Scotland

Karol Rahuoja

Scotland is the northern part of Great Britain. It is north of England and west of Ireland. St. Andrew’s the patron saint of Scotland. St. Andrew is also the patron saint of Russia. Scottish flag has the white diagonal cross in the blue background. Scotland’s population is about 5 million. Edinburgh is the capital of Scotland. Other important cities are Aberdeen and Glasgow. Aberdeen is an old university town, but nowadays there are a lot of art galleries. Glasgow is the biggest city. It is on the river Clyde.

Scotland’s consists of the highlands, the lowlands and the islands near the western coast. The landscape of Scotland is very attractive. There are high mountains and deep locks, but also heather moons in the Highlands. There are low hills and green lawns in the lowlands.

A legend tells that there is a monster in one of the locks in Highlands. It’s called The Loch Ness monster. Some people say that they have seen it, thousands of people all over the world come to the loch every year, but the monster does not show itself. There is a special Exhibition Centre on the edge of the loch for tourists. It is called The Loch ness Exhibition Centre.

Nowadays few Scots live in the Highlands. Some of them still speak Scottish Gaelic language. Most of the people live in the Lowlands. There are a lot of farmers who keep sheep. When you are driving in the lowlands you can see hundreds or even thousands of sheep on the hillsides.

All true Scots belong to a clan or tribe. Each clan has own tartan. It is a woollen cloth with squares and stripes on it. Long time ago clans wore the tartan on their shoulders. Kilts became popular in the 18th century.

Many Scottish names start “Mac” or “Mc“. It means son of somebody. So the name Mc’ Donald means son of Donald. Other popular Scottish names are McKenzie and Campbell.

Robert Burns is Scotland’s greatest poet. He wrote a lot of songs about love, the life of walking people and his love to Scotland. His most famous song is “Auld Lang Syne”