X-Nico

42 unusual facts about Scotland


Alyth

There may have been a Christian presence in this area from early times, since the medieval parish church was dedicated to St. Moluag of Lismore (d. 592), a contemporary of St. Columba.

Burrafirth

Burrafirth links (Old Norse: Borgarfjorðr, meaning "the fjord with a castle") is a strip of land with a few houses on the island of Unst, Shetland, Scotland.

Càrn nan Gobhar

Carn nan Gobhar is the name of two Munro mountains, north of the Great Glen in Scotland.

Charles Thomas Campbell

It grew into the town of Scotland, and he became active in Democratic politics, serving as mayor of the town he helped found.

Clan Bruce

Bruce appears to have sided with the Scots during the Battle of Stirling Bridge but when Edward returned victorious, to England after the Battle of Falkirk, Bruce's lands of Annandale and Carrick were exempted from the lordships and lands which Edward assigned to his followers.

Clan Stewart of Appin

To the West are islands including the island of Lismore, home to the MacLea and the Baron Buchull, keeper of the Buchull Mhòr (the crosier of St. Moluag), adherents of Appin.

Crinan

The Crinan Canal, a waterway in Scotland with one of its outlets at Crinan, linking Loch Fyne with Loch Crinan

Electoral reform in New Zealand

Mixed Member Proportional (MMP); also known as the Additional Member System used in Germany, Scotland, and Wales (although only in Germany at the time); in which roughly half of the seats are elected by FPP; and the remainder are filled from party lists to top-up the local seats so as to ensure a proportional overall result;

Gabrán mac Domangairt

The domain of the Cenél nGabraín appears to have been centred in Kintyre and Knapdale and may have included Arran, Jura and Gigha.

Gross annual value

In Falkirk in Scotland the Gross Annual Value is used to calculate Council house rent based on factors such as house type, age, structure, number of apartments, overall floor area, location and type of heating.

Harthill

Harthill, Scotland, on the border of North Lanarkshire and West Lothian

Herbert Vincent Mills

For positive solutions, Mills looked to the independent-minded islanders of St Kilda, and the vagrancy colonies of the Netherlands, concluding that what was required was an “English experiment” in co-operative land settlement.

Inner Sound

In geography, the Inner Sound is a stretch of water separating the west coast of the Scottish mainland from the Inner Hebrides.

International Criminal Court and the 2003 invasion of Iraq

For example, no mention was made of any involvement by citizens of State Parties (e.g. the Scottish Black Watch regiment) in the US attack on Fallujah in 2003, which resulted in accusations of war crimes — though mainly by US and Iraqi government troops and Iraqi insurgents (who are not under ICC jurisdiction), rather than British forces.

James Ogilvy, 4th Earl of Findlater

Findlater was Solicitor General for Scotland from 1693, Lord Chancellor of Scotland from 1702 to 1704 and from 1705 to 1708, Secretary of State from 1696 to 1702 and joint secretary from 1704 to 1705.

Jedlińsk

The school existed in 1560-1630, and in that period, Jedlińsk attracted many Scottish Calvinists, who founded a bell for the prayer house (the bell still exists).

John Comyn, Earl of Buchan

Seizing the political high ground, Bruce was crowned at Scone on 25 March in an improvised ceremony.

Loarn mac Eirc

There are no records or traditions of Loarn as king, and his main significance is as the eponymous ancestor of Cenél Loairn, a kindred whose name is preserved in Lorne.

Lord of Argyll

In this context, King Alexander II of Scotland led expeditions into Argyll in 1221 and 1222, expeditions which led to Donnchadh being recognised or appointed to the Lordship of Lorne.

Lorne sausage

It is commonplace in traditional Scottish breakfasts and is said to originate in Lorne, Argyll.

Medway watermills

Production ceased in 1934, with the manufacturing of explosives being transferred to Ardeer in Scotland.

Merchant Shipping Act 1854

It also changed the management of lighthouses in Scotland and neighbouring islands, vesting it in Northern Lighthouses which was one of the General Lighthouse Authorities the act created.

Mittelndorf

A similar thing in Europe could be found, for example, in the stations of Kloster Marienthal (Engers-Au line, Germany); Pertosa, in southern Italy; or Corrour, in Scotland.

Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action

The equivalent infrastructure and representative body for voluntary sector organisations in Wales is WCVA, in Scotland is the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations, SCVO and in England is NCVO or National Council for Voluntary Organisations.

Northumberland National Park

The Northumberland National Park covers a large area of Western Northumberland and borders the English county of Cumbria and the Scottish county of The Scottish borders.

It covers an area of more than 1030 km² between the Scottish border in the north to just south of Hadrian's Wall.

Oakbank, South Australia

The Johnston family hailed from Oakbank, Scotland district, and hence decided to name the new township Oakbank.

Ontario Veterinary College

The Ontario Veterinary College was established in Toronto in 1862, by the Scot Andrew Smith, a graduate of the Royal School of Veterinary Studies, Edinburgh.

Rachel Sermanni

Rachel Sermanni (born 7 November 1991) is a Scottish folk musician from Carrbridge, in Strathspey.

Reduced Shakespeare Company

In 1987, a friend of the company suggested that they'd find a welcome reception at the famous Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland.

Sandy Arbuthnot

Settles at an idyllic estate called Laverlaw, near Ettrick in the Borders.

Scotland, Maryland

It is the birthplace and childhood home of Orlando "Tubby" Smith, the former men's basketball coach of the University of Minnesota and the University of Kentucky.

Scotland's Environmental and Rural Services

SEARS marked its first anniversary by publication of its first annual review at the Royal Highland Show 2009 by Environment Minister Roseanna Cunningham MSP.

Sgt. MacKenzie

Joseph MacKenzie wrote the haunting lament after the death of his wife, Christine, and in memory of his great-grandfather, Charles Stuart MacKenzie, a sergeant in the Seaforth Highlanders, who along with hundreds of his brothers-in-arms from the Elgin-Rothes area in Moray, Scotland went to fight in the Great War.

Speyside

Strathspey, Scotland, the famous whisky producing region by the River Spey

Sybil Kathigasu

Sybil Kathigasu died on 4 June 1948 aged 48 in Britain and her body was buried in Lanark, Scotland.

T.A. Robertson

Thomas Argyll Robertson OBE (1909-1994), known as "Tommy" or by his initials as "TAR", was a Scottish MI5 intelligence officer, responsible during the Second World War for the Double Cross System disinformation campaign against the German intelligence services in which every German agent in Britain, with the exception of one who committed suicide without having been detected by the authorities, was actually working for British intelligence.

The View from Castle Rock

This narrative retells the lives of members of the Laidlaw family who lived in Ettrick Valley, Scotland, in the 18th century.

Thomas de Rossy

At Scone, on 16 August 1390, two days after the coronation of Robert III of Scotland, Bishop Thomas gave a sermon; according to Wyntoun:The Byschape off Galloway thare, Thomas,
(A theolog solempne he was),
Made a sermownd rycht plesand,
And to the matere accordand.

Vacomagi

From his general description and the approximate locations of their neighbors, their territory was the region of Strathspey, including that part of the northern coast of Scotland.

Vioearth Holdings

Vioearth Holdings is a computer energy tracking and efficiency management company based in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Westminster Stone theory

The Stone of Destiny was kept by the monks of Iona, the traditional headquarters of the Scottish Celtic church, until Viking raiding caused them to move to the mainland, first to Dunkeld, Atholl, and then to Scone.


A Constitution for a Free Scotland

(2) The Constitution for Scotland states that the monarch would hold title under the law of Scotland, so presumably the Parliament of Scotland could, at some future time, alter the law of succession in such a way that this personal union is dissolved.

Adlai Stevenson I

John Turner Stevenson's grandfather, William was born in Roxburgh, Scotland then migrated to and from Ulster around 1748, settling first in Pennsylvania and then in North Carolina in the County of Iredell.

Airlie Beach, Queensland

It is almost certain that the town was named for the parish of Airlie, in Scotland, as the name was suggested by the chairman of the former Proserpine Shire Council, who was born in nearby Montrose, Scotland.

Alexander Dennis Enviro350H

Alexander Dennis had since received orders of 22 buses from Stagecoach for use in Scotland (19 introduced in 2012, 3 introduced in 2013), 4 buses from First Essex (introduced in 2013) and 12 buses from Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona, Spain.

Alexander Home

Alexander Home, 3rd Lord Home (died 1516), Scottish soldier and nobleman, Chamberlain of Scotland and March Warden

Alexander Lyon, 2nd Lord Glamis

He married Agnes Crichton, daughter of William Crichton, 1st Lord Crichton, Chancellor of Scotland, but had no surviving children.

Archerfield

Archerfield Estate and Links, a country estate and pair of golf courses in East Lothian, Scotland

Billy Collings

Billy Collings was playing snooker in Bridgeton YMCA when he was approached by Davie McLachan to play for Cambuslang Rangers in the West of Scotland junior league.

Canmore

the University of St Andrews Catholic Chaplaincy, nicknamed Canmore, a chaplaincy in St. Andrews, Scotland.

Carham

In 1016 or 1018 the Battle of Carham between the Kingdom of Scotland and the Northumbrians resulted in a Scottish victory.

Chuck Blair

Blair was born in Edinburgh, Scotland and while still an infant, he immigrated with his family to Canada.

Constable

The office of Lord High Constable, one of the Great Officers of State, was established in the kingdoms of England and Scotland during the reigns of King Stephen (1135–1154) and King David (1124–1154) respectively, and was responsible for the command of the army.

Dean Family Farm

Daniel was a son of George Roger Dean, who fought in the Colonial line, and Mary Campbell who was reared with her sister by the Duke of Argyl at Inveraray Scotland, the clan Campbells' ancestral home.

Dungal MacDouall

King Robert I of Scotland's invasion of Galloway in 1307, led by his brother Alexander de Brus and Thomas de Brus, Malcolm McQuillan, Lord of Kintyre, two Irish sub kings and Reginald de Crawford, and composing of eighteen galleys, landed at Loch Ryan.

Francis Hay, 9th Earl of Erroll

The dispute which began in his lifetime concerning the hereditary office of Lord High Constable between the families of Erroll and of the Earl Marischal was settled finally in favour of the former; thus establishing the precedence enjoyed by the earls of Erroll next after the royal family over all other subjects in Scotland.

Ginkgo

Given the slow pace of evolution and morphological similarity between members of the genus, there may have been only one or two species existing in the Northern Hemisphere through the entirety of the Cenozoic: present-day G. biloba (including G. adiantoides) and G. gardneri from the Palaeocene of Scotland.

Graham Shaw

Graeme Shaw, rugby league footballer for Scotland and at club level for Oldham Roughyeds

Gruinard Bay

Gruinard Bay is a large remote coastal embayment, located 12 miles north of Poolewe, in northwestern Ross and Cromarty, and is in the former parish of Lochbroom, in the west coast of Scotland.

Hamish Wilson

Hamish Wilson (born 13 December 1942) is a Scottish actor from Glasgow, and is best known for briefly taking over the role of Jamie McCrimmon for part of two episodes in the 1968 Doctor Who serial The Mind Robber when series regular Frazer Hines was ill with chickenpox and unable to attend the recording.

Historia Norwegiæ

The only extant manuscript, in the private possession of the Earl of Dalhousie and kept at Brechin Castle, Scotland, is fragmentary; what we have of the Historia is found on folios 1r-12r.

I Am the Mob

The video was directed by Kevin Allen, director of Twin Town and was filmed in the highlands of Scotland, showing the band playing with toy boats and fishing.

Jack Kirwan

Until then the competition had been monopolised by England and Scotland.

James Livingston

James Livingstone, 1st Viscount Kilsyth (1616–1661), devoted Scottish Royalist who was raised to the peerage of Scotland as Viscount Kilsyth and Lord Campsie in 1661

Jim McNab

Jim McNab (13 April 1940, Denny, Stirlingshire, Scotland – 29 June 2006) was a footballer with Sunderland, Preston North End and Stockport County.

John Baird Simpson

He carried out a lot of the early earliest mapping of the Western Highlands and Islands of Scotland, including the Lewisian of Coll and Tiree, the Mesozoic sediments and Tertiary lavas of Morvern and Ardnamurchan, and the Moine Schists of Ardnamurchan, Sunart and South Morar.

John F. McIntosh

Born in Farnell, Angus, Scotland, in February 1846, MacIntosh would be famous for working at St. Rollox railway works, in Springburn, in Glasgow.

MacBrayne

Caledonian MacBrayne, a state-owned operator of passenger and vehicle ferries between the mainland and islands surrounding Scotland.

Memory conformity

Reportedly, Rudolf Hess, Adolf Hitler's Chief of Staff, flew to Scotland to present The Duke of Hamilton with a peace proposal between Germany and Britain.

Old North

Hen Ogledd, the Welsh-speaking areas of northern England and southern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages

Periclase

In addition to its type locality, it is reported from Predazzo, Tyrol, Austria; Carlingford, County Louth, Ireland; Broadford, Skye and the island of Muck, Scotland; León, Spain; the Bellerberg volcano, Eifel district, Germany; Nordmark and Långban, Varmland, Sweden; and Kopeysk, southern Ural Mountains, Russia.

Peter Dods

After suffering a whitewash in the 1985 championship, Scotland made a number of changes to the side in 1986, which resulted in Dods losing his place to Gavin Hastings.

Primitive Scottish Rite

According to Robert Ambelain, an esotericist who "awakened" it in 1985, it was the rite used by the St. John of Scotland Lodge in Marseille, which was introduced to France in Saint-Germain-en-Laye from 1688; these claims are disputed by historians.

Public school

State school in various countries, including Australia, Canada, Scotland, and the United States; a school funded with tax revenue and administered by a government or governmental agency

Ralph Cochrane

Ralph Cochrane was born on 24 February 1895, the youngest son of Thomas Cochrane, 1st Baron Cochrane of Cults, in the Scottish village of Springfield.

Robert de Lawedre of Edrington

On 3 February 1424, Sir "Robertus de Lawedre de Bass, chevalier", with 18 men, had a safe-conduct with a host of other noblemen etc., as a hostage for King James I of Scotland at Durham.

Robert Laws

His father, Robert Laws snr of Old Aberdeen, and his mother, Christian née Cruikshank of Kidshill in Buchan, Aberdeenshire, both attended St Nicholas Lane United Presbyterian Church, Aberdeen.

Scotch-Irish

The Ulster Scots people, an ethnic group in Ulster, Ireland who trace their roots to settlers from Scotland and northern England

Scottish Science Advisory Council

Scotland has a proud tradition of science research and innovation, but this tends to be exclusively found in its main universities.

Scottish toponymy

Goidelic roots accounts for most place-names in eastern Scotland, with a few Anglic names in Fife and Angus and with a small number Pictish elements assimilated into the total toponymy.

Short title catalogue

STC: A. W. Pollard and G. R. Redgrave, editors: A short-title catalogue of books printed in England, Scotland and Ireland, and of English books printed abroad 1475-1640. Second edition, revised and enlarged, begun by W. A. Jackson and F. S. Ferguson, completed by K. F. Pantzer.

Siege of Haddington

The Sieges of Haddington were a series of sieges staged at the Royal Burgh of Haddington, East Lothian, Scotland, as part of the War of the Rough Wooing one the last Anglo-Scottish Wars.

Stevie O'Reilly

Stevie O'Reilly (born 13 December 1966) is a Scottish football referee who is active in the Scottish Premier League.

The Omega Factor

Produced by BBC Scotland, the series was shot on location in Edinburgh (making use of a number of Edinburgh landmarks such as the Royal Mile, Holyrood Park, and Edinburgh Zoo), with studio production conducted in Glasgow.

The Three Chimneys

The Three Chimneys is an award-winning restaurant in Colbost, Isle of Skye, Scotland.

Tranent

Neil Martin, footballer, three full international caps for Scotland

Treaty of Edinburgh

The fortifications at Leith, Inchkeith and Dunbar Castle were duly removed, and the French garrisons left Scotland.

Union Bridge

Union Bridge, Aberdeen, the world's largest single-span granite bridge, over the Denburn valley, connecting the east and west ends of Union Street, Aberdeen, Scotland

Unity Dow

She studied law at the University of Botswana and Swaziland (LLB 1983), which included 2 years spent studying at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.

Vendace

:*Coregonus vandesius, in lakes of Scotland and England; arguably the same species as Coregonus albula

Wellpark Brewery

The Tennent's brand is used for sponsoring music and sport including the Scotland's largest outdoor music festival: T in the Park.