds for a variety of seabirds such
as Northern Gannets.[58] The Golden
Eagle is something of a national icon. On
the high mountain tops species including Ptarmigan, Mountain
Hare and Stoat
can be seen in their white colour phase during winter months.[59]
Remnants of native Scots Pine forest exist[60] and
within these areas the Scottish Crossbill, Britain's only endemic bird,
can be found alongside Capercaillie, Wildcat, Red
Squirrel and Pine Marten.[61][62] The
flora of the country is varied incorporating both deciduous
and coniferous
woodland and moorland
and tundra
species. However, large scale commercial tree planting and the management of
upland moorland habitat for the grazing of sheep and commercial field sport
activities impacts upon the distribution of indigenous plants and animals.[63] The Fortingall
Yew may be 5,000 years old and is probably the oldest living thing in
Europe.[64] Economy and Infrastructure
Main article: Economy of Scotland
A drilling
rig located in the North Sea Scotland
has a western style open mixed
economy which is closely linked with that of the rest of Europe and the
wider world. Traditionally, the Scottish economy has been dominated by heavy
industry underpinned by the shipbuilding
in Glasgow, coal
mining and steel industries.
Pacific Quay on the River Clyde, an example of the regeneration of
Glasgow and the diversifying Scottish economy Petroleum
related industries associated with the extraction of North
Sea oil have also been important employers from the 1970s, especially in
the north east of Scotland. De-industrialisation during the 1970s and 1980s
saw a shift from a manufacturing focus towards a more services orientated economy.
Edinburgh is the financial services centre of Scotland and the sixth largest
financial centre in Europe in terms of funds under management, behind London,
Paris, Frankfurt, Zurich and Amsterdam,[65]
with many large finance firms based there, including: the Royal Bank of Scotland (the second largest
bank in Europe); HBOS (owners of the Bank
of Scotland); and Standard Life. In
2005, total Scottish exports (excluding intra-UK trade) were provisionally
estimated to be £17.5 billion, of which 70% (£12.2 billion) were attributable
to manufacturing.[66] Scotland's primary exports include whisky,
electronics and financial services. The United
States, The Netherlands, Germany, France and Spain constitute
the country's major export markets.[66] In
2006, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Scotland
was just over £86 billion, giving a per capita GDP of £16,900.[67][68] Tourism
is widely recognised as a key contributor to the Scottish economy. A briefing
published in 2002 by the Scottish Parliament Information Centre, (SPICe), for
the Scottish Parliament's Enterprise and Life Long Learning Committee, stated
that tourism accounted for up to 5% of GDP and 7.5% of employment.[69] As
of November 2007 the unemployment rate in Scotland stood at 4.9%—lower than
the UK average and that of the majority of EU countries.[70] Currency
Main article: Banknotes of the pound sterling Although
the Bank of England is the central
bank for the UK, three Scottish clearing
banks still issue their own Sterling
banknotes:
the Bank of Scotland; the Royal Bank of Scotland; and the Clydesdale
Bank. The current value of the Scottish banknotes in circulation is £1.5
billion.[71] Transport
Main article: Transport in Scotland
A Loganair
Twin
Otter at Barra Airport, the world's only airport using a
beach runway for scheduled services. Scotland
has five main international airports (Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen,
Glasgow Prestwick and Inverness) which together serve 150 international
destinations with a wide variety of scheduled and chartered flights.[72] BAA
operates three airports, (Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen), and Highland and Islands Airports
operates 11 regional airports, (including Inverness), which serve the more
remote locations of Scotland.[73] Infratil
operates Glasgow Prestwick. The
Scottish motorways
and major trunk roads are managed by Transport Scotland. The rest of the road
network is managed by the Scottish local authorities in each of
their areas. Regular
ferry services
operate between the Scottish mainland and island
communities. These services are mostly run by Caledonian MacBrayne, but some are operated
by local councils. Other ferry routes, served by multiple companies, connect
to Northern Ireland, Belgium, Norway, the Faroe
Islands and also Iceland.
Scotland's
rail network is managed by Transport Scotland.[74]
The East Coast and West Coast Main Railway lines and the Cross Country Line connect the major
cities and towns of Scotland with each other and with the rail network in
England. Domestic rail services within Scotland are operated by First
Scotrail. The
East Coast Main Line includes that section of the network which crosses the Firth
of Forth via the Forth Bridge. Completed in 1890, this cantilever bridge has been described as
"the one internationally recognised Scottish landmark".[75] Network
Rail Infrastructure Limited owns and operates the fixed infrastructure
assets of the railway system in Scotland, while the Scottish Government maintains overall
responsibility for rail strategy and funding in Scotland.[76] Demography
Main article: Demography of Scotland See
also: Language in Scotland and Religion in Scotland
Scotland's population has declined from its peak in the mid-1970s. The
population of Scotland in the 2001 census was 5,062,011. This has risen to
5,116,900 according to June 2006 estimates.[77] This
would make Scotland the 112th largest country by population if it were
a sovereign
state. Although Edinburgh
is the capital of Scotland it is not the largest city. With a population of
just over 600,000 this honour falls to Glasgow.
Indeed, the Greater Glasgow conurbation, with a population of
over 1.1 million, is home to over a fifth of Scotland's population.[78][79] The Central
Belt is where most of the main towns and cities are located. Glasgow is
to the west whilst the other three main cities of Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Dundee lie on the
east coast. The Highlands are sparsely populated, although the city of Inverness
has experienced rapid growth in recent years. In general only the more
accessible and larger islands retain human populations and fewer than 90 are
currently inhabited. The Southern Uplands are essentially rural in nature and
dominated by agriculture and forestry.[80][81] Because
of housing problems in Glasgow and Edinburgh, five new
towns were created between 1947 and 1966. They are East
Kilbride, Glenrothes, Livingston, Cumbernauld,
and Irvine.[82] Due
to immigration since World War II, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Dundee have
significant ethnically Asian populations.[83] Since
the recent Enlargement of the European Union
there has been an increased number of people from Central
and Eastern Europe moving to Scotland, and it is estimated
that between 40,000 and 50,000 Poles are now living in the country.[84] As of
2001, there are 16,310 ethnic Chinese residents in Scotland.[85] Scotland
has three officially recognised languages: English,
Scots
and Scottish Gaelic. Almost all Scots speak Scottish Standard English, and in 1996
the General Register Office for
Scotland estimated that 30% of the population are fluent in Scots.[86] Gaelic
is mostly spoken in the Western Isles, where a majority of people still
speak it, however nationally its use is confined to just 1% of the
population.[87] Education
Main article: Education in Scotland
Marischal College, University of Aberdeen The
Scottish education system has always remained distinct from education in the
rest of United Kingdom, with a characteristic emphasis on a broad education.[88]
Scotland was the first country since Sparta in classical
Greece to implement a system of general public
education.[89]
Schooling was made compulsory for the first time in Scotland with the Education Act of 1496, then, in 1561, the Church of Scotland set out a national
programme for spiritual reform, including a school in every parish. Education
continued to be a matter for the church rather than the state until the Education Act of
1872.[90] All
3 and 4 year old children in Scotland are entitled to a free nursery
place with "a curriculum framework for children 3–5"[91]
providing the curricular guidelines. Formal primary education begins at approximately 5
years old and lasts for 7 years (P1–P7); The "5–14 guidelines"
provides the curricular framework.[92] Today,
children in Scotland sit Standard Grade exams at approximately 15 or 16.
The school leaving age is 16, after which students may choose to remain at
school and study for Access, Intermediate or Higher
Grade and Advanced Higher exams. A small number
of students at certain private, independent schools may follow the English system and study towards GCSEs instead of
Standard Grades, and towards A and AS-Levels instead of Higher Grade and
Advanced Higher exams.[93]; There
are 14 Scottish universities, some of which are
amongst the oldest in the
world.[94][95] The
country produces 1% of the world's published research with less than 0.1% of the
world's population, and higher education institutions account for nine per
cent of Scotland's service sector exports.[96][97] Religion
Main article: Religion in Scotland
Iona
Abbey arguably the birthplace of Scottish Christianity Since
the Scottish Reformation of 1560, the Church of Scotland, also known as The Kirk, has been
Scotland's national church. The Church is Protestant
and Reformed with a Presbyterian
system of church government, and enjoys independence from the state.[11] About
12% of the Scottish population are currently members of the Church of
Scotland, with around 40% of the population claiming affiliation at the 2001
census. The Church operates a territorial parish structure,
with every community in Scotland having a local congregation. Scotland also
has a significant Roman Catholic population,
particularly in the west. After the Reformation, Roman Catholicism continued
on in the Highlands and some western islands like Uist and Barra, and was
strengthened, during the 19th century by immigration
from Ireland.
Other Christian
denominations in Scotland include the Free Church of Scotland,
various other Presbyterian offshoots, and the Scottish Episcopal Church. Islam is the
largest non-Christian religion (estimated at 50,000, which is less than 1% of
the population),[98] and there are also significant Jewish, Hindu and Sikh communities,
especially in Glasgow.[98]
The Samyé
Ling monastery near Eskdalemuir, which celebrated its 40th anniversary in
2007, includes the largest Buddhist temple in western Europe.[99] In the
2001 census, 28% of the population professed 'no religion' whatsoever. Military
Main article: Military of Scotland
Soldiers of the five regular battalions of the Royal Regiment of Scotland Although
Scotland has a long military tradition that predates the Treaty
of Union with England, its armed
forces now form part of the British Armed Forces, with the notable
exception of the Atholl Highlanders, Europe's only legal private
army. In 2006, the infantry regiments of the Scottish Division were amalgamated to form the Royal Regiment of Scotland. Other
distinctively Scottish regiments in the British
Army include the Scots Guards and Royal Scots Dragoon Guards. Due
to their topography
and perceived remoteness, parts of Scotland have housed many sensitive
defence establishments, with mixed public feelings.[100][101][102]
Between 1960 and 1991, the Holy Loch was a base for the U.S. fleet of Polaris ballistic missile submarines.[103] Today,
Her Majesty's Naval Base Clyde,
25 miles (40 km) west of Glasgow, is the base for the four Trident-armed
Vanguard class ballistic missile submarines that comprise
the UK's nuclear deterrent. Three
frontline Royal Air Force bases are also located in
Scotland. These are RAF Lossiemouth, RAF
Kinloss and RAF Leuchars, the last of which is the most
northerly air defence fighter base in the United Kingdom. The
only open air live depleted uranium weapons test range in the
British Isles is located near Dundrennan.[104] As a
result, over 7000 radioactive munitions lie on the seabed of the Solway
Firth.[105] Culture
Main article: Culture of Scotland See
also: Music in Scotland, Scottish literature, Media in Scotland, and Cuisine of Scotland
A piper playing the Great Highland Bagpipe. Scottish
music is a significant aspect of the nation's culture, with both
traditional and modern influences. An example of a traditional Scottish
instrument is the Great Highland Bagpipe, a wind
instrument consisting of three drones and a melody pipe (called the
chanter), which are fed continuously by a reservoir of air in a bag. The clàrsach,
fiddle and accordion
are also traditional Scottish instruments, the latter two heavily featured in
Scottish country dance bands. Today, there
are many successful Scottish bands and individual artists in varying styles.[106] Scottish literature includes text written in English,
Scottish Gaelic, Scots,
French,
and Latin. The poet and songwriter Robert
Burns wrote in the Scots language, although much of his writing is
also in English and in a "light" Scots dialect which is more
accessible to a wider audience. Similarly, the writings of Sir
Walter Scott and Arthur Conan Doyle were internationally
successful during the late 19th and early 20th Centuries.[107] J. M.
Barrie introduced the movement known as the "Kailyard
school" at the end of the 19th century, which brought elements of fantasy and folklore back
into fashion.[108] This tradition has been viewed as a major stumbling
block for Scottish literature, as it focused on an idealised, pastoral
picture of Scottish culture.[108]
Some modern novelists, such as Irvine
Welsh (of Trainspotting fame), write in a
distinctly Scottish English that reflects the harsher
realities of contemporary life.[109] The
national broadcaster is BBC Scotland (BBC Alba in
Gaelic), a constituent part of the British Broadcasting Corporation,
the publicly-funded broadcaster of the United Kingdom. It runs two national television stations and the national
radio stations, BBC Radio Scotland and BBC Radio nan Gaidheal, amongst
others. The main Scottish commercial television stations are STV and Border Television. National newspapers such as the Daily Record, The Herald, and The
Scotsman are all produced in Scotland.[110]
Important regional dailies include The Courier in Dundee in the east,
and The Press and Journal serving
Aberdeen and the north.[110] Sport
Main article: Sport in Scotland
Sport is an important element in Scottish
culture, with the country hosting many of its own national sporting
competitions, and enjoying independent representation at many international
sporting events such as the FIFA
World Cup, the Cricket World Cup and the Commonwealth Games (although not the Olympic
Games). Scotland has its own national governing bodies, such as the Scottish Football Association (the
second oldest national football association in the world)[111] and
the Scottish Rugby Union. Variations of football
have been played in Scotland for centuries with the earliest reference dating
back to 1424.[112]
Association football is now the national
sport and the Scottish Cup is the world's oldest national trophy.[113]
Scottish clubs have been successful in european competitions with Celtic winning
the European
Cup in 1967, Rangers and Aberdeen winning the Cup Winners' Cup in 1972 and 1983 respectively,
and Aberdeen also winning the European Supercup in 1983. The Fife town of St.
Andrews is known internationally as the Home of Golf[114]and to
many golfers the Old Course, an ancient links
course dating to before 1574, is considered to be a site of pilgrimage.[115] There
are many other famous golf courses in Scotland, including Carnoustie, Gleneagles, Muirfield and Royal
Troon. Other distinctive features of the national sporting culture
include the Highland games, curling and shinty. Scotland
played host to the Commonwealth Games in 1970 and 1986, and will do so again in 2014. Cricket is also a popular sport in
Scotland with the team having qualified for the ICC Cricket World Cup on three occasions and having
co-hosted the world cup in 1999. National symbols
Main article: National symbols of Scotland
The Saltire The Flag
of Scotland, known as the Saltire or St. Andrew's Cross, dates (at least
in legend) from the 9th century, and is thus the oldest national flag still in use.
The Saltire now also forms part of the design of the Union Flag.
There are numerous other symbols and symbolic artefacts, both official and
unofficial, including the thistle, the nation's floral
emblem, the 1320 statement of political independence the Declaration of Arbroath, the textile
pattern tartan
that often signifies a particular Scottish
clan, and the Lion Rampant flag.[116][117][118] Flower of Scotland is popularly held to be the National Anthem of Scotland, and is
played at events such as football or rugby matches involving the Scotland
national team. However, since devolution, more serious discussion of the
issue has led to this being disputed. Other candidates include Scots
Wha Hae, Scotland the Brave and A Man's A Man for A' That.[119] St
Andrew's Day, 30 November, is the national
day, although Burns' Night tends to be more widely observed. Tartan Day
is a recent innovation from Canada. In 2006, the Scottish Parliament passed the St. Andrew's Day
Bank Holiday (Scotland) Act 2007, designating the day to be an official bank
holiday.[120] |
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