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Culture of Scotland: Throughout the centuries,
Scottish culture has been shaped with the amalgamation of different
elements. There is an important artistic activity, both musical and dramatic
and literary, powerfully influenced by traditional Scottish sources, but
also open to external influences, especially in
Europe. Music occupies an
important place in Scottish culture. The most remarkable traditional
Scottish instrument is the bagpipe, including the Highland bagpipes, a wind
instrument consisting of one or more tubes sound powered by a reserve of air
in a bag. The Clàrsach or Celtic harp, violins and accordion are also
traditional Scottish instruments, especially the last two, which are part of
a typical band for traditional Scottish dances. The Scottish immigrants
brought with them many of these traditional forms of music that influenced
their host countries, for example in the American country music. In the
modern music scene, there are many bands and artists from Scotland, such as
Belle & Sebastian, Primal Scream, Travis and Snow Patrol.
Scottish literature includes texts written in Scotland, in
English, Ancient
Languages, Scottish,
French or Latin. The considered "national poet, Robert
Burns, wrote in both Scots and English, although much of his work is written
in a simplified version of the Scottish accessible to a wider audience.
Other internationally renowned Scottish writers are Sir Walter Scott and
Arthur Conan Doyle, whose work had an international impact in the late
nineteenth century. James Matthew Barrie, creator of Peter Pan, was the
creator of the movement known as "Kailyard school, also in the late
nineteenth century, which came into fashion fantasy and folklore in the
literature. This literary tradition has been considered by some critics as a
brake on the development of Scottish literature, as it focused on a
pastoral, idyllic image of Scotland. Some modern novelists like Irvine Welsh
(author of Trainspotting), have chosen to reflect the harsh realities of
contemporary life in the Scottish cities, using English in Scotland.
National television is BBC Scotland (BBC Alba in Gaeilge), part of the
British Broadcasting Corporation, the public channel in the
UK. In addition
to two television channels, the BBC also has national radio channels: BBC
Radio Scotland and BBC Radio nan Gàidheal, among others. The main private
television stations in Scotland are STV and Border Television. There are
also specific to the field Scottish newspapers like the Daily Record, the
Herald (published in Glasgow) or The Scotsman. Among newspapers of local or
regional spread include the The Courier, published for Dundee and the east
of Scotland and the Press and Journal, in Aberdeen and the north.
The garment is the traditional Scottish kilt, the misnamed "kilt"-word is
offensive to the Scots. The kilt is usually made of wool, with a plaid
design that traditionally is associated with a particular Scottish clan.
Each receives a Scottish kilt at an early age, and use it on special
occasions like weddings, baptisms, communions ... The kilt is wrapped around
the waist and covers the bottom to the knees, also because it has no
pockets, can be complemented with a special bag called sporran. Contrary to
popular belief that under the kilt should not wear underwear, the fact is
that there is no established rule in this regard
The
United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Northern Ireland, brief way the
United
Kingdom (of brief way United Kingdom or
UK), is a
located sovereign state to the northwest of Continental
Europe. It's territory
is formed geographically by the island of Great Britain, the northeast of the
island of Ireland and small adjacent islands. Northern
Ireland is the unique
part of the country with a land border, separates that it of the Republic of
Ireland. Aside from this border, it is surrounded to the north and the west by
the Atlantic Ocean, to the east by the North Sea, the south by the English
Channel and the west by the Irish Sea. The greatest island,
Great Britain, are
communicated with France by the Eurotunnel. The United Kingdom is a unitary
state included by four constituent countries: Scotland, England, Northern
Ireland and Wales, and is governed by a parliamentary system with soothes of
government in London, the capital, but with three decentralized national
administrations in Belfast, Cardiff and Edinburgh, the capitals of Northern
Ireland, Wales and Scotland respectively. The
United Kingdom is a parliamentary
monarchy with Reina Isabel II like Chief of State. The Dependencies of Corona of
the Islands of the Channel and the Isle of Man do not comprise of the
United
Kingdom, but they form a federation with him. The
United Kingdom has
fourteen overseas Territories, all of them vestiges than it was the British
Empire, that in its territorial peak got to include near a quarter of the
terrestrial surface of the planet. Reina Isabel II at the top continues being of
the Federation of Nations and Chief of State of each one of the Kingdoms of the
Federation. 