The
Scotland of the imagination is a land of rolling green hills, kilt-wearing
bagpipers, and crumbling castles. While you can find all of this in Scotland,
there is a great deal more to this fiercely patriotic country. With a land area
equal to the state of Maine in the US, this small country is chock-full of
fascinating history.
10 Fortingall Yew
The 5,000-Year-Old Tree
The 5,000-Year-Old Tree
In the heart of Scotland stands one of Europe’s oldest tree, the Fortingall Yew. Experts speculate that the tree may be 5,000 years old. It is named for the small village in which it is found—Fortingall, in Perthshire. The land surrounding Fortingall contains some of the most amazing archaeological sites in Scotland, from plague burial grounds to the remains of a 1,300-year-old monastery. While the Yew first sprouted long after the first people moved to Scotland over 12,000 years ago, it’s probably as old as the first settlements at Fortingall.
The
Fortingall Yew is significant not just because of its age, but because of the
intriguing folklore surrounding this ancient living entity. Yews are part of
the landscape at countless British churches—many times the trees were planted
at the same time as the church was founded. The Fortingall Yew predates its
sister chapel by thousands of years, leading experts to believe that it was an
important site for pagan rituals long before Christianity came to Perthshire.
It was common practice for early Christians to build over sacred groves and
other existing religious sites in order to promote the dominance of their own
religion. Folklore linking the Fortingall Yew to Christianity soon built up around it.
Legend
says that Pontius Pilate, the judge and Roman governor who sentenced Jesus to
crucifixion, was born by the tree and played in the shade of the Yew during his
childhood. This legend, while unlikely to be factual, tied Scotland to the
history of Christianity in a tangible (if mythological) way. New Age
practitioners have also been attracted to the Fortingall Yew, claiming the tree
was important in the rituals of the druids, and that the druids did not built
near it because of its immense energy. Today the tree is badly damaged and even
had to be cut back to save it from rot, but it still stands strong in the heart
of Scotland, reminding visitors of the sacredness of ancient trees.
9 Redheads
A rumor has been floating around online that redheads could be extinct in a hundred years. It arose when a Bradford University professor was misquoted in The Daily Mail, which reported him saying that we would see redheads disappear through migration and intermarriage. What he meant was that their numbers may dwindle, although they will not disappear entirely.
If
the redhead gene lives on anywhere, it’s southeast Scotland, where 40 percent
of the population are carriers. All told, the British Isles are home to some
20.4 million people who carry the redhead gene. Being redhead, which is linked
with having very pale skin, may be an evolutionary advantage in the far north
where it is so often cloudy. Humans need a significant amount of vitamin D and
redheads are generally able to get more vitamin D after less time in the sun than people with
darker complexions.
Redheads
make up a bigger proportion of the population than they do south of the border,
with 6 percent of Scots being natural redheads. Although other researchers
suggest that this number may be as high as 1 in 8, or 12.5 percent. It’s this
large population of red-haired people that made it a natural location for the
UK’s first ever Ginger Pride Parade, which was held during
the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August of 2013. It was a refreshing party to
counter the bullying that many redheads experience. South Park popularized
“Kick a Ginger Day” which school children have done in real life. The studies
on hidden redhead genes are hoping to counteract prejudice and shed light on
ancestral migration.
8 Hadrian’s Wall
Rome first invaded the southern shore of Britain in 55 BC, near the end of the Iron Age. Small invasions continued for the next 100 years until finally Emperor Claudius sent in 40,000 troops in 43 AD. They reached Scotland, which the Romans called Caledonia, around 79 AD. Their invasion failed, as did several subsequent attempts to conquer it. The warring tribes of the north were not vulnerable to foreign invasion and the best Rome could hope for was civil trading relations, a fact Roman Emperor Hadrian knew well before he visited the area in 122 AD.
At
Hadrians behest, 15 years of construction resulted in an impressive
fortification lining the northernmost reach of the Roman Empire in Britain,
dubbed Hadrian’s Wall. It was 117 kilometers (73 mi) long and had been
constructed in small stretches of eight kilometers (five miles) at a time.
Sections were separated by forts which also served as trading posts. The wall was 3 meters (10
ft) wide and varied in height from five to six meters (16 to 20 ft). While the
exact reason for building the wall remains unclear, it is evident that Hadrian
was attempting to fortify his defenses before attempting to conquer land
further north. The Scots will tell you Rome was afraid of them and built the
wall to keep the terrifying warriors out of Rome.
After
Emperor Hadrian passed away in 138 AD, Antoninus Pius became emperor. He wasn’t
keen on Hadrian’s Wall and wanted to expand further north, building the lesser
known Antonine Wall about 160 kilometers (99 mi) north of the previous
fortification. This wall was built out of turf and was 60.8 kilometers (37.8
mi) long. Attempt after attempt failed to conquer the Highland tribes, even
with this new wall which had many more forts and likely more troops than
Hadrian’s Wall ever did. Antoninus’s efforts failed and his successor, Emperor
Marcus Aurelius, abandoned the wall, relocating his troops back to Hadrian’s
Wall where they stayed until the fifth century, when Rome withdrew from
Britain.
The
remnants of the wall were declared a World Heritage Site in 1987. Visitors to
the wall can fully explore the unguarded site, but the archaeologists
among us would remind visitors to be mindful of the site’s ancient history and
be careful to not damage the historic structure.
7 Edinburgh Vaults
Beneath the streets of Scotland’s capital, Edinburgh, lies a series of underground chambers that today are referred to as the Edinburgh Vaults. These vaults were not, as is commonly the case, the city before streets were raised, or secret tunnels built to transport illicit goods. They are beneath South Bridge, the first street that was constructed as a purpose-built shopping district. Although South Bridge appears by all accounts to be a street, it is actually a bridge connecting two hillsides, Southside and Old Town. The bridge had 19 arches and was up to 9.5 meters (31 ft) in places, as well as reaching nearly seven meters (22 ft) below ground in others. Construction on the bridge wrapped up in 1788.
Over
time, the street/bridge became populated by shops and the lower levels by
basements and storerooms. The street suffered damage over time because it had
not been properly waterproofed and the storerooms below ground had to be
abandoned. So as legitimate businesses moved out, illicit trade moved in.
The
deeper spaces were closed off and turned into chambers for everything from underground pubs to illegal tenement
housing for poor immigrants. During Ireland’s Great Famine, Scotland saw an
influx of immigrants from Ireland, and the vaults became a refuge for the most
underserved populations. The area was informally known as Little Ireland in the
mid-1800s. There is little official documentation of what went on below South
Bridge, as people making use of the space weren’t likely to write about it
since they were there illegally. The chambers were abandoned in the late 1800s
only to be rediscovered in 1988 by someone exploring the space below their
building.
Today
the Edinburgh Vaults are thought to be one of Edinburgh’s many haunted
locations. Hearing voices, being scratched, pushed, and feeling cold pockets of
air are all common claims by visitors. A haunting
legend says that the infamous 1820s West Port murderers, Burke and Hare, stored
the bodies of their 16 victims here before selling them to Edinburgh’s Doctor
Robert Knox to use in anatomy class. Before turning to murder, Burke and Hare
dug up corpses to sell to medical schools. After Burke was caught and hanged,
his corpse was dissected in public, items such as wallets were made from his
tanned skin, and his skeleton was put on display in Edinburgh Medical
College, where you can visit it today.
6 Violence And Football
Glasgow has long been known as the murder capital of Europe. In fact, it’s ranked third. Studies report Glasgow has more violent incidents per capita than Rio de Janeiro or New York City, although their murder rate is half that of New York City. Unlike New York, guns are rare in Glasgow, so violence happens face-to-face with knives and fists. Certainly it is the most dangerous place in the United Kingdom, with significantly more murders per capita than London (2.7 per 100,000 versus London’s 1.67 per 100,000). The crime rate has dropped significantly in the last 10 years, but Glasgow has a history marred by religious violence, high poverty, and vicious sporting rivalries.
Many
pubs have notices reading “No football colours allowed” because this is a city
where walking into the wrong pub wearing the wrong color can incite a brawl. The fiercest rivalry is between the two
Glasgow teams Rangers and Celtic (collectively known as the Old Firm), the two
most successful clubs in Scotland. The rivalry runs along deep religious
divides, with the Rangers representing the Protestants and aligning themselves
with the British monarchy while Celtic represents Roman Catholicism and dress
in green to align with Ireland. In fact, both teams were founded by members of
their respective religions: Celtic was founded by a Catholic monk while Rangers
was founded by a group of Protestant rowers.
Even
today, the prejudice against and for these particular religious affiliations
affects everything from the crews hired to clean the field to the managers who
run the entire club. Legislation has attempted to crack down on the violence,
but it is still there. From bombs in the mail to racist slurs and tasteless taunts about
death, nothing is off limits for some diehard fans.
The
violence doesn’t end when the brawls are broken up after the game. Recent
research from St Andrews University presented solid evidence that domestic
abuse increases considerably on the days of Old
Firm games. Most victims of these cases are female, and with the low rate of
reporting by victims the actual rate is probably much higher than the study
shows.
5 Inventions
Scotland lays claim to countless inventions that we take for granted today. While some inventors are well known, such as the controversial Alexander Graham Bell (a native Scotsman who immigrated to North America), others have never received proper credit for their contributions.
Kirkpatrick MacMillan invented the pedal bicycle, although others took the
credit and profited from copies of his invention. The ubiquitous ATM is another Scottish invention. John
Shepherd-Barron, a Scotsman born in India, is said to have come up with the
idea while in the bath; the first one was installed in 1967. And although the
heyday of the fax machine may be over, it was a crucial piece of technology for
decades. Alexander Bain began work on the first
rudimentary fax machine in the mid-1840s.
Taking a look around the kitchen we find more Scottish
inventions in action. The microwave is a staple in today’s modern kitchens, the
principles of which were laid out by James Clerk Maxwell in the mid-to-late
1800s. He studied the electro-magnetic spectrum and noted the waves on which
the energy traveled. Artificial cooling was invented by William Cullen in 1748.
At the time, it was thought to be useless in everyday life—it wasn’t until
later that it was implemented in refrigerators. And if you open up that fridge
to pour yourself a gin and tonic, you can thank George Cleghorn, the Scottish
doctor from the 1700s who combined quinine, tonic, and gin as a way to combat
malaria.
Take your G & T into the living-room and take a moment to
remember John Logie Baird, who invented both the first television in 1926 and
the first color television in 1928. And if you end up having a few too many
gins? You’ll probably need to make use of the device invented by Alexander
Cumming, a Scottish watchmaker. He patented the first flushing toilet in 1775.
Archaeological evidence suggests that the first toilets ever were possibly
built in Orkney, Scotland in 3,000 BC. Thank you Scotland, for all the useful ideas.
4 Viking Ties
The Norse made a lasting impact on Scottish culture. They first conquered many of Scotland’s smaller islands in the 11th century before taking on the main British Isle. While the stereotype of Vikings may be vicious and bloody, the real Vikings were very different. Family life was very important to them and they and took their wives with them once they had successfully conquered a place. Scotland, to the Norse, was a vital part of their main trading route, which expanded from North America’s Newfoundland all the way to Baghdad, with their reach extending even further afield than that.
The Vikings, as scary as they may have been in battle, actually
warned their fellow countrymen to be wary of Scotland. A Norse travel guide
of sorts from the 1200s depicted Scotland as a place that was dark and
dangerous. They described the language as impossible to understand and the
people as violent and terrifying. They also feared the seas surrounding
Scotland because of the unpredictable weather patterns and strong gale winds.
The Vikings didn’t plunder the native population so much as they went after
unguarded places such as monasteries—because the Scots were not going to give
up their goods without a fight.
The Vikings did settle in Scotland and their lineage carries
on today. Words that come from Old Norse are still in use in the local Scots
language, such as “muckle,” which means large, and even “kilt,” which comes
from the Old Norse word kjalta. There are many in Scotland who consider
their culture to be closely related to that of Scandinavia,
with a shared interest in dark humor and a proud lineage of rebellious
warriors.
3 Unicorns
Scotland’s official animal is the unicorn. Yes, their famous native animal the unicorn. It’s not so surprising considering the love Scotland has for legend. Unicorns were revered by the Celts, the symbolism being much the same as it is today: grace, purity, healing, and happiness. The creature was printed on gold coins when King James III was in power between 1466 and 1488 AD. The Scottish Royal Arms had two unicorns on it, and a unicorn is still a part of the United Kingdom’s Royal Coat of Arms alongside the lion.
Scotland is no stranger to mythological creatures, whether
modern or ancient. The first sighting of the infamous Loch Ness Monster was
some 1,500 years ago. It’s said that the beast jumped from the lake and ate a farmer. The first photograph was
taken in 1934 and since then thousands flock to Inverness every year to try and
catch a glimpse of the supposed monster. Some of the other terrifying creatures
that are said to make their home in Scotland have been mentioned here on
Listverse before, such as the nuckelavee, who caused disasters on the Orkney
Islands or a spooky portent called the beane nighe that cleans the blood off people who are going
to die.
The unicorn, even with its angelic qualities, is depicted
chained up. A unicorn could only be tamed by a virgin and so they were
considered very dangerous in the wild. While the other animal of Scotland, the
red lion (which was adopted when Scotland’s King James VI took the throne after
England’s Queen Elizabeth I), is not chained in official iconography. Perhaps
it is the unicorn’s fierce love of freedom that resonates most strongly with Scotland.
2 Strange Games And
Sport Bans
There is a tumultuous and fascinating history with sport in this northern land. Scotland has long been considered the motherland of golf, where it was invented in the 15th century. It caught on so quickly and was so popular that King James II had the game outlawed because he believed it was preventing his men from training properly for war. Golf wasn’t the only sport to get banned: Football (soccer) was made illegal by King James I in 1424. He was displeased with the roughness of the game and thought it was unnecessarily injuring the players. The ban didn’t last and the very first international football game was held in Scotland in 1872.
Football and golf are immediately associated with Scotland,
but there is also less well-known sport that the Scots excel at. That sport is
elephant polo—like regular polo but played atop elephants. This game is
normally played in Nepal, India, Thailand, and Sri Lanka so it’s surprising
that Scotland has for many years been top of the ladder. Variants of the game originated in India
but modern elephant polo was co-founded by James Manclark of Scotland in the
1980s. The elephants have two people on their backs, a driver and a player. The
game is played on a field that is 100 meters (328 ft) in length by teams of
four elephants, with their riders attempting to handle the ball with
ridiculously long 2.5 meter (96 in) playing sticks. There are strict regulations preventing the
elephants from being overworked or mistreated.
1 Independence
Scotland is a sovereign state in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Although it’s part of the UK’s constitutional monarchy, it has a lot of independence. Scotland’s education system is separate and governed from within Scotland. Scotland offers free water for its citizens, although oil and nuclear energy are governed by the UK. Although their their health system is part of the greater National Health Service, Scotland controls its implementation (which allows them to provide free prescriptions to everyone, something England does not do).
Scotland also has its own judicial system— unlike most
western systems, courts can come back with a decision of guilty, not guilty, or
not proved. The police force of Scotland are separate from that of the rest of
the UK. Scotland also has its own distinct parliament, which is chaired by the
First Minister of Scotland.
In 2014 Scottish people will vote on the independence
referendum. This ballot has voters choose either yes or no on the question “Should Scotland
be an independent country?” The voting population will be legal residents of
Scotland aged 16 or older. It’s a heated topic and one that is rousing the
political fever of even the most relaxed resident. As mentioned earlier,
Scotland has never taken kindly to invaders but they were unified with England
in 1707 when King James VI replaced the deceased Queen Elizabeth I. Immediately
factions in Scotland wanted independence and some were never happy with the
unification.
Robert Burns, the famous Scottish poet, penned the quote, “We
are bought and sold for English gold. Such a parcel of rogues in a nation.” His
quote reflects the sentiments of many of his fellow countrymen and in a year we
will see just how many want complete separation from England.
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