SCOTLAND

SCOTLAND
= The History of Scotland =

There isn’t any record of the Scottish people before the first century AD when the Romans invaded Britain. The Romans added the southern Britain to their Empire and made the province Britannia. The Scottish people were seen as a wild and uncontrollable people. So the roman emperor Hadrian built a massive wall to keep Scotland and Britannia separated. The wall is known as Hadrian’s Wall, and parts of it are still standing. After the Normans conquered England in 1066, many Anglo-Saxons settled in the southern parts of Scotland, that’s when the Scottish people started to adopt the English ways. In 1290 Margaret (who was heiress to the throne) died, thirteen people fought for the crown. Edward 1st claimed the right and made John de Baliol king, but when Edward asked John for help with the French, John instead entered an alliance with France. For 260 years Scotland held to their alliance with England’s worst enemy. Edward crossed the border to Scotland in 1296 and took John prisoner and claimed himself king of Scotland. The age-old rivalry between Scotland and England ended formally in 1707 when the parliaments of both countries agreed to the Act of Union. This act merged the two parliaments of the countries and established the kingdom of Great Britain. __** The Scottish nature and geography **__ Scotland belongs to the British Isles; more specifically the northern part of the British Isles. Some of Scotland’s most notable pieces of nature are the many islands, and the highlands north and west of the Highland Boundary Fault. The Highland Boundary Fault is an enormous, almost sort of row, of ancient rocks that separates the northern part of the country from the southern. All of the northern highlands are mostly mountains and cliffs, with few plants, but the more birds. The total area of Scotland is almost 79 square kilometers. This includes, impressively enough, almost eight hundred islands, which are divided into four main groups, being Shetland, Orkney, Inner Hebrides and Outer Hebrides. The nature on these islands stands out due to the absence of trees, and several flower types that doesn’t grow anywhere else in the world. Then there’s the Midland Valley, the so-called centre of Scotland, or the Central Lowlands. Here we find more of the green, idyllic nature that tends to be people’s idea of Scotland; sheep and everything, along with larger cities, like Edinburgh, Glasgow and Dundee. Even though this is a small part of Scotland, more than half of the population lives here. Finally, there are the Southern Uplands; a minor area of dominating hills and broad, green valleys. As one can see, the variety in geology and geography in Scotland is rather uncommon for so small a country. I’m focusing merely on the elements of Scottish culture that are particularly typical for Scotland here. One thing that most people think of when hearing of Scottish culture is clothing, meaning the infamous kilt. The kilt, as most people know, is a knee-length garment with a characteristic pattern. It must be admitted that it resembles a skirt, but there is more to the kilt than people might think. For instance the pattern. It is never random. Every pattern represents something specific, for instance where you are from, or which relations you have. It can be compared to the Norwegian //bunad// in that way. Next, there are the highland bagpipes, as they are called; they are Scotland’s national instrument. They were actually invented in Egypt, but apparently they were warmly welcomed to Scotland after a time. Another thing linked to Scotland is golf. Golf comes from Scotland; it was invented here in the 1400s. Back then it was played a bit differently, though – the shepherds, when they were bored, used their staffs to punch stones into rabbit holes. And since it kept on growing into the game it is today. __Bannocks__: a barley and oat-flour biscuit baked on a gridle. __Black Bun__: is a very rich fruit cake, made with raisins, currants, finely-chopped peel, chopped almonds and brown sugar. It takes its name from the very dark colour. __Haggis__: is perhaps the best known Scottish food. Haggis is made from sheep`s offal. The windpipe, lungs, heart and liver of the sheep are boiled. This is mixed with beef suet and lightly toasted oatmeal. This mixture is placed inside the sheep`s stomach, which is sewn closed. The resulting haggis is traditionally cooked by further boiling (for up to three hours), although the part-cooked haggis can be cooked in the oven which prevents the risk of bursting and spoiling.
 * __ The Scottish culture __**
 * __Food__**

__Scotch whisky__: is certainly the best known Scottish drink. Scotch whisky distilled from barley liquor and flavoured with peat tainted water. Loch Ness is a lake in Scotland. And there is a legend about a monster who live in Loch Ness; “Nessie” – The Loch Ness Monster. Many people have been searching after the monster, but with no result. And there are speculations about the local merchant that is earning money on the legend, have been “helping” to make the legend seem real. In 1933 the state build a road along Loch Ness, and many people believe that they woke up the monster. But there is no evidence that someone actually have been seeing the monster.
 * __The Loch Ness Monster__**