Portal:Scotland
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Glasgow, West. -
The Quiraing on the Isle of Skye. -
The Falkirk Wheel boat lift. -
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Introduction
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Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjacent islands, principally in the archipelagos of the Hebrides and the Northern Isles. In 2022 the country's population was about 5.4 million. Its capital city is Edinburgh, whilst Glasgow is the largest city and the most populous of the cities of Scotland. To the south-east Scotland has its only land border, which is 96 miles (154 km) long and shared with England; the country is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, the North Sea to the north-east and east, and the Irish Sea to the south. The legislature, the Scottish Parliament, elects 129 members to represent 73 constituencies across the country. The Scottish Government is the executive arm of the devolved government, headed by the first minister, who chairs the cabinet and responsible for government policy and international engagement.
The Kingdom of Scotland emerged as an independent sovereign state in the 9th century. In 1603 James VI succeeded to the thrones of England and Ireland, forming a personal union of the three kingdoms. On 1 May 1707 Scotland and England combined to create the new Kingdom of Great Britain, with the Parliament of Scotland subsumed into the Parliament of Great Britain. In 1999 a Scottish Parliament was re-established, and has devolved authority over many areas of domestic policy. The country has its own distinct legal system, education system and religious history, which have all contributed to the continuation of Scottish culture and national identity. Scottish English and Scots are the most widely spoken languages in the country, existing on a dialect continuum with each other. Scottish Gaelic–speakers can be found all over Scotland, but the language is largely spoken natively by communities within the Hebrides; Gaelic-speakers now constitute less than 2% of the total population, although state-sponsored revitalisation attempts have led to a growing community of second language speakers.
The mainland of Scotland is broadly divided into three regions: the Highlands, a mountainous region in the north and north-west; the Lowlands, a flatter plain across the centre of the country; and the Southern Uplands, a hilly region along the southern border. The Highlands are the most mountainous region of the British Isles and contain its highest peak, Ben Nevis, at 4,413 feet (1,345 m). The region also contains many lakes, called lochs; the term is also applied to the many saltwater inlets along the country's deeply indented western coastline. The geography of the many islands is varied. Some, such as Mull and Skye, are noted for their mountainous terrain, while the likes of Tiree and Coll are much flatter.
Selected article
Arbroath (/ɑːrˈbroʊθ/) or Aberbrothock (Scottish Gaelic: Obar Bhrothaig [ˈopəɾ ˈvɾo.ɪkʲ]) is a former royal burgh and the largest town in the council area of Angus, Scotland, with a population of 23,902. It lies on the North Sea coast, some 16 miles (26 km) east-northeast of Dundee and 45 miles (72 km) south-southwest of Aberdeen.
There is evidence of Iron Age settlement, but its history as a town began with the founding of Arbroath Abbey in 1178. It grew much during the Industrial Revolution through the flax and then the jute industry and the engineering sector. A new harbour was created in 1839; by the 20th century, Arbroath was one of Scotland's larger fishing ports.
The town is notable for the Declaration of Arbroath and the Arbroath smokie. Arbroath Football Club holds the world record for the number of goals scored in a professional football match: 36–0 against Bon Accord of Aberdeen in the Scottish Cup in 1885. (... Read the full article)
Selected quotes
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" ... God gave us our memories so that we might have roses in December ... "
— J. M. Barrie
" ... A man, as a general rule, owes very little to what he is born with – a man is what he makes of himself ... "
— Alexander Graham Bell -
" ... Well, we say yes and we are the people ... "
— Canon Kenyon Wright
" ... Socialism proposes to dethrone the brute-god Mammon and to lift humanity into its place ... "
— Keir Hardie -
" ... Books are a finer world within the world ... "
— Alexander Smith
" ... All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education ... "
— Sir Walter Scott -
" ... the inarticulate expression of the inequalities of life ... "
— Jimmy Boyle (Speaking of crime)
" ... The proletarian has no country; all are equally prisons to him alike ... "
— Robert Bontine Cunninghame Graham -
" ... No laws, however stringent, can make the idle industrious, the thriftless provident, or the drunken sober ... "
— Samuel Smiles
" ... It is a great mortification to the vanity of man, that his utmost art and industry can never equal the meanest of nature's productions, either for beauty or value ... "
— David Hume -
" ... Come along inside. We'll see if tea and buns can make the world a better place ... "
— Kenneth Grahame
" ... All speech, written or spoken, is a dead language, until it finds a willing and prepared hearer ... "
— Robert Louis Stevenson -
" ... Custom, then, is the great guide of human life ... "
— David Hume
" ... Perpetual devotion to what a man calls his business, is only to be sustained by perpetual neglect of many other things ... "
— Robert Louis Stevenson -
" ... The cruellest lies are often told in silence ... "
— Robert Louis Stevenson
" ... It has long been an axiom of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important ... "
— Sir Arthur Conan Doyle -
" ... Preparing youngsters for failure is easy; it’s preparing them for success that’s really difficult ... "
— Sir Alex Ferguson
" ... The battle for conservation will go on endlessly. It is part of the universal battle between right and wrong ... "
— John Muir -
" ... We think the world is ours for ever, but we are little more than squatters ... "
— Alexander McCall Smith
" ... A custom loathsome to the eye, hateful to the nose, harmful to the brain, dangerous to the lungs, and in the black, stinking fume thereof, nearest resembling the horrible Stygian smoke of the pit that is bottomless ... "
— James VI King of Scots (on Tobacco) -
" ... You ought to be roasted alive, though even then you would not be to my taste ... "
— J. M. Barrie speaking to George Bernard Shaw
" ... We are often unable to tell people what they need to know because they want to know something else ... "
— George MacDonald -
" ... There are only two types of music: rock and roll ... "
— Alex Harvey
" ... A man willing to work, and unable to find work, is perhaps the saddest sight that Fortune's inequality exhibits under this sun ... "
— Thomas Carlyle -
" ... I have forgot a great deal more than most other men know ... "
— Lord Monboddo
" ... I tell you truly, liberty is the best of things; never live under the halter of slavery ... "
— William Wallace -
" ... I fear I have nothing original in me excepting original sin ... "
— Thomas Campbell
" ... Life is a waste of time. Time is a waste of life. Get wasted all the time and you'll have the time of your life ... "
— Billy Connolly -
" ... The Scots are steadfast - not their clime ... "
— Thomas Crawford
" ... We do have the greatest fans in the world but I’ve never seen a fan score a goal ... "
— Jock Stein -
" ... You talked of Scotland as a lost cause and that is not true. Scotland is an unwon cause ... "
— John Steinbeck, in a letter to Mrs John F. Kennedy
" ... We live in a moment of history where change is so speeded up that we begin to see the present only when it is already disappearing ... "
— Ronald David Laing -
" ... Some of my plays peter out and some pan out ... "
— J. M. Barrie, author of Peter Pan
" ... There are two rules for drinking whisky. First, never take whisky without water, and second, never take water without whisky ... "
— Chic Murray -
" ... Good lies need a leavening of truth to make them palatable ... "
— William McIlvanney
" ... Golf is a thoroughly national game; it is as Scotch as haggis, cockie-leekie, high cheek-bones or rowanberry jam ... "
— Andrew Lang -
" ... Avarice, the spur of industry ... "
— David Hume
" ... No enemy is half so fatal as a friend estranged ... "
— John Davidson -
" ... Every line of strength in American history is a line coloured with Scottish blood ... "
— Woodrow Wilson
" ... The result of our present enquiry is that we find no vestige of a beginning, no prospect of an end ... "
— James Hutton on the immensity of geological time at the Royal Society of Edinburgh -
" ... Celtic jerseys are not for second best, They don't shrink to fit inferior players ... "
— Jock Stein
" ... In every place, where there is any thing worthy of observation, there should be a short printed directory for strangers ... "
— James Boswell -
" ... I have not yet begun to fight! ... "
— John Paul Jones
" ... Devolution will kill nationalism stone dead ... "
— George Robertson -
" ... Doctors, like minicab drivers, are the other idiots to whom we trust our lives ... "
— James Kennaway
" ... When shall I see Scotland again? Never shall I forget the happy days I passed there amidst odious smells, barbarous sounds, bad suppers, excellent hearts and the most enlightened and cultivated understandings ... "
— Sydney Smith -
" ... Oh, what a tangled web we weave,
When first we practice to deceive ... "
— Sir Walter Scott
" ... Look to your consciences and remember that the theatre of the world is wider than the realm of England ... "
— Mary, Queen of Scots -
" ... Old and young, we are all on our last cruise ... "
— Robert Louis Stevenson
" ... None of Nature's landscapes are ugly so long as they are wild ... "
— John Muir
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Selected biography
Robert Adam FRSE FRS FSAScot FSA FRSA (3 July 1728 – 3 March 1792) was a British neoclassical architect, interior designer and furniture designer. He was the son of William Adam (1689–1748), Scotland's foremost architect of the time, and trained under him. With his older brother John, Robert took on the family business, which included lucrative work for the Board of Ordnance, after William's death.
In 1754, he left for Rome, spending nearly five years on the continent studying architecture under Charles-Louis Clérisseau and Giovanni Battista Piranesi. On his return to Britain he established a practice in London, where he was joined by his younger brother James. Here he developed the "Adam Style", and his theory of "movement" in architecture, based on his studies of antiquity and became one of the most successful and fashionable architects in the country. Adam held the post of Architect of the King's Works from 1761 to 1769.
Robert Adam was a leader of the first phase of the classical revival in England and Scotland from around 1760 until his death. He influenced the development of Western architecture, both in Europe and in North America. Adam designed interiors and fittings as well as houses. Much of his work consisted of remodelling existing houses, as well as contributions to Edinburgh's townscape and designing romantic pseudo-mediaeval country houses in Scotland.
He served as the member of Parliament for Kinross-shire from 1768 to 1774. (... Read the full article)
Selected picture
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RRS Discovery docked at Dundee
RRS Discovery was the last traditional wooden three-masted ship to be built in Britain. Designed for Antarctic research, she was launched as a Royal Research Ship (RRS) in 1901. Her first mission was the British National Antarctic Expedition, carrying Robert Falcon Scott and Ernest Shackleton on their first, successful journey to the Antarctic, known as the Discovery Expedition. She is now the centrepiece of a visitor attraction in her home, Dundee.
Photo credit: Mactographer -
Detail of the V&A museum from the west with the Tay Bridge beyond
Detail of the V&A museum, Dundee from the west with the Tay Bridge beyond.
Photo credit: Richard Szwejkowski -
Dunfermline Abbey, east side viewed from the south
Dunfermline Abbey is a large Benedictine abbey in Dunfermline, Fife. It was administered by the Abbot of Dunfermline. The abbey was founded in 1128 by King David I, but the monastic establishment was based on an earlier foundation dating back to the reign of King Máel Coluim mac Donnchada (i.e. "Malcolm III" or "Malcolm Canmore", r. 1058-93).
Photo credit: Mussklprozz -
36-inch telescope at the Royal Observatory, Edinburgh
36-inch telescope at the Royal Observatory on Blackford Hill, Edinburgh, the location of the UK Astronomy Technology Centre (UK ATC).
Photo credit: Science and Technology Facilities Council -
Freezing temperatures in Braemar
Braemar is a village in Aberdeenshire, around 58 miles (93 km) west of Aberdeen in the Highlands. Sitting at an altitude of 339 metres (1,112 ft), Braemar is the third coldest low lying place in the UK, after the villages of Dalwhinnie and Leadhills. It has twice entered the UK Weather Records with the lowest ever UK temperature of -27.2oC, on 11 February 1895, and 10 January 1982.
Photo credit: Paul Chapman -
Eilean Donan Castle
The castle on Eilean Donan (Scottish Gaelic: Eilean Donnain), a small tidal island where three sea lochs meet, Loch Duich, Loch Long and Loch Alsh, in the western Highlands.
Photo credit: Gillfoto -
Vat of Kirbister -
Tobermory waterfront, isle of Mull
Tobermoray (Scottish Gaelic: Tobar Mhoire) is the capital of, and the only burgh on, the Isle of Mull in the Inner Hebrides. It is located in the northeastern part of the island, near the northern entrance of the Sound of Mull. The town was founded as a fishing port in 1788, its layout based on the designs of Dumfriesshire engineer Thomas Telford.
Photo credit: Lukas von Daeniken -
The Dunmore Pineapple, a folly in Dunmore Park, near Airth in Stirlingshire
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The Dunmore Pineapple, a folly in Dunmore Park, near Airth in Stirlingshire
Photo credit: George.Gastin -
St John's cross in the Abbey museum
One of the oldest and most important religious centres in western Europe, Iona Abbey is considered the point of origin for the spread of Christianity throughout Scotland. Iona Abbey is located on the Isle of Iona, just off the Isle of Mull on the West Coast.
Photo credit: Dennis Turner -
The Old Man of Storr
The Old Man of Storr is a rock pinnacle, the remains of an ancient volcanic plug. It is part of The Storr, a rocky hill overlooking the Sound of Raasay on the Trotternish peninsula of the Isle of Skye.
Photo credit: Wojsy -
Bealach na Bà
Bealach na Bà is a historic pass through the mountains of the Applecross peninsula, in Wester Ross in the Scottish Highlands—and the name of a famous twisting, single-track mountain road through the pass and mountains. The road is one of few in the Scottish Highlands that is engineered similarly to roads through the great mountain passes in the Alps, with very tight hairpin bends that switch back and forth up the hillside.
Photo credit: Stefan Krause -
Looking south from the Quiraing, Skye
The Isle of Skye, commonly known as Skye, is the largest and most northerly island in the Inner Hebrides. In Scottish Gaelic it is commonly referred to as An t-Eilean Sgiathanach ("The Winged Isle").
Photo credit: masher2 -
Detail of the Queen from the Lewis chessmen
The Lewis chessmen (named after their find-site) belong to some of the few complete medieval chess sets that have survived until today. The chessmen are believed to have been made in Norway, perhaps by craftsmen in Trondheim (where similar pieces have been found), sometime during the 12th century.
Photo credit: Finlay McWalter -
Cells of Life, a landform by Charles Jencks at Jupiter Artland
Cells of Life, a landform by Charles Jencks at Jupiter Artland, a contemporary sculpture park and art gallery outside the city of Edinburgh.
Photo credit: Allan Pollok-Morris -
The Black Cuillin viewed from Sgùrr na Strì
The Black Cuillin, a range of rocky mountains located on the Isle of Skye, viewed from Sgùrr na Strì.
Photo credit: User:YaoAxton -
View of Canisp and Suilven from nearby Clachtoll
Canisp and Suilven seen from the coastal fishing and crofting village of Clachtoll in Sutherland county, on the north western edge of Scotland.
Photo credit: Louis_Daillencourt -
Wemyss Bay railway station.
Wemyss Bay railway station is a railway station on the Inverclyde Line. Located in the village of Wemyss Bay, Inverclyde. The station incorporates the terminal for the Caledonian MacBrayne ferry connecting the mainland to Rothesay on the Isle of Bute.
Photo credit: wilm -
The Callanish Stones
The Callanish Stones are an arrangement of standing stones near the village of Callanish on the west coast of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides. Placed in a cruciform pattern with a central stone circle, they were erected in the late Neolithic era, and were a focus for ritual activity during the Bronze Age
Photo credit: Mrdog10 -
Statue of Robert the Bruce, Bannockburn
Robert the Bruce statue at the Bannockburn Visitor Centre, Bannockburn, Stirling, is a 1964 work by Pilkington Jackson. The bronze sculpture depicts Robert the Bruce wielding an axe and on a war horse.
Photo credit: Martin Kraft -
Coire nan Lochan on the southern side of Glen Coe
Glen Coe ((Scottish Gaelic: Gleann Comhann) is a glen in the Highlands. It lies in the southern part of the Lochaber committee area of Highland Council, and was formerly part of the county of Argyll.
Photo credit: Gil.cavalcanti -
Crail Harbour
Crail is a former royal burgh in the East Neuk of Fife. Built around a harbour, it has a particular wealth of vernacular buildings from the 17th to early 19th centuries, many restored by the National Trust for Scotland, and is a favourite subject for artists.
Photo credit: S.moeller -
Dean Village, Edinburgh -
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The William Younger Centre housing Our Dynamic Earth science centre
Our Dynamic Earth is a Scottish science centre and prominent conference venue and visitor attraction located in Holyrood, Edinburgh, beside the Scottish Parliament Building.
Photo credit: Globaltraveller
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Did You Know...
- ... that background research for Dujanah included interviews with Muslim apostates and a Scottish veteran of Afghanistan?
- ... that East Suffolk Park, a former student hostel in Edinburgh, was once an internment camp for enemy aliens?
- ... that the Scottish judge Lord Duthie served as an officer in the Royal Naval Reserve?
- ... that comedian Frankie Boyle's debut novel Meantime is about a Glaswegian drug addict investigating his friend's death?
- ... that the Scottish invasion of England in 1648 was defeated by an army less than half their size?
- ... that the 1830 abandonment of Chipewyan woman Matooskie by her Scottish husband was eventually settled with a dowry payment of £200?
- ... that the unlicensed Willy's Chocolate Experience in Scotland led to a crossover event between the American television series Abbott Elementary and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia?
- ... that Thorpe's secluded hills provided refuge from Scottish raiders and English Civil War troops?
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To get involved in helping to improve Wikipedia's Scotland related content, please consider doing some of the following tasks or joining one or more of the associated Wikiprojects:
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- Visit Wikipedia:WikiProject Scotland/Assessment, and help out by assessing unrated Scottish articles.
- Add the Project Banner to Scottish articles around Wikipedia.
- Participate in WikiProject Scotland's Peer Review, including responding to PR requests and nominating Scottish articles.
- Help nominate and select new content for the Scotland portal.
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