The Bank of Scotland was the first bank in Europe to print its
own banknotes.
Ben Macdhui, Scotland's 2nd highest
mountain, is haunted by the Grey Man, an apparition that frightens walkers when
it looms out of the mist.
At the narrow neck of Mavis Grind on
the A970 north of Brae in Shetland it is possible to throw a stone from the North
Sea to the Atlantic.
Marischal College in Aberdeen is the second-largest granite building in
the world. Only El Escorial in Spain is larger.
According to the census conducted in 1909,
the Scots were the tallest race in Europe.
St Andrews golf course is the oldest
in the world
The 1st Airship to cross the Atlantic
the ‘R34’ was built in Scotland, built by William Beardmore in Inchinnan,
Renfrewshire, Scotland.
Galloway is the home of Bruce's Stone (where King Robert defeated the English by rolling boulders down
on top of them).
The farthest you can be from the
coast in Scotland is about 50 miles.
Famous as it is, Loch Ness isn’t the
deepest Loch in Scotland. In fact it's Loch Morar, which also has a monster, dubbed Morag by locals.
‘Tapadh leat’ means ‘thank you’ in
Gaelic. ‘Thig a-staigh’ means ‘come in’; ‘an-diugh’ means ‘today’, and ‘mar sin
leat’ means ‘goodbye’.
TV, the telephone, video cassette
recorder, finger printing, tyres, tarmac and penicillin were all Scottish inventions.
The buttons on the sleeves of
Highland dress originate in military uniform. They were to stop soldiers wiping
their noses on their sleeves.
The first recorded alcoholic drink
produced in the country wasn’t whisky, but heather ale, believed to have been
made by the Picts.
The shortest English language place name in Scotland
belongs to the village of Ae, in Dumfries and Galloway.
Bagpipes aren't Scottish – they were
invented in Iran.
The oldest 'football' pitch in the
world is in the Roman Camp at Callander.
The Australian National Anthem,
‘Advance Australia Fair’, was written by Glaswegian Peter Dodds McCormick.
Lower case letters were developed by
Gaelic monks.
Nine of the first 13 Governors of the
US were of Scottish ancestry, as well as 11 US Presidents (not counting Barack
Obama).
Banjo Paterson, was half Scottish.
ReplyDeleteWho?
The Ozzie Poet.
Ozzie Poet, shome mishtake?
Waltzing Matilda
Aye only a Scottish laddie would be called Banjo!
ReplyDelete