Scottish culture

Scotland has unique ethnic customs, rolling mountains and lakes, rich history and culture, and changeable climate. In spring, there are newborn lambs jumping and whispering, awakening the tranquility and elegance of the ancient town. In summer, noisy Edinburgh is immersed in the joy of art festivals. In autumn, the deep lake reflects the colorful forests and heather all over the mountains. In winter, there are snow-capped mountains and green grasslands. There are vast and beautiful plateau scenery and unique ethnic customs here. The men here wear the coolest clothes and play high-pitched bagpipes to take you into the past years. There are countless castles and palaces here, telling stories of fighting and legend, romance and crying.

Although it belongs to the United Kingdom together with England, Wales and Northern Ireland, the Scottish people have retained their own culture and traditions-colorful tartan, Scottish tartan skirts that men are proud of, and loud Scottish bagpipes. Scots are warm and enthusiastic, just like the famous scotch whisky. There is also an education system and excellent universities established 500 years ago. From here, it promoted the industrial revolution-the invention of steam engine, saved countless lives-the invention of penicillin, the birth of ideal city, and the conception of rich country theory. From here, Sherlock Holmes and Harry Potter have become vivid figures, and the history and beauty here have been put on the Hollywood screen again and again. Scotland is located in the northwest of the northern European island of Great Britain, where Britain is located. Scotland used to be an independent country in history, and even after its merger with England, it still retains great independence and distinctive national traditions. The geographical conditions of a country are always related to its historical development, especially the Scots. The unique natural conditions keep the Scots small in population and empty in land, and also keep the Scots bagpipes and choirs as well as independence and pride.

Northwest Scotland is a famous highland in Scotland, with magnificent natural scenery: landforms left over from the ice age, rugged mountains, exquisite lakes and Yuan Ye covered with boulders. The clear streams here provide important raw materials for the traditional specialty of the highlands-scotch whisky. There are not many towns in the southeast of highland, which is called highland tourism center. There are majestic mountains, beautiful valleys, quiet lakes, rushing streams and Yuan Ye with heather flowers. Although southern Scotland is mountainous, it is far less unruly than the highlands. The terrain here is similar to that in northern England, and it is a gentle and quiet area. There are grassy hillsides and spacious valleys surrounded by quiet streams.

1707 years ago, Scotland was once an independent kingdom, occupying about 1/3 of the land area on the northwest coast of Europe and north of Great Britain. Although Scotland is under the jurisdiction of the British Parliament in Westminster, London in terms of foreign affairs, military affairs, finance and macroeconomic policies, it has a certain degree of autonomy in internal legislation and administration, and it also issues a proprietary currency version, which belongs to Britain and is second only to England in scale.

From New Year's Eve to New Year's Eve, there are many traditional customs in Scotland. The custom before midnight includes cleaning the room on 65438+February 3 1 day (dumping the burnt coal ash in the era of widespread coal burning). There is also a superstition that all debts must be paid off before midnight strikes. After midnight, as a tradition, people will sing Auld Lang Syne written by the famous poet Robert Burns:

"How can you forget your old friends, how can you not miss them in your heart?

How can old friends forget each other? Friendship lasts forever.

Long live friendship, friends, long live friendship!

Have a drink and sing auld lang syne in chorus! "

Should we forget our old friends and never think of them?

Should old friends and friendship last forever be forgotten?

For everlasting friendship, dear, for everlasting friendship,

We also want to drink to the everlasting friendship.

The celebration of New Year's Eve will last for many days, and one of the main parts is to treat visiting friends and strangers warmly.

The first guest who visits the host's house after midnight becomes the "first foot": in order to ensure the host's good luck, the first guest should be a man with dark hair (since Viking times, when a stranger with blond hair walks into your house, it means trouble), and he should symbolically bring some coal, shortbread, salt, black bread and whiskey.

Today, the only gifts people can find are shortbread and whisky.

Ancient wedding customs in Scotland: The wedding customs of Scots have undergone many changes with the changes of history. In modern Scottish weddings, we can still see traces of some traditional customs, but some traditional customs that have ceased to exist for many years are more interesting.

On Bala Island, people will sprinkle water on the wedding bed to bless the couple. In Maldives, the bride and groom should sleep in the stable on their wedding night. However, in Louis, newcomers have to live with their parents for a week before they can return to their own homes.

Celtic custom, which originated from pagan ceremony, has been a part of wedding ceremony for many years. The bride and groom will tear off their tartan shawls and tie them together, symbolizing the union of two families.

According to Gaelic tradition, it is unlucky to get married in May or when the moon is waning.

In Aberdeen, blackening is still a very popular traditional custom. The engaged groom and bride-to-be may be caught by a group of "friends" one night, and then coated with honey, feathers, coal ash and other things, forcing them to parade in the village or bar to show off. It often takes several days for blackened people to be cleaned.

Sewing hair on the hem of a wedding dress for good luck, and sewing blood on the inside of the skirt are some interesting but unpopular customs. Before the wedding, the bride can't wear gorgeous or complicated skirts. In order to adapt to this custom, part of the hem of the wedding dress will not be sewn until the last minute.

When the bride leaves home for the last time as single girls, she should first step out of the house with her right foot, which is more auspicious.

Modern Scottish wedding customs: Modern Scottish weddings are similar to American weddings. But the traditional Scottish wedding will have melodious bagpipe music and an altar decorated with Scottish tartan, which will leave an indelible impression on the bride and groom and all the people attending the wedding.

The engagement ring is still a symbol of marriage vows. 54% brides choose diamond rings as engagement rings. 9 1% of British couples choose to hold their wedding in the church, while only 4% of the newlyweds choose the marriage registry to witness their union. Another 5% people will get married in their homes, hotels or castles.

Engagement Ceremony In the eyes of lively Scots, a wedding is a good opportunity to have fun. And such a grand celebration often begins with an engagement ceremony. The engagement ceremony can be held at the parents' home, with both parents attending, or in a nightclub, inviting some guests, or in the village auditorium, where the whole village can witness the wedding engagement of the couple.

On the eve of the wedding, the groom will attend a male party with friends (this party is only open to men). Such parties are often full of jokes and many local customs. In Fife, the custom of washing feet has been passed down to this day, but only the groom who knows humor can endure the whole process. The process involves the groom sitting in a wooden basin filled with water, and then his friend takes off his socks and puts a mixture of oil and coal ash on his leg. This is to pray for the groom's good luck in his future marriage.

The bride's farewell bachelor party (hen night) is also held on the eve of the wedding. The bride is often dressed up by her friends with balloons and ribbons, coated with flour and coal ash, and paraded in the street for a week. Parades are often accompanied by tinkling iron pots, bells and whistles, in order to drive away evil spirits. In many places in Scotland, the bride's friends will hold a jar so that people can throw coins into the jar to show their good wishes to the bride. This is also a way to prepare funds for new wedding banquets-today, some brides can even get more than $65,438+000 in this way.

Wedding Dress When a wedding is held, the Scottish bride usually wears a white or cream wedding dress. The relatives and friends of the father of the bride and groom will wear a very grand traditional highland costume, sewn with Scottish tartan of their respective families. The bride may also wear a horseshoe on her arm, hoping to bring good luck; It can also be that the bride arrives at the wedding scene and the flower girl presents horseshoes. For the bride, there is a very common custom that there must be several things in her dress: "old, new, borrowed and blue". Of course, the so-called "new" naturally means the bride's wedding dress. And this dress will become an "old" or "borrowed" thing for the next generation of weddings. The bride will also wear blue garters (symbolizing "love"). In addition, in some parts of Scotland, it is also a traditional custom to put a silver coin in the bride's shoes, which is said to bring good luck.

A white wedding will have about three bridesmaids, a little girl with flowers and a little boy in a kilt. These two children are about three years old. The boy's task is to hand the horseshoe to the bride when she walks out of the church with the groom in her arms. Generally speaking, a piper will be present to guide the couple from the church to the waiting car. When the car is moving, the groom will throw a lot of silver coins outside the car, and the children will pick up these silver coins symbolizing good luck. The usual Scottish wedding starts at 4 o'clock, followed by dinner and speech at 5 o'clock, and dancing starts at 7: 30, which will last until the early hours of the morning.

Kilt: Wear a kilt

Scots today regard kilts as formal dresses or celebration dresses. They usually wear kilts at weddings or other formal occasions, but a few people use them as casual clothes. The kilt is also used as a military parade costume by boy scouts, and people can also be seen wearing kilts at highland games, bagpipe band competitions, country dances and concerts.

The kilt has become a common dress in many formal occasions, such as weddings, and people of any nationality and descent can wear it to participate in these activities. Although the combination of short skirt and white skirt still exists, the more common dress in Scottish Highlands is still with black dress.

The prototype of Scottish skirt is feileadh mor in Gaelic, and it means big Scottish skirt in English. It is an uncut garment, about 5 meters long, wrapped around the human body, and tied with a belt at the waist to cover the body. The part below the waist is similar to the current kilt, but the part above the waist is pleated and has a pin on the shoulder. According to records, in 17 15, the British government adopted an open policy, allowing people from England and Scotland to trade with each other. Rawlinson is one of the businessmen who benefited from it and went north for gold. He opened a charcoal painting factory in northern Scotland, and the kilt was a durable uniform he promoted among workers. Chirt, a traditional Scottish costume, originally consisted of a broad shawl, which was integrated with a short KILT. Because it is inconvenient to cut down trees, Tom? Rawlinson suggested to the tailor that the short skirt would be "born" by splitting it in two. But the Scots think that as early as 1692, the local people wore short skirts sewn together by two pieces of wide cloth and wrapped around their waists, and Tom rawlinson's invention was obviously "pirated". There are also historical records that as early as 1624, the Scottish army used kilts as uniforms. 1746, after James II and his supporters were defeated in the Battle of Culenton, kilts and other highland costumes were banned. However, because the Highland Corps in the British army still followed this dress, the kilt survived in that extraordinary period.

Modern kilts are made of 8-meter-long cloth nailed together at the waist line, forming thick folds on the back and sides. Fashion designers even try to use some non-Scottish tartan materials, including leather, to make short skirts to attract more consumers. At the beginning of this century, several companies that make Scottish kilts, including Utilikilts, Sport Kilt, NeoKilt, Pittsburgh Kilts and Kilt2, began to produce dresses that do not use Scottish kilts, but they are still called Scottish kilts. Their products often make some changes to the traditional Scottish skirts, such as pockets, symmetrical folds, low waist and so on. One selling point of this short skirt is that people don't need Scottish origin to wear it, and another selling point is that it is much cheaper for those of Scottish origin.

Scottish plaid skirt originated from an ancient costume called "Chirt". This is a short skirt from waist to knee, made of tweed, with continuous large squares on the cloth, which should be clearly displayed. In the eyes of Scots, "Chirt" is not only their favorite national costume, but also a symbol of Scottish national culture. 1707 After the merger of Scotland and England, "Chirt" was retained as the national costume of Scotland. Scots wear this kind of clothing to express their resistance to British rule and their strong desire for national independence.

1745, after Hanover Palace suppressed the armed uprising of Scots, it promulgated the famous "skirt ban order" in British history, which prohibited Scots from wearing skirts and could only be dominated by British costumes. Violators will be sentenced to imprisonment or exile. The Scots fought for this for more than 30 years, and finally forced Hanover Palace to cancel the "skirt ban" in 1782, winning the right to wear skirts for themselves. A suit of Scottish national costume includes a knee-length plaid skirt, a matching vest and tweed coat, and a pair of long tube knitted thick socks. The skirt is tied with a wide belt, and there is a big wallet hanging under it, hanging in the center of the front of the tweed skirt. Sometimes I put a tweed blanket on my shoulder and clip it on my left shoulder.

In the eyes of foreign tourists, the plaid skirts worn by Scots are not much different, but they are not. Although the fabrics used are all checkered, the patterns are different. Some are squares with red as the main color and black and green stripes on them; Some have dark green backgrounds and light green stripes. Some grids are smaller and some grids are larger. Some are bright and some are simple and elegant. In the past, every design was officially registered and put on record, and it was not allowed to be used casually between ethnic groups. But with the passage of time, there are more and more styles of this plaid skirt, and it is estimated that there are more than 1000 kinds. Nowadays, whenever the residents of the Highlands of Scotland hold a holiday party, they always wear beautiful plaid skirts, cloaks and black hair crowns, with a white feather inserted on the left, a black and white decorative bag slung around their waist, white shoe covers, socks and knee-length trousers, playing cheerful bagpipes and dancing "Sintrubohas", and a strong Scottish national flavor comes to their faces.

Highland game

Scottish Highland Movement refers to the activities held in Scotland that best reflect the spirit of Scotland. This tournament has a long history. By 2006, it had held 153 games. Because the combination of dancing, drinking and delicious food makes the players brave, this traditional plateau sport exudes unique charm. Scotland has contributed many inventors to mankind. Watt improved the steam engine; Mcleod discovered insulin; Macadam invented the gravel pavement; Thomson and Dunlop invented pneumatic tires; Bell invented the telephone; Baird invented television. Fleming and Simpson invented penicillin and anesthetic respectively, which are two major breakthroughs in modern medicine. Adam Smith laid the foundation of modern economics. Golf was also invented by Scots.

Curling originated in Scotland in the14th century, and stones with the year 15 1 1 (that is, curling) are still preserved in Scotland. 1795, the first curling club was established in Scotland. 1838, the first formal competition rules were formulated by the Scottish curling club. Curling was introduced to Canada from 1807, and became popular in the United States and other places from 1820. Since then, curling as a winter sport has gradually developed in Europe and North America. Curling equipment includes curling, racing shoes and brushes. Curling is made of mica-free granite in Scotland, with a standard diameter of 30cm, a height of11.5cm and a weight of 19. 1 kg.

At present, the best curling in the world is made of granite on an island in Scotland, and the granite curling made by that company in Scotland is the best in the world. The first-class stone used to make curling in this area is also exhausted because of the extensive development of this sport, so the price of curling is increasing day by day.