Scottish Highland Trivia

Posted: March 15, 2012/By: achristay@aol.com

National Flag

Scotland’s flag is one of the oldest of any country in the world, dating back to at least the 12th century.

Royal Standard Flag

This centuries old design of the “Rampant Lion” is reserved for the Queen and her representatives. It was first used by Alexander II (1214-1249).

Some Scottish Inventions

Telephone – Alexander Graham Bell

Penicillin – Sir Alexander Fleming

Steam Engine – James Watt

Fax Machine – Alexander Bain

Logarithms – John Napier

Golf

Famous Novelists of Scotland:

Sir Walter Scott – the innovator of the literary form, the historical novel

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Robert Louis Stevenson

R. M. Ballentyne

Kenneth Graham

William McGonagall

Scottish Naming Customs

“The general custom, to which there were some variations, was to name children as follows:-
The eldest son after the paternal grandfather
The second son after the maternal grandfather
The third son after the father
The eldest daughter after the maternal grandmother
The second daughter after the paternal grandmother
The third daughter after the mother
Younger children would be named after earlier forebears, but the pattern in their case was less settled.”
(“In search of Scottish Ancestry” by Gerald Hamilton-Edwards, Phillimore, 1983 Edition)

The Belted Plaid (or Kilt)
Contrary to what you see shown in Hollywood films, the first belted plaid wasn’t even depicted until the early 1600’s. Also, in the late 1500’s women were forbidden to wear the plaids (arisaid) out of doors, lest they be confused for “loose women.”