The Scottish Grand National is a Grade 3 National Hunt steeplechase in Great Britain which is open to horses aged five years or older. It is run at Ayr Racecourse in Scotland, over a distance of about 4 miles (3 miles 7 furlongs and 176 yards, or 6,397 metres) and during its running there are 27 fences to be jumped. The Scottish National is a handicap race, and takes place each year in April. It is Scotland's equivalent of the Grand National, and is held during Ayr's two-day Scottish Grand National Festival meeting.

The 'Auld Cleg Biggin' as the poet himself described his birthplace, was put up by his father, William Burnes, on seven and a half acres of ground purchased from Dr Alexander Campbell of Ayr in 1756. In it, Robert Burns was born on 25th January 1759.

Enough said!

Prince Charles initially landed from France on Eriskay in the Western Isles. He then travelled to the mainland in a small rowing boat, coming ashore at Loch nan Uamh just west of Glenfinnan. On arrival on the Scottish mainland, he was met by a small number of MacDonalds. Stuart waited at Glenfinnan for a number of days as more MacDonalds, Camerons, Macfies and MacDonnells arrived. On the 19th August 1745, after Prince Charles judged he had enough military support, he climbed the hill near Glenfinnan as MacMaster of Glenaladale raised his royal standard. The Young Pretender then announced to all the mustered clans he claimed the Scottish and the English thrones in the name of his father James Stuart ('the Old Pretender'). A MacPhee (Macfie) was one of two pipers with Bonnie Prince Charlie when he raised his banner above Glenfinnan. Afterwards brandy was distributed to the assembled highlanders to celebrate the occasion. Eight months later, Charles Stuart's claim to the thrones of Scotland and England ended in failure at the Battle of Culloden on the 16th April 1746. Many Macfies, who came from Glenfinnan, followed Donald Cameron of Lochiel on the right flank of the Jacobite Army at the battle. Charles Stuart returned to the area of Glenfinnan after Culloden, during his flight to evade the government troops of Prince William, Duke of Cumberland. After being hidden by loyal supporters, he boarded a French frigate on the shores of Loch nan Uamh close to where he had landed and raised his standard the previous year. The Young Pretender died in Rome in 1788 without ever setting foot on Scottish soil again. The Prince's Cairn now marks the spot from where he departed into exile.

The curling stone is made of granite and is specified by the World Curling Federation, which requires a weight between 38 and 44 pounds (17.24 and 19.96 kg), a maximum circumference of 36 inches (914.4 mm) and a minimum height of 4.5 inches (114.3 mm). The only part of the stone in contact with the ice is the running surface, a narrow, flat annulus or ring, 0.25 to 0.50 inches (6.4 to 12.7 mm) wide and about 5 inches (130 mm) in diameter; the sides of the stone bulge convex down to the ring and the inside of the ring is hollowed concave to clear the ice. This concave bottom was first proposed by J. S. Russell of Toronto, Ontario, Canada sometime after 1870, and was subsequently adopted by Scottish stone manufacturer Andrew Kay. The curling stone is made of granite.

The Battle of Bannockburn (Scottish Gaelic: Blàr Allt nam Bànag or Scottish Gaelic: Blàr Allt a' Bhonnaich) 24th June 1314 was a significant Scottish victory in the First War of Scottish Independence, and a landmark in Scottish history. Stirling Castle, a Scots royal fortress occupied by the English, was under siege by the Scottish army. The English king, Edward II, assembled a formidable force to relieve the seige. The attempt failed, and his army was defeated in a pitched battle by a smaller army commanded by the King of Scots, Robert the Bruce.

The University of St Andrews (informally known as St Andrews University or simply St Andrews; abbreviated as St And, from the Latin Sancti Andreae, in post-nominals) is a British public research university in St Andrews, Fife, Scotland. It is the oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and the third oldest university in the English-speaking world (following Oxford and Cambridge Universities). St Andrews was founded between 1410 and 1413, when the Avignon Antipope Benedict XIII issued a papal bull to a small founding group of Augustinian clergy. St Andrews is made up of a variety of institutions, comprising three colleges – United College (a union of St Salvator's and St Leonard's Colleges), St Mary's College, and St Leonard's College, the last named being a non-statutory revival of St Leonard's as a post-graduate society. There are 18 academic schools organised into four faculties. The university occupies historic and modern buildings located throughout the town. The academic year is divided into two terms, Martinmas and Candlemas. In term time, over one-third of the town's population is either a staff member or student of the university.[6] The student body is notably diverse: over 135 nationalities are represented with 45% of its intake from countries outside the UK; about one-eighth of the students are from the rest of the EU and the remaining third are from overseas — 15% from North America alone.

Sir Henry Lauder (4th August 1870 – 26th February 1950) was a Scottish singer and comedian popular in both music hall and vaudevillian theatre traditions; he achieved international success.


Lauder was described by Sir Winston Churchill as "Scotland's greatest ever ambassador". He became a familiar worldwide figure promoting images like the kilt and the cromach (walking stick) to huge acclaim, especially in America. Other songs followed, including "Roamin' in the Gloamin", "A Wee Deoch-an-Doris", "The End of the Road" and, a particularly big hit for him, "I Love a Lassie". By 1911, Lauder had become the highest-paid performer in the world, and was the first British artist to sell a million records; by 1928 he had sold double that. He raised vast amounts of money for the war effort during the First World War, for which he was knighted in 1919. He went into semi-retirement in the mid-1930s, but briefly emerged to entertain troops in the Second World War. By the late 1940s he was suffering from long periods of ill-health, and died in Scotland in 1950.

The word whisky (or whiskey) is an anglicisation of the Classical Gaelic word uisce (or uisge) meaning "water" (now written as uisce in Irish Gaelic, and uisge in Scottish Gaelic). Distilled alcohol was known in Latin as aqua vitae ("water of life"). This was translated into Old Irish as uisce beatha ("water of life"), which became uisce beatha in Irish and uisge beatha [ˈɯʃkʲə ˈbɛhə] in Scottish Gaelic. Early forms of the word in English included uskebeaghe (1581), usquebaugh (1610), usquebath (1621), and usquebae (1715). Scotch whiskies are generally distilled twice, although some are distilled a third time and others even up to twenty times. Scotch Whisky Regulations require anything bearing the label "Scotch" to be distilled in Scotland and matured for a minimum of three years in oak casks, among other, more specific criteria. Any age statement on the bottle, in the form of a number, must reflect the age of the youngest Scotch whisky used to produce that product. A whisky with an age statement is known as guaranteed age whisky. Scotch whisky without an age statement may, by law, be as young as three years old. The basic types of Scotch are malt and grain, which are combined to create blends. Scotch malt whiskies are divided into five main regions: Highland, Lowland, Islay, Speyside and Campbeltown.

Dunblane (Scottish Gaelic: Dùn Bhlàthain) is a town in the council area of Stirling in central Scotland. It is a commuter town, with many residents making use of good transport links to much of the Central Belt, including Glasgow and Edinburgh. Dunblane is built on the banks of the Allan Water (or River Allan), a tributary of the River Forth. Dunblane Cathedral is its most prominent landmark. Dunblane had a population of 8,114 at the 2001 census which grew to 8,811 at the 2011 census. Former Wimbledon tennis champion, Andy Murray, was born in Glasgow, but grew up in Dunblane.

Sir John Young "Jackie" Stewart, OBE (born 11th June 1939) is a British former Formula One racing driver from Scotland. Nicknamed the "Flying Scot", he competed in Formula One between 1965 and 1973, winning three World Drivers' Championships, and twice finishing as runner-up over those nine seasons. Stewart held the record for most wins by a Formula One driver (27 wins) for 14 years until Alain Prost won the 1987 Portuguese Grand Prix, and the record for most wins by a British Formula One driver for 19 years until Nigel Mansell won the 1992 British Grand Prix.

Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius ordered the construction of the Antonine Wall around 142. Quintus Lollius Urbicus, governor of Roman Britain at the time, initially supervised the effort, which took about twelve years to complete. The wall stretches 63 kilometres (39 miles) from Old Kilpatrick in West Dunbartonshire on the Firth of Clyde to Carriden near Bo'ness on the Firth of Forth.

Braveheart is a 1995 American epic battle film directed by Mel Gibson, who stars as William Wallace, a late 13th-century Scottish warrior who led the Scots in the First War of Scottish Independence against King Edward I of England. The story is inspired by Blind Harry's epic poem The Actes and Deidis of the Illustre and Vallyeant Campioun Schir William Wallace and was adapted for the screen by Randall Wallace. It grossed $210.4 million worldwide. Braveheart was nominated for ten Academy Awards at the 68th Academy Awards and won five: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Makeup, and Best Sound Editing. The film was criticised for inaccuracies regarding Wallace's title, love interests, and attire.

The Burrell Collection is an art collection in Glasgow. It is situated in Pollok Country Park on the south side of the city. The museum closed for refurbishment on 23rd October 2016 and is expected to reopen in 2020.

The River Tay (Scottish Gaelic: Tatha) is the longest river in Scotland and the seventh-longest in the United Kingdom. The Tay originates in western Scotland on the slopes of Ben Lui (Scottish Gaelic: Beinn Laoigh), then flows easterly across the Highlands, through Loch Dochart, Loch Iubhair and Loch Tay, then continues east through Strathtay, in the centre of Scotland, then southeasterly through Perth, where it becomes tidal, to its mouth at the Firth of Tay, south of Dundee. It is the largest river in the UK by measured discharge. Its catchment is approximately 2,000 square miles (5,200 km2), the Tweed's is 1,500 square miles (3,900 km2) and the Spey's is 1,097 square miles (2,840 km2).