Have you ever watched Hitchcock’s famous film The 39 Steps, gasped at the alter-egos of Jekyll and Hyde, or sung Auld Lang Syne at the turn of New Year? Chances are you have! You are enjoying some of the culture of Scotland that has spread world wide.
Robert (aka Rabbie) Burns is Scotland’s national bard and wrote many famous ballads and songs including Auld Lang Syne and one of my favourites “A Man’s A Man For A’ That.”
Here is a video of Paolo Nutini (from Paisley, Scotland) singing one of Burns’ most well-known songs “A Man’s A Man An A’ That”. It’s written partly in Scots and partly in English. It’s basic message is to be yourself at all times, and independent thinking is more precious than rank or money.
Rabbie Burns wrote his poems in either Scots or English. Scots is a variant of English but stands as a language in its own right. Many people in Scotland speak both and interchange between the two. Additionally about 87,000 people speak Gaelic - the ancient language of the Celts before either English or Scots. These people live mainly in The Highlands and Islands of the north west. Interestingly Gaelic has no single word for “yes” or “no”.
The Gaelic for Edinburgh is DunEdin - and there are many places around the world named Dunedin after it.
Robert Louis Stevenson (born in Edinburgh 1850, died 1894) is a Scots writer from about a century after Burns - amongst his canon are world famous books like "Treasure Island " (with Long John Silver and the parrot saying “Pieces of Eight”) and The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, and A Child’s Garden of Verses.
John Buchan (who became The Lord Tweedsmuir) was born in Perth, Scotland in 1875, and died in 1940. His most famous work is the book The 39 Steps, which was made into film by Hitchcock, telling the story of an adventurer who gets involved in international espionage.
Perhaps the most famous Scottish woman author was Muriel Spark (1918-2006) who wrote The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, and The Driver’s Seat - both of which have been made into high box office films.
Talking of films and music - here is a list of some well known Scottish actors and musicians - but there are many more:
Sean Connery - actor - James Bond
Annie Lennox - musician - Eurythmics and solo
Robbie Coltrane - actor - Hagrid in Harry Potter
James McAvoy - actor - Professor Charles Xavier in X-Men
Rose Leslie - actor - Ygritte in Game of Thrones
Burns Night is big celebration night in Scotland - held on January 25th, Robert Burns’ birthday. Traditionally his poems are recited, and the famous Scottish dish of Haggis, Neeps and Tatties is eaten. Burns wrote an address to the haggis which is said as the haggis is first cut into.
Haggis is a mixture of sheep’s heart, liver, and lungs with, minced with onion, oatmeal, suet and spices - a form of giant blood sausage. It’s eaten with Neeps (mashed swede/turnip) and tatties (mashed potatoes).
Haggis is seen as Scotland’s national dish, and it is exported over all the world. It’s eaten at many other times of the year, as well as on Burns night.
Often a toast is drunk to Rabbie Burns, using Scotch, or whisky. Note the spelling. Whiskey with an ‘e’ is Irish. Whisky, without an ‘e’, is Scottish.
Particularly good Scotch is made from the peat burns (little streams) running down the sides of the mountains in The Highlands. The quality of the water is one of the determining factors in the eventual flavour of the drink. Scotch Whisky, or Scotch (as it is sometimes known) is world famous.
And of course, while you are eating and drinking Scottish food and drink, you may want music. The most traditional Scottish instrument is the bagpipes. To play these pipes, you blow into a bag to keep it filled with air. You then squeeze the bag with your arm to blow it through pipes - and play the tune on each of the pipes.
You may not like haggis (or the idea of it) as traditional food - so why not try Cullen Skink, Scotch eggs, or Cranachan, Cock-a-leekie soup, Stovies, or, of course, Scottish porridge.
You may have noticed that the banner at the top of this post, and the traditional dress worn by the piper are mainly in tartan cloth. Tartan is a particularly Scottish woven cloth with a pattern of rectangles and lines set into the warp and weft . Scots people wear a kilt made of many yards of tartan cloth formed into a skirt-like item, over which they wear a sporran - a kind of pouch which serves the same function as a pocket or bag. It is often made of leather. Additionally to this they may wear a tweed jacket and shirt, socks with a garter tab, and various sorts of headwear such as a tam- o-shanter (like a beret) or a balmoral (a firmer more upright hat often worn by Scottish pipers.
Scotland is proud of its range of tartans - each woven in a traditional manner by a clan (a family or geographical group of people). Each clan has its own tartan and there are many variations of each one.
Of course, there is much much more to Scottish culture and food than I have been able to show in just a few words on a Connect post, but I hope I have given you a flavour of what is on offer, and it might inspire you to plan a visit someday - so here is an old Scottish wish for you:
Other articles in this series
A Wee Look Around Scotland: History
A Wee Look Around Scotland: Geography
A Wee Look Around Scotland: Inventions and Innovations
#WorldChallenge Scotland
