Scotland what a country. Scotland
SCOTLAND
country occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain. It is separated from England mainly by the Cheviot Hills and the Tuid River. To the west of Scotland on the other side of the North Strait (St. Patrick's) lies Northern Ireland. The southern coast of Scotland faces the Irish Sea and the Solway Firth. Scotland's borders have remained unchanged for almost 500 years.
Scotland is part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. However, the political status of Scotland is not noted in this title. Although Scotland has never been an autonomous or federal unit of Great Britain and is no longer a kingdom, it is not just a geographic or administrative region. Scotland can be viewed as a separate country. The Scots defend their national identity and maintain many institutions that are not found in England and other English-speaking countries. They have their capital Edinburgh, their church, laws and courts, their banks and banknotes. In Scotland, cities are called burgs (as opposed to boroughs in England), and their mayors are called provosts (in England, mayors), the sheriffs there are judges who receive wages, not honorary dignitaries, as in England. Peculiar institutions have been preserved in Scotland for a long time, when it was a sovereign state. Attempts to unite Scotland and England have been undertaken for a long time. Many of them were acts of armed aggression by England. For a long time, the Scots successfully repulsed the invaders, which contributed to the consolidation of national identity. In 1603, when, after the death of Elizabeth I, the Scottish king James VI was peacefully established on the English throne, both countries were ruled by one monarch, but each retained its own parliament and its own governing bodies. Then, under the Union Act 1707, Scotland and England entered the United Kingdom of Great Britain with a single parliament and central government. However, even after 1707, Scotland retained its identity, as some of its institutions were clearly defined by the Union Act, and in most recent years there has been a tendency towards decentralization of government, with many government functions transferred to separate Scottish departments. Although in terms of its area (78,772 sq. Km) Scotland accounts for more than half of the area of England and Wales combined (151,126 thousand sq. Km), its population in 1991 totaled only 4989 thousand people against 49,890 thousand in England and Wales ... In the 20th century. Scotland has undergone significant changes in population distribution: there has been an increase in migration to cities, where 9 out of every 10 Scots now live. In the mountains and on the islands, the population density does not exceed 12 people per 1 sq. km. However, at present, the centers of population growth are not large cities, but their suburban areas.
Nature. The character of the Scottish people and their way of life were largely influenced by the natural environment: due to the predominance of mountains and hills, only 1/5 of the territory was suitable for agriculture. In the south, the South Scottish Highlands are bordered on almost all sides by coastal lowlands and river valleys. The Mid-Scots Lowlands, which cuts across the country between the Firth of Forth and the Firth of Clyde, are highly industrialized. To the north of this belt, almost along the entire eastern coast, a wide plain is traced, and agriculture is developed in several large river valleys. Only in the most fertile lands in the south and east - in Tuida Valley, County Ayr, Lothian, county north of Firth of Tay, partly in County Aberdeen and on both banks of the Morey Firth - intensive farming brings very high incomes. Scotland is characterized by widespread rocky hills and marshes, while its central and western regions are dominated by mountains. The highest point - Mount Ben Nevis in the Grampian Mountains - reaches only 1343 m, several other peaks rise above 1200 m. However, there is approx. 300 peaks exceeding 900 m, and many mountains make an impressive impression, rising almost from the very coast of the sea. There are no well-defined ridges in the highlands of Scotland; when viewed from above, a mass of randomly scattered peaks opens up, separated by deep narrow valleys called glens, or elongated narrow lakes-suckers. The Glen More Valley, containing three lakes (Loch Ness, Loch Lough and Loch Linnhe) and continuing into underwater valleys at both ends, is characterized by its rectilinear outline; it stretches from southwest to northeast and divides the entire Highlands of Scotland in two. Throughout this dissected area, outcrops of bedrock are often found, and only in the lower parts of the mountain slopes and in the glens are there pastures and arable lands. In the last quarter of the 20th century. Scotland has undergone extensive plantations. The coast of Scotland is highly dissected. In the west, the bays-suckers, which have a fjord-like character, penetrate deeply into the central part of the mountainous country. Off the coast of Scotland is approx. 500 islands united in archipelagos. The most significant of these is the Hebrides, which includes such large islands as Lewis (1990 sq km) and Skye (1417 sq km), along with grassy cliffs suitable for grazing a few sheep. The northern archipelagos - the Orkney and Shetland Islands - have 150 islands of different sizes. Both the western and northern islands are distinguished by a variety of landscapes; there are very fertile areas along with completely barren outcrops of bedrock. In contrast, there are very few large islands off the east coast of Scotland. Here, steep ledges come out to the North Sea, alternating with sandy beaches. In the past, during the days of small sailing ships, there were many small ports on the east coast, mainly at river estuaries. These ports were mainly used for trade relations between Scotland and the neighboring countries of Northern Europe. In the 18th century, when Scotland began to trade with America, the deep-sea estuary of the Clyde River became the country's main trade artery. Transport problems have always largely depended on the relief. Until good roads were built (late 18th century), small loads were transported by horse, and heavy or bulky goods had to be transported by sea from one port to another. Soon the era of railways began, which greatly facilitated transportation in more populated areas located at low altitudes. However, in the highlands in the west and north of Scotland, the construction of railways was difficult, and the main mode of transport remained steamship traffic along the seashores and along the lakes-suckers. Currently, road transport is of predominant importance. Many railway lines were dismantled and steamship flights were canceled. Air travel is negligible, only between the UK and some of the islands, but fog and strong winds hinder its development. Scotland has a typical maritime climate. Average January temperature approx. 4 ° С, July - 14 ° С. There are differences between the open west coast and the more sheltered east coast, the latter characterized by colder winters and warmer summers. Much more precipitation falls in the west. The average annual rate for all of Scotland is 1300 mm per year, but on some exposed western slopes it rises to 3800 mm.
Population and lifestyle. The population of Scotland is a mixture of several races. The earliest inhabitants of the country were the Caledonians, or Picts, who inhabited most of the area north of the Firth of Forth and the Firth of Clyde. In the southwest lived Britons, akin to the Welsh. In Argyll approx. 500 AD the Irish colony was founded, and at the same time the Angles left the European continent and landed in the southeast of Great Britain. In the 8-11 centuries. the Scandinavians visited almost the entire coast of Scotland, but settled in the north and west. In the 12th century. the Normans and Flemings appeared there. Many Irish immigrants arrived in the 19th century. Migration processes between England and Scotland proceeded in a similar way.
Plains and highlanders. The main difference exists between the people of the plains, who are of mixed ethnogenesis and who have spoken in English for centuries, and the highlanders, mainly of Celtic origin, who until recently spoke Gaelic. In the 11th century. Gaelic was spoken in almost all parts of Scotland, but its area of distribution subsequently narrowed significantly. In the 1960s, there were no more than 80,000 Gaelic speakers, almost all of whom lived in the western highlands and islands and also spoke English. There were more than linguistic differences between the Highlanders and the Plains Scots. Important differences persisted between a predominantly agricultural (later predominantly industrial) economy in the plains and a predominantly livestock economy in the mountains. In addition, the specificity of land use, with the concentration of the population in glenes separated by mountains, apparently favored the cohesion of some clans. As a result, up to the 18th century. the mountaineers could not be completely turned into law-abiding subjects of the kingdom.
Religion. Many Scots are Presbyterian and their religious life takes place within the Scottish Church. Adherents of this church make up 2/3 of all believers, it enjoys strong influence almost everywhere. The heresies and schisms that plagued Scottish Presbyterians in the 18th and 19th centuries have largely been overcome. The two surviving Presbyterian minorities, the Free Church and the Free Presbyterian Church, have their adherents mainly in some mountainous regions and in the western islands, where their highly conservative doctrine remains attractive to the population. The Reformation won over most of the country, and at the end of the 17th century. in Scotland there were only about 12 thousand Catholics who lived mainly in the mountains, in the west of the main island and on one or two small islands. Up to the 19th century. The Roman Catholic Church sought only to consolidate its influence in these areas. However, Irish immigration, especially during the famine 1840s, contributed to the growth of the Catholic population in industrial areas, mainly around Glasgow. There are currently about 800,000 Catholics in the country. In the 18th century. the position of the Anglican Church was consolidated in the areas located north of the Tei River. Now its role has weakened, with the exception of the small landed nobility, whose authority outside the cities is not great.
Culture. In Scotland, education has long been under the control of the church. During the Middle Ages, schools were established at cathedrals or other temples, which were governed by city councils. At the same time, the church organized three universities in Scotland - in St Andrews (1410), Glasgow (1451) and Aberdeen (1494). The University of Edinburgh was founded shortly after the Reformation (1583); four more universities were added in the 1960s - Strathclyde in Glasgow, Heriot-Watt in Edinburgh, Dundee and Stirling. Several parliamentary acts of the 17th century called for the creation of schools in each parish, but in remote areas this idea was implemented without much rush. In the 18th and early 19th centuries. in addition to the ward system, schools were established by voluntary societies until the entire country was fully enrolled in educational institutions. In 1872 the old order was replaced by the state system and schooling became compulsory. Scottish tradition was not conducive to the creation of private schools under the supervision of school boards however, schools in the country were very diverse until the late 1800s.
Sport. The national sport in Scotland is football, but it is played mostly by professionals. Scotland is the birthplace of golf and the sandy east coast offers convenient golf courses. In the mountains, they play children's hockey, similar to usual. The highlanders' costumes add flavor to the sporting events that, together with bagpipe competitions, are regularly held in mountainous areas.
Household. Scotland is a predominantly industrial country. Businesses are concentrated in the Lowlands between the Firth of Forth and the Firth of Clyde. The main industrial centers of Edinburgh and Glasgow are located in the same strip. It presents both old (steel, printing and brewing) and relatively new industries (petrochemical, electronic and automotive). In addition, shipbuilding and general engineering are developed in the Clydeside area, which includes Glasgow and the suburbs. Light industry is partly concentrated in the cities of Dundee and Aberdeen, on the east coast north of the Firth of Forth. Aberdeen refines oil from fields in the North Sea. The Dundee industry specializes in jute, watches, refrigerators and electronic equipment. Most of the famous whiskey distilleries are located in northeastern Scotland. For many years clothing and fabrics, especially tweed, were produced in the valleys of the Highlands, in the northern highlands and on the islands. Nuclear power plants are located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde and Solway Firth and on the north coast. Agriculture is predominantly concentrated in the eastern coastal plain. Among the main crops there are barley, oats, wheat, potatoes, turnips and sugar beets. 3/4 of Scotland's agricultural area is used for pasture. Sheep are raised in the hilly areas of the northwest, and cattle are raised on the plains of the northeast. The southwest is an important dairy farming region. State structure and politics. Administratively, Scotland has been divided since 1975 into 12 regions, including 53 counties and 3 island territories (Western Isles, Orkney and Shetland). The counties usually correspond to the former counties, or shires, that existed before 1975. Councils are elected to govern the districts, counties and island territories. The Scottish Parliament is passing some laws that are consistent across the UK. Other laws are partially Scotland-specific, while others are entirely Scotland-related, and their discussion takes into account differences in legal proceedings, administrative procedures, etc. Until the 1970s, nationalist agitation for local governance in Scotland met with little success. However, in the early 1970s, the discovery of oil in the North Sea stimulated Scottish nationalism, and in the 1974 general election, the Scottish National Party won a third of the votes in Scotland and 11 seats in the British House of Commons. In 1978 Parliament adopted a draft direct election to the Scottish Assembly in Edinburgh, giving it greater powers in internal affairs. However, in the 1979 referendum, this project did not receive public support. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Scotland continued to struggle for its place in the overall political context of the United Kingdom. It preserves national characteristics in religion, legal structure, language (called Scottish) and the education system. Scotland has its own original culture, a highly developed and recently expanded university system, and its own press. Despite the existence of the Scotland Department, headed by the Secretary for Scotland in Edinburgh, and two local government reorganizations in 1973 and 1995, this integral part of Great Britain leads a rather isolated political life, which, in turn, has internal regional characteristics. First, there is the region of Glasgow and the Clyde Estuary to the southeast. This developed industrial area is home to about 40% of the total population of five million Scotland, a significant part of the heavy industry is located and there are many social problems associated with a lack of housing, an increase in crime, poverty and unemployment. Traditionally developed trade unions, Catholics, mainly Irish, constitute an influential minority in Glasgow and the Strathclyde region. The combination of these socio-demographic characteristics feeds a strong and consistent Labor Party electorate. The rest of Scotland is politically different from the region. In most districts, three or four parties compete equally for votes - Labor, Conservatives, Scottish National Party and Liberal Democrats, although Labor has traditionally strong positions in urban areas such as Edinburgh and Aberdeen. In London, Scotland is represented by 72 members of the House of Commons, but their influence is believed to be small in the 659-member parliament. In the May 1997 general election, all major parties except the Conservatives advocated a significant change in Scotland's position in the United Kingdom. Labor won 56, Liberal Democrats 10, Scottish National Party 6 votes, while the Conservatives won no seats, although 17.5% of the population voted for them. Thereafter, 70.4% of Scots voted in a referendum to form a limited Scottish Assembly to be convened in Edinburgh in July 1999. A slightly smaller number of Scots who took part in the referendum (but also a majority) supported the proposal to vest some tax powers in the Assembly. Labor supported the idea of the Assembly in the hope of ending the Scottish discontent with the existing constitutional status of their country. The measures put to the referendum were approved by the Scottish National Party, which regarded them as the first step towards full independence. It should be noted that Scottish nationalists advocate continued membership in the European Union (until recently, in the EEC) and are not as radical in matters of preserving culture and language as their counterparts in Wales.
STORY
Roman period. For thirty years after 80 A.D. and again around 140-180 A.D. Roman troops occupied southern Scotland. They defended the line along Fort Clyde from the Caledonians, or Picts, the warlike people who inhabited the northern territories. For this, the Romans built fortifications during the first occupation and a defensive rampart during the second occupation. About 84 and again about 208 they penetrated north to the Bay of Morey Firth, but beyond the Firth of Forth they left no military settlements. Having lost control of southern Scotland for the first time, they erected the so-called. Hadrian's Wall, built after 120 years between the River Tyne and Solway Firth, which long served as the border of the Roman Empire in Britain. However, the Wall was unable to contain the Picts, who repeatedly invaded southern Britain. In 3-4 centuries. many tribes of southern Scotland became allies of Rome.
Christianization. St. Ninian began his missionary work in the south-west of the island approx. 400; other missionaries are said to have preached among the Picts to the north, but no further than Maury Firth, but the Christianization of Scotland is usually dated to the arrival of St. Columbus in 563. Conversion occurred during the migration of Scots from northern Ireland, where Christianity had dominated since the beginning of the 5th century, to the Hebrides and western Scotland. Columba himself settled in a monastery on the island of Iona near the southwestern tip of Malla. Not confining himself to the brothers in the faith - the Scots in the west - Columba eventually succeeded in converting the King of the Picts in Inverness to Christianity. Over time, the Irish form of Christianity, with its special rites and organization, came into direct conflict with Roman Christianity, which spread north of Kent. At the synod at Whitby (663 or 664), the King of Northumbria, after listening to the adherents of the rival rites, decided in favor of Rome, and his verdict was later passed throughout the territory north of Cheviot Hills; Iona eventually capitulated approx. 720. The replacement of Irish rites by Roman rites had a profound impact on the history of Scotland, since it was thereby added to the general stream of the history of European civilization.
Other influences. With the end of the Roman occupation of Britain, the Tyne-Solway rampart ceased to be an insurmountable obstacle, and in the end two kingdoms were formed, which were located on both sides of the rampart - Strathclyde in the west and Northumbria in the east. To the north lay the kingdoms of the Picts and Scots, with the former occupying most of the country north of the Clyde Fort, and the latter part of the west coast and the Hebrides. The expansion to the north of the kingdom of the Angles, Northumbria, which reached the Forth River, met with strong resistance from the Picts, who defeated the Northumbrian army in 685 at the Battle of Nechtansmeer. The danger of invasion diminished somewhat after the place of the Angles was taken in the 8th century. Scandinavians, since the new settlers in Northumbria were more engaged in expansion to the south and west than to the north. However, the capture of the northern territories became the goal of the Scandinavian tribes who arrived by sea. The Normans conquered island after island, first in the Shetland and Orkney Islands, and then in the Hebrides; then they spread throughout the north and west of Scotland. Traces of the Norman conquest are still visible, especially on the Orkney, Shetland Islands and on the Catness, which served as the center of concentration of the forces of the conquerors. During the 11th and 12th centuries. the rule of the Normans gradually diminished, and the power of the Scottish kingdom increased. Nevertheless, the Normans retained dominion over the western islands until 1266, and only in 1468-1469 the Orkney and Shetland Islands were returned to Scotland after the marriage between Princess Margaret and James III.
Scottish kingdom. Meanwhile, in 844, the Scots and Picts were formally united under the rule of King Kenneth McAlpin. During the 10th century. the rulers of this united kingdom tried, and with success, to recapture Lothian from Northumbria and establish complete dominion over Strathclyde. The implementation of these claims fell on the reign of Malcolm II (1005-1034). However, as soon as Malcolm's grandson Duncan I took the throne in 1034, Macbeth of the Moray seized the throne and held it until he was killed in 1057 by Malcolm III. Duncan I's son Malcolm III was in exile in England and later married the Anglo-Saxon princess Margaret. They and their sons brought the English way of life to Scotland. The system of monasteries and parishes developed, and a Norman-type feudal system was established. This provoked resistance in the Highlands, where opposition forces rallied around the Seas. However, as time went on, the kingdom continued to exist, cities grew, trade developed, and England's attempts to subjugate Scotland were met with resistance and were successfully repulsed. The period from 1153 to 1286 is called the Golden Age of Scotland.
Fighting England. A long and relatively calm and fruitful period came to an abrupt end with the death in 1290 of Margaret, the "Norwegian maiden", who became the heir to the Scottish throne. He was to marry the son and heir of Edward I, King of England. To avoid a civil war for the throne, Edward was asked to act as an arbitrator. He chose John Baliol, who was crowned in 1292, but only after he recognized Edward as his overlord. Repenting of what had been done, Baliol, with the help of the French, tried to get rid of his addiction, but the uprising was suppressed. In 1297 at Sterling Bridge, the English were challenged by William Wallace, and this time the Scots were victorious. However, Wallace, unable to reconcile the divergent interests, was eventually deceived and turned over to Edward. The banner of rebellion was raised again by Robert I (Bruce) in 1306. For several years he pursued a policy of attrition of the troops of Edward II, and then, in 1314, at Bannockburn, he dealt the most crushing blow ever received by English troops on Scottish soil. In 1320, in a letter to the pope, the Scots stated; "as long as at least one hundred Scots remain alive, we will not obey the English king." Despite this declaration of independence, it was only in 1328 that England, by the peace treaty in Northampton, agreed to recognize King Robert, and in 1329 the pope finally recognized the sovereignty of the Scottish kingdom.
Instability and war. The war with England did not stop, and this led to the impoverishment of the population of Scotland. In addition, the country suffered from the ineffective rule of either too young or elderly kings, and periods of strong rule were too short to establish stability. The chiefs of the highlands and barons of the lower lands, as well as the church, with all the wealth and influence in Scotland, were enemies of the monarchy. Although city citizens have held parliamentary seats since the reign of Robert I, the country has had nothing like the English House of Commons to counterbalance the lords and prelates. During the Hundred Years War, Scotland became an ally of the French. As a result, important cultural ties were established with the continent, but this involved Scotland in a series of military adventures. The economic, administrative and intellectual development of the country that took place under James IV ended after his invasion of England and his death at the Battle of Flodden in 1513.
The Reformation and the End of the Anglo-Scottish Wars. One of the lessons of the defeat at Flodden was that traditional ties with France posed a significant threat to Scotland. At the same time, the onset of the Reformation era added another reason for the revision of the country's foreign policy. The Scots, influenced by Lutheranism, believed that Scotland should ally with Henry VIII after he rejected papal authority and dissolved the monasteries. James V, however, did not follow Henry's example. Instead, he took advantage of the situation and received financial benefits in exchange for loyalty to the pope. In addition, he strengthened relations with France by successively marrying two French women, the second of whom was Marie Guise. The result of his policy was the war with England and the defeat of the Scots at the Battle of Solway Mosse in 1542, after which Jacob died soon after. Until the coming of age of Mary, who inherited the throne at the age of one week, the rule of Scotland was contested by the French and the English, each of whom had many supporters among the Scots. Henry VIII supported the Scottish reformers and plotted the assassination of Cardinal David Beaton, who favored an alliance with France. George Wishart, a Protestant preacher with ties to the British, was burned at the stake as a heretic by Beaton, who was also killed shortly thereafter. The British, unable to secure the engagement of the Scottish queen to Prince Edward (later Edward VI), carried out devastating raids in the south of Scotland and as a result achieved the fact that Scotland fell into the hands of the French. Mary was sent to France (1548) and betrothed to the Dauphin. She married him in 1558, and he became King of France under the name of Francis II. In Scotland, Maria Guise became regent in 1554 and ruled the country, respecting the interests of France and relying on French troops. The Reformation movement in Scotland now combined with patriotic resistance to French domination and fears that Scotland would henceforth be ruled by a dynasty of French monarchs. In 1559, upon the return of John Knox from Geneva, a rebellion broke out, directed both against the French and against Rome. The troops sent by Elizabeth warned the suppression of the rebels by the French, and the death of Mary of Guise (June 1560) opened the way for the conclusion of a treaty by which English and French soldiers were to leave Scotland.
Mary, Queen of Scots. The reformers were in power in 1560, but in August 1561 Queen Mary, who had lost her consort Francis in December 1560, returned to Scotland. As a Catholic, she initially had no enmity towards the reformed church. However, Mary could not be the head of the new church, the leadership of which was mainly in the hands of the administrators, or new bishops, and the supreme power belonged to the General Assembly, which was practically a Protestant parliament. Mary declared that she had more rights to the English throne than Elizabeth, and after marrying her cousin, Lord Darnley, who followed her in the succession to the English throne and whose claims were recognized by English Catholics, the reformed church ceased to enjoy her favor. After Darnley's murder, Maria married the Earl of Bothwell, who was believed to be the murderer of her second husband. Rebellion broke out and Mary was removed. The crown passed to her minor son Jacob VI. Mary fled to England in 1568 under the protection of Elizabeth. She was imprisoned until the Queen of England ordered her execution in 1587.
Jacob VI. The period before the coming of age of James VI was marked by the civil war waged by his regents against the supporters of his mother, and the intrigues of Rome, supported by the European powers. In addition, within the framework of the reformed church, a Presbyterian movement arose, demanding the abolition of bishops and the transfer of church administration into the hands of the elders. Presbyterians denied that the king and parliament had any authority over the church and argued that the highest elders should determine the policy of the state. Jacob pursued a cunning, flexible, and consistent policy in his dealings with rival factions. For a time he had to rely on the Presbyterian and in 1592 agreed to the proclamation of Presbyterianism as the state church. However, after the defeat of the last Catholic uprising in 1594, he began to insist on maintaining and strengthening the posts of bishops, along with church courts. Jacob forced Andrew Melville into exile and established strict control over the church, but did not interfere in the theological issues themselves, which had been discussed since the beginning of the Reformation. This compromise was generally accepted, especially after Jacob reconciled the nobles and landowners and found support in the relatively conservative northern territories, where Presbyterianism had not yet taken deep roots. When Jacob took the English throne in 1603, it did not lead to the unification of parliaments or the system of government of the two countries, but strengthened his own position, thanks to which he made the Scots respect the law and was able to rule more effectively than any of his predecessors. Charles I. Charles I lacked the tact that was inherent in his father; his actions were not distinguished by patience and flexibility and led to the fact that many of his subjects turned away from him. Jacob did not dispute the rights to the former church property, seized after the beginning of the Reformation. Charles began his reign (1625-1649) by questioning these rights, and in subsequent years cherished plans to restore the income of the old church. He went even further than his father in manipulating parliament using means that were considered unconstitutional; established taxes that were considered exorbitant, and gave the bishops political functions. Finally, disregarding criticism and opposition, Charles introduced new ecclesiastical canons, which threatened to replace the existing compromise with a system identical to the Anglican, and a new ecclesiastical service book, which was already inflamed by public opinion, was rejected as Roman Catholic. As a result, the National Covenant was signed (1638), which argued that the king acted illegally, and soon the Presbyterian Church was again accepted as official.
Civil War and Oliver Cromwell. Charles resisted the growing influence of the Scots, but he lacked the strength to bring them into submission. The Scots' appeal to arms and their occupation of northern England forced him to convene the Long Parliament. After the outbreak of the civil war, the Covenantors, who had power over Scotland, following the Solemn League and the Covenant (1643), agreed to help the English parliament in the fight against the king on the condition that Presbyterianism became the state church not only in Scotland, but also in England. However, when the royal forces were defeated, power in England passed not to Parliament, but to Cromwell and the army, who shared not Presbyterian, but Independent views on church government. Then the Scots, or rather some of the Scots, tried to restore the reign of Charles I, and after his execution they put Charles II on his throne on the condition that he signed the Covenants. The result was the defeat of the Scots at Dunbar (1650) and Worcester (1651) and the conquest of the country by the British. During the period of the republic and protectorate, Scotland was united with England, sent deputies to the British parliaments and conducted free trade with England and the English colonies.
Restoration and Glorious Revolution. The Stuart Restoration (1660) aimed to restore the pre-war system of government and the terms of the religious compromise reached under James VI. There was some political opposition in the country, as Scottish politicians and parliament were no longer as docile as they were in pre-1648. Although the restoration was accepted in the country, in some areas serious discontent was ripening, especially in the southwest, among those strict Presbyterians. who advocated the execution of the National Covenant and the Solemn League. A policy of alternating reconciliation and suppression diminished the degree of discontent, and the Bothwell Bridge revolt (1679) was brutally suppressed, but a handful of extremists survived and ultimately refused to recognize the English king.
Jacob VII(James II of England) was mainly concerned with resolving the issue of restoring the status of Roman Catholicism. His principle of religious tolerance extended not only to Catholics, but also to Presbyterians, which undermined the official status of the Episcopal Church, which was preserved by his predecessors. The policy of toleration was so unpopular that parliament refused to authorize it, and it had to be carried out solely by the will of the king. The result was a general aversion to royalty. Thus, when the English Revolution of 1688 led to the flight of Jacob and the rise of William of Orange, Jacob had little chance of remaining on the Scottish throne. In 1689 he was declared disqualified from the crown. The campaign of John Graham of Claverhouse, Viscount of Dundee, ended at Killekranky, and William's rule was established in Scotland. The bishops and most of the clergy were loyal to Jacob, so William relied on the Presbyterians, whose church was finally declared state (1690). One of the results of Wilhelm's determination to break the resistance of the mountaineers was the famous massacre at Glencoe in 1692.
Darien. In the 17th century. the country was going through a period of transformation. Since the reign of James VI, Scotland has increasingly become an advanced country with a developed economy and culture; economic projects aroused the enthusiasm of the population, new incentives for production and commerce appeared; attempts were made to colonize new lands - in Nova Scotia, in eastern New Jersey and in South Carolina. Scotland's economic interests were different from those of England. The free trade regime with England ended with the beginning of the Restoration, when, according to the Navigation Act, the Scots were excommunicated from trade with the English colonies. As a result, there were serious frictions between the countries. Until the revolution of 1688, crises were avoided, since the king was able to control the Scottish parliament. After the revolution, the parliament gained independence and showed its freedom-loving character precisely when the power of the English parliament was strengthened. In these conditions, the Scots conceived an ambitious project to create their own colony in Darien, and this project received wide support and financial resources. Darien nominally belonged to Spain, with which William was at that time in difficult negotiations. For this reason, he refused to support the idea of a Scottish colony and forbade English subjects to provide any assistance to the Scots in this endeavor. The colony venture ended in disaster, partly because of the epidemic, and partly because of the resistance of the Spaniards. The Scots blamed William for everything, and the attitude towards England became even more hostile. It became clear that the only hope for progress in trade was connected with the entry of Scotland into the markets in England and the English colonies.
Union with England. William understood that the difficulties inevitable in the current circumstances could be overcome with the help of the union of the two kingdoms and the creation of a single parliament, but the Scots did not like the idea of subjugating England, and the British did not at all want to give the right to trade to the Scots. Nevertheless, after 1701 England entered the War of Spanish Succession with France, and the Scots took advantage of the situation by threatening to pursue an independent foreign policy and even choose their own monarch. Under the threat of the emergence of an independent Scotland with the support of France, the British were forced to yield, and in 1707 an act of union was adopted, according to which the Scots renounced their political independence. Scotland received representation in London - 45 seats in the lower house and 16 peers in the House of Lords; it was also decided that after the death of Queen Anne, the countries would receive a monarch from the House of Hanover. In return, the Scots were given equal trade rights with the British, the Presbyterian Scottish Church was declared inviolable, and Scottish laws and the judiciary remained independent from the English. In practice, civil appeals could be made, following a hearing in the Scottish Supreme Court, to the British House of Lords. In all other cases, the decisions of the Scottish courts were final.
Jacobite uprisings. For more than 40 years after the conclusion of the union in Scotland, there was serious dissatisfaction with the state of affairs, the Scots felt that their interests were being ignored by the British parliament, and the expected economic benefits were not very rich. However, the Jacobite uprisings of 1715 and 1745, aimed at restoring the descendants of James VII and James II, can in no way be considered a proper Scottish national resistance movement; they attracted little attention from the inhabitants of central Scotland, receiving a response only from the Episcopal and Catholics. In the north, where economic and social development was not as vigorous as in other regions, and the situation was determined by the rivalry of the clans and the willingness to join any occupation that provided the possibility of plunder, a sufficient number of leaders attracted their clans to the side of the Jacobites, who as a result received replenishment in 5-10 thousand soldiers. The revolt of 1715, led by Count Mar, ended in failure; "senior challenger" Jacob VIII joined him at the moment when it was already suppressed. During the uprising of 1745, the "junior challenger" Karl Edward landed in Scotland, proclaimed his father king, took Edinburgh and invaded England, reaching Derby. There, however, he did not receive any support and withdrew to the north, where he was finally defeated at Culloden (1746), which put an end to the claims of the Stuarts. The defeat of the Highlanders was applauded by the inhabitants of central Scotland. Dissatisfaction with the union faded away, and over the next century it was welcomed by almost the entire population of the country.
Scotland after the union.
Economic development. Over time, the union brought obvious economic benefits. The Scottish ports, especially those along the banks of the Clyde, imported tobacco from America; To meet the needs of the colonists in industrial products, enterprises were established, primarily flax-spinning factories. The British monopoly of the tobacco trade ended with the outbreak of the American War of Independence, but industrial development in Scotland continued. Since the end of the 18th century. the most important industries in the west of the country were cotton spinning and cotton weaving, which flourished until the American Civil War cut off the supply of raw cotton. The cotton industry in Scotland has not recovered since then, but the development of heavy industry began, based on the country's reserves of coal and iron. The invention of the hot blast method (1828) revolutionized Scottish metallurgy, and Scotland became a center for engineering, shipbuilding and transport engineering. By the end of the 19th century. iron was replaced by steel. Scotland, which throughout the 17th century. was a mainly agricultural country, acquired an industrial belt stretching across the country from the southwest to the northeast, where most of the population lived. Agriculture also developed significantly after the union, its level remained high, although in the second half of the 19th century, when Britain began to pursue a free trade policy, food imports had a very negative impact on local agricultural production. Industrial development, bringing with it employment and prosperity, proceeded so rapidly that housing construction, urban expansion and health systems lagged behind, and for a time living conditions in some cities remained extremely low. The predominant development of heavy industry began to bring losses after World War II, when industrialization in other countries deprived Scottish industry of sales markets. Within Great Britain itself, production was centralized, and industry shifted further and further south, leaving Scotland in the position of an industrial fringe. As a result, the entire interwar period was a time of depression, and the world crisis of 1931 became only its most acute phase. After World War II, old heavy industries fell into disrepair, and the government provided financial assistance to new industries, from nuclear power plants and oil refineries to light industry.
Public administration. The unification of parliaments was followed a few years later by an almost complete unification of government systems. As the role of the state increased in the 19th century. separate Scottish councils for the poor, education, health, agriculture and fisheries were formed. In 1885, the post of Secretary for Scottish Affairs was formed, and when the Department of Scottish Affairs was established in 1926, most of the former councils replaced the departments that were part of it. After 1850, from time to time, dissatisfaction with the unification, at least with its existing forms, was manifested, and proposals were made for a separate Scottish parliament and the reorganization of Great Britain on the basis of federalism. Currently, the Scottish National Party, which emerged in the 1970s, exists and is active. The government's proposal for a local Scottish parliament was put to a referendum in Scotland in September 1997. An overwhelming majority of the voters (74%) approved the proposal, and 63% of the voters approved the parliament's right to raise or lower taxes up to 3%.
Church. The Scottish Church retained its Presbyterian organization, guaranteed by the Act of Union. The problem of reconciling Presbyterian claims of independence from parliament with the legitimate authority of the British parliament caused constant difficulties and led to divisions and the formation of sects. The controversy culminated in the schism of 1843 when the Free Scottish Church was formed. At the end of the 19th century, however, a tendency towards reunification emerged, and from 1929 the Scottish Church had a very small minority of Presbyterians in its ranks. The Episcopal Church, which lost its official status in 1690, continued to exist in difficult conditions throughout the 18th century. and is still a separate religious organization. Roman Catholicism practically disappeared at the beginning of the 17th century. and throughout the 18th century. enjoyed influence in only a few mountainous areas, but the influx of the Irish and Scotland in the 19th century. caused a serious strengthening of the position of Catholics.
Education reforms. The reformationists hatched plans for a comprehensive education system that involved the establishment of schools at all levels, including all parishes. Since 1616, there was a legislative framework for parish schools, however, despite significant advances, the new education laws were never implemented. The schools, funded by local landlords, were under the control of the church. In addition, efforts were made independently of the church, thanks to which in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Scotland had more educational opportunities than any other country at the time (even before compulsory school attendance was introduced in 1872). Universities opened their doors to young men from all social classes and at the end of the 18th century. won considerable fame. People who were educated in Scotland achieved the highest posts in England, and the Scots managed to reach the heights of intellectual and cultural development in the work of such outstanding people as David Hume, Adam Smith and Walter Scott.
Anglization. During almost three centuries of political union, due to many factors, the Scots in their way of life approached the British. At the end of the 18th century, when the interests of the Scots were first affected by the American War of Independence and then by the French Revolution, the country's political awakening took place, and the Scots began to take an active part in British parliamentary politics. Since the Napoleonic Wars, the Scots not only fought as part of the British army, but were loyal to Britain, and later fully shared the goals of British foreign policy and British military campaigns. The important role played by the Scots in the colonization and administration of the lands that made up the British Empire strengthened the partnership with England.
Delegation of power. In Great Britain, the establishment and empowerment of government bodies subordinate to parliament at the national level as a whole or at the regional level is called delegation of power (devolution). Although Scottish voters in 1979 rejected the government's proposal for the formation of Scottish legislatures, which would transfer power over local affairs, in 1997 they overwhelmingly approved such a proposal. The reasons for the change in view were not some kind of rise in Scottish nationalism, but the excessive concentration of power in the hands of the Cabinet of Ministers in London.
Collier's Encyclopedia. - Open Society. 2000 .
Scotland(English and Scots. Scotland, Gaelic. Alba) - a country that is an autonomous administrative and political part. It occupies the northern part of the island of Great Britain and borders on land with. On the other sides it is washed by the seas of the Atlantic Ocean: the North Sea in the east, the North Strait and the Irish Sea in the west and southwest. In addition to the territory on the main British island of Scotland, there are also about 790 small islands, most of which are uninhabited.
Scotland's legal system has remained independent of those of England and Wales and thus has its own private and public law. Following a 1997 referendum and the 1998 Scottish Act, the Scottish Parliament was reinstated in 1999. On September 18, 2014, a referendum on the independence of Scotland was held in the country, as a result of which 55.3% of voters expressed a desire to remain part of the UK. After the referendum on withdrawal from membership in the European Union on June 23, 2016, when 62% of the Scottish population voted against leaving the country from the EU (38% voted in favor), Scottish government decided to conduct its own independent foreign policy regarding the issue of maintaining the country's membership in the European Union.
Etymology of the name
The word Scotland comes from the Latin word Scoti, denoting gels. In late Latin, under the word Scotia("Land of the Gaels") was understood as Ireland. By the 11th century, this word meant the part of Scotland located north of the Fort River. The modern territory of the country began to be called Scotland, and people living on its territory - Scots in the Late Middle Ages.
Geography and nature
Physical map of Scotland
The territory of Scotland includes the northern third of the island of Great Britain and the adjacent islands - the Hebrides, and. The area of Scotland is 78 772 km², the length of the coastline is 9 911 km. In the south it borders with. The length of the border from Solway Firth in the west to the Tweed River in the east is about 96 km. The island is located 30 km south-west of the coast, 400 km to the north-east, and lie to the north of Scotland.
The western coast of Scotland is washed by the Atlantic Ocean, and the eastern coast is washed by the North Sea. The western and eastern seacoasts of Scotland are connected by the Caledonian Canal, of which the famous Loch Ness is part.
Despite a very large area and a large number of unspoilt places, there are only two national parks in Scotland: Loch Lomond and Trossachs (area 1865 km², formed in 2002) and Cairngorms (area 4528 km², formed in 2003).
Climate
The climate is temperate oceanic. Thanks to the warm Atlantic current, the Gulf Stream, temperatures in Scotland are higher than in countries lying on the same parallel (than, for example, in), but lower than in other regions of Great Britain. Due to the uneven surface topography, the weather is extremely unstable. In the coldest months of the year - January and February - the average temperature maximum is 5-7 ° C. In the warmest months - July and August - 19 ° C. Average annual precipitation ranges from 3,000 mm in the north to 800 mm in the south. The region is characterized by a southwest wind, frequent storms on the coast and islands.
Flora and fauna
The fauna of Scotland is typical of the northwestern Palaearctic Ecozone, with a few exceptions. In the temperate climate of Scotland, 62 species of wild mammals are currently found (including: the population of wild forest cats, a significant number of long-snouted and common seals, as well as the northernmost colony of bottlenose dolphins), about 250 species of birds (such as black grouse mow and white (Scottish) partridge, northern gannet, golden eagle, Scottish crossbill, eagles and osprey).
The seas of Scotland are the most biologically productive in the world, with an estimated total of 40,000 marine species. The Darwin Hills, an important deep-sea, cold-water coral reef, was discovered in 1998.
In the waters of Scottish rivers, there are about 400 genetically distinct populations of Atlantic salmon. There are 42 species of fish in fresh waters, half of which originated as a result of natural colonization and half as a result of human introduction.
Four species of reptiles and six species of amphibians are indigenous to Scotland. However, in addition to them, there are 14,000 species of invertebrates (including rare species of bees and butterflies), one way or another falling under the acts of environmental protection. Environmental Protection Agencies are concerned about the current threat to much of Scotland's fauna from climate change.
Geology
The rocks of Scotland are rich in sediments of the Silurian, Carboniferous and Triassic periods. Fossil animals are dominated by amphibians and invertebrates.
Story
Early history
Scientists believe that the first humans appeared in Scotland about 13 thousand years ago as the Last Ice Age ended. The first buildings appeared about 9,500 years ago, and permanent settlements 6,000 years ago. These include one of the well-preserved Neolithic settlements - Skara Bray, located on. Other monuments of the era are found in the Outer Hebrides and the islands, this is due to the small amount of vegetation and the need for the ancient inhabitants to build their houses of stone.
Roman influence
The written history of Scotland begins with the Roman conquest of Britain, when they were conquered, received the status of Roman provinces and began to be called Britain's territory today and. Part of southern Scotland was briefly taken under the indirect control of Rome. To the north lay the lands free from the Roman conquest - Caledonia, inhabited by the Pictish and Gaelic tribes. According to the Roman historian Tacitus, the Caledonians launched a "full-scale armed resistance" by attacking the Roman legions. During one of the night raids, the IX Spanish Legion was defeated, saved from complete destruction by the cavalry attack of Gnei Julius Agricola.
In the years 83-84 A.D. e. Agricola defeated the Caledonians at the Battle of the Graupe Mountains. According to Tacitus, before the battle, the leader of the Caledonians, Kalgak, addressed his soldiers with a speech in which he called them "people who do not know the shackles of slavery." After the victory, the Romans built the Gask Ridge chain of forts, but three years later withdrew to the South Scottish Uplands.
To protect British territory, the Romans built Hadrian's Valve between 122 and 126, which became the northern border of the Empire. Later, in the years 144-146, even further north, the Val Antonina was built in the Lowlands, which was abandoned in 208 by order of the emperor Septimius Severus.
Although much of Scotland was under Roman control for only about 40 years, this had a significant impact on the southern part of the country, inhabited by the Votadins and Damnonians. Welsh name Yr hen ogledd(Ancient North) was used to name the kingdoms that formed in the territory of Northern England and Southern Scotland after the departure of the Romans. According to records from the 9th and 10th centuries, the Gaelic kingdom of Dal Riada was founded in Western Scotland around the 9th century.
Middle Ages
The largest of the Pictish kingdoms was Fortriu, which was known as Alba or Scotland... The Picts reached their peak several times: after the Battle of Nechtansmeer during the reign of Brude III (671-693) and during the reign of Angus I.
The founding year of the Scottish Kingdom is considered to be 843, when Kenneth McAlpin became king of the united kingdom of the Scots and Picts.
Over the next centuries, the Kingdom of Scotland expanded to roughly the borders of modern Scotland. During the reign of David I, Scotland became feudal, followed by a reorganization of government and the introduction of the Burg system. During this period, French and Anglo-French knights and churchmen moved to the country. Because of this, the eastern and southeastern territories of the kingdom became English-speaking, while the rest of the country spoke Gaelic, and the Orkney and Shetland Islands spoke Norwegian and remained under the control of the Norwegian kingdom until 1468. Between the XII and XIV centuries, Scotland entered a relatively calm period, during which there were peaceful relations with England, trade relations with the Continent developed, and some scientists, such as John Duns Scotus, had influence far beyond the borders of the country.
Sterling Castle
The end of the 13th century was a serious test for Scotland. After the death of King Alexander III in 1286, there were no direct male heirs, and Margaret, the granddaughter of Alexander III, born to his daughter, who married King Eirik II of Norway, was declared queen. King Edward I of England tried to regain control of Scotland, and insisted on the marriage between his son, the future King Edward II and Queen Margaret, despite her small age. But neither the wedding, nor even the coronation of Margaret took place, on the way she caught a cold and, before reaching Scottish land, died in the Orkney Islands.
Since the direct branch was cut short, in 1290 several candidates put forward claims to the throne of the country, including John Balliol, grandson of the eldest daughter of David of Huntingdon, brother of kings Malcolm IV and William I the Lion, and Robert the Bruce, 5th Lord of Annandale, son middle daughter of David. One of the contenders was Edward I, who was a descendant of Matilda of Scotland. But the English king, realizing his low chances of being elected, chose to head the court to consider the "Great Litigation". In 1292, Edward I ruled in favor of John Balliol, and on November 30, 1292, John was crowned king of Scotland. In gratitude for the support, John I Balliol recognized the suzerainty of England.
Despite the coronation, part of the Scottish barons, led by Robert the Bruce, Lord of Annandale, refused to recognize John's right to the throne. And Edward I began to treat Scotland as a vassal territory, forcing John to appear in the English courts as a defendant in Scottish claims and placing English garrisons in Scottish fortresses. In order to weaken his dependence on England, John Balliol renewed an alliance with and in 1295, known as the Old Alliance, and openly opposed Edward I.
In response to these actions, Edward I declared John I Balliol a rebellious vassal. In 1296, the English army invaded Scotland and utterly defeated the Scots at the Battle of Spotsmoor and conquered the whole country with relative ease. John was captured and signed on July 10, 1296, the abdication of the throne of Scotland, he was deprived of his knightly dignity and coats of arms - from this his subsequent nickname "Empty Cloak". As the overlord of a vassal who had refused the fief, Edward I declared himself king of Scotland, as a result of which the country lost its independence.
The regime established by the British authorities was so cruel that already in 1297 the Scots raised an uprising, led by William Wallace and Andrew de Moray, the English army was defeated at the Battle of Stirling Bridge. Andrew de Moray was severely wounded in this battle and soon died. Scotland was liberated from the British forces, and William Wallace was elected Guardian of Scotland.
Edward I was enraged by the resistance of the Scots, led the next invasion personally and in 1298 defeated the Scots at the Battle of Falkirk. William Wallace was forced to flee and go into hiding. Later, in 1305, he was betrayed by the Scottish knight John de Menteis, arrested by the British, accused of high treason, which he did not recognize, since he did not consider the English king his king and was executed on August 23 in London. His body was cut into pieces, which were displayed in the largest cities in Scotland.
After the Battle of Falkirk, the resistance was led by the descendants of the pretenders to the throne of Scotland during the "Great Litigation" Red Comyn and the future king Robert I the Bruce, who remained rivals in an effort to seize the throne of Scotland. Bruce eliminated his rival by killing him in church during a meeting, and ascended the throne as King Robert I on March 25, 1306. After a long and tense war, he won the final victory over the British at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314. The troops of the English king Edward II were defeated, and the king himself fled and did not get off his horse until the very English border. After the death of Robert I the Bruce, the Second War of Independence of Scotland (1332-1357) began, during which Edward Balliol, supported by King Edward III of England, contested the throne from the heirs of Robert I the Bruce.
In the process of a long and exhausting war, the son of Robert I, David II, managed to defend his rights to the throne, but he died childless, and therefore after his death, Robert Stuart III, as his closest heir, was crowned in Scone as king Robert II on March 26, 1371. Began more than three hundred years of the reign of the Stuart dynasty.
Towards the end of the Middle Ages, Scotland was divided into two cultural zones: the plains, whose inhabitants spoke the Anglo-Scottish language, and the highlands of Scotland, whose people used Gaelic. The Galovean Gaelic dialect persisted, possibly until the 18th century, in the remote parts of the southwest of the country, which were part of County Galloway. Historically, lowland Scotland was culturally closer to Europe. In the highlands of Scotland, one of the distinctive features region - Scottish clan system.
This period was also characterized by the flourishing of Franco-Scottish relations. In the service of the King of France Charles VII was a mercenary regiment of the Scottish Guard (Garde Écossaise), who, in particular, fought against the British on the side of Joan of Arc during the Hundred Years War. In March 1421, the Franco-Scottish army, under the command of John Stuart and Gilbert de Lafayette, defeated the English army at the Battle of Boje. Three years later, in the battle of Verneuil, England was already the victorious side, John Stewart, like another 6 to 7 thousand soldiers, died.
Early modern times
In 1502, King James IV of Scotland and King Henry VII of England signed the Treaty of Eternal Peace, and James IV married Margaret Tudor. This marriage allowed Henry to strengthen the legitimacy of his dynasty. However, ten years later, Jacob decided to break the Eternal Peace and, with the support of France, declared war on England. On September 9, 1513, Jacob is killed at the Battle of Flodden, becoming the last Scottish monarch to die in battle. On July 6, 1560, the Treaty of Edinburgh was signed, ending almost three hundred years of confrontation between England and Scotland. In the same year, under the influence of John Knox, the Scottish Parliament proclaimed the prohibition of Catholicism and the adoption of Protestantism as the state religion of Scotland.
In 1603, King James VI of Scotland inherited the English throne and became King James I of England. With the exception of the Commonwealth period, Scotland remained a separate state, but at the same time there were significant conflicts between the monarch and Scottish Presbyterians over the form of church government. After the Glorious Revolution and the overthrow of the Catholic James VII by William III and Mary II, Scotland for a short time threatened to elect its own Protestant monarch, but under the threat of severing trade and transport links by England, the Scottish Parliament, together with the English in 1707, adopted the "Act of Union". As a result of the unification, the Kingdom of Great Britain was formed.
XVIII century
After the unification with England and the abolition of customs tariffs, trade began to flourish in Scotland, especially with colonial America. In particular, the Glasgow tobacco merchants who bore the name of the Tobacco Lords flourished. Until the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War in 1776, Glasgow was the largest tobacco port in the world. At the same time, inequality between the inhabitants of the plains and the mountains continued to increase.
During the last attempt to restore the Stuart dynasty to the throne (1745-1746), the leader of the rebels was Karl-Edward, also known as "Handsome Prince Charlie" or "Young Pretender". In July 1745, the prince landed at Eriskea, Scotland, raised his father's banner, and began a Jacobite rebellion. The applicant was supported mainly by representatives of the mountain clans of Scotland. Quickly taking the capital of Scotland without a fight, Charles on September 21 defeated at Prestonpense the only government army in Scotland, and moved south to England at the head of an army of 6 thousand men. After occupying Carlisle and reaching, the prince, at the request of the advisers, turned back to Scotland, since in England the Jacobite movement did not cause mass support.
D. Maurier. Battle of Culloden
An English army was sent against him, led by the king's son William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, whom George II had recalled from the European battlefield of the War of the Austrian Succession. On April 16, 1746, the armies met at the Battle of Culloden, three miles east of northern Scotland. In the open, the Jacobite army was defenseless against the powerful artillery fire of Cumberland and was soon dispersed; Prince's adviser Lord George Murray managed to withdraw the remainder of the army on alert to Ruthven, intending to continue the war, but Charles, believing that he was betrayed, decided to leave the rebels. The Battle of Culloden was the last battle on the island of Great Britain.
With the adoption of the Union Act, the Scottish Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution, the country became a powerful European commercial, scientific and industrial center. It should be noted that Scotland in many ways occupies a unique position in the United Kingdom, which is associated with the history of its unification with England and participation in the work of the national parliament while maintaining its administrative and judicial system. And since the administrative and political systems of the two countries remained different, a reliable basis for the preservation of national forces in Scotland was created.
19th century
In 1832, an electoral reform was carried out, increasing the number of members of parliament and the number of citizens allowed to vote. In the middle of the 19th century, calls for autonomy began to increase in the country, because of this, the post of Minister of Scotland was restored.
E. Grimshaw. Ships on the Clyde (1881)
Glasgow became one of the largest cities in the world and was called the "Second City of the Empire" after London. After the 1860s, shipyards on the river began to play an important role, where they began to produce steam-powered ships for both merchant and naval fleets. Thus, the region has become one of the world's centers for shipbuilding. Although the development of industry created jobs and enriched people, began to accumulate social problems: Lack of housing and backlog of medicine have led to a decrease in the quality of life and an increase in mortality.
It is believed that the Scottish Enlightenment ended by the end of the 18th century, but Scottish scholars and writers continued to play a large role in world science and literature into the 19th century. Scottish physicists James Maxwell and William Thomson, inventors James Watt and William Murdoch contributed greatly to the development of technology during the Industrial Revolution. The most famous poets and writers of the era include Walter Scott, Arthur Conan Doyle, Robert Louis Stevenson, James Matthew Barry and George MacDonald. The Glasgow School, which emerged in the 19th century and flourished in the early 20th century, occupied an important place in the Celtic Renaissance movements, the arts and crafts movement and Japaneseism, one of the famous representatives of the Glasgow School was Charles Rennie Mackintosh.
In the 19th century, the culture of the Scottish Highlands began to gain popularity. Thanks to the popularity of Ossian James MacPherson and the novels of Walter Scott, the kilt and tartan are in vogue throughout Europe. Despite this, the population of the highlands remained poor. Many residents of this region have moved to large cities or left for England, Canada, America and Australia. The population of Scotland has been growing for the entire century: according to the 1801 census, 2.889 million people, and in 1901 - already 4.472. Even despite the development of industry, jobs were still not enough, which is why from 1841 to 1934 about 2 million Scots immigrated to America and Australia and about 750 thousand to England.
Industrialization and urbanization have weakened the parish school system. Since 1830, the state began to give grants for the construction of schools, and from 1846 - directly sponsored them. In 1872, Scotland switched to a system with free schools, funded by the state, which existed in England.
XX century
Scotland played an important role in the First World War, supplying ships, equipment and fish. About half a million Scots went to war, about a quarter of them died, and 150 thousand were seriously injured. Douglas Haig, of Scottish descent, was the Commander-in-Chief of the British Expeditionary Force in France. During World War II, the northern bays in Scotland were one of the British bases, from where Arctic convoys with military materials for the USSR left for Murmansk.
In the post-war years, there followed a period of economic stagnation in both cities and agricultural regions of the country, and unemployment increased. Despite the bombing of the Luftwaffe, at the start of World War II, Scotland's economy picked up again. Robert Watson-Watt invented radar that helped win the Battle of Britain.
Due to increased international competition and inefficient industry, Scotland experienced a sharp decline in production after the war, but in recent decades there has been a cultural and economic revival of the region due to the development of financial transactions, electronics manufacturing and the oil and gas sector. For a long time, Scotland was considered by the central government as a region with low industrial potential and slow development, which was associated with the decline in the importance of a number of old industries, for example, coal, textiles, shipbuilding. Foreign investments, mainly from North American and Japanese companies, played a great role in the reorientation of the economy for Scotland.
In 1999, elections were held to the Scottish Parliament, the establishment of which was enshrined in the Scotland Act 1998.
XXI Century
On September 18, 2014, a referendum was held on the independence of Scotland. 44.7% of those who voted for independence, 55.3% against. The turnout was 84.59%. After the UK-wide referendum on leaving the European Union on June 23, 2016, in which the Scottish population voted 62% against and 38% for leaving the EU, politicians and analysts at all levels noted that a new referendum on independence is “highly probable”, and already in early 2017, the Scottish government began preparing the necessary legislative framework to hold a new referendum on independence in order to maintain Scotland's membership in the European Union.
Population
According to the results of the 2011 census, the population of Scotland is 5.295 million people. If Scotland were independent, it would be the 113th most populous country in the world. Scots make up 84%, the British - 7.9%, immigrants from various European countries - 217 thousand people. or 4.1% (of which the Irish are 54 thousand people, the Poles - 61 thousand people). The total population of European descent is 96%. Immigrants from Asian countries - 141 thousand people. or 2.7% (including Pakistanis - 49 thousand people, Chinese and Indians - 33 thousand people each), immigrants from Africa, West Indies, Arabs and others - 80 thousand people. or 1.5%
In the XVIII-XIX centuries. Scotland was a region of mass emigration, so now a significant number of Scottish descendants live abroad. In the United States, according to the 2010 census, there are 8.718 million Americans of Scottish and Scotch-Irish (that is, Ulster Scots) descent. However, according to various estimates, the real number of Scottish descendants reaches 25-30 million people, that is, 8-9% of the total population. The 2011 census showed 4.715 million Scottish Canadians (15% of the population). In addition, Scots live in Australia (up to 2 million people or 10%), (0.7 million people or 17%), South Africa,.
According to the National Statistical Office of Great Britain (2014), 45% of the Scottish population aged 25 to 64 have higher and postgraduate education, which is perhaps the largest share of any country in the world.
Language
Currently, there is no officially accepted state language in the UK, but three languages are used in Scotland - English (which is de facto the main one), Scottish Gaelic and Anglo-Scottish (Scots). Scottish Gaelic and Anglo-Scottish were officially recognized in 1992 by the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, which was ratified by the UK government in 2001.
Religion
According to 2011 data, 53.8% of the population are Christians. The majority are adherents of the National Church of Scotland, organized according to the Presbyterian type - 32.4%. 15.9% of the population of Scotland are adherents of the Roman Catholic Church, other Christians - 5.5%. Muslims, Buddhists, Jews and others - 2.5% The remaining 43.7% of residents are atheists and undecided.
Political structure
The Legislature is the Scottish Parliament (Gaelic Pàrlamaid na h-Alba), consisting of 129 Members of the Scottish Parliament (Gaelic Ball Pàrlamaid na h-Alba), elected by the people of Scotland, one of whom Parliament elects as Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament (Gaelic Oifigear- Riaghlaidh) and two as Deputy Presiding Officers of the Scottish Parliament.
The executive body is the Government of Scotland (Gaelic Riaghaltas na h-Alba), consisting of the First Minister of Scotland (Gaelic Prìomh Mhinistear na h-Alba), Deputy First Minister of Scotland (Gaelic. Leas-Phrìomh Mhinistear na h-Alba), 8 Cabinet Secretaries of Scotland and 10 Ministers of Scotland.
Legal system
The highest court is the High Court of Justiciar (in criminal matters) and the Session Court (in civil matters). Appellate Courts - Sheriff Courts ( Sheriff court), courts of first instance - district courts ( District Courts of Scotland), the lowest level of the judicial system - justices of the peace ( Justice of the Peace Courts).
Administrative division
Historically, the administrative and legal division of Scotland included counties, provinces, districts, parishes, possessions of Mormars and other administrative divisions. The names of these historical areas are still sometimes used in gazetteers.
In 1996, by the decision of the British Parliament, Scotland was divided into 32 counties (municipalities) (English Council area), whose municipal councils are responsible for the work of all local services. Community councils are informal organizations representing municipalities.
In terms of the Scottish Parliament, there are 73 constituencies and 8 regions. There are 59 constituencies for the British Parliament. The work of the fire and police services is based on the division of Scotland, introduced in 1975. Ambulance and postal services have long had their own ways of dividing Scotland into districts.
Urban status in Scotland is confirmed by a special patent certificate (eng. letters patent). There are 6 cities in total in Scotland:, and, more recently,.
Economy
Over the past 40 years, the sectoral focus of the Scottish economy has sharply marked the transition from labor-intensive heavy industries to high technology, the financial sector and the production of consumer goods. The main sectors of the Scottish economy today are oil and gas production, whiskey and gin production, forestry, tourism, fishing and aquaculture, finance, information technology, and the computer games industry.
Mining
Since the 1970s, oil has been produced on the shelf of the North Sea. Through a pipeline system and tankers, oil and natural gas from fields in the North Sea and North Atlantic is transported to the Sallom-Vo oil terminal, where it is loaded onto tankers at the terminal port for further transportation. Since 1964, when the British government issued the first license for the development of fields in the North Sea, about 40 billion tons of oil have been produced from it. The remaining reserves, the development of which has not yet begun, are estimated at slightly more than half of this amount, at 24 billion tons, which corresponds to about 30-40 years of production. The country has 1 refinery with a total capacity of about 20 million tons per year, located in Grangemouth, at the mouth of the Fort River, as well as the company's gas condensate processing plant Shell, in Mossmorann (Fife).
Energy
Cruachan Dam reservoir in the Argyll and Butte area.
Scotland is the world's most developed market for renewable electricity generated by waves and tides. The largest tidal turbines are installed in Scotland. In 2011, the Scottish government approved a plan to build a tidal power plant in the Sound of Islay between Islay and Jura.
Scotland's waters are also home to the world's first floating wind farm Hywind, with a capacity of 30 MW, built and owned by companies Statoil(75%) and Masdar (25%).
Whiskey production
Scotch whiskey exports generate £ 4 billion ($ 5.3 billion) annually. After the referendum on Britain's exit from the EU in August 2016, sales of Scotch whiskey abroad jumped sharply thanks to the fall in the pound sterling - an increase of 30 to 40%.
Fisheries and aquaculture
Fisheries and aquaculture represent an important part of the Scottish economy, providing employment for people in the remote north and island communities. The fish catch in 2016 totaled 210 thousand tons.Scotland ranks third among the world's largest producers of salmon, and its production on aqua farms in 2016 was estimated by the Scottish government at 177 thousand tons. year) and oysters.
Industry of computer games
There are about 91 companies in Scotland (9.5% of all companies from this sector in the UK) that develop, test and market computer video games and gaming applications.
Banking system
Historically, the development of the banking sector in Scotland took place independently of England. In the days of the Kingdom of Scotland, the practice of issuing licensing concessions to banks was dominant. Bank of Scotland ( Bank of scotland), founded by a group of Scottish merchants in 1695, a year after the establishment of the Bank of England, for 21 years held monopoly rights to issue money, entrusted to him by statute of the Scottish Parliament. In 1727 a second bank patent was awarded to the Royal Bank of Scotland ( Royal Bank of Scotland). By 1826, in addition to three unauthorized banks (with 134 branches), there were 22 joint-stock banks (with 97 branches) and 11 private banks in Scotland.
The UK Banking Patent Act gave Scottish banks, which existed before its adoption, the right to issue activities limited by the terms of the Bank of England. The Scottish Banknote Act ( Bank notes (Scotland) Act 1845), the fiduciary issue of each of them was limited to the average level of the previous year, but, unlike the English banks, the Scottish banks were entitled to issue banknotes above this fixed limit, to the extent that they were able to fully provide additional banknotes in gold. In addition, contrary to the provisions of the British Banking Patent Act of 1844, under the Scottish version of the 1845 Act, in the event of a merger of two banks, they retained the fiduciary rights equal to the amount of their individual issues.
Currently, in accordance with the latest banking law of 2009, which, among other things, establishes the legal basis for the issue of banknotes by banks of Scotland (and Northern Ireland), three authorized banks have the right to issue their own banknotes: the Bank of Scotland, the Royal Bank of Scotland and the Caldesdale Bank. The current banking legislation provides for the obligation of authorized banks to create security assets at a one-to-one rate. At the same time, at least 60% of the bank's security assets, which it forms in relation to its banknotes in circulation, must consist of banknotes of the Bank of England and coins of the United Kingdom and must be deposited with the Bank of England.
The culture
music and dancing
The most famous of the folk instruments is the bagpipes.
Among the Scottish dances are Scottish ballroom dances and solo highlands.
A well-known contemporary musician and composer of Scottish descent is the founder and leader of the rock group Dire Straits, Mark Knopfler, who is now involved in solo projects.
Groups " Nazareth», « Alestorm», « Mogwai», « The FRATELLIS», « Simple minds», « Franz Ferdinand», « Runrig”Also comes from Scotland.
The famous punk band " The exploited"- originally from Scotland. The most famous Scottish alternative group is Primal scream».
The musicians of the legendary Australian band AC / DC Angus and Malcolm Young, as well as the late Bon Scott are Scottish by nationality and natives of Scotland.
Folk music festivals "Celtic Connections" are held annually in and " Hebridean Celtic Festival»In Stornoway.
Literature
Scottish literature has a rich history. The classics in their genres are the works of Robert Burns and Walter Scott, Robert Louis Stevenson and James Hogg.
Scottish literature includes a vast array of literature written in English, Scottish Gaelic, Scottish, Breton, French, Latin and many other languages ever written within the borders of modern Scotland. The earliest literary works date from the 6th century and include works such as Gododdin, written in Cumbrian (Old Welsh), and Elegy to St. Columba, by Dallan Forgail, in Middle Irish. The Life of Columba by Adomnan (eng. Adomnán), the ninth abbot of the monastery on Iona, was written in Latin in the 7th century. In the 13th century, the French language became widespread in literature. A century later, the first texts on scots appeared. After the 17th century, the influence of the English language increased, although in southern Scotland most of the population still spoke the southern dialect of Scots. The 18th century was the "golden age" for all the literatures of Scotland, especially for poetry. Poet and songwriter Robert Burns wrote in Scots, however, a significant part of his works are still written in English and a "light" version of Scots, the use of which made his work available to a wider circle of readers (and not just ordinary Scots). At the same time, Gaelic poetry took off (Alexander MacDonald, Duncan Ban McIntyre, etc.), interest in which has not faded to this day in many countries of the world, including Russia.
The emergence of the movement known as " Cailyard School”(English kailyard school) at the end of the 19th century revived the elements of fairy tales and folklore in literature.
Some modern novelists, such as Irwin Welch (famous for his novel Trainspotting, which was filmed), write in understandable Scottish English, reflecting the vulnerabilities of modern Scottish culture.
Some notable Scottish writers:
- Sir Walter Scott - Ivanhoe, Quentin Dorward, Rob Roy and others;
- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - Sherlock Holmes, The Lost World;
- Robert Louis Stevenson - Treasure Island, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde;
- Kenneth Graham - The Wind in the Willows;
- William McGonagall - "The Crash of the Bridge over the River Thay", "Statue of Burns", "Poetic Pearls", "The Execution of James Graham, Marquis of Montrose" and others;
- Irwin Welch - Trainspotting, Nightmares of the Marabou Stork, and others;
- James Barry - Peter Pan.
Fashion design and handicrafts
Scotland is famous for its national men's clothing - the kilt, which has many colors (tartans). Handicrafts are also developed in Scotland.
National symbols
- The Apostle Andrew is considered the patron saint of Scotland, according to legend, his relics were transferred from the Scottish city in the 8th century. The images of the apostle, as well as the X-shaped cross, on which, according to legend, he was crucified, serve as symbols of Scotland.
- The bagpipe is a national musical instrument, an unofficial symbol of Scotland.
- The coat of arms and the royal standard depict a red heraldic lion on a gold field, surrounded by a red double border with sprouted lilies.
- Anthem of Scotland, " Flower of scotland».
- The unicorn has traditionally been included in many historical Scottish coats of arms (often in the form of a supporter).
- Tartan is a fabric with an ornament of horizontal and vertical stripes. The national clothes of Scotland and, in particular, kilts are sewn from fabric with such an ornament; in Russia it is called "Scotch". The tartan pattern is assigned to a particular clan or family, military unit or organization.
- Flag of Scotland - represents the image of a white St. Andrew's cross on a sky-blue cloth.
- The thistle flower is a semi-official national symbol of Scotland and is depicted, in particular, on banknotes. According to legend, in the 13th century coastal Scottish settlements suffered from Viking raids. Once they managed to avoid an unexpected night attack due to the fact that the Vikings went barefoot into the thickets of the Scottish thistle, which gave themselves away.
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Notes (edit)
- There is no official state religion in Scotland, the Church of Scotland is separated from the state and has the status of a national
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Regulatory control GND: 4053233-1 LCCN: n79123936 NDL: 00571670 VIAF: 134799371
Basic moments
Traveling through Scotland is a storm of emotions. It amazes with the majesty of its untouched nature: emerald hills and mountains, whose peaks are hidden in a misty haze, endless valleys dotted with blooming heather, ascetic rocky islands. Scotland is famous for its ancient castles containing priceless works of art, endless beaches, golf courses, and excellent cuisine. More than 2 million people come here annually to admire this aloof and slightly gloomy beauty. Holidays in Scotland belong to the category of expensive, and most of the tourists are representatives of wealthy countries of Western Europe and Americans. Many of them own real estate here.
The birthplace of whiskey and golf, bagpipes and plaid kilts are incredibly distinctive. The Scots themselves still feel their individuality today, have a special system of values, their own history and traditions that differ from the English. You can see for yourself, because no matter what time you come to Scotland, you will certainly be a witness to one of the festivals, theatrical performances or traditional sports, the exact number of which is unknown even to the Scots themselves.
Scotland history
It is known that already in the first centuries of the 1st millennium AD. e. most of what is now Scotland was inhabited by Celtic tribes who came here from Ireland. Having exterminated and partially assimilated the aboriginal population, they formed a nationality, which is usually called the "Picts". So this well-organized warlike tribe was called by the Romans, who unsuccessfully tried to conquer the northern lands of the island of Britain. "Piktus" in Latin means "painted": the Pictish warriors who fought without armor tattooed their bodies with patterns.
Since the 11th century, England, the southern neighbor of Scotland, tried to conquer the kingdom, but the Scots have been able to defend their independence for a long time. The hostilities between the countries either calmed down or flared up again, which was also aided by the internal struggle of the Scottish clans for the throne. Claimants for the crown often sought, either publicly or secretly, to enlist the support of England, which skillfully pushed their heads against each other, using feuds for invasions, and at times initiated alliances based on marriages between English and Scottish royal dynasties.
In the 16th century, Scotland was rocked by religious strife. The local nobility and the bourgeoisie supported the leader of the Scottish Reformation, John Knox, a student of Calvin. However, the monarchical dynasty of the Stuarts was still devoted to Catholicism. The iconic victim of the religious confrontation between Protestants and Catholics was Mary Stuart, who refused to change her faith. In 1603, her son, the Scottish monarch James VI, ascended the English throne, however, despite the common ruler, the two countries were still unfriendly towards each other.
During the 17th century, the parliaments of Scotland and England attempted to unite both states, but only in 1707, during the reign of Queen Anne, the last representative of the Stuart dynasty on the English throne, the Act of Union was adopted, which approved the formation of a single kingdom of Great Britain. The Scottish Parliament ceased to exist. But the document enshrined such important postulates for the Scots as the priority of the Presbyterian Church and the independent status of the legal system.
In 1998, the UK Parliament passed the Act giving back to Scotland the right to have its own parliament and government.
Scottish character
According to the English writer George Orwell, the most striking features of the British are "ostentatious composure, politeness, respect for the law, suspicious attitude towards foreigners, sentimental attachment to animals, hypocrisy, emphasizing class and class differences and a passion for sports." The people of Scotland will not fail to notice that these words refer mainly to the English. The British themselves, to the displeasure of the Scots, are not inclined to recognize the difference between the words "British" and "Englishman", although the inconsistency of the Scottish national character, which combines gloom and humor, prudence and generosity, arrogance and tolerance, sensitivity and stubbornness, often lead them confused. While the English can be affable depending on the circumstances, the Scots have sincere courtesy and hospitable hospitality. English literature is thickly seasoned with witticisms addressed to the Scots, who, in turn, often call the unification of the two countries a forced wedding. Unlike the British, the Scots were never under Roman or Franco-Norman rule, and this is an additional source of pride for them.
The establishment of Protestantism here, unlike in England, was often accompanied by tragic events, which tempered the character of the adherents of the Reformation, making them dogmatists in many ways. In remote parts of Scotland, cooking, cleaning or reading the press on Sundays is still considered a serious sin. Scottish Catholics are also significantly more orthodox than English.
A keen sense of their national identity, the Scots, nevertheless, are well aware of the economic benefits of their union with England. A striking confirmation of this is the results of the independence referendum held in 2014 at the initiative of the Scottish National Party: 52% of Scots supported the preservation of a single country.
The spirit of independent Scotland is especially felt in its northern regions, inhabited by Gael, the Scottish Highlanders. They have their own way of life, in which there is still the concept of clannishness, which was established here in the Middle Ages. Echoes of the old tribal system still persist in the Scottish Gaelic surnames, which begin with the word "Mac" (Gaelic for "son"). Many inhabitants of mountain villages still bear a common surname.
During folk festivals, Scots, wishing to emphasize their adherence to tradition, dress up in formal Gaelic clothes: elegant white shirts with turn-down collars, plaid skirts in a large fold (kilt), short cloth jackets and blankets that are thrown over one shoulder. The kilt and blanket are made of a special checkered fabric - tartan. Each Scottish clan had its own color scheme for this fabric. At the end of the 18th century, this garment became the uniform of the Scottish Guards. Today, the kilt is worn by teenage boys, adult men, and even officials.
National currency
Despite the fact that the official currency of Great Britain is the British pound, Scotland has the right to issue its own money. This is also a pound, but the bills are different in design. However, you can guarantee to spend Scottish pounds only in Scotland; in other regions of the UK, stores may not accept them. Such an exotic bill is a good souvenir from this mountainous region.
Geography
Scotland "captured" a third of the country's territory and three archipelagoes - the Hebrides, Orkney and Shetland Islands. Its northern and western coasts are washed by the waters of the Atlantic, and the eastern shores reach the North Sea. Scotland is separated from the island of Ireland by the North Strait, which connects the Irish Sea with the Atlantic Ocean. The West and East coasts of Scotland are connected by the Caledonian Canal, of which the famous Loch Ness is a part.
Highland Scotland has long been divided into two regions: the Lowland and Highland Historic Regions. Lowland is in the southeast and includes the South Scottish Uplands and the Lowland Scottish Plains. However, this territory can be called flat only conditionally: in its center lies a chain of hills of volcanic origin, hundreds of small rocky ridges are scattered everywhere. Only river floodplains occupy lowlands with fertile land and lush pastures. Lowland is home to about two-thirds of the population, and most of the large farms and industrial enterprises are concentrated here. The largest cities in Scotland - the capital of Edinburgh and Glasgow - are located here.
To the northwest is the Highland, or Scottish Highlands. This is a special world with endless expanses of wild land, chains of rocky mountains crossed by narrow valleys with rivers, waterfalls and lakes, deep fjords overlooking the sea. Open to the ocean winds, the western mountain slopes are devoid of woody vegetation, and the eastern ridges are sheltered by luxurious Scottish pines, spruces and deciduous trees. Above the border of the forest, moorlands, swamps and fern thickets dominate. In the southern part of the Highland lies the Grampian Mountains, the highest in Britain, with the summit of Ben Nevis (1343 m).
Tourism seasons
Due to the fact that Scotland has unlimited opportunities for a wide variety of recreation, the tourist season here lasts all year round. But massively travelers "occupy" it from May to August, as well as during the New Year and Christmas holidays.
May, when the season officially opens, is the sunniest month of the year. By noon, the air in the lowland part of Scotland warms up to + 15 ° С, in the northern regions it is slightly cooler. In summer, even on the warmest days, the air temperature does not exceed +23 ° С, cold snaps often occur. If you decide to go to the mountains, dress warmly: there is usually no more than + 15 ° С.
Summer is a time when valleys and highlands are covered with bright carpets of blooming heather, and the western coast, washed by blue ocean waters, becomes comfortable for a beach holiday. Scotch white sand beaches stretching over the horizon are some of the most beautiful on the planet, but keep in mind that the water temperature off the coast never rises above + 20 ° C. The summer is also the height of the fishing season.
In September it is still warm enough (about + 15 ° С), but the rains begin, however, short-term. In October, the weather deteriorates sharply: the sky is covered with rain clouds, it becomes damp and windy. However, surfers believe that the best waves on the coast are in October. November brings increased winds and storms. The temperature in the Scottish Plains is about +8 ° C, and in the mountainous regions the first snow falls, frosts occur.
Winter in the plains is rather mild, but damp and windy: the air temperature usually ranges from –2 to +4 ° С, it often snows and rains. It is snowy in the mountains at this time, the temperature can drop to -10 ° С. In December, the ski season begins in Scotland, which lasts until April.
Lowland
This historical region is clearly divided into eastern and western parts, not only geographically, but also due to the nature of its inhabitants. Residents of the East consider themselves sophisticated people with good taste. Scots living in the west, including Glasgow, are not pretentious and believe that their main virtue is kind-heartedness and realism.
Edinburgh
In the east of Scotland, along the picturesque coast of the Firth of Forth, is one of the most beautiful cities in Europe - Edinburgh, which became the capital of the Scottish kingdom during the reign of David I (1124-1253). Whichever way you arrive in this city, standing between the sea and the hills, the first thing that appears to your gaze is a castle towering over a basalt ridge.
The tops of the castle seem to pierce the sky, and the peaked roofs, spiers and towers of the old city form a broken horizon line. It stretches from the battlements of the stronghold to the Palace of Holyroodhouse, hidden under a green mountain called the "Throne of King Arthur." At its top is the best observation deck in Edinburgh.
The oldest building in the capital is located on the territory of the castle - the tiny chapel of Queen Margaret of Scots. It was built at the beginning of the 12th century. Here are kept the Scottish crown, scepter and sword - some of the oldest royal regalia in Europe.
Royal Mile (Royal Mile), stretching from the wide esplanade in front of Edinburgh Castle to royal palace Holyroodhouse, was the center of city life until the end of the 18th century and is still quite lively. Here, during the famous summer Edinburgh Festival, a spectacular theatrical military parade takes place. Walking down the street, you will see wonderful buildings - examples of British architecture of the 16th-18th centuries. Narrow alleys fan out from the Royal Mile. In their spans, you can see the Pentland Hills in the south, the North Sea in the east, and the silvery waters of the Firth of Forth in the north, flashing between tall buildings.
At the end of the Royal Mile is Holyroodhouse Palace, the seat of Her Majesty the Queen during her stay in Scotland. The palace, founded by Jacob IV in 1498, was completed under Jacob V and Charles II. The official apartments have wonderful French and Flemish tapestries and 18th century furniture. In the throne room, the Queen of Great Britain appoints senior officials and rewards worthy ones.
Walking down to the foot of the hills, you will find yourself in the heart of Edinburgh - on Princes Street, one of the busiest streets in Europe. She will lead you to New town, spread out under the shadow of medieval buildings at the far end of the valley. This graceful complex of streets and circular squares is a fine example of 18th century urban planning.
It is pleasant to spend time in the capital, leisurely exploring numerous museums and galleries, where works of art created from the Middle Ages to the era of postmodernism are kept.
Edinburgh is not only the administrative, historical, but also the gastronomic center of Scotland. It has more restaurants per capita than any other city in the UK. The lively cafés on the Royal Mile and the spacious Grassmarket near the castle offer music to dine. The Royal Mile is home to the Deacon Brodie Tavern, described in Robert Stevenson's eerie story The Story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Rose Street is famous for its pubs, where fans have fun or sadness after the rugby competition. On the same street is one of the best cafes in Edinburgh - "Abbotsford".
Borderlands and Eastern Lands
Heading south from Edinburgh on a road that leads through the picturesque hills, you will find yourself in the border areas with England. This part of Scotland was always the first to resist the Romans and the British, holding back their attempts to break through to the north. Today it is a peaceful pastoral land with undulating ridges of green hills and clear river flows. The main occupation of local residents is agriculture, making tweeds and knitted products. The Tuid River, which flows here, is an excellent spot for fishing for trout and salmon.
On the southern bank of the river is the Abbotsford estate, built in the early 19th century by Sir Walter Scott according to his own design. This pretty house, built in the Old Scottish style, looks like it looks out onto the river and looks incredibly romantic. Abbotsford, still owned by one of Scott's descendants, is filled with memories of the famous writer. It houses a museum that houses an excellent collection of historical relics, armor and weapons, among them - Rob Roy's gun, Montrose sword and Prince Carl Edward's bowl.
Driving 3 km further south, you will arrive at the charming town of Melrose, nestled at the foot of the Eildon Hills Triple Ridge. A Roman fortress sits on one of the eastern slopes, offering spectacular views of the hills that run west towards Galloway. In the city itself, the most impressive are the ruins of the 12th century Melrose Abbey, which still remain an architectural poem. Glory to the city was also brought by the invention by the local sports club of the “play by all means” variety of rugby, which became famous all over the world. In the cities of the border regions, there is a special passion for rugby. There are picturesque medieval monasteries nearby: at Dryborough, where Walter Scott is buried, at Kelso and at Jedborough.
In the South of Scotland, there are some particularly impressive stately estates, where you can admire an outstanding collection of paintings and furniture. Among them - Flores Castle, the residence of the Duke of Roxborough, one of the Duke of Bukkleich's castles - Bauhill, the house of the Haddington Counts - Mellerstein, built in the 18th century by the famous Scottish architect Robert Adam.
To the east of Edinburgh, south of the Firth of Forth lies the Lothian Historic Site. Lush greenery surrounds the hills and courses, and the golf courses are considered some of the finest in the UK. Aberledee Bay offers great birdwatching spots, as well as wonderful dune-lined sandbars and many castles.
10 km from the coast, near the town of Haddington, Lennoxlav is located - the residence of the Duke of Hamilton. The city itself, with its carefully restored 17th-18th century buildings, is also worth a visit.
On the east coast is the St Abbs Head Nature Reserve. It is located on a picturesque rocky promontory jutting out into the North Sea. This is a bird's paradise: colonies of guillemots, cormorants, fulmars, herring gulls and auk nest here on the rocks. These are the best snorkeling spots in all of Scotland. Divers must obtain permission from the nature reserve keeper.
On the north side of the wide, silvery Firth of Forth lies County Fife. There are mines and industrial enterprises everywhere, but the life of the local cities and towns is distinguished by its originality and charm. In the western part of this land, at the head of the river, is the village of Culross, where you can see the best-preserved and most picturesque houses of those that were built in the cities of Scotland in the 16th and 17th centuries.
To the east is the ancient capital of the Kingdom of Scotland, Dunfermline. Its main attraction is the beautiful 12th century cathedral, where one of the greatest kings of Scotland, Robert the Bruce, was buried in 1329.
North of Dunfermline, on the coast of Cape Fife Ness, there are picturesque fishing ports - Earlsferry, Sket Monance, Pittenweem, Anstrater and Crail. Nearby you will see Falkland Palace, the hunting residence of the Stuarts, the elegant Tarvit House with a fine collection of furniture, tapestries, paintings and the 14th century Kelly Castle.
The most famous city in Fife is St Andrews. This is the birthplace of golf and the famous Old Course, which has been played for 800 years. St Andrews is also home to one of the oldest British universities, founded in 1412. There are many magnificent buildings in this city, and it is also famous for the fact that for a long time it was the religious center of Scotland. The church reformer John Knox read his first sermon here.
Western lands
On the banks of the Clyde River, 22 km from its delta, lies the largest city in Scotland - Glasgow. During the Middle Ages, it was an authoritative religious and educational center of the kingdom, and the industrial revolution of the 18th century turned it into one of the most economically developed and densely populated cities in Great Britain. Glasgow grew rich in shipbuilding and heavy engineering, and at the end of the 19th century became the second largest city in Scotland. Its solid manufacturing base was destroyed during the economic downturn of the 1970s. True, the recession was followed by the economic and cultural flourishing of the 90s, and not so long ago the EU recognized Glasgow as a "city of high culture".
Not everything in the cultural image of Glasgow is the achievement of recent decades. The 12th-century cathedral in the Old Town is the only Scottish medieval temple that escaped destruction during the Reformation. Opposite it you can see the three-story building "Provands Lordship" - this is the oldest secular building in the city (1471), which has now become a museum. The old part houses the Glasgow School of Art, the west wing of the building was built by the architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1868-1928), one of the founders of the Art Nouveau style. In Glasgow, you should definitely visit the University Museum and the Art Gallery of Art, which is second only to the Tate Gallery in London in terms of the number of visitors. It displays an impressive collection of paintings, including works by the Glasgow Boys, a group of late 19th century Impressionist and Post-Impressionist artists, and post-war Scottish painters.
A highway that runs through downtown Glasgow and then crosses the Clyde River will take you to Ayrshire. It is the birthplace of Robert Burns and the area of famous resorts such as Large, Troon, Prestwick and Gervan. There are ferries from Weims Harbor to the Isles of Bute and Milport, and from Ardrossan to Arran, a favorite Sunday getaway for the West Coast Scots. Ayrshire is home to some of Scotland's finest golf courses. Among them are three sites for the Open Championship, where it was first held in 1860.
Not far from the coastal town of Era, in provincial Alloway, stands the house where the iconic Scottish poet Robert Burns was born into a peasant family in 1759. Next to it is a modern building that houses a museum dedicated to the author of immortal ballads.
On the coast near the town of Kerkosualda stands the Culzin Castle, one of the greatest creations of the architect Robert Adam. Here you can admire a fine collection of paintings, weapons, furniture and porcelain.
South of Ayrshire, along the Solway Firth, are Dumfries, Galloway and other pretty towns and cities. Then they are replaced by wild heather wastelands. This piece of land ends in the hammer-shaped Galloway Peninsula. The upper part of the "hammer" is separated from the sea by Lough Ryan Bay, famous for its oysters. Stranrar is located in the harbor of the bay - the main port of departure from Scotland to Ireland.
Eight kilometers north, towards the town of Dumfries, lie the imposing ruins of Sweetheart Abbey. Dumfries itself, located on the trout-favored Neath River, is the largest city in the southwest of Scotland. Robert Burns moved here at the end of his life. His house has been preserved and turned into a museum. The monument to the poet stands on the High Street.
12 km south of Dumfries, on the banks of the Solway Firth, you will see the remains of the triangular fortress of Karlaverok surrounded by a moat. It was a powerful fortification on the lands bordering England. In the 17th century, the Earl of Nitsdale built a classic mansion inside the ruins, thus creating one of the most extravagant architectural complexes in Scotland.
Stirling is located between Glasgow and Edinburgh, claiming to be the true capital of Scotland. Its entire history is an illustration of the struggle of Scotland for its independence. Stirling Castle, the most important defensive stronghold of Scotland, seems to grow out of a high cliff, personifying the rebelliousness and courage of the Scots. The British captured it several times, but they could not hold out for a long time. From 1307 to 1603, the castle was the seat of the Stuarts. We also recommend visiting the Church of the Holy Cross and Kembaskennet Abbey.
During the confrontation between Scotland and England, it was believed that the party controlling the castle was the owner of the entire Kingdom of Scotland, and today the ancient city of Stirling is called the brooch that holds southern Lowland and northern Highlands together.
Highland
The Highland Historic Region covers almost a third of Scotland, but hardly more than 10% of its population lives here. There are so many picturesque corners on this earth that you can spend your whole life to look into each of them.
The southern Highland border, bordering Lowland, divides Scotland diagonally from Mull of Kintyre, a narrow strip of land stretching from Argyll on the west coast to Stonehwyne on the east coast, south of Aberdeen, the third largest city. Scotland. After large reserves of oil were discovered in the North Sea in the 70s of the last century, the center of the British oil industry developed here.
The convenient strategic location of Aberdeen in the Middle Ages turned the city into a royal domain, which contributed to its economic and cultural development. The local university, founded in 1495, is one of the five oldest in the UK. Aberdeen is often called the "Silver City" due to the fact that the quartz crystals in the granite, from which the city buildings were erected, expressively sparkle in the rays of the sun.
80 km east of Aberdeen, on the Royal Deyside Upland, is the Balmoral Estate, founded in the 15th century. Since 1848, it has been owned by the royal family, whose members spend part of the summer here. The castle is closed to the public, but when the crowned persons leave it, the castle park becomes available for visiting. On the way to the royal estate, you will see many magnificent castles. All of them are distinguished by the originality of style and furnishings, beautiful stucco ceilings, and valuable art collections.
It is more convenient to start your trip to the Northwest Highlands from Glasgow. The highway leading from this city to the north leads almost immediately to the highlands, and stretches along the shores of Loch Lomond, the largest freshwater reservoir in Great Britain, 37 km long and 8 km at its widest part. The local area is illuminated by an amazing soft light, giving a magical mystery to medieval castles and steep hills that surround the lake. Behind Loch Lomond rises the everlasting challenge to climbers Ben Lomond - one of the Munroes, as the 282 Scottish peaks - "three thousand" (3000 feet = 914 m) are called.
To the northeast of these places lies the city of Fort William with its magnificent 17th century fortifications. Fort William is a bustling Highland crossroads, from where tourists travel on a wide variety of routes. One of them is laid to the popular corner of the Scottish Highlands - Glencoe. This deep, incredibly picturesque valley stretches 11 km from Loch Leuven to the Rannoch More wasteland. In Glencoe there is a historical area - the Valley of Wailing. Here, in 1692, the troops of the English king William III attacked the MacDonald clan, massacring the entire population as punishment for the slowness shown by the head of the clan in expressing loyalty to the English king.
Rannokh-more is 155 km² of peat bogs, moorlands, lakes and meandering river flows. The inhabitants of the plain are waterfowl, larks, plovers, red deer, and fat trout is found in the local brown peat lakes. A wonderful panorama of these places opens up to tourists traveling by rail, laid at an altitude of 400 m above sea level.
From Fort William, bus excursions depart to the legendary Loch Ness, where tourists flock in the hope of meeting the famous Scottish monster. Most likely, you will never be able to see serpentine contours on the smooth surface of the lake, but you can always admire the picturesque ruins of Urquhart Castle, located in these parts.
To the northeast of Fort William lies the historic site of the Cullodenmore Plain, where in 1746 a battle took place between the Scots led by Charles Edward Stewart, the pretender to the British throne, and government forces under the command of the Duke of Cumberland. The Scots were defeated, and today there are stones along the road leading to these places, marking their graves. The battle was fought near the Old Lenach farm. It still exists today, becoming the Culloden House Museum.
To the west, along the River Spey, lay the rich lands of the Lay of Morea. Distilleries are located here, where most of the malt whiskey is produced. Some of them are open to visitors. Here you can watch the Gaelic “aqua vitae” making process, and even skip a glass at the end of the tour.
The road leading from Fort William westward to the town of Mallaigue runs through stunning panoramas. Bypassing Loch Shiel, you will find yourself in Lohalort, with its magnificent views of the sea and rocky islets in the clear waters of Loch nan Ouam. Then see how its rocky shores give way to the silver, dazzling sands of the coastal regions of Morar and Arisaig. Further from the coast, mountains stretch, reflecting in the dark waters of Loch Morar, the deepest lake in Great Britain, whose depth is more than 300 m. Here, they say, lives a monster no less mysterious than the Loch Ness reptile.
Malleigh itself is a small but picturesque port with ferries to the Hebrides. Heading from Mallaig further north, you will see one of the most beautiful lakes in Scotland - Loch Marie, wonderful gardens in Invery on Loch Eve, you will watch how landscapes change, gradually acquiring the harsh outlines of lunar landscapes.
The road north will lead to Inverness, the capital of the Highlands and the largest city in North Scotland. Shakespeare fans know it as the birthplace of King Macbeth, but this is not true, but the medieval castle of Inverness described by the poet, built on a rock, is quite real. Occupying a strategic position at the mouth of the River Ness, it has survived more than one siege and witnessed major historical events.
Today Inverness is a large trade center, a port from where ferries leave for the far north of Scotland - to the Orkney and Shetland Islands.
Islands
In the very north of Great Britain, between the North Sea, the Norwegian Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, there are two archipelagos: Orkney and Shetland. The first is 10 km away from the northern tip of Scotland, and the second is 150 km away. A significant part of the islands and islets belonging to both archipelagos are uninhabited.
On this pristine land, open sea elements and the sky, the owners are rocks, hills and mountains. The shores of the islands, which are often hit by high, powerful waves, steep, indented by deep fjords and bays. Rocks on some islands are more than three hundred meters high. Nature demonstrates a variety of rocks here - red and gray granites, black labrador, pink and brown quartz, gray and white limestones.
There are also low, gentle shores, which are slippery, overgrown with algae, randomly piled boulders and slabs. In some bays, swampy shores suddenly turn into luxurious beaches with white sand.
Due to continuous winds, the weather is unstable here, but thanks to the warm sea currents, it cannot be called harsh. The most comfortable time is June-July. At this time, it is light 19 hours a day, during the day it is mostly clear, but the wind at any moment can bring a cold snap or thick fog. When going to the islands, you should take care of waterproof clothing and shoes.
In late spring and early summer, everything is in bloom here, and numerous birds that have taken a fancy to these places incubate and raise their offspring. In July, the birds change plumage and prepare to travel to warmer regions. Watching them through binoculars is a very interesting activity.
The largest of the Orkney Islands is Mainland, home to 75% of the archipelago's population. The cities of Stromness and Kirkwall are located here. The coastline north of Stromness offers one of Britain's most spectacular cliff-side excursions. In Kirkwall it is interesting to see the ruins of buildings of the Norman period and the Earl's Palace - one of the best examples of Renaissance architecture in Scotland.
On the east coast of Mainland, you can see a perfectly preserved Neolithic settlement dating from around 3000 BC. e. and the huge Mace Howe burial mound.
There is only one city in the Shetland Islands, Lerwick, but there is an airport connected to most Scottish airports, and the frequency of flights is quite high due to the oil wells located here. New oil fields in the North Sea have severely curtailed tourism opportunities for a while, but today it has revived and Shetland antiquities have reclaimed the attention of travelers.
10 km west of Lerwick, wander among the picturesque ruins of Skalloway Castle. On the small island of Mausa, see a well-preserved structure from the Iron Age, the Broch (fortress tower). On Unst Island, admire Manes Castle.
The Hebrides are widespread in the ocean off the northwest coast of Scotland. The archipelago includes about 500 islands, large and very tiny. It is often cloudy and rainy here, and lead waves crash on the coast. But the weather here is changeable, and quickly changes from anger to mercy, delighting with the sun and calm sea, which suddenly acquires a piercing blue, "tropical" color.
The largest island in the archipelago is Skye. From the fjords in the east to the steep Cullin Mountains and rocky coastlines in the east, Skye is a miniature embodiment of the wild Celtic spirit that permeates all of Scotland. The Kullin Ridge is a 10-kilometer chain of mountain peaks, 15 of which exceed the mark of 900 m. At the foot of the massif lies the Glen-Sligahan Valley, 13 km south of it is the Log-Skawig Lake. The romantic Armadale Castle is located in these places.
In the northwest of the island stands the oldest inhabited castle in Scotland - Dunvegan. The heads of the Macleod clan have ruled here for over 800 years. Now the family of the 30th head of the clan, Hugh Macleod, lives in the castle. A visit to the castle with a walk in its gardens - £ 10. Entrance for guests is open from 10:00 to 17:00.
In the town of Dunvegan, a mile south of the castle, take a boat trip. The vessel comes to the habitat of sea seals, you can go fishing from the board.
On the Isle of Lewis there is a mysterious structure made of vertically installed boulders, forming a circle. This megalithic complex is believed to have been built in the late Neolithic era, and is associated with the cult of the Moon.
Leisure
The Scots love sports. Golf, rugby, curling, football, mountaineering, sailing regattas, surfing, scuba diving are especially popular here. Scotland has an excellent infrastructure for outdoor activities, which has become a reliable support for the tourist industry, initially focused on historical sites.
For lovers of hikers, an incredible number of trails have been laid that stretch along the coastline, along the slopes of steep cliffs and territories of protected wild corners. Some difficult routes can only be walked with a guide.
Cycling enthusiasts will also be satisfied. For cyclists, there are special paths in the forest and countryside, along the sides of the railroad bed and highways, where the traffic is not very busy.
There are over 500 magnificent golf courses scattered throughout Scotland. The best ones are on its east coast.
Scotland's quaint coastline, rivers, lakes, and islands make this region one of the best places in the world for water sports. Fans of water recreation can only choose between yachting, rafting on mountain rivers, water skiing, diving, surfing.
Horse riding is also popular here. On noble horses and sturdy Scottish ponies, you can take short walks along the coast or go on a long tour of the hinterland.
There are 5 ski areas in Scotland with resorts of different price categories, where all conditions are created for both professionals and beginners, even the smallest. Here you will find not only alpine skiing, but also snowboarding and freeriding. In addition, the resorts regularly host exciting events such as the Aviemore Husky Sled Dog Rally, where you can take part in dog sled races.
Educational tours
Scotland, like England, is often visited for education. English language and immersion in the language environment. Schoolchildren and students, middle-aged and older people go on educational tours. Training here lasts all year round, the minimum duration of the course is a week.
It is better to send your children to educational centers-schools aimed at children from 8 to 16 years old during the holidays. This provides an excellent opportunity to combine training with outdoor activities and educational excursions.
The cost of a 2-3-week educational tour to Scotland, depending on the chosen program, is from £ 2000 to £ 5000.
Scottish cuisine
Scotland has always been famous for the quality of its beef. Cattle raised in mountain pastures make excellent steaks. Their taste is well accentuated by cream, oat sauce and whiskey. Salmon from the lakes and rivers of Scotland is also renowned throughout the world as is the local seafood.
Lamb dishes are popular in Scotland. Among them, of course, is the legendary "haggis" - a mutton stomach stuffed with oatmeal and generously seasoned with spices and giblets with interior fat. Game dishes are no less famous, partridge and pheasant are especially good, they are prepared with raspberries, currants, wild berries.
Tourists love the local sweet food - oatmeal flavored with cream and honey, dried fruit puddings, ice cream made from natural fresh milk.
As in all of Europe, Scotland has seemingly invisible international fast food chains, but for a quick and inexpensive snack, it is much more pleasant to go to a cafe or pub that serves homemade food. In the menu of pubs, in addition to the popular here beer, sherry, brandy and port, usually there are dishes such as soups, pies with beef and kidney or pork, casserole with lard, scrambled eggs, rolls and the always popular "Ploughman's Lunch" of bread, cheese, pickles and salad.
The Scots love their national product - whiskey. There are more than 100 distilleries here, each of which produces its own elite varieties of this drink. Those who enjoy tasting this fiery product should take one of the whiskey tours that most travel agencies organize.
What to buy
If you are looking for a solid and beautiful piece to commemorate Scotland, buy a stylish wool sweater from renowned local manufactories with a history (from £ 90) or silver jewelry (best sold in the northern, "Celtic" areas). An excellent purchase - a kilt or a plaid (from £ 90 to £ 190), or a more modest thing - a soft and cozy checkered scarf (up to £ 20).
Popular souvenirs from Scotland are metal and wood crafts with national symbols, leather belts, stylish belt buckles. Delicious gifts - oatmeal cookies, heather tea and, of course, real Scotch whiskey.
Where to stay
Scotland has a wide variety of accommodations to choose from, from chic rooms in modern hotels and ancient castles to cozy rooms in family farmhouses where you will be served bed and breakfast. Modern hotels here are expensive and often featureless, unlike rural cottage-hotels, where at your service - comfortable accommodation with a charming interior. Many of them are located in old houses. The cost of living varies depending on the location and the range of services provided, but daily room rent is unlikely to cost less than £ 60.
It would be a shame to visit Scotland and not spend at least a night in one of the medieval castles. If you want to dine by candlelight in a knight's hall or a dungeon, take part in quests based on detective novels, and at dawn, by opening a window, let in a muffled ghostly light, making its way through the fog and intoxicating air with its freshness, into your abode, you will have to pay for a double room at least £ 160 per day.
Some medieval castles are home to youth hostels and English language training centers. Historic buildings also often house hostels and apartments. The minimum price for hostel accommodation is £ 30 (room with 8 beds and shared facilities).
Safety
Crime in Scotland is fairly low, aided by the ubiquitous outdoor surveillance cameras. But, as in any other country, pickpockets are not uncommon in crowded places, so you should not keep large amounts of cash with you. Some areas of Glasgow enjoy a bad reputation, but in the Highlands, locals often do not even lock the doors to the house, and leave the car keys in the salon.
In the event of an unpleasant incident, you need to call a single number 999 (police, ambulance, firefighters).
Transport
All localities in Scotland are connected by bus and rail. But if the trip by bus from Edinburgh to Glasgow costs only £ 4, then a 50-minute trip by train Edinburgh to Glasgow will cost £ 13-22 (tickets in the 1st class compartment are 50% more expensive). In the cities of Scotland, buses predominate on public routes, but tram lines have survived in some places. The ticket price is £ 1.2-1.5.
Old-fashioned black Scottish taxis are replicas of the spacious London autocabs. On vacant cars, a yellow beacon on the roof is on. The fare is recorded by the meter, converting the yards and miles traveled to pounds. First kilometer - £ 3.75. Then 60p is added to them for every 169 m.
Any of the 60 Scottish islands can be reached by sea ferries. The cost of a trip up to 1 hour is £ 5-8. Small planes fly to the remote Shetland and Orkney Islands.
In remote mountainous provinces and on the islands, passengers are transported by Royal Mail minibuses, which can accommodate from 2 to 6 travel companions. Car rental gives you complete freedom of movement. Economy class car rental costs from £ 23 / day. Driving here is left-hand, and you should be aware of the nuances of local traffic rules. For example, the maximum speed in urban areas is 48 km / h (in Edinburgh - 30 km / h). Speed is controlled by automatic recorders installed everywhere. The fine for exceeding is £ 1000, for unfastened seat belts (including passengers) - £ 500, and for the extra ppm of alcohol in the blood you need to pay £ 5000, and you can get jailed.
Glasgow has one of the world's oldest subways. The first subway stations opened at the end of the nineteenth century. After the modernization of the metro, streamlined orange trains appeared here, moving with the accuracy of a chronometer. The townspeople nicknamed their subway "A Clockwork Orange". A single ticket will cost you £ 1, a day ticket - £ 1.90.
How to get there
There are no regular direct flights from the Russian Federation to the cities of Scotland. However, you can get to the airports of Glasgow, Aberdeen, Inverness, Edinburgh with a transfer in London or at the international airports of other European capitals.
The lowest cost of a flight to Glasgow from Moscow and back is offered by low-cost airlines. For example, the British discounter easyJet regularly operates flights from Domodedovo Airport to Glasgow with a transfer in London (Heathrow airport). The ticket should be booked in advance, it is convenient to make an application online. The cost of a return flight in economy class on the A-321 airbus is 309 € (taxes included, meals are paid on board at will). Distance: 2546 km, travel time - 4 h. 20 min.
If you take the initiative and take full advantage of the possibilities of the World Wide Web, you can fly to Scotland even cheaper. Book your tickets several months in advance, prices will increase as your desired flight date approaches.
High-speed trains run from London to Edinburgh and Glasgow. Travel time is 4.5 and 5 hours, respectively. A train ticket is expensive, around £ 100.
By car from Moscow to Scotland along the shortest route, you need to cover about 3,650 km. On this journey you will drive along excellent European highways through Belarus, Poland, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France, use the tunnel under the English Channel (50 km, the car will be transported by train), and cross Britain from south to north.
Until 1707, it was an independent state. And it appeared a very long time ago - back in 843 AD.
Like many other countries, Scotland has its own national motto. It sounds in Latin and in translation means "No one will touch me with impunity." Already this motto speaks of how much the country has gone through on the way to its prosperity, the population here has always been very independent and independent. Moreover, they even have their own national animal - the unicorn. The choice is incomprehensible, apparently, it further emphasizes the original independence of the inhabitants of Scotland.
The territory of this country occupies 78.7 thousand square kilometers. The telephone country code is +44, after which the area code is dialed. As for religion, the majority of the population are adherents of the Church of Scotland of the Presbyterian type, 16 percent consider themselves to be the Roman Catholic Church, 28 percent are completely atheists.
V Scotland more than five million people live. Their characteristic features can be called the already mentioned independence and originality - in any conversation a Scot will always try to distinguish himself, to make him different from others. Take, for example, even superstition: if in many countries a black cat that crosses the road leads to problems, then for the Scots, on the contrary, to luck. They are quite friendly and sociable, but they often suffer from bouts of melancholy. The Scots are quite practical and very proud, they will not talk about themselves if they see that they are not being paid enough attention to.
By the way, Scotland is one of the few countries where there are three official languages at once - Scottish Gaelic, English and Anglo-Scottish. Some of the words in these languages are borrowed from each other and changed, so many tourists often get confusion in their heads.
It is worth noting one funny law that exists in Scotland: if someone knocks on the Scotsman's house and asks for permission to use the bathroom when needed, the owner is obliged to let the person in. I wonder how often people come to their house with such a request.
The climate here is relatively warm, in summer the temperature is around 20 degrees. In winter, the temperature only reaches 3 degrees. But nevertheless, there are quite often unexpected weather changes - after the bright sun, heavy rain or even a hurricane begins abruptly. Of all parts of the UK, Scotland can be considered the coldest in terms of weather.
What is famous for Scotland in the eyes of tourists? Of course, the famous kilt, bagpipes and Scotch whiskey. The tradition of wearing a kilt appeared among the Scots because of the local relief - Scotland is completely covered with mountains, therefore it has long been convenient to move in such a dress, and at night it was also convenient for them to hide. Now the kilt has become part of the national treasure, and its historical function has disappeared.
It is considered to be one of the most delicious. It has been produced here for many centuries in a row, there are quite a large number of varieties, it is recommended to try single malt and grain whiskeys - they most fully convey the entire gamut. By the way, the word whiskey in translation means "water of life". Apparently, in numerous wars, the Scots maintained their viability in this way.
Scotland can be safely called the land of music and arts; music competitions and performances are regularly held here. In particular, the local people are especially fond of the national music performed by pipers.
The famous landmarks of Scotland include Loch Ness. Legends about the Loch Ness monster, living at the depth of the lake, are still circulating even among Russian tourists; many specially come there on an excursion in the hope that they will be lucky to see this famous monster.
Also, tourists are highly recommended to visit Edinburgh Castle. It sits on the edge of Castle Rock, and its walls hide dense forests. Once upon a time, violent wars took place here and the castle was a point of defense. Now it has turned into a museum, where you can see the treasures of the Scottish crown with your own eyes. The castle seems to evoke a feeling of independence and numerous military victories.
If they give the impression of modern countries of progress, then Scotland evokes associations of something historical, steeped in tradition. Therefore, you should definitely visit all corners of the UK to get a complete picture of life in the United Kingdom.
Welcome to the site site, which will tell you about a wonderful country. Here, you can read a lot of interesting information useful for both tourists and exploring Scotland, find out the latest news, history, watch and download photos and wallpapers of Scotland to your computer.
Official name of the state- Scotland. National motto — "No one will touch me with impunity!"
Scotland(eng. Scotland, gal. Alba) - a state that is part of the UK. Scotland, located in the northern part of the island of Great Britain, occupies 30% of its territory. On its southern borders, it borders on England.
Scotland, was founded in 843, with the unification of the cattle kingdom of Dal Riada and the kingdom of the Picts. The first king of Scotland, Kenneth I, ruled from 844 to 859.
In 1707, in accordance with "Act of Union", Scotland and England formed United Kingdom of Great Britain, with a single parliament and central government.
For reference: Presently, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, consists of four territorial entities: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
In 1999, the Scottish Parliament was reinstated.
Scotland- a country with a surprisingly turbulent and rich history, unique, unlike others, full of contrasts and contradictions. Almost every person knows such names as Robert Bruce, McLood, Mary Stuart, Charles I and many other great figures of Scottish history.
Scotland's nature is striking and varied, from the gentle pastoral 1 landscapes of Lowland to the rugged beauty of the rocky Highlands, from the Glencoe Valley to the Isle of Skye, from the purple moorlands stretching beyond the horizon to breathtaking ocean views.
Ancient monsters led by the legendary Nessie live in blue lakes, shrouded in fog. Among the green hills, fairies and elves hide from human eyes, and ghosts frightening guests roam the ruins of ancient abbeys and the walls of majestic castles.
Scotland is a land of romantic poems by Robert Burns, adventure novels by Walter Scott and Robert Louis Stevenson. Scotland is home to whiskey, Celtic hospitality, and a haven for hunters, anglers, climbers and golfers.
1. Pastoral- in European art of the 14-18 centuries. a literary or musical work that idyllically depicts the life of shepherds and shepherdesses in the bosom of nature.
Fabulous scotland
Caledonia(The Romans called Scotland this romantic word) - harsh and wild, the cradle of poets and writers, the land of brown heather and impenetrable forests, the land of mountains and misty lakes. It takes your breath away from the wild mountain landscape, the play of light and shadow on weed ridges under the caps of snow, the gloomy splendor of the purple-brown heather wastelands, moon paths on the serene surface of sleeping lakes.
Enchanted country. It is difficult to capture her mood: a sunny smile is suddenly replaced by a frown from under the overhanging clouds, admiration and ecstasy from touching eternity are shedding tears of rain, Scottish mountain waterfalls and streams, a pensive fog flows, and it is easy to immediately believe in the existence of wizards and fairies, giants and lake monsters, mermaids and dragons ...