Young Caledonians

This page is designed for you our younger members. If you are interested in contributing in any way we would be delighted to hear from you. You might wish to edit a column, write, share photographs and stories, exchange emails with people back home or just find out more about Scotland. Perhaps you have your own ideas which would be even better.

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It the meantime you might like to check out Young Scots at www.youngscot.org

You might also like to take at look at:    www.youngscothomecoming.org

DID YOU KNOW - VITAL STATISTICS

POPULATION OF SCOTLAND Just over 5 million

CAPITAL CITY Edinburgh

NATIONAL EMBLEM Thistle

NATIONAL FLAG Saltire (Saint Andrew's Cross)

OFFICIAL LANGUAGES English, Scots and Gaelic

GINGER GENE Over 10% of Scots have red hair

 RUMOUR HAS IT that everyone in Scotland is called “Mac” but just like England and the United States of America, the most common surname is Smith. just over one in eight surnames do begin with 'Mac' or 'Mc', with MacDonald being the most popular, although it is Brown, Wilson, Campbell and Stewart that make up the rest of the top five most common Scottish surnames.

SCOTS ABROAD The notorious Highland Clearances saw many Scots forced from their homes by ruthless landlords to make way for sheep farms during the 18th century and again, in the mid 19th century. This, and the collapse of the clan system, saw many board emigration ships in search of a better future. The result is that today there are more descendants of Highlanders in the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand than there are in Scotland itself.

FOR THE RECORD When it comes to inventions and ingenuity, the Scots have excelled themselves. The steam engine, bicycle, telephone, television, penicillin, radar, insulin and calculus are just a few of the most significant discoveries that have been attributed to Scottish inventors over the years.

 THE EVOLUTION OF THE SCOT

THE FIRST SCOTS ARE thought to have been hunter ­gatherers who came to Scotland after the glaciers melted around 10,000 years ago. The first villages appeared 5,000 years later, the well-preserved Skara Brae on the mainland of Orkney is a great example of what they were like.

The Romans invaded the British Isles in AD 43 and gradually worked their way north. They don't appear to have had much of an appetite to pick a fight with the Scots, though, building Hadrian's Wall (in the north of England) in AD 120 to keep them out. This became the northern boundary of the Roman Empire.

In the early Middle Ages, two groups were dominant, the Picts and the Britons. The Picts occupied most of the centre and north of The country, while the Britons were in charge of most of the south. Invasions brought three more groups, the Scotti (Gaelic-speaking Irish), the Anglo ­Saxons from England and the Vikings from Scandinavia.

The Picts were a confederation of tribes and by the end of the 13th century they eventually gained control of much of the land that was to become known as the Kingdom of Alba (the Gaelic name for Scotland). This kingdom shares very similar borders to Scotland today.

England and Scotland have fought many bloody battles over the centuries, with numerous invasions by the English testing the mettle and desire of the Scots to remain independent. National heroes such as William Wallace and Robert the Bruce ensured that the country was not swallowed up by England. Despite the many con­flicts, in 1707, the two countries united, signing the Acts of Union to create the Kingdom of Great Britain.

The desire of the Scots to retain their national identity is as evident today as ever, as demonstrated in 1996, when the people of Scotland made history by voting for their own parliament. The Scots are now back in control of their own destiny for the first time in 300 years.