A fascinating selection that the Telegraph thinks is relevant to "Scottish referendum".
No mention of Kirkpatrick Macmillan.
Quiz your friends to see if they would pass the citizenship test!
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Debate!
Fairly OT "50 fascinating facts you should know about Scotland"
(22 posts)-
Posted 12 years ago #
-
1. The official animal of Scotland is the Unicorn
It is? Says who? It's a heraldic symbol in the Royal Coat of Arms of Scotland, but nothing more.
25. The official religion of Scotland is Christianity, with churches traditionally being called “kirks”.
Official? Again, says who. The Kirk isn't an established church. I must have missed the memo that said I'm "officially" Christian by accident of birthplace.
Plenty of other dubious assertions in there. Didn't really expect any different from the Torygraph though.
No mention of Kirkpatrick Macmillan.
Pneumatic tyre is though.
Posted 12 years ago # -
Very OT but the CoS is very much established, by both the Williamite 1689 settlement and the 1706 Act of Union. It's just not an established church in the same way as the Church of England.
Posted 12 years ago # -
It reads like something from a Sunday Post children's section.
Posted 12 years ago # -
I've seen this before (got a feeling it was posted on here?).
Looks like a standard Phil Space piece, delegated to a work experience intern with access to Wikipedia and other less reliable sites on the internet...
Posted 12 years ago # -
26 is pretty misleading. At the very least it should read "Scotland regained independence in 1314".
And it should be 1328, not 1314.
Pretty unusual photo to choose for Ben Nevis for 15. I had to convince myself it was the Ben (on the right - the lower one!)
Posted 12 years ago # -
It's just not an established church in the same way as the Church of England.
That's what I meant. Established but not established.
Posted 12 years ago # -
Possibly more reliable than any "facts" presented during the independence debate.
No 13. is questionable. It may well have been a replacement.Posted 12 years ago # -
Facts 29, 30 and 31 must be from different sources.
Posted 12 years ago # -
"Scotland has been part of the United Kingdom for more than three hundred years, but it is unlike anywhere else in Britain.2
So England and Wales are completely different then? (noting it refers to UK at the start of the sentence, then compares it to other places in Britain, so presumably Norn Ireland and Scotland are identical...).
Okay, let's see if I can get beyond the first sentence!
Posted 12 years ago # -
Yes, that is a strange thing to say.
I find this one quite weird.
14.Scotland is currently the second largest country in the UK, after England.
Currently? Are they expecting this to change? How? Are Wales about to fill in the Irish Sea and expand their territory? Is Scotland about to partially sink under the weight of Krispy Krack eating munters? Enquiring minds need to know.
Posted 12 years ago # -
I think the answer is obvious, those rebellious and treacherous taffs are about to rise up and capture large parts of England rendering Wales the largest and most aggressive part of the UK the real threat is coming sheeple wake up and prepare to defend your soft southern brethren!!!
Posted 12 years ago # -
Er, the "article" is framed in the context of Scotland potentially leaving the UK?
Posted 12 years ago # -
Even if there is a Yes in 2014 it's not obvious what would happen to the UK as the union, in the person of the monarch, predates the 1706 treaty. Brenda isn't always careful about this and I sort of hope and expect that she would be since she seems to enjoy being on this side of the border.
And we wouldn't be leaving, the Union would be dissolved.
On the other hand, according to Westminster, Scotland hasn't existed since 1707 when it was extinguished and become part of Greater England:
http://www.heraldscotland.com/politics/referendum-news/state-extinguished-by-1707-treaty.20178521
This means that we won the World Cup of footballs in '66 and should be joining in with the joy every time someone on the TV shoehorns a mention in to… well pretty much anything.
Posted 12 years ago # -
'66 is mentioned by the 'British' media almost as often as the thought of it being mentioned is whinged about by Scots...
Posted 12 years ago # -
So which direction do you think the causal relationship runs?
Stephen Fry reckons the Germans have forgotten all about it but I can'r remember which season of QI it was in… or how they managed to get it in there. Mr Fry is a well known fan of footballing.
Posted 12 years ago # -
The 1603 union of the crowns didn't create the United Kingdom, thought, so sharing a monarch and a currency wouldn't make it the same country.
Posted 12 years ago # -
I think it's about 50/50 wfb.
The media have defeinitely got more ridiculously one-sided in their coverage of England playing (I'm English and it annoys the hell out of me); but the thing I hate more in the build-up to any major championship is knowing there will be a certain level of hatred (and that's what it is) directed at me in the country I call home.
My brother once, when he was about 9, was walking with my mum in a shopping centre in Aberdeen in an England jersey - a grown man walked up to him (9 years old remember) told him he was scum, and wandered off. A friend of mine years back ewas at a match at Hampden that Scotland were winning 2-0 at half time, and the songs from the stands weren't supporting the team or extolling their virtues, but all about how much they hated England. I watched the other standard reference point of England's 5-1 defeat of Germany in a WC qualifier, and during the national anthems the Scots (who had stayed on after watching a draw with Latvia) starting doing Hitler salutes at the England fans in the pub (they disappeared during the match funnily enough). I rail against xenophobia of all sorts - the Daily Wail's coverage of Poles and Muslims; that strange sense that some still think the Germans should be apologising for the war; and the fact that it's part of the Scottish psyche to exercise that chip on the shoulder and hate the English. Because xenophobia is what it is - just because it's based on history, or disliking Gary Lineker's smug face, doesn't mean it's excusable.
Sorry. That was a bit of a drift and a rant. Not directed at anyone at all, just more the undercurrent that (alongside sectarianism) I personally think does a great disservice to this country.
Celebrate Scotland; why the need to denegrate England?
Posted 12 years ago # -
WC, I just don't like football to the extent that number 4 son, who will be 7 in the summer, had to ask his uncle what Celtic was… last week.
I'd never mentioned it to him but his uncle was cheering a wee bit during a game and he didn't understand why.
Posted 12 years ago # -
Football is definitely at the core of a lot of the hatred. The majority probably. I've been to Murrayfield in my England top and the atmosphere was great. No bother at all. And to be honest, you've done well with number 4 son!
Being from Newcastle originally I've been indoctrinated by football though.
Actually, quite funny the number of English club shirts that there are worn in Scotland.
Posted 12 years ago # -
English club football seems to be popular in all sorts of places.
Posted 12 years ago # -
Three years living in England didn't get me indoctrinated with cricket. It's still a mystery.
Posted 12 years ago #
Reply
You must log in to post.
posts
