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51 unusual facts about scotland


Aberfeldie, Victoria

Scotsman James Robertson named his property Aberfeldie, located on the corner of Aberfeldie Sreet and Park Crescent, after the town Aberfeldy in Scotland.

Alexander Stuart, 5th Earl of Moray

He was admitted Lord Justice General on 1 June 1675, appointed a Lord of the Treasury on 27 September 1678, nominated an Extraordinary Lord of Session on 17 July 1680, and on 2 November of the same year appointed Secretary of State in succession to the Duke of Lauderdale.

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.

Auchlyne

Auchlyne is located on the North side of Glen Dochart where the flat river plain gives way to the Breadalbane Hills.

Aylmer Haldane

Born to physician Daniel Rutherford Haldane and his wife Charlotte Elizabeth née Lowthorpe, James Aylmer Lowthorpe Haldane came from a family of distinguished Scottish aristocrats based in Gleneagles.

Bill Heggie

William Campbell Heggie (born 7 June 1927) in Scone, Scotland, is a former Scottish professional footballer who played as a centre forward in the Football League.

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.

Cailean Mór

It was this position that made him the enemy of Iain of Lorn, the MacDougall Lord of Lorne.

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 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.

Colin Prior

In 2007 his work on Canna helped boost visitor numbers to the National Trust for Scotland's HQ.

Crinan

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

Doors Open Days

Scotland is one of the few participating countries where events take place every weekend in September, with different areas choosing their own dates.

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.

Harry McGowan, 1st Baron McGowan

McGowan was appointed a KBE in 1928 and 0n 24 February 1937 he was raised to the peerage as Baron McGowan, of Ardeer in the County of Ayr.

Harthill

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

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.

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).

Karl Culley

Culley recorded his debut album, Bundle of Nerves, on the Scottish Isle of Jura.

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.

Mac Domangairt

Mac Domangairt is a Scottish surname.

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.

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.

Planning Acts

This Act paves the way for significant planning reform in Scotland.

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.

Scotch on the Rocks

A paramilitary organisation operating on the fringes of the SNP, the Scottish Liberation Army, stages a rising, seizing Fort William.

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.

Solera

Glenfiddich, a Speyside distillery in Scotland has a 15 year old whisky that uses a process that is similar to the solera process.

Speyside

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

St Kilda, Britain's Loneliest Isle

St Kilda, Britain's Loneliest Isle is a short, silent film about St Kilda (an archipelago to the west of Scotland) and the final period of its habitation.

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.

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.

Victoria Quay

Victoria Quay, Scotland, a Scottish Government building in Leith, Edinburgh

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.

William Bellenden

William Bellenden (c. 1550 – c. 1633) was a Scottish classical scholar.

William Kerr, 1st Earl of Lothian

He was appointed secretary of state in 1649 and was one of the commissioners sent by the Scottish Parliament to protest against proceeding to extremities against the king.


1876–77 Home Nations rugby union matches

Scotland: HH Johnston (Edinburgh University RFC), Malcolm Cross, RC MacKenzie, EI Pocock (Edinburgh Wanderers), JR Hay-Gordon, SH Smith, DH Watson, D Lang, C Villar, RW Irvine capt.

23-class airship

24r was built by William Beardmore and Company at Inchinnan, in Renfrewshire, Scotland.

67th Special Operations Squadron

It was activated on 14 November 1952 at RAF Sculthorpe, England, and discontinued, and inactivated, on 18 March 1960 at Prestwick, Scotland.

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.

Alexander Home

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

Archerfield

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

Arthur Kinnaird, 11th Lord Kinnaird

Although he was born in Kensington, London, as son of an old Perthshire family Kinnaird also played for Scotland, winning his solitary cap against England in the second ever international, played in 1873 at The Oval.

Battle of Turnberry

The Battle of Turnberry was a battle fought in February 1307 during the Scottish Wars of Independence near Turnberry, Ayrshire, 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.

Ceremonial ship launching

SS Daphne was a ship which sank moments after her launching at a shipyard in Govan, Glasgow,Scotland, on 3 July 1883.

Clydesdale Harriers

Prior to its inception the only athletics clubs in Scotland were private schools former pupils clubs (e.g. Fettesians-Lorettonians) or University clubs.

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.

Doctor Finlay

Early storylines include the setting up of the new National Health Service and the modernisation of the medical practice at Arden House, Tannochbrae, Scotland.

Easson

Frederick Easson (1905–1988), Scottish Episcopal Church bishop of the Diocese of Aberdeen and Orkney in Scotland, United Kingdom

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.

Frederick Leith-Ross

Leith-Ross was born in Mauritius, but grew up with his grandfather at the family estate, Arnage Castle 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.

Hector Og Maclean

Hector Og Maclean, 13th Chief (c. 1540-1573), 13th Chief of Clan MacLean in Scotland

Helen Alexander

She is still today a "household name" in the west of Scotland; in the mountain glens and moors of Ayrshire and Galloway and the Pentlands, chapbooks still tell her marvellous story of courage and devoutness.

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.

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 Rodger

Jim Rodger (born 15 September 1933 in Cleland, Lanarkshire) is a Scottish former football player.

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 of Ireland

Jean de Launoy however states that he was Irish (see external links), and was sent to Scotland from France.

Kilmadock

Kilmadock parish (Scottish Gaelic Cille Mo Dog), containing the settlements of Doune, Deanston, Buchany, Drumvaich, and Delvorich, is situated in Stirling council area, Scotland, and is on the southern border of the former county of Perthshire.

MacBrayne

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

Marianna Palka

Marianna Palka is the Scottish-born screenwriter, director and co-star of the film Good Dick.

Medium of instruction

In Scotland, English is the primary language of instruction although Gaelic medium education is also available.

Meikleour Beech Hedges

The Meikleour Beech Hedge(s) (European Beech = Fagus sylvatica), located near Meikleour, Perth and Kinross, Scotland, alongside the A93 Perth-Blairgowrie Road, was planted in the autumn of 1745 by Jean Mercer and her husband, Robert Murray Nairne on the Marquess of Lansdowne's Meikleour estate.

Penicuik RFC

Most notable amongst those is Jim Aitken, who captained the Scotland team to a Grand Slam victory in the 1984 Five Nations tournament.

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.

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.

Red Moss, Aberdeenshire

Alexander Silver, a wealthy East India trader, built Netherley House, a mansion house in Netherley in the late 18th century; he and his son George Silver were noted agricultural innovators of their era.

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.

Secessionism in Western Australia

Western Australia was grouped with Scotland, Wales, the Basque Country, and Catalonia as "places seeking maximum fiscal and policy autonomy from their national capitals" in an October 2013 opinion piece in The New York Times.

Stevie O'Reilly

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

Ted Cowan

He not only wrote for Comics, but also Annuals, 'Libraries' and short stories for many publishers including: Odhams Books Ltd., Fleetway Publications Ltd., IPC Ltd. and extensively in later years D.C. Thomson & Company Ltd. of Dundee, Scotland.

Treaty of Edinburgh

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

Walter J. D. Annand

Walter John Dinnie Annand was born 21 August 1920 in Uddingston, Lanarkshire, Scotland.