The mainland of Scotland is broadly divided into three regions: theHighlands, a mountainous region in the north and north-west; theLowlands, a flatter plain across the centre of the country; and theSouthern Uplands, a hilly region along the southern border. The Highlands are the most mountainous region of the British Isles and contain its highest peak,Ben Nevis, at 4,413 feet (1,345 m).[11] The region also contains many lakes, calledlochs; the term is also applied to the many saltwater inlets along the country's deeply indented western coastline. The geography of the many islands is varied. Some, such asMull andSkye, are noted for their mountainous terrain, while the likes ofTiree andColl are much flatter.
Scotland comes fromScoti, the Latin name for theGaels.[22]Philip Freeman has speculated on the likelihood of a group of raiders adopting a name from anIndo-European root, *skot, citing the parallel in Greekskotos (σκότος), meaning'darkness, gloom'.[23] TheLate Latin wordScotia ("land of the Gaels") was initially used to refer to Ireland,[24] and likewise in earlyOld EnglishScotland was used for Ireland.[25] By the 11th century at the latest,Scotia was being used to refer to (Gaelic-speaking) Scotland north of theRiver Forth, alongsideAlbania orAlbany, both derived from the GaelicAlba.[26] The use of the wordsScots andScotland to encompass all of what is now Scotland became common in theLate Middle Ages.[15]
The earliest known evidence of human presence in Scotland isHamburgian culture stone tools produced by lateUpper Paleolithichunter gatherers who arrived in Scotland during theBølling–Allerød Interstadial warm period at the end of thelast ice age, around 14,500 to 14,000 years ago, shortly following the retreat of the ice sheet that had previously covered Scotland.[27][28]Neolithic farmers arrived in Scotland around 6000 years ago.[29] The well-preserved village ofSkara Brae on the mainland ofOrkney dates from this period. Neolithic habitation, burial, and ritual sites are particularly common and well preserved in theNorthern Isles andWestern Isles, where a lack of trees led to most structures being built of local stone.[30] Evidence of sophisticated pre-Christian belief systems is demonstrated by sites such as theCallanish Stones onLewis and theMaes Howe onOrkney, which were built in the third millennium BC.[31]: 38
Skara Brae, Europe's most completeNeolithic village, occupied from roughly 3180 BC – 2500 BC
The first written reference to Scotland was in 320 BC by Greek sailorPytheas, who called the northern tip of Britain "Orcas", the source of the name of the Orkney islands.[32]: 10
Most of modern Scotland was notincorporated into theRoman Empire, and Roman control over parts of the area fluctuated over a rather short period. The first Roman incursion into Scotland was in 79 AD, whenAgricola invaded Scotland; he defeated a Caledonian army at theBattle of Mons Graupius in 83 AD.[32]: 12 After the Roman victory, Roman forts were briefly set along theGask Ridge close to theHighland line, but by three years after the battle, the Roman armies had withdrawn to theSouthern Uplands.[33] Remains of Roman forts established in the 1st century have been found as far north as theMoray Firth.[34] By the reign of theRoman emperorTrajan (r. 98–117), Roman control had lapsed to Britain south of a line between theRiver Tyne and theSolway Firth.[35] Along this line, Trajan's successorHadrian (r. 117–138) erectedHadrian's Wall in northern England[32]: 12 and theLimes Britannicus became the northern border of the Roman Empire.[36][37] The Roman influence on the southern part of the country was considerable, and they introducedChristianity to Scotland.[32]: 13–14 [31]: 38
TheAntonine Wall was built from 142 at the order of Hadrian's successorAntoninus Pius (r. 138–161), defending the Roman part of Scotland from the unadministered part of the island, north of a line between theFirth of Clyde and theFirth of Forth.[38] TheRoman invasion of Caledonia 208–210 was undertaken by emperors of the imperialSeveran dynasty in response to the breaking of a treaty by the Caledonians in 197,[34] but permanent conquest of the whole of Great Britain was forestalled by Roman forces becoming bogged down in punishingguerrilla warfare and the death of the senior emperorSeptimius Severus (r. 193–211) atEboracum (York) after he was taken ill while on campaign. Although forts erected by theRoman army in the Severan campaign were placed near those established by Agricola and were clustered at the mouths of theglens in the Highlands, the Caledonians were again in revolt in 210–211 and these were overrun.[34]
To the Roman historiansTacitus andCassius Dio, theScottish Highlands and the area north of theRiver Forth was calledCaledonia.[34] According to Cassius Dio, the inhabitants of Caledonia were theCaledonians and theMaeatae.[34] Other ancient authors used the adjective "Caledonian" to mean anywhere in northern or inland Britain, often mentioning the region's people and animals, its cold climate, its pearls, and a noteworthy region of wooded hills (Latin:saltus) which the 2nd century AD Roman philosopherPtolemy, in hisGeography, described as being south-west of theBeauly Firth.[34] The name Caledonia is echoed in the place names ofDunkeld,Rohallion, andSchiehallion.[34]
TheGreat Conspiracy constituted a seemingly coordinated invasion against Roman rule in Britain in the later 4th century, which included the participation of the GaelicScoti and the Caledonians, who were then known asPicts by the Romans. This was defeated by thecomes Theodosius; but Roman military government was withdrawn from the island altogether by the early 5th century, resulting in theAnglo-Saxon settlement of Britain and the immigration of theSaxons to southeastern Scotland and the rest of eastern Great Britain.[35]
Beginning in the sixth century, the area that is now Scotland was divided into four areas:Pictland, a patchwork of small lordships in central Scotland;[32]: 25–26 theAnglo-SaxonKingdom of Northumbria, which had conquered southeastern Scotland;[32]: 18–20 Northern Brittonic territory likely centred onAlt Clut (Dumbarton Rock) and the Clyde valley;[39] andDál Riata, which included territory in western Scotland and northern Ireland, and spread Gaelic language and culture into Scotland.[40] These societies were based on the family unit and had sharp divisions in wealth, although the vast majority were poor and worked full-time insubsistence agriculture. The Picts kept slaves (mostly captured in war) through the ninth century.[32]: 26–27
Gaelic influence over Pictland and Northumbria was facilitated by the large number ofGaelic-speaking clerics working as missionaries.[32]: 23–24 Operating in the sixth century on the island ofIona,Saint Columba was one of the earliest and best-known missionaries.[31]: 39 TheVikings began to raid Scotland in the eighth century. Although the raiders sought slaves and luxury items, their main motivation was to acquire land. The oldestNorse settlements were in northwest Scotland, but they eventually conquered many areas along the coast.Old Norse entirely displacedPictish in theNorthern Isles.[41]
In the ninth century, the Norse threat allowed a Gael namedKenneth I (Cináed mac Ailpín) to seize power over Pictland, establishing a royal dynasty to which the modern monarchs trace their lineage, and marking the beginning of the end of Pictish culture.[32]: 31–32 [42] The kingdom of Cináed and his descendants, called Alba, was Gaelic in character but existed on the same area as Pictland. By the end of the tenth century, the Pictish language went extinct as its speakers shifted to Gaelic.[32]: 32–33 From a base in eastern Scotland north of theRiver Forth and south of theRiver Spey, the kingdom expanded first southwards, into the former Northumbrian lands, and northwards intoMoray.[32]: 34–35 Around the turn of the millennium, there was a centralization in agricultural lands and the first towns began to be established.[32]: 36–37
In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, much of Scotland was under the control of a single ruler. Initially, Gaelic culture predominated, but immigrants from France, England and Flanders steadily created a more diverse society, with the Gaelic language starting to be replaced by Scots; and a modern nation-state emerged from this. At the end of this period, war against England started the growth of aScottish national consciousness.[43][44]: ch 1 David I (1124–1153) and his successors centralised royal power[43]: 41–42 and united mainland Scotland, capturing regions such as Moray,Galloway, andCaithness, although he could not extend his power over theHebrides, which had been ruled by variousScottish clans following the death ofSomerled in 1164.[43]: 48–49 In 1266, Scotland fought the short but consequentialScottish-Norwegian War which saw the reclamation of theHebrides after the strong defeat of KingHaakon IV and his forces at theBattle of Largs.[45] Up until that point, the Hebrides had been under Norwegian Viking control for roughly 400 years and had developed a distinctiveNorse–Gaelic culture that saw manyOld Norse loanwords enter theScottish Gaelic spoken by islanders, and through successive generations the Norse would become almost completely assimilated intoGaelic culture and theScottish clan system. After the conflict, Scotland had to affirm Norwegian sovereignty of theNorthern Isles, but they were later integrated into Scotland in the 15th century. Scandinavian culture in the form of theNorn language survived for a lot longer than in the Hebrides, and would strongly influence the localScots dialect onShetland andOrkney.[46] Later, a system offeudalism was consolidated, with both Anglo-Norman incomers and native Gaelic chieftains being granted land in exchange for serving the king.[43]: 53–54 The relationship withEngland was complex during this period: Scottish kings tried several times, sometimes with success, to exploit English political turmoil, followed by the longest period of peace between Scotland and England in the mediaeval period: from 1217–1296.[43]: 45-46
The death ofAlexander III in March 1286 broke the succession line of Scotland's kings.Edward I of England arbitrated between various claimants for the Scottish crown. In return for surrendering Scotland's nominal independence,John Balliol was pronounced king in 1292.[43]: 47 [48] In 1294, Balliol and other Scottish lords refused Edward's demands to serve in his army against the French. Scotland and France sealed a treaty on 23 October 1295, known as theAuld Alliance. War ensued, and John was deposed by Edward who took personal control of Scotland.Andrew Moray andWilliam Wallace initially emerged as the principal leaders of the resistance to English rule in theWars of Scottish Independence,[49] untilRobert the Bruce was crowned king of Scotland in 1306.[50] Victory at theBattle of Bannockburn in 1314 proved the Scots had regained control of their kingdom. In 1320 the world's first documented declaration of independence, theDeclaration of Arbroath, won the support ofPope John XXII, leading to the legal recognition of Scottish sovereignty by the English Crown.[51]: 70, 72
A civil war between theBruce dynasty and their long-term rivals of theHouse of Comyn andHouse of Balliol lasted until the middle of the 14th century. Although the Bruce faction was successful,David II's lack of an heir allowed his half-nephewRobert II, theLord High Steward of Scotland, to come to the throne and establish theHouse of Stewart.[51]: 77 The Stewarts ruled Scotland for the remainder of theMiddle Ages. The country they ruled experienced greater prosperity from the end of the 14th century through the Scottish Renaissance to theReformation,[52]: 93 despite the effects of theBlack Death in 1349[51]: 76 and increasing division betweenHighlands andLowlands.[51]: 78 Multiple truces reduced warfare on the southern border.[51]: 76, 83
In 1603,James VI, King of Scots inherited the thrones of theKingdom of England and theKingdom of Ireland in theUnion of the Crowns, and moved to London.[57] This was apersonal union as despite having the same monarch the kingdoms retained their separate parliaments, laws and other institutions. The firstUnion Jack was designed at James's behest, to be flown in addition to theSt Andrew's Cross on Scots vessels at sea. James VI and I intended to create a single kingdom of Great Britain, but was thwarted in his attempt to do so by theParliament of England, which supported the wrecking proposal that a full legal union be sought instead, a proposal to which the Scots Parliament would not assent, causing the king to withdraw the plan.[58]
Except for a short period underthe Protectorate, Scotland remained a separate state in the 17th century, but there was considerable conflict between the crown and theCovenanters over the form ofchurch government.[59]: 124 The military was strengthened, allowing the imposition of royal authority on the western Highland clans. The 1609Statutes of Iona compelled the cultural integration of Hebridean clan leaders.[60]: 37–40 In 1641 and again in 1643, the Parliament of Scotland unsuccessfully sought a union with England which was "federative" and not "incorporating", in which Scotland would retain a separate parliament.[61] The issue of union split the parliament in 1648.[61]
After the execution of the Scottish king atWhitehall in 1649, amid theWars of the Three Kingdoms andits events in Scotland,Oliver Cromwell, the victoriousLord Protector, imposed the British Isles' first written constitution – theInstrument of Government – on Scotland in 1652 as part of the republicanCommonwealth of England, Scotland, and Ireland.[61] The Protectorate Parliament was the first Westminster parliament to include representatives nominally from Scotland. The monarchy of theHouse of Stuart was resumed with theRestoration in Scotland in 1660. The Parliament of Scotland sought a commercial union with England in 1664; the proposal was rejected in 1668.[61] In 1670 the Parliament of England rejected a proposed political union with Scotland.[61] English proposals along the same lines were abandoned in 1674 and in 1685.[61] The Scots Parliament rejected proposals for a political union with England in 1689.[61]Jacobitism, the political support for the exiled Catholic Stuart dynasty, remained a threat to the security of the British state under the ProtestantHouse of Orange and the succeedingHouse of Hanover until the defeat of theJacobite rising of 1745.[61] In 1698, theCompany of Scotland attempted a project to secure a trading colony on theIsthmus of Panama. Almost every Scottish landowner who had money to spare is said to have invested in theDarien scheme.[62][63]
Scottish Exemplification (official copy) of the Treaty of Union of 1707
After another proposal from the English House of Lords was rejected in 1695, and a further Lords motion was voted down in the House of Commons in 1700, the Parliament of Scotland again rejected union in 1702.[61] The failure of the Darien Scheme bankrupted the landowners who had invested, though not the burghs. Nevertheless, the nobles' bankruptcy, along with the threat of an English invasion, played a leading role in convincing the Scots elite to back a union with England.[62][63] On 22 July 1706, theTreaty of Union was agreed between representatives of theScots Parliament and theParliament of England. The following year, twinActs of Union were passed by both parliaments to create the unitedKingdom of Great Britain with effect from 1 May 1707[64] with popular opposition and anti-union riots inEdinburgh,Glasgow, and elsewhere.[65][66] The union also created theParliament of Great Britain, which succeeded both theParliament of Scotland and theParliament of England, which rejected proposals from theParliament of Ireland that the third kingdom be incorporated in the union.[61]
James Ogilvy, formerLord Chancellor (1702–1708), initially supported union but by 1713 advocated for its reversal
Andrew Fletcher, a prominent Scottish patriot, argued that the ratification of the treaty would see Scotland "more like a conquered province",[67] and by 1713, the formerLord Chancellor of Scotland,James Ogilvy, 4th Earl of Findlater, who was a prominent supporter for the Treaty of Union between Scotland and England had changed his position on the treaty, and unsuccessfully advocated for the treaty to be reversed.[68] The deposedJacobite Stuart claimants had remained popular in the Highlands and north-east, particularly among non-Presbyterians, including Roman Catholics andEpiscopalian Protestants. Two major Jacobite risings launched in1715 and1745 failed to remove theHouse of Hanover from the British throne. The threat of the Jacobite movement to the United Kingdom and its monarchs effectively ended at theBattle of Culloden, Great Britain's lastpitched battle.
The passing of the Treaty of Union did not bring about immediate economic prosperity to Scotland as was widely speculated by thepamphleteer as a result of the little consideration given to prospects of the Scottish economy.[69] Campaigners for the union between Scotland and England believed that there would be economic advantages to Scotland as a result of the failedDarien scheme which left the Kingdom of Scotland bankrupt.[67] Eventually however, with trade tariffs with England abolished, trade blossomed, especially withColonial America. The clippers belonging to the GlasgowTobacco Lords were the fastest ships on the route toVirginia. Until theAmerican War of Independence in 1776, Glasgow was the world's premier tobacco port, dominating world trade.[70] The disparity between the wealth of the merchant classes of the Scottish Lowlands and the ancient clans of the Scottish Highlands grew, amplifying centuries of division.
In the Highlands, clan chiefs gradually started to think of themselves more as commercial landlords than leaders of their people. These social and economic changes included the first phase of theHighland Clearances and, ultimately, the demise of clanship.[71]: 32–53, passim
TheScottish Enlightenment and theIndustrial Revolution turned Scotland into an intellectual, commercial and industrial powerhouse[72] — so much soVoltaire said "We look to Scotland for all our ideas of civilisation."[73] With the demise of Jacobitism and the advent of the Union, thousands of Scots, mainly Lowlanders, took up numerous positions of power in politics, civil service, the army and navy, trade, economics, colonial enterprises and other areas across the nascentBritish Empire. Historian Neil Davidson notes "after 1746 there was an entirely new level of participation by Scots in political life, particularly outside Scotland." Davidson also states "far from being 'peripheral' to the British economy, Scotland – or more precisely, the Lowlands – lay at its core."[74]
TheScottish Reform Act 1832 increased the number of Scottish MPs and widened the franchise to include more of the middle classes.[75] From the mid-century, there were increasing calls for Home Rule for Scotland and the post ofSecretary of State for Scotland was revived.[76] Towards the end of the century prime ministers of Scottish descent includedWilliam Gladstone,[77] andthe Earl of Rosebery.[78] In the late 19th century the growing importance of the working classes was marked byKeir Hardie's success in theMid Lanarkshire by-election, 1888, leading to the foundation of theScottish Labour Party, which was absorbed into theIndependent Labour Party in 1895, with Hardie as its first leader.[79] Glasgow became one of the largest cities in the world and known as "theSecond City of the Empire" after London.[80] After 1860, the Clydeside shipyards specialised in steamships made of iron (after 1870, made of steel), which rapidly replaced the wooden sailing vessels of both the merchant fleets and the battle fleets of the world. It became the world's pre-eminent shipbuilding centre.[81] The industrial developments, while they brought work and wealth, were so rapid that housing, town planning, and provision for public health did not keep pace with them, and for a time living conditions in some of the towns and cities were notoriously bad, with overcrowding, high infant mortality, and growing rates of tuberculosis.[82]
While the Scottish Enlightenment is traditionally considered to have concluded toward the end of the 18th century,[83] disproportionately large Scottish contributions to British science and letters continued for another 50 years or more, thanks to such figures as the physicistsJames Clerk Maxwell andLord Kelvin, and the engineers and inventorsJames Watt andWilliam Murdoch, whose work was critical to the technological developments of the Industrial Revolution throughout Britain.[84] In literature, the most successful figure of the mid-19th century wasWalter Scott. His first prose work,Waverley in 1814, is often called the first historical novel.[85] It launched a highly successful career that probably more than any other helped define and popularise Scottish cultural identity.[86] In the late 19th century, a number of Scottish-born authors achieved international reputations, such asRobert Louis Stevenson,Arthur Conan Doyle,J. M. Barrie andGeorge MacDonald.[87] Scotland also played a major part in the development of art and architecture. TheGlasgow School, which developed in the late 19th century, and flourished in the early 20th century, produced a distinctive blend of influences including theCeltic Revival theArts and Crafts movement, andJaponism, which found favour throughout themodern art world of continental Europe and helped define theArt Nouveau style. Proponents included architect and artistCharles Rennie Mackintosh.[88]
Scotland played a major role in theBritish effort in theFirst World War. It especially provided manpower, ships, machinery, fish and money.[89] With a population of 4.8 million in 1911, Scotland sent over half a million men to the war, of whom over a quarter died in combat or from disease, and 150,000 were seriously wounded.[90]Field MarshalSir Douglas Haig was Britain's commander on the Western Front. The war saw the emergence of a radical movement called "Red Clydeside" led by militant trades unionists. Formerly aLiberal stronghold, the industrial districts switched toLabour by 1922, with a base among theIrish Catholic working-class districts. Women were especially active in building neighbourhood solidarity on housing issues. The "Reds" operated within the Labour Party with little influence in Parliament and the mood changed to passive despair by the late 1920s.[91]
During the Second World War, Scotland was targeted byNazi Germany largely due to its factories, shipyards, and coal mines.[92] Cities such asGlasgow andEdinburgh were targeted by German bombers, as were smaller towns mostly located in the central belt of the country.[92] Perhaps the most significant air raid in Scotland was theClydebank Blitz of March 1941, which intended to destroy naval shipbuilding in the area.[93] 528 people were killed and 4,000 homes destroyed.[93] Perhaps Scotland's most unusual wartime episode occurred in 1941 whenRudolf Hess flew to Renfrewshire, possibly intending to broker a peace deal through theDuke of Hamilton.[94] Before his departure from Germany, Hess had given his adjutant,Karlheinz Pintsch, a letter addressed toAdolf Hitler that detailed his intentions to open peace negotiations with the British. Pintsch delivered the letter to Hitler at the Berghof around noon on 11 May.[95]Albert Speer later said Hitler described Hess's departure as one of the worst personal blows of his life, as he considered it a personal betrayal.[96] Hitler worried that his allies, Italy and Japan, would perceive Hess's act as an attempt by Hitler to secretly open peace negotiations with the British.
After 1945, Scotland's economic situation worsened due to overseas competition, inefficient industry, and industrial disputes.[97] Only in recent decades has the country enjoyed something of a cultural and economic renaissance. Economic factors contributing to this recovery included a resurgent financial services industry,electronics manufacturing, (seeSilicon Glen),[98] and theNorth Sea oil and gas industry.[99] The introduction in 1989 by Margaret Thatcher's government of theCommunity Charge (widely known as the Poll Tax) one year before the rest of Great Britain,[100] contributed to a growing movement for Scottish control over domestic affairs.[101] On 21 December 1988,Pan Am Flight 103 exploded mid–air over the town ofLockerbie, killing all on board as well as eleven Lockerbie residents. It remains the deadliestterrorist attack in the United Kingdom.[102]
The pro-independenceScottish National Party led byAlex Salmond achieved an overall majority in the2011 election, winning 69 of the 129 seats available.[108] The success of the SNP in achieving a majority in the Scottish Parliament paved the way for theSeptember 2014 referendum on Scottish independence. The majority voted against the proposition, with 55% voting no to independence.[109] More powers, particularly concerning taxation, were devolved to the Scottish Parliament after the referendum, following cross-party talks in theSmith Commission.
Since the 2014 referendum, events such as the UK leaving the European Union, despite a majority of voters in Scotland voting to remain a member, have led to calls for asecond independence referendum. In 2022, theLord AdvocateDorothy Bain argued the case for the Scottish Government to hold another referendum on the issue, with theSupreme Court later ruling against the argument.[110] Following the Supreme Court decision, the Scottish Government stated that it wished to make amendments to theScotland Act 1998 that would allow a referendum to be held.[111][112]
The mainland of Scotland comprises the northern third of the land mass of the island of Great Britain, which lies off the northwest coast ofContinental Europe. The total area is 30,977 square miles (80,231 km2) with a land area of 30,078 square miles (77,901 km2),[4] comparable to the size of theCzech Republic. Scotland's only land border is with England, and runs for 96 miles (154 km) between the basin of theRiver Tweed on the east coast and theSolway Firth in the west. The Atlantic Ocean borders the west coast and theNorth Sea is to the east. The island of Ireland lies only 13 miles (21 km) from the south-western peninsula ofKintyre;[113] Norway is 190 miles (305 km) to the northeast and theFaroe Islands, 168 miles (270 km) to the north.
The territorial extent of Scotland is generally that established by the 1237Treaty of York between Scotland and the Kingdom of England[114] and the 1266Treaty of Perth between Scotland and Norway.[16] Important exceptions include theIsle of Man, which having been lost to England in the 14th century is now acrown dependency outside of the United Kingdom; the island groupsOrkney andShetland, which were acquired from Norway in 1472;[115] andBerwick-upon-Tweed (after changing ownership several times) was ceded to England in 1482.[116]
The geographicalcentre of Scotland lies a few miles from the village ofNewtonmore inBadenoch.[117] Rising to 4,413 feet (1,345 m) above sea level, Scotland's highest point is the summit ofBen Nevis, inLochaber, while Scotland's longest river, theRiver Tay, flows for a distance of 117 miles (188 km).[11]
The whole of Scotland was covered by ice sheets during thePleistoceneice ages and the landscape is much affected by glaciation. From a geological perspective, the country has three main sub-divisions: the Highlands and Islands, the Central Lowlands, and the Southern Uplands.
A significant exception to the above are the fossil-bearing beds ofOld Red Sandstones found principally along theMoray Firth coast. TheHighlands are generally mountainous and the highest elevations in the British Isles are found here. Scotland has over 790 islands divided into four main groups:Shetland,Orkney, and theInner Hebrides andOuter Hebrides. There are numerous bodies of freshwater includingLoch Lomond andLoch Ness. Some parts of the coastline consist ofmachair, a low-lying dune pasture land.
Loch Lomond, a freshwaterloch, often considered the boundary between the lowlands and Highlands[120]
TheCentral Lowlands is arift valley mainly comprisingPaleozoic formations. Many of these sediments have economic significance for it is here that the coal and iron-bearing rocks that fuelled Scotland'sindustrial revolution are found. This area has also experienced intense volcanism,Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh being the remnant of a once much larger volcano. This area is relatively low-lying, although even here hills such as theOchils andCampsie Fells are rarely far from view.
TheSouthern Uplands is a range of hills almost 125 miles (200 km) long, interspersed with broad valleys. They lie south of a secondfault line (the Southern Uplands fault) that runs fromGirvan toDunbar.[121][122][123] The geological foundations largely compriseSilurian deposits laid down some 400 to 500 million years ago. The high point of the Southern Uplands isMerrick with an elevation of 843 m (2,766 ft).[15][124][125][126] The Southern Uplands is home to Scotland's highest village,Wanlockhead (430 m or 1,411 ft above sea level).[123]
The climate of most of Scotland istemperate andoceanic, and tends to be very changeable. As it is warmed by theGulf Stream from the Atlantic, it has much milder winters (but cooler, wetter summers) than areas on similar latitudes, such asLabrador, southernScandinavia, theMoscow region inRussia, and theKamchatka Peninsula on the opposite side ofEurasia. Temperatures are generally lower than in the rest of the UK, with the temperature of −27.2 °C (−17.0 °F) recorded atBraemar in theGrampian Mountains, on 11 February 1895, the coldest ever recorded anywhere in the UK.[127] Winter maxima average 6 °C (43 °F) in the Lowlands, with summer maxima averaging 18 °C (64 °F). The highest temperature recorded was 34.8 °C (94.6 °F) atCharterhall,Scottish Borders on 19 July 2022.[128]
The west of Scotland is usually warmer than the east, owing to the influence of Atlanticocean currents and the colder surface temperatures of theNorth Sea.Tiree, in the Inner Hebrides, is one of the sunniest places in the country: it had more than 300 hours of sunshine in May 1975.[129] Rainfall varies widely across Scotland. The western highlands of Scotland are the wettest, with annual rainfall in a few places exceeding 3,000 mm (120 in).[130] In comparison, much of lowland Scotland receives less than 800 mm (31 in) annually.[131] Heavy snowfall is not common in the lowlands, but becomes more common with altitude. Braemar has an average of 59 snow days per year,[132] while many coastal areas average fewer than 10 days of lying snow per year.[131]
Scotland's wildlife is typical of the north-west of Europe, although several of the larger mammals such as the lynx, brown bear, wolf, elk and walrus were hunted to extinction in historic times. There are important populations of seals and internationally significant nesting grounds for a variety of seabirds such asgannets.[133] Thegolden eagle is something of a national icon.[134]
On the high mountain tops, species includingptarmigan,mountain hare andstoat can be seen in their white colour phase during winter months.[135] Remnants of the nativeScots pine forest exist[136] and within these areas theScottish crossbill, the UK's onlyendemic bird species andvertebrate, can be found alongsidecapercaillie,Scottish wildcat,red squirrel andpine marten.[137][138][139] Various animals have been re-introduced, including thewhite-tailed eagle in 1975, thered kite in the 1980s,[140][141] and there have been experimental projects involving thebeaver andwild boar, which are both now relatively widespread. Today, much of the remaining nativeCaledonian Forest lies within theCairngorms National Park and remnants of the forest remain at 84 locations across Scotland. On the west coast, remnants of ancient Celtic Rainforest remain, particularly on the Taynish peninsula inArgyll, these forests are particularly rare due to high rates of deforestation throughout Scottish history.[142][143] Scotland now ranks in the lowest 15% of countries in the Biodiversity Intactness Index.[144][145]
Scotland populationcartogram. The size of councils is in proportion to their population.
During the 1820s, many Scots migrated from Scotland to countries such asAustralia, theUnited States andCanada, principally from the Highlands which remained poor in comparison to elsewhere in Scotland.[152] The Highlands was the only part of mainland Britain with a recurrent famine.[153] A small range of products were exported from the region, which had negligible industrial production and a continued population growth that tested the subsistence agriculture. These problems, and the desire to improve agriculture and profits were the driving forces of the ongoingHighland Clearances, in which many of the population of the Highlands suffered eviction as lands were enclosed, principally so that they could be used for sheep farming. The first phase of the clearances followed patterns of agricultural change throughout Britain. The second phase was driven by overpopulation, theHighland Potato Famine and the collapse of industries that had relied on the wartime economy of the Napoleonic Wars.[154]
The population of Scotland grew steadily in the 19th century, from 1,608,000 in the census of 1801 to 2,889,000 in 1851 and 4,472,000 in 1901.[155] Even with the development of industry, there were not enough good jobs. As a result, during the period 1841–1931, about 2 million Scots migrated to North America and Australia, and another 750,000 Scots relocated to England.[156] Caused by the advent ofrefrigeration and imports of lamb, mutton and wool from overseas, the 1870s brought with them a collapse of sheep prices and an abrupt halt in the previous sheep farming boom.[157]
Scotland is themost sparsely populatedcountry of the United Kingdom.[158][159] In August 2012, the Scottish population reached an all-time high of 5.25 million people.[160] The reasons given were that, in Scotland, births were outnumbering the number of deaths, and immigrants were moving to Scotland from overseas. In 2011, 43,700 people moved from Wales, Northern Ireland or England to live in Scotland.[160] Themost recent census in Scotland was conducted by the Scottish Government and theNational Records of Scotland in March 2022.[161] The population of Scotland at the 2022 Census was 5,436,600, the highest ever,[161] beating the previous record of 5,295,400 at the 2011 Census. It was 5,062,011 at the 2001 Census.[162] An ONS estimate for 2024 was 5,546,900.[5] In the 2011 Census, 62% of Scotland's population stated theirnational identity as 'Scottish only', 18% as 'Scottish and British', 8% as 'British only', and 4% chose 'other identity only'.[163] In 2011, 4.2% of Scotland's population identified asWhite Polish,White Irish,White: Gypsy or Irish Traveller orWhite Other. Additionally, the number of people belonging to Asian, African, Caribbean or Black, Mixed, or Other ethnic groups doubled, reaching 4%.[164]
Throughout its history, Scotland has long had a tradition of migration from Scotland and immigration into Scotland. In 2021, the Scottish Government released figures showing that an estimated 41,000 people had immigrated from other international countries into Scotland, while an average of 22,100 people had migrated from Scotland.[165] Scottish Government data from 2002 shows that by 2021, there had been a sharp increase in immigration to Scotland, with 2002 estimates standing at 27,800 immigrants. While immigration had increased from 2002, migration from Scotland had dropped, with 2002 estimates standing at 26,200 people migrating from Scotland.[166]
AlthoughEdinburgh is the capital of Scotland, the largest city is Glasgow, which has just over 584,000 inhabitants. TheGreater Glasgow conurbation, with a population of almost 1.2 million, is home to nearly a quarter of Scotland's population.[167] TheCentral Belt is where most of the main towns and cities of Scotland are located, including Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee, and Perth. Scotland's only major city outside the Central Belt is Aberdeen. TheScottish Lowlands host 80% of the total population, where theCentral Belt accounts for 3.5 million people.
In general, only the more accessible and larger islands remain inhabited. Currently, fewer than 90 remain inhabited. The Southern Uplands is essentially rural and dominated by agriculture and forestry.[168][169] Because of housing problems in Glasgow and Edinburgh,five new towns were designated between 1947 and 1966. They areEast Kilbride,Glenrothes,Cumbernauld,Livingston, andIrvine.[170]
The largest council area by population isGlasgow City, withHighland being the largest in terms of geographical area.
Scotland has threeindigenous languages: English,Scots, andScottish Gaelic.[172][173] Scottish Standard English, a variety of English as spoken in Scotland, is at one end of a bipolarlinguistic continuum, with broadScots at the other.[174] Scottish Standard English may have been influenced to varying degrees by Scots.[175][176]Highland English is spoken in that region, while Gaelic is mostly spoken in theWestern Isles, where it continues to be used by a large proportion of residents.
Overall, the use of Scotland's indigenous languages other than English has declined since the 19th century. The 2011 census indicated that 63% of the population had "no skills in Scots".[177] The use of Gaelic is confined to 1% of the population.[178] The number of Gaelic speakers in Scotland dropped from 250,000 in 1881 to 60,000 in 2008.[179] Across the whole of Scotland, the 2011 census showed that 25,000 people (0.49% of the population) used Gaelic at home. The most common language spoken at home in Scotland after English and Scots is Polish, with about 1.1% of the population, or 54,000 people.[180][181]
Immigration since World War II has given Glasgow, Edinburgh, and Dundee small South Asian communities.[182] In 2011, there were an estimated 49,000 ethnically Pakistani people living in Scotland, making them the largest non-White ethnic group.[183] The 2004enlargement of the European Union spurred an increase in migration fromCentral andEastern Europe to Scotland, and the 2011 census indicated that 61,000Poles lived there.[183][184]
There are many more people with Scottish ancestry living abroad than the total population of Scotland. In the 2000 Census, 9.2 million Americans self-reported some degree ofScottish descent.[185]Ulster's Protestant population is mainly of lowland Scottish descent,[186] and it is estimated that there are more than 27 million descendants of theScots-Irish migration now living in the US.[187][188] In Canada, theScottish-Canadian community accounts for 4.7 million people.[189] About 20% of the original European settler population of New Zealand came from Scotland.[190]
As per the 2022 Census, a majority of Scots (51.12%) reported not following any religion. The most practiced religion is Christianity (38.79%), mostly theChurch of Scotland (20.36%) andRoman Catholicism (13.3%).[191] In almost every council area, the most common response to the census question was "No religion," except inNa h-Eileanan Siar andInverclyde, where the Church of Scotland (35.3%) and Catholicism (33.4%) were the most common responses, respectively.[191]
Forms ofChristianity have dominated religious life in what is now Scotland for more than 1,400 years.[192][193]Since theScottish Reformation of 1560, thenational church (theChurch of Scotland, also known asThe Kirk) has beenProtestant in orientation andReformed in theology. Since 1689 it has had aPresbyterian system of church government independent from the state.[15] Its membership dropped just below 300,000 in 2020 (5% of the total population)[194][195][196] The Church operates a territorial parish structure, with every community in Scotland having a local congregation.
Scotland also has a significantRoman Catholic population with 13.3% professing that faith, particularly in Greater Glasgow and the north-west.[197][191] After the Reformation, Roman Catholicism in Scotland continued in the Highlands and some western islands likeUist andBarra, and it was strengthened during the 19th century by immigration from Ireland. Other Christian denominations in Scotland include theFree Church of Scotland, and various other Presbyterian offshoots. Scotland's third largest church is theScottish Episcopal Church.[198]
TheScottish education system has always had a characteristic emphasis on abroad education.[203] In the 15th century, the Humanist emphasis on education cumulated with the passing of theEducation Act 1496, which decreed that all sons of barons and freeholders of substance should attend grammar schools to learn "perfyct Latyne", resulting in an increase in literacy among a male and wealthy elite.[204] In the Reformation, the 1560First Book of Discipline set out a plan for a school in every parish, but this proved financially impossible.[205] In 1616 anact in Privy council commanded every parish to establish a school.[206] By the late seventeenth century there was a largely complete network of parish schools in the lowlands, but in the Highlands basic education was still lacking in many areas.[207] Education remained a matter for the church rather than the state until theEducation (Scotland) Act 1872.[208]
Education in Scotland is the responsibility of theScottish Government and is overseen by its executive agencyEducation Scotland.[209] TheCurriculum for Excellence, Scotland's national school curriculum, presently provides the curricular framework for children and young people from age 3 to 18.[210] All 3- and 4-year-old children in Scotland are entitled to a free nursery place. Formal primary education begins at approximately 5 years old and lasts for 7 years (P1–P7); children in Scotland study National Qualifications of theCurriculum for Excellence between the ages of 14 and 18. The school leaving age is 16, after which students may choose to remain at school and study further qualifications. A small number of students at certainprivate schools may follow theEnglish system and study towardsGCSEs andA andAS-Levels instead.[211]
Health care in Scotland is mainly provided byNHS Scotland, Scotland's public health care system. This was founded by theNational Health Service (Scotland) Act 1947 (later repealed by the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978) that took effect on 5 July 1948 to coincide with the launch of the NHS in England and Wales. Prior to 1948, half of Scotland's landmass was already covered by state-funded health care, provided by theHighlands and Islands Medical Service.[219] Healthcare policy and funding is the responsibility of the Scottish Government'sHealth Directorates. In 2014, the NHS in Scotland had around 140,000 staff.[220]
Thetotal fertility rate (TFR) in Scotland is below the replacement rate of 2.1 (the TFR was 1.73 in 2011[221]). The majority of births are to unmarried women (51.3% of births were outside of marriage in 2012[222]).
Life expectancy for those born in Scotland between 2012 and 2014 is 77.1 years for males and 81.1 years for females.[223] This is the lowest of any of the four countries of the UK.[223] The number of hospital admissions in Scotland for diseases such as cancer was 2,528 in 2002. Over the next ten years, by 2012, this had increased to 2,669.[224] Hospital admissions for other diseases, such as coronary heart disease (CHD) were lower, with 727 admissions in 2002, and decreasing to 489 in 2012.[224]
TheScottish Government, which has been described as one of the most powerful devolved governments globally,[239] is led by thefirst minister, who is nominated by MSPs and is typically the leader of the largest party in the Parliament. Other ministers are appointed by the first minister and serve at their discretion.[240] As the head of the Scottish Government, the first minister is responsible for the comprehensive development, implementation and presentation of government policy, and is responsible for promoting the interests of the country at home and internationally.[241]John Swinney, leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP), has served as the first minister since 8 May 2024.[242]
As leader of the Scottish Government, the first minister is a member of thePrime Minister and Heads of Devolved Governments Council and theCouncil of the Nations and Regions, the bodies which facilitate intergovernmental relations within the United Kingdom.[243] Foreign policy is a reserved matter and primarily the responsibility of theForeign Office, a department of the UK Government.[244] Nevertheless, the Scottish Government may promote Scottish interests abroad and encourage foreign investment in Scotland.[245] The first minister and theconstitution secretary have portfolios which include foreign affairs.[246][247][248] Scotland'sinternational network consists of two Scotland Houses, one inBrussels and the other inLondon, seven Scottish Government international offices, and over thirty Scottish Development International offices in other countries globally. Both Scotland Houses are independent Scottish Government establishments, whilst the seven Scottish Government international offices are based inBritish embassies or British High Commission offices.[249] The Scottish Government has a network of offices in Beijing, Berlin, Brussels, Copenhagen, Dublin, London, Ottawa, Paris, and Washington, D.C., which promote Scottish interests in their respective areas.[250] Additionally, the country has a number offoreign diplomatic missions, most of which are located in the capital city, Edinburgh.[251]
The nation has historic ties to France as a result of the 'Auld Alliance', a treaty signed between the Kingdom of Scotland andKingdom of France in 1295 to discourage an English invasion of either country.[252] The alliance effectively ended in the sixteenth century, but the two countries continue to have a close relationship, with a Statement of Intent being signed in 2013 between the Scottish Government and theGovernment of France.[253] In 2004 theScotland Malawi Partnership was established, which co-ordinates Scottish activities to strengthen existing links withMalawi, and in 2021, the Scottish Government andGovernment of Ireland signed the Ireland-Scotland Bilateral Review, committing both governments to increased levels of co-operation on areas such as diplomacy, economy and business.[249][254][255] Scotland also hashistorical and cultural ties with theScandinavian countries.[256][257] Scottish Government policy advocates for stronger political relations with theNordic andBaltic countries, which has resulted in some Nordic-inspired policies being adopted such as baby boxes.[258][259] Representatives from the Scottish Parliament attended theNordic Council for the first time in 2022.[260]
Devolution—the granting of central government powers to a regional government[269]– gained increasing popularity as a policy in the United Kingdom the late twentieth century; it was described byJohn Smith, thenLeader of the Labour Party, as the "settled will of the Scottish people".[270] The Scottish Parliament andScottish Government were subsequently established under theScotland Act 1998; the Act followed a successfulreferendum in 1997 which found majority support for both creating the Parliament and granting it limited powers tovary income tax.[271] The Act enabled the new institutions to legislate in all areas not explicitly reserved by the UK Parliament.[272]
Two more pieces of legislation, the Scotland Acts of2012 and2016, gave the Scottish Parliament further powers to legislate on taxation and social security;[273] the 2016 Act also gave the Scottish Government powers to manage the affairs of theCrown Estate in Scotland.[274] Conversely, theUnited Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020 constrains the Scottish Parliament's autonomy to regulate goods and services,[275][276] and the academic view is that this undermines devolution.[282]
Following theEuropean Union Referendum Act 2015, the2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum was held on 23 June 2016 on Britain's membership of theEuropean Union. A majority in the United Kingdom voted to withdraw from the EU, while a majority within Scotland voted to remain a member.[293] The first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, announced the following day that as a result anew independence referendum was "highly likely".[294][293] On 31 January 2020, the United Kingdom formally withdrew from the European Union. Because constitutional affairs are reserved matters under the Scotland Act, the Scottish Parliament would again have to be granted temporary additional powers under Section 30 to hold a legally binding vote.[295][296][297]
Forlocal government purposes Scotland is subdivided into 32 single-tier council areas.[298] The areas were established in 1996, and their councils are responsible for the provision of all local government services. Decisions are made by councillors, who are elected atlocal elections every five years. The leader of the council is typically a councillor from the party with the most seats; councils also have a civic head, typically called theprovost orlord provost, who represents the council on ceremonial occasions and chairs council meetings.[299]Community Councils are informal organisations that represent smaller subdivisions within each council area.[300]
Police Scotland and theScottish Fire and Rescue Service cover the entire country. For healthcare and postal districts, and a number of other governmental and non-governmental organisations such as the churches, there are other long-standing methods of subdividing Scotland for the purposes of administration.
As one of the countries of the United Kingdom, theBritish Armed Forces are the armed forces of Scotland. Of the money spent on UK defence, about £3.3 billion can be attributed to Scotland as of 2018/2019.[303] Scotland had a long military tradition predating theTreaty of Union with England. Following the Treaty of Union in 1707, theScots Army andRoyal Scots Navy merged with their English counterparts to form theRoyal Navy and theBritish Army, which together form part of theBritish Armed Forces.[304][305] TheAtholl Highlanders, Europe's only remaining legalprivate army, did not join the Scots Army or Royal Scots Navy in merging with English armed forces, remaining a private army not under the command of the British Armed Forces.[306]
Scotland'sScapa Flow was the main base for theRoyal Navy in the 20th century.[313] As theCold War intensified in 1961, the United States deployedPolaris ballistic missiles, and submarines, in theFirth of Clyde'sHoly Loch. Public protests fromCND campaigners proved futile. The Royal Navy successfully convinced the government to allow the base because it wanted its own Polaris submarines, and it obtained them in 1963. The RN's nuclear submarine base opened with fourResolution-class Polaris submarines at the expandedFaslane Naval Base on theGare Loch. The first patrol of aTrident-armed submarine occurred in 1994, although the US base was closed at the end of the Cold War.[314]
A single front-lineRoyal Air Force base is located in Scotland.RAF Lossiemouth, located inMoray, is the most northerlyair defencefighter base in the United Kingdom and is home to fourEurofighter Typhoon combat aircraft squadrons, threePoseidon MRA1 squadrons, and a full–time, permanently based RAF Regiment squadron.[315] An additional four RAF Reserve Squadrons are based in Scotland – 612 Squadron, 2622 (Highland) Squadron and 602 Squadron in Glasgow, and 603 Squadron in Edinburgh.[316]
Scots law has a basis derived fromRoman law,[317] combining features of both uncodifiedcivil law, dating back to theCorpus Juris Civilis, andcommon law withmedieval sources. The terms of the Treaty of Union with England in 1707 guaranteed the continued existence of a separate legal system in Scotland from that of England and Wales.[318] Prior to 1611, there were several regional law systems in Scotland, most notablyUdal law inOrkney andShetland, based on old Norse law. Various other systems derived from commonCeltic orBrehon laws survived in the Highlands until the 1800s.[319]Scots law provides for three types ofcourts responsible for the administration of justice: civil, criminal andheraldic. The supreme civil court is theCourt of Session, although civilappeals can be taken to theSupreme Court of the United Kingdom (or before 1 October 2009, theHouse of Lords). TheHigh Court of Justiciary is the supreme criminal court in Scotland. The Court of Session is housed atParliament House, in Edinburgh, which was the home of the pre-UnionParliament of Scotland with the High Court of Justiciary and the Supreme Court of Appeal currently located at theLawnmarket. Thesheriff court is the main criminal and civil court, hearing most cases. There are 49 sheriff courts throughout the country.[320]District courts were introduced in 1975 for minor offences and small claims. These were gradually replaced byJustice of the Peace Courts from 2008 to 2010.
For three centuries the Scots legal system was unique for being the only national legal system without a parliament. This ended with the advent of the Scottish Parliament in 1999, which legislates for devolved matters.[321] Many features within the system have been preserved. Within criminal law, the Scots legal system is unique in having three possible verdicts: "guilty", "not guilty" and "not proven".[322] Both "not guilty" and "not proven" result in anacquittal, typically with no possibility of retrial per the rule ofdouble jeopardy. A retrial can hear new evidence at a later date that might have proven conclusive in the earlier trial at first instance, where the person acquitted subsequently admits the offence or where it can be proved that the acquittal was tainted by an attempt topervert the course of justice. Scots juries, sitting in criminal cases, consist of fifteen jurors, which is three more than is typical in many countries.[323]
TheLord Advocate is the chief legal officer of theScottish Government andthe Crown in Scotland. The Lord Advocate is the head of the systems in Scotland for the investigation and prosecution of crime, the investigation of deaths as well as serving as the principal legal adviser to the Scottish Government and representing the government in legal proceedings.[324] They are the chiefpublic prosecutor for Scotland and allprosecutions on indictment are conducted by theCrown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service in the Lord Advocate's name on behalf of the Monarch.[324] The officeholder is one of theGreat Officers of State of Scotland. The current Lord Advocate,Dorothy Bain, was nominated by first minister Nicola Sturgeon, and was appointed in June 2021.[325] The Lord Advocate is supported by theSolicitor General for Scotland.[326]
Edinburgh, the 13th-largest financial centre in the world and 4th largest in Europe in 2020[328]
Scotland has a Western-styleopenmixed economy, considered one of the leadingfinancial centres in Europe, and is the largest financial centre in the United Kingdom outside of London.[329] Edinburgh is the financial services centre of Scotland, with large finance firms based there includingLloyds Banking Group, theBank of Scotland, the Government-ownedRoyal Bank of Scotland andStandard Life.[330] Edinburgh was ranked 15th in thelist of world financial centres in 2007,[331] and in 2024, was ranked 33rd internationally and 10th across Europe.[332] Glasgow, Scotland's largest city, also ranks as a significant financial centre in the country, ranked 42nd internationally in 2024 and is widely regarded as an established economic player with particular strengths in domestic expertise.[332] Scotland is ranked within the top 10 of the largest European regions for foreign direct investment, and is rated as one "of the most promising investment destinations in Europe".[333]
In 2024, Scotland's gross domestic product (GDP), including offshore oil and gas, was estimated at £223.4 billion.[8] In 2021, Scottish exports in goods and services (excluding intra-UK trade) were estimated to be £50.1 billion.[334] Scotland's primary goods exports are mineral fuels, machinery and transport, and beverages and tobacco.[335] The country's largest export markets in goods are theNetherlands (£6.9 billion), theUnited States (£4.0 billion), theRepublic of Ireland (£2.8 billion),Germany (£2.8 billion),France (£2.3 billion) andChina (£0.8 billion).[336] Its largest international export market is theEuropean Union.[337][338]Scotch whisky is one of Scotland's more known goods of economic activity.[339] In 2024, whisky exports from Scotland contributed £5.4 billion in revenue towards the economy, accounting for 74% of all Scottish food and drink exports internationally in 2023.[339] The Scotch whisky industry supports over 41,000 jobs in the sector across Scotland.[339] Tourism is regarded as a major component within the Scottish economy,[340] supporting over 245,000 related jobs across the sector and contributing £10.8 billion in revenue in 2023, 6% of the overall Scottish economy.[341] The most visited tourist attractions in the country includeEdinburgh Castle, theNational Museum of Scotland, theBattle of Culloden Visitor Centre,Edinburgh Zoo,Stirling Castle andUrquhart Castle.[342] A considerable number ofScottish companies have established international reputations and trade worldwide in a variety of sectors, includingRockstar North (gaming),Pringle of Scotland andLyle & Scott (fashion and textiles),A.G. Barr (soft drinks manufacturing),Alexander Dennis (bus manufacturing),Stagecoach Group (transportation),Tunnock's (confectionery) andJohnnie Walker (whisky).
Scotland was one of the industrial powerhouses of Europe from the time of theIndustrial Revolution onwards, being a world leader in manufacturing.[343] This left a legacy in the diversity of goods and services which Scotland produces, from textiles,whisky andshortbread to jet engines, buses, computer software,investment management and other related financial services.[344] In common with most other advanced industrialised economies, Scotland has seen a decline in the importance of both manufacturing industries and primary-based extractive industries. This has been combined with a rise in theservice sector of the economy, which has grown to be the largest sector in Scotland.[345] Historically, the Scottish economy was dominated byheavy industry underpinned by shipbuilding in Glasgow, coal mining andsteel industries. Petroleum-related industries associated with the extraction ofNorth Sea oil have also been important employers since the 1970s, especially in the north-east of Scotland. De-industrialisation during the 1970s and 1980s saw a shift from a manufacturing focus towards a moreservice-oriented economy. As a result, the countries primary economic sectors includeagriculture,forestry,fisheries, manufacturing and construction,oil and gas extraction, science, technology, financial services,food and drink andtourism, with thespace industry,renewable energy andfinancial technologies sectors being considered as developing industries across the country.[346] Scotland's fisheries sector and associated zone is the fourth largest amongst European nations.[347]
TheScottish National Investment Bank was established in 2020 by the Scottish Government, which uses public money to fund commercial projects across Scotland in the hope that this seed capital will encourage further private investment, to help develop a fairer, more sustainable economy. £2 billion of taxpayers' money was earmarked for the bank.[348]
TheBank of Scotland is one of the oldest banks in the world, and the first bank in Europe to successfully prints it ownbanknotes
The average weekly income for workplace-based employees in Scotland is £573,[349] and £576 for home-based employees.[349] Scotland has the third highest median gross salary in the United Kingdom at £26,007, which is higher than the overall UK average annual salary of £25,971.[350] With an average of £14.28, Scotland has the third highest median hourly rate (excluding overtime working hours) of the countries of the United Kingdom, and like the annual salary, this is higher than the average UK figure as a whole.[350] The highest paid industries in Scotland tend of be in theutilityelectricity,gas andair conditioning sectors,[350] while industries liketourism, accommodation and food and drink tend to be the lowest paid.[350] The toplocal authority for pay, based on place of residence, isEast Renfrewshire (£20.87 per hour).[350]
The top local authority for pay based on place of work isEast Ayrshire (£16.92 per hour). Scotland's cities commonly have the largest salaries in Scotland based on place of work.[350] 2021/2022 data indicate that there were 2.6 milliondwellings across Scotland, with 318,369local authority dwellings.[351] A typical price for a house in Scotland was £195,000 in August 2022.[352]
Between 2016 and 2020, the Scottish Government estimated that 10% of people in Scotland were in persistent poverty following housing costs,[353] with similar rates of persistent poverty for children (10%), working-age adults (10%) and pensioners (11%).[354] Persistent child poverty rates had seen a relatively sharp drop; however, the accuracy of this was deemed to be questionable due to various factors such as households re-entering the longitudinal sample allowing data gaps to be filled.[354] The Scottish Government introduced the Scottish Child Payment in 2021 for low-income families with children under six years of age in an attempt to reduce child poverty rates, with families receiving a payment of roughly £1,040 per year.[355] As of October 2023, 10% of the Scottish population were estimated to be living in poverty.[356]
Although theBank of England is thecentral bank for the UK, three Scottishclearing banks issueSterlingbanknotes: theBank of Scotland, theRoyal Bank of Scotland and theClydesdale Bank. The Bank of Scotland was the first bank in Europe to successfully print its own paper currency, with the new banknotes entering circulation in 1696, making the Bank of Scotland the longest continuous issuer of banknotes in the world.[357] The issuing of banknotes byretail banks in Scotland is subject to theBanking Act 2009, which repealed all earlier legislation under which banknote issuance was regulated, and the Scottish and Northern Ireland Banknote Regulations 2009.[358]
The value of the Scottish banknotes in circulation in 2013 was £3.8 billion, underwritten by the Bank of England using funds deposited by each clearing bank, under theBanking Act 2009, to cover the total value of such notes in circulation.[359]
Scotland hasfive international airports operating scheduled services to Europe, North America and Asia, as well as domestic services to England, Northern Ireland and Wales and within Scotland.[360]Highlands and Islands Airports operates eleven airports across theHighlands,Orkney,Shetland and theWestern Isles, which are primarily used for short distance, public service operations, although Inverness Airport has a number of scheduled flights to destinations across the UK and mainland Europe.[361] Edinburgh Airport is currently Scotland's busiest airport, handling over 13 million passengers in 2017.[362] It is also the UK's 6th busiest airport. The airlineLoganair has its headquarters at Glasgow Airport and markets itself asScotland's Airline.[363]
Network Rail owns and operates the fixed infrastructure assets of the railway system in Scotland, while the Scottish Government retains overall responsibility for rail strategy and funding in Scotland.[364] Scotland's rail network has 359 railway stations and around 1,710 miles (2,760 km) of track.[365] In 2022–23 there were 64 million passenger journeys onScotRail rail services.[366] On 1 January 2006,Transport Scotland was established, which would oversee the regulation of railways in Scotland and administer major rail projects.[367]Since April 2022, Transport Scotland has taken ScotRail back into public ownership via itsoperator of last resort,Scottish Rail Holdings.[368] It did the same with the Caledonian Sleeper service in June 2023.[369]
The Scottish motorways and majortrunk roads are managed by Transport Scotland. The remainder of the road network is managed by theScottish local authorities in each of their areas.
Scottish inventorJohn Logie Baird demonstrated the first working television system on 26 January 1926.[376]
Scotland's primary sources of energy are provided through renewable energy (61.8%), nuclear (25.7%) and fossil fuel generation (10.9%).[377]Whitelee Wind Farm is the largest onshorewind farm in the United Kingdom, and was Europe's largest onshore wind farm for some time.[378]Tidal power is an emerging source of energy in Scotland. TheMeyGen tidal stream energy plant in the north of the country is claimed to be the largest tidal stream energy project in the world.[379] In Scotland, 98.6% of all electricity used was from renewable sources. This is minus net exports.[377] Between October 2021 and September 2022 63.1% of all electricity generated in Scotland was from renewable sources, 83.6% was classed as low carbon and 14.5% was from fossil fuels.[380] The Scottish Government has a target to have the equivalent of 50% of the energy for Scotland's heat, transport and electricity consumption to be supplied from renewable sources by 2030.[381] They have stated that, in 2022, the equivalent of 113% of the country's overall electrical consumption was produced by renewable energy, making it the highest recorded figure of renewable energy generated to date.[382]
Scotland'sspace industry is a world leader in sustainable space technology,[389][390] and, according to theUK Space Agency, there are 173 space companies currently operating in Scotland as of May 2021.[391] These include spacecraft manufacturers, launch providers, downstream data analyzers, and research organisations.[392] The space industry in Scotland is projected to generate £2billion in income for Scotland's space cluster by 2030.[389] Scottish space industry jobs represent almost one in five of all UK space industry employment.[393] In addition to its space industry, Scotland is home to two plannedspaceports –Sutherland spaceport andSaxaVord Spaceport – with launch vehicles such as theOrbex Prime from Scottish–basedaerospace companyOrbex expected to be launched from Sutherland.[394]
Thebagpipes are an instrument largely associated with Scotland, and an early example of popular Scottish music
Scottish music is a significant aspect of the nation's culture, with both traditional and modern influences. A famous traditional Scottish instrument is theGreat Highland bagpipe, a woodwind reed instrument consisting of three drones and a melody pipe (called the chanter), which are fed continuously by a reservoir of air in a bag. The popularity ofpipe bands—primarily featuring bagpipes, various types of snares and drums, and showcasing Scottish traditional dress and music—has spread throughout the world. Bagpipes are featured in holiday celebrations, parades, funerals, weddings, and other events internationally. Many military regiments have a pipe band of their own. In addition to the Great Highland pipes, several smaller, somewhat quieterbellows-blown varieties of bagpipe are played in Scotland, including thesmallpipes and theBorder pipes.
World renowned poetRobert Burns is considered the national poet, best known for works such as "Auld Lang Syne" and writing in the Scots language
Scotland has a literary heritage dating back to the early Middle Ages. The earliest extant literature composed in what is now Scotland was inBrythonic speech in the 6th century, but is preserved as part ofWelsh literature.[402] Later medieval literature included works in Latin,[403] Gaelic,[404] Old English[405] and French.[406] The first surviving major text inEarly Scots is the 14th-century poetJohn Barbour's epicBrus, focusing on the life of Robert I,[407] and was soon followed by a series of vernacular romances and prose works.[408] In the 16th century, the crown's patronage helped the development of Scots drama and poetry,[409] but the accession of James VI to the English throne removed a major centre of literary patronage and Scots was sidelined as a literary language.[410] Interest in Scots literature was revived in the 18th century by figures includingJames Macpherson, whoseOssian Cycle made him the first Scottish poet to gain an international reputation and was a major influence on the European Enlightenment.[411] It was also a major influence onRobert Burns, whom many consider the national poet,[412] andWalter Scott, whoseWaverley Novels did much to define Scottish identity in the 19th century.[413] Towards the end of the Victorian era a number of Scottish-born authors achieved international reputations as writers in English, includingRobert Louis Stevenson,Arthur Conan Doyle,J. M. Barrie andGeorge MacDonald.[414]
In the 20th century theScottish Renaissance saw a surge of literary activity and attempts to reclaim the Scots language as a medium for serious literature.[415] Members of the movement were followed by a new generation of post-war poets includingEdwin Morgan, who would be appointed the first Makar by the Scottish Government in 2004.[416]Sorley MacLean was described by theScottish Poetry Library as "one of the major Scottish poets of the modern era" because of his "mastery of his chosen medium and his engagement with the European poetic tradition and European politics".[417] Nobel Prize LaureateSeamus Heaney credited MacLean with savingScottish Gaelic poetry.[418] From the 1980s Scottish literature enjoyed another major revival, particularly associated with a group of writers includingIrvine Welsh.[415] Scottish poets who emerged in the same period includedCarol Ann Duffy, who, in May 2009, was the first Scot named the monarch'sPoet Laureate.[419] Scotland's national poet is known as theMakar and is appointed by the first minister to promote literacy, writing and poetry across the country, as well as to produce work for national events and produce annual reports to the government.[420] The incumbent Makar isPàdraig MacAoidh, the first Scottish Gaelic writer to hold the position.[421]
The image ofSt. Andrew, martyred while bound to an X-shaped cross, first appeared in theKingdom of Scotland during the reign ofWilliam I.[430] Following the death ofKing Alexander III in 1286 an image of Andrew was used on theseal of theGuardians of Scotland who assumed control of the kingdom during the subsequentinterregnum.[431] Use of a simplified symbol associated with Saint Andrew, thesaltire, has its origins in the late 14th century; theParliament of Scotland decreeing in 1385 that Scottish soldiers should wear a white Saint Andrew's Cross on the front and back of their tunics.[432] Use of a blue background for the Saint Andrew's Cross is said to date from at least the 15th century.[433] Since 1606 the saltire has also formed part of the design of theUnion Flag.
The national animal of Scotland is theunicorn, which has been a Scottish heraldic symbol since the 12th century.[445] TheCourt of the Lord Lyon regulatesScottish heraldry and the Public Register of All Armorial Bearings in Scotland.[446]
Scottish cuisine has distinctive attributes and recipes of its own but shares much with widerBritish andEuropean cuisine as a result of local and foreign influences, both ancient and modern. Traditional Scottish dishes exist alongside international foodstuffs brought about by migration. Scotland's natural larder ofgame, dairy products, fish, fruit, and vegetables is the chief factor in traditional Scots cooking, with a high reliance on simplicity and a lack ofspices from abroad, as these were historically rare and expensive.[447]
Irn-Bru is the most common Scottish carbonated soft drink, often described as "Scotland's other national drink" (after whisky).[448] During theLate Middle Ages andearly modern era,French cuisine played a role in Scottish cookery due to cultural exchanges brought about by the "Auld Alliance",[449] especially during the reign ofMary, Queen of Scots. Mary, on her return to Scotland, brought an entourage of French staff who are considered responsible for revolutionising Scots cooking and for some of Scotland's unique food terminology.[450]
The Scottish Rugby Union is the second oldest rugby union in the world.Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh is the national stadium of theScottish national rugby team. The Scotland rugby team playedtheir first officialtest match, winning 1–0 against England atRaeburn Place in 1871. Scotland has competed in theSix Nations from the inaugural tournament in 1883, winning it 14 times outright—including the last Five Nations in1999—and sharing it another 8 times. The Rugby World Cup was introduced in 1987 and Scotland have competed in all nine competitions, the most recent being in the2023 Rugby World Cup. Scotland competes with the England rugby team annually for theCalcutta Cup. Each year, this fixture is played out as part of the Six Nations, with Scotland having last won in 2024.[464]
^.scot is not accTLD, but aGeoTLD, open to use by all with a connection to Scotland or Scottish culture..uk as part of theUnited Kingdom is also used.ISO 3166-1 isGB, but.gb is unused.
^Devine, T. M. (1999),The Scottish Nation 1700–2000, P.288–289,ISBN0-14-023004-1"created a new and powerfullocal state run by the Scottish bourgeoisie and reflecting their political and religious values. It was this local state, rather than a distant and usually indifferent Westminster authority, that in effect routinely governed Scotland"
^Maguire, Warren (2012)."English and Scots in Scotland"(PDF). In Hickey, Raymond (ed.).Areal Features of the Anglophone World. Mouton de Gruyter. pp. 53–78.Archived(PDF) from the original on 6 January 2024. Retrieved6 January 2024.
^"Gaelic Language".Outer Hebrides.Archived from the original on 6 January 2024. Retrieved6 January 2024.
^Rowley-Conwy, P., Gron, K.J., Bishop, R.R. et al. (5 more authors) (2020)The earliest farming in Britain : towards a new synthesis. In: Gron, K.J., Sorensen, L. and RowleyConwy, P., (eds.) Farmers at the Frontier: A Pan European Perspective on Neolithisation. Oxbow Books , Oxford, UK , pp. 401-424.ISBN9781789251401
^Hanson, William S.The Roman Presence: Brief Interludes, in Edwards, Kevin J. & Ralston, Ian B.M. (Eds) (2003).Scotland After the Ice Age: Environment, Archeology and History, 8000 BC—AD 1000. Edinburgh. Edinburgh University Press.
^"Act of Union 1707".www.parliament.uk. UK Parliament.Archived from the original on 23 September 2022. Retrieved11 January 2024.
^Devine, T. M. (1999).The Scottish Nation 1700–2000. Penguin Books. p. 9.ISBN978-0-14-023004-8.From that point on anti-union demonstrations were common in the capital. In November rioting spread to the southwest, that stronghold of strict Calvinism and covenanting tradition. The Glasgow mob rose against union sympathisers in disturbances that lasted intermittently for over a month
^William, Rilley, Patrick, Joseph (1978).The Union of England and Scotland A Study in Anglo-Scottish Politics of the Eighteenth Century. Manchester University Press. p. 312.ISBN9780719007279.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^Robert, Joseph C (1976). "The Tobacco Lords: A study of the Tobacco Merchants of Glasgow and their Activities".The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography.84 (1):100–102.JSTOR4248011.
^Devine, T M (1994).Clanship to Crofters' War: The social transformation of the Scottish Highlands (2013 ed.). Manchester University Press.ISBN978-0-7190-9076-9.
^Neil Davidson(2000).The Origins of Scottish Nationhood. London: Pluto Press. pp. 94–95.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
^T. M. Devine and R. J. Finlay,Scotland in the Twentieth Century (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1996), pp. 64–65.
^F. Requejo and K-J Nagel,Federalism Beyond Federations: Asymmetry and Processes of Re-symmetrization in Europe (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2011), p. 39.
^R. Quinault, "Scots on Top? Tartan Power at Westminster 1707–2007",History Today, 2007 57(7): 30–36.ISSN0018-2753 Fulltext:Ebsco.
^K. Kumar,The Making of English National Identity (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003), p. 183.
^D. Howell,British Workers and the Independent Labour Party, 1888–1906 (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1984), p. 144.
^J. F. MacKenzie, "The second city of the Empire: Glasgow – imperial municipality", in F. Driver and D. Gilbert, eds,Imperial Cities: Landscape, Display and Identity (2003), pp. 215–223.
^J. Shields,Clyde Built: a History of Ship-Building on the River Clyde (1949).
^C. H. Lee,Scotland and the United Kingdom: the Economy and the Union in the Twentieth Century (1995), p. 43.
^Stephan Tschudi-Madsen,The Art Nouveau Style: a Comprehensive Guide (Courier Dover, 2002), pp. 283–284.
^Richard J. Finlay,Modern Scotland 1914–2000 (2006), pp 1–33
^R. A. Houston and W. W. J. Knox, eds.The New Penguin History of Scotland (2001) p 426.[1]Archived 10 June 2024 at theWayback MachineNiall Ferguson points out in "The Pity of War" that the proportion of enlisted Scots who died was third highest in the war behind Serbia and Turkey and a much higher proportion than in other parts of the UK.[2]Archived 4 April 2023 at theWayback Machine[3]Archived 5 October 2010 at theWayback Machine
^Murray, W.H. (1973)The Islands of Western Scotland. London. Eyre MethuenISBN978-0-413-30380-6
^Murray, W.H. (1968)The Companion Guide to the West Highlands of Scotland. London. Collins.ISBN0-00-211135-7
^Johnstone, Scottet al. (1990)The Corbetts and Other Scottish Hills. Edinburgh. Scottish Mountaineering Trust. Page 9.
^"UK Records". BBC Weather. Archived fromthe original on 2 December 2010. Retrieved21 September 2007. The same temperature was also recorded in Braemar on 10 January 1982 and atAltnaharra,Highland, on 30 December 1995.
^E. Richards,The Highland Clearances: People, Landlords and Rural Turmoil (2008).
^A. K. Cairncross,The Scottish Economy: A Statistical Account of Scottish Life by Members of the Staff of Glasgow University (Glasgow: Glasgow University Press, 1953), p. 10.
^R. A. Houston and W. W. Knox, eds,The New Penguin History of Scotland (Penguin, 2001), p. xxxii.
^L. Alcock,Kings and Warriors, Craftsmen and Priests in Northern Britain AD 550–850 (Edinburgh: Society of Antiquaries of Scotland),ISBN0-903903-24-5, p. 63.
^Lucas Quensel von Kalben, "The British Church and the Emergence of the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom", in T. Dickinson and D. Griffiths, eds,Anglo-Saxon Studies in Archaeology and History, 10: Papers for the 47th Sachsensymposium, York, September 1996 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999),ISBN086054138X, p. 93.
^P. J. Bawcutt and J. H. Williams,A Companion to Medieval Scottish Poetry (Woodbridge: Brewer, 2006),ISBN1-84384-096-0, pp. 29–30.
^R. A. Houston,Scottish Literacy and the Scottish Identity: Illiteracy and Society in Scotland and Northern England, 1600–1800 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002),ISBN0-521-89088-8, p. 5.
^R. Anderson, "The history of Scottish Education pre-1980", in T. G. K. Bryce and W. M. Humes, eds,Scottish Education: Post-Devolution (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2nd edn., 2003),ISBN0-7486-1625-X, pp. 219–228.
^"Schools and schooling" in M. Lynch (ed.),The Oxford Companion to Scottish History, (Oxford, 2001), pp. 561–563.
^Masterman, Roger; Murray, Colin (2022). "TheUnited Kingdom's Devolution Arrangements".Constitutional and Administrative Law (Third ed.). Cambridge:Cambridge University Press. pp. 471–473.doi:10.1017/9781009158497.ISBN9781009158503.S2CID248929397.Archived from the original on 4 May 2024. Retrieved27 October 2023.UK Internal Market Act 2020 imposed new restrictions on the ability of the devolved institutions to enact measures...mutual recognition and non-discrimination requirements mean that standards set by the legislatures in Wales and Scotland cannot restrict the sale of goods which are acceptable in other parts of the UK. In other words, imposing such measures would simply create competitive disadvantages for businesses in Wales and Scotland; they would not change the product standards or environmental protections applicable to all goods which can be purchased in Wales and Scotland.
^Dougan, Michael; Hunt, Jo;McEwen, Nicola; McHarg, Aileen (2022)."Sleeping with an Elephant: Devolution and the United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020".Law Quarterly Review.138 (Oct). London:Sweet & Maxwell:650–676.ISSN0023-933X.SSRN4018581.Archived from the original on 2 August 2022. Retrieved4 March 2022 – viaDurham Research Online.The Act has restrictive – and potentially damaging – consequences for the regulatory capacity of the devolved legislatures...the primary purpose of the legislation was to constrain the capacity of the devolved institutions to use their regulatory autonomy...in practice, it constrains the ability of the devolved institutions to make effective regulatory choices for their territories in ways that do not apply to the choices made by the UK government and parliament for the English market.
^Keating, Michael (2 February 2021)."Taking back control? Brexit and the territorial constitution of the United Kingdom".Journal of European Public Policy.29 (4). Abingdon:Taylor & Francis:491–509.doi:10.1080/13501763.2021.1876156.hdl:1814/70296.The UK Internal Market Act gives ministers sweeping powers to enforce mutual recognition and non-discrimination across the four jurisdictions. Existing differences and some social and health matters are exempted but these are much less extensive than the exemptions permitted under the EU Internal Market provisions. Only after an amendment in the House of Lords, the Bill was amended to provide a weak and non-binding consent mechanism for amendments (equivalent to the Sewel Convention) to the list of exemptions. The result is that, while the devolved governments retain regulatory competences, these are undermined by the fact that goods and services originating in, or imported into, England can be marketed anywhere.
^Lydgate, Emily; Anthony, Chloe (September 2022)."Brexit, food law and the UK's search for a post-EU identity".Modern Law Review.85 (5). London:Wiley:1168–1190.doi:10.1111/1468-2230.12735.While the mutual recognition principle preserves devolved powers, rather than requiring that devolved nations conform with a wide range of harmonised standards (as they did in the EU), the Act undermines devolution simply because devolved legislation will no longer apply to all relevant activity in the devolved territory...Devolution is also undermined by the asymmetry of legislative authority...the UK Internal Market Act is a protected enactment, which devolved administrations are unable to appeal or modify, but which the UK parliament will be able to modify when legislating for England.
^Armstrong, Kenneth A. (May 2022)."The Governance of Economic Unionism after the United Kingdom Internal Market Act".Modern Law Review.85 (3). Oxford:Wiley:635–660.doi:10.1111/1468-2230.12706.So when used to disapply relevant requirements in a destination devolved jurisdiction the effect is different from that generated by the devolution statutes when they treat rules that are outside of competence as being 'not law'. In this way, the legislative competence of each jurisdiction is formally maintained, but its exercise constrained by the extraterritorial reach of regulatory norms applicable elsewhere in the UK and by the potential for regulatory competition where local producers are subject to local rules but competing goods can enter that market in compliance with the regulatory standards from where they originate...the UKIM Act 2020 allows extraterritorial application of rules that reflect different preferences or even undermines local preferences through regulatory competition, its effects are not insignificant for devolved legislatures.
^The large number of military bases in Scotland led some to use the euphemism "Fortress Scotland". See Spaven, Malcolm (1983)Fortress Scotland. London. Pluto Press in association with Scottish CND.
^The Articles: legal and miscellaneous, UK Parliament House of Lords (2007). "Article 19: The Scottish legal system and its courts were to remain unchanged":"Act of Union 1707". House of Lords. Archived fromthe original on 14 November 2007. Retrieved22 October 2007.
^"Law and institutions, Gaelic" & "Law and lawyers" in M. Lynch (ed.),The Oxford Companion to Scottish History, (Oxford, 2001), pp. 381–382 & 382–386. Udal Law remains relevant to land law in Orkney and Shetland:"A General History of Scots Law (20th century)"(PDF). Law Society of Scotland. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 25 September 2007. Retrieved20 September 2007.
^R. T. Lambdin and L. C. Lambdin,Encyclopedia of Medieval Literature (London: Greenwood, 2000),ISBN0-313-30054-2, p. 508.
^I. Brown, T. Owen Clancy, M. Pittock, S. Manning, eds,The Edinburgh History of Scottish Literature: From Columba to the Union, until 1707 (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2007),ISBN0-7486-1615-2, p. 94.
^J. T. Koch,Celtic Culture: a Historical Encyclopedia (ABC-CLIO, 2006),ISBN1-85109-440-7, p. 999.
^E. M. Treharne,Old and Middle English c.890-c.1400: an Anthology (Wiley-Blackwell, 2004),ISBN1-4051-1313-8, p. 108.
^N. Jayapalan,History of English Literature (Atlantic, 2001),ISBN81-269-0041-5, p. 23.
^J. Wormald,Court, Kirk, and Community: Scotland, 1470–1625 (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1991),ISBN0-7486-0276-3, pp. 60–67.
^I. Brown, T. Owen Clancy, M. Pittock, S. Manning, eds,The Edinburgh History of Scottish Literature: From Columba to the Union, until 1707 (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2007),ISBN0-7486-1615-2, pp. 256–257.
^R. D. S. Jack, "Poetry under King James VI", in C. Cairns, ed.,The History of Scottish Literature (Aberdeen University Press, 1988), vol. 1,ISBN0-08-037728-9, pp. 137–138.
^L. McIlvanney (Spring 2005). "Hugh Blair, Robert Burns, and the Invention of Scottish Literature".Eighteenth-Century Life.29 (2):25–46.doi:10.1215/00982601-29-2-25.S2CID144358210.
^"About the Festival".National Celtic Festival website. National Celtic Festival. 2009. Archived fromthe original on 19 January 2012. Retrieved23 January 2010.
^Bain, Robert (1959). Margaret O. MacDougall (ed.).Clans & Tartans of Scotland (revised). P.E. Stewart-Blacker (heraldic advisor), foreword by The R. Hon. C/refountess of Erroll. William Collins Sons & Co., Ltd. p. 108.
^Soccer in South Asia: Empire, Nation, Diaspora by James Mills, Paul Dimeo: Page 18 – Oldest Football Association is England's FA, then Scotland and third oldest is the Indian FA.
^"The Home of Golf". Scottish Government. 6 March 2007. Retrieved4 December 2008.The Royal & Ancient and three public sector agencies are to continue using the Open Championship to promote Scotland as the worldwide home of golf.
^Keay (1994)op cit page 839. "In 1834 theRoyal and Ancient Golf Club declared St. Andrews 'the Alma Mater of golf'".
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