Portal:Scotland/Did you know/Archives

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

< Portal:Scotland | Did you know

From Wikipedia's newest articles:

Did you know...

...that Scotland's North West Highlands Geopark contains some of the oldest rocks in Europe and the site of a famous geological controversy?
...that Domhnall mac Raghnaill was the founder of the MacDonald clan?
...that David Byrne lead singer-songwriter of Talking Heads was born in Dumbarton on 14th May 1952?
...that rugby union footballer George MacPherson was the captain of the first Scotland team to ever win a Five Nations Grand Slam?
...that in the year 1214, the Scot Ruaidhri mac Raghnaill, Lord of Kintyre, stole the treasures of Derry from its monastery?
...that Scottish film actor Moultrie Kelsall played a pivotal role in saving the dilapidated Menstrie Castle in Clackmannanshire from demolition?
...that David Hume described the play Douglas (1756) as "pure theatric genius", while Samuel Johnson claimed there were not ten good lines in it?
...that Nicholas de Balmyle, former Chancellor of Scotland, became Bishop of Dunblane in 1307 when he was likely in his 70s, but nevertheless lived on to hold the position for at least another 12 years?
...that the name of Stob Choire Claurigh in Scotland translates from Gaelic as “Peak of the Brawling Corrie”, referring to the roaring of the stags inhabiting the corries of the mountain during the breeding season?
...that Hinba, an island in Scotland of unknown location was the site of a small monastery associated with the church of Saint Columba on Iona?
...that the 17th chief of the Clan Maclachlan was killed by a cannonball while leading his Jacobite clansmen at the Battle of Culloden in 1746?
...that rugby union footballer Robert Wilson Shaw was so influential in Scotland's Triple Crown winning victory over England in 1938 that the match became known as "Wilson Shaw's match"?
...that Hector Munro Macdonald graduated as fourth Wrangler in the Mathematical Tripos of 1889?
...that kings of the House of Alpin ruled Pictland and the kingdom of Alba, in modern Scotland, beginning with Cináed mac Ailpín in the 840s and ending with the death of Máel Coluim mac Cináeda in 1034?
...that several prehistoric standing stones and natural stone features in Scotland are called Carlin stones, possibly from the term cailleach meaning "old hag" or "witch"?
...that Angus Purden, regular presenter of the BBC's Cash in the Attic, was crowned Mr. Scotland as a teenager, and modelled for Giorgio Armani for three years in Milan?
...that in 1708 the Bonnington pavilion in Scotland had a "hall of mirrors" designed to give visitors the illusion that they were standing in the middle of the Corra Linn?
...that visitors to the House of the Binns in Scotland can see the table where General Tam Dayell is supposed to have played cards with Satan?
...that Ian Smith's 24 international tries, scored for Scotland in rugby union between 1924 and 1933, was an international record until 1987?
...that William Wallace disguised himself as a woman to hide at the castle in Riccarton, a village and parish in East Ayrshire, Scotland?
...that the election of Dominican friar Laurence de Ergadia as Bishop of Argyll in Scotland was voided by Pope Urban IV in 1274 on a technicality?
...that although he was an illegitimate child, the 13th century prelate of Scotland Albin of Brechin had a successful career in the Roman Catholic Church after obtaining dispensation from the Bishop of Porto?
...that Craigiehall, a country house designed for the Earl of Annandale by Sir William Bruce in 1699, is now the headquarters of the British Army in Scotland?
...that Thomas de Dundee, later Bishop of Ross, was one of three men from the small Scottish burgh of Dundee studying Roman law at the University of Bologna at the same time in the later 13th century?
...that Lady Isle, a small Scottish island in the Firth of Clyde, is Britain's first seabird reserve?
...that students at the four ancient universities of Scotland are no longer afforded a traditional Meal Monday holiday, but manual staff at the University of St Andrews still are?
...that when John Sands excavated a ~2,000 year old building on the remote Scottish island of St Kilda he unearthed tools that the 1877 residents recognised?
...that moot hills in Scotland were mostly artificial mounds built as traditional meeting places for de facto lairdly courts and courts of law?
...that 16th century Scottish Bishop of Ross Henry Sinclair was simultaneously Lord President of the Court of Session, and was succeeded in that office by his brother, John Sinclair, Bishop of Brechin?
...that Church of Scotland clergyman William Couper protested against the introduction of episcopacy in 1606, but became Bishop of Galloway four years later?
...that Dr. John Stevenson, 18th century Scottish merchant and developer of Baltimore, was known as the "American Romulus"?
...that Walter Scott's narrative poem The Lady of the Lake is in six cantos, each of which concerns the action of a single day?
...that despite being organised on St. Andrew's Day, the first Scotland v England football match did not result in a home win?
...that the last chief of Clan MacQuarrie sold off his clan lands in Scotland and joined the British Army, at age 68, and fought in the American Revolutionary War?
...that the rare Northern colletes bee was recently found to be thriving in the unique machair seaside habitat of the Outer Hebrides in Scotland?
...that the Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park in Scotland covers an area of 108 square miles of Inverclyde, North Ayrshire and Renfrewshire, stretching from Greenock in the north, down the coast to Largs and West Kilbride and inland to Dalry and Lochwinnoch?
...that Scots' Dike was constructed by the English and the Scots in 1552 to mark the division of the Debatable Lands and thereby settle the exact boundary between the kingdoms of Scotland and England?
...that Erik Chisholm, former dean and director of the South African College of Music at the University of Cape Town, was a Scottish musician often known as "Scotland’s forgotten composer"?
...that Bob McGrory managed the English football team Stoke City for a period of 17 years, having previously played for the club for 14 years?
...that Balfour, Orkney was built in 1782 to house tenants evicted to make way for the house now called Balfour Castle, then partly demolished later to improve the castle's view?
...that the Corbett hill Beinn Chuirn has Scotland's largest known deposits of gold?
...that Ardencaple Castle Light is used as a navigational aid for shipping on the Firth of Clyde?

...that Edinburgh's Princes Street lent its name to a stone run in the Falkland Islands?

... that Australian rules football has its own league in Scotland?

...that St. Mary's Collegiate Church is the longest church in Scotland at 62.8 m?

...that Johnny Ramensky was a Scottish criminal who used his safe-cracking abilities to help the British Army?

...that several of the Orkney islands' highest points are named "Ward Hill" due to the many old warning beacons in the area?

...that football players Billy and John McPhail are the only brothers to have both scored hat-tricks for Celtic F.C. against their Old Firm rivals, Rangers F.C.?

...that Kirk o' Field in Edinburgh was the location of one of the world's great unsolved historical mysteries, the murder of Lord Darnley, second husband of Mary Queen of Scots, in 1567?

...that over four hundred 4000-year-old carved stone balls have been uncovered in archaeological digs in Scotland?

...that John Paterson was the last Archbishop of Glasgow of the Church of Scotland?

...that the Laigh Milton viaduct, built in 1812, is the oldest surviving railway viaduct in Scotland and one of the oldest in the world?

...that Whuppity Scoorie is a traditional celebration in Lanark, Scotland during which children run around a church three times swinging paper balls over their heads?

...that the Scottish island of Lunga is the location of the "well of the church of Saint Columba", which reputedly never runs dry?

...that, after 34 years years as Roman Catholic abbot of Coupar Angus, Donald Campbell converted to Protestantism in 1559, and destroyed the icons and altars of his monastery in Scotland?

...that the potential for the production of renewable energy in Scotlandincludes up to 25% of the EU’s capacity for both wind and tidal power generation?

...that despite being illiterate, Duncan Bàn MacIntyre became one of the most famous Scottish Gaelic poets?

...that the Anstruther Fish Bar in Fife has won the accolade "best fish and chip shop" in Scotland, on three occasions?

...that Charlotte Stuart was the illegitimate daughter of Bonnie Prince Charlie and the secret mistress of the Archbishop of Bordeaux?

...that John Murray of Broughton was a Jacobite turncoat, whose evidence led to Lord Lovat's execution for high treason?

...that Archibald Cameron of Locheil was the last man to be executed for his part in Bonnie Prince Charlie's Jacobite rebellion?

...that the Loch Arkaig treasure, a large amount of specie provided by Spain to finance the Jacobite rising in Scotland in 1745, is said to be still hidden at Loch Arkaig in the Scottish Highlands?

...that former British Member of Parliament Walter Scott-Elliot was murdered by "Monster Butler" Archibald Hall?

...that the City of York was a British barque which sank after hitting a reef off Rottnest Island within sight of its destination?

...that the fauna of Scotland includes almost half of the EU’s breeding seabirds, but only one endemic vertebrate species, and that although a population of Wild Cats remains, many of the larger mammals were hunted to extinction in historic times?

...that Craignethan Castle was the last private fortress built in Scotland?

...in 2005, Adam Bruce became the first herald appointed to Clan Donald of Scotland in 510 years?

...that Scottish international rugby player Tremayne Rodd was banned from playing amateur rugby union in 1966 after accompanying the British and Irish Lions?

...that David Colville Anderson, whose career was ended by a scandal involving teenage girls, blamed it on the KGB?

...that Sgurr na Ciste Duibhe, a Munro in Scotland, is one of the "Five Sisters of Kintail"?

...that there are four UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Scotland and four more sites currently undergoing a process of evaluation including the iconic Forth Bridge?

...that after two thousand years or more of continuous habitation the Scottish island of Mingulay was abandoned by its residents in 1912?

...that the Carron, a river in central Scotland only about 23 km long, has given its name to a type of naval cannon, a line of bathtubs, two warships and an island in the Southern Hemisphere?

...that Beinn a' Ghlò is a large mountain in Scotland that has three Munro summits, and is an SSSI?

... that Fowlsheugh cliffs, attract 170,000 breeding seabirds annually, and may be one of the few nature reserves with more vertical than horizontal land area?

...that Edinburgh University did not teach Scottish history until 1901, when a new professor, Peter Hume Brown, insisted that it was not revolutionary to study its national history?

...that, according to the Lanercost Chronicle, Richard de Inverkeithing, Bishop of Dunkeld, was poisoned by King Alexander III of Scotland so that the king could take the bishop's movable possessions?

...that Saint Gilbert of Dornoch was the last Scot to appear in the Calendar of Saints?

...that Lord Neaves, a judge on the supreme court of Scotland, was quoted by Charles Darwin on evolution, but attributed the concept of evolution to Lord Monboddo, not Darwin?

...that Charles St. Clair was both a Scottish Peer and a York Herald of Arms, and was consequently able to attend the State Opening of Parliament in either capacity?

...that tradition traces Clan Drummond, a Scottish clan from Stirlingshire, to Hungarian origins?

...that pioneering Scottish Victorian photographer, John Thomson, was honoured by having one of the peaks of Mount Kilimanjaro named "Point Thomson" on his death in 1921?

...that Miss Cranston pioneered the social phenomenon of tea rooms, introducing "fairyland"-like interiors designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh?

...that in the 1848 Moray Firth fishing disaster on the east coast of Scotland, 124 boats sank and 100 fishermen perished, leading to a major redesign of fishing boats in the following years?

...that the Reverend John Thomson, distinguished landscape painter and former minister of Duddingston Kirk, is often credited with originating the famous Scots adage "We’re a' Jock Tamson’s bairns"?

...that bowls player Willie Wood was the first athlete to compete in 7 Commonwealth Games, despite being barred from the 1986 games in his home country of Scotland for refusing to reclassify as an amateur?

...that Reaper, a 105 year old historic Fifie herring drifter, nearly sank off the north east coast of England after being restored and put back into service as a museum ship?

...that Greyfriars Kirkyard, famed for its association with Greyfriars Bobby, is haunted by the spirit of "Bluidy Mackenzie" and featured in the early photography of David Octavius Hill and Robert Adamson?

...that the Willow Tearooms, designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh, is the most famous of many new Glasgow tearooms opened in the early 20th century due to the emergence of the Temperance movement?

...that Bud Neill was a Scottish newspaper cartoonist whose best loved strip was set in "Calton Creek", a fictional Arizona outpost of the wild west populated with Glaswegians, including Sheriff "Lobey Dosser" who rode a two-legged horse?

...that Robin Philipson, former President of the Royal Scottish Academy, was particularly renowned for his cockfight paintings?

...that the Scottish Fisheries Museum in Anstruther contains 66,000 exhibits including Reaper, a 104 year old restored fifie herring drifter?

...that the village of Cellardyke in Fife, Scotland, is the site of the first confirmed case of H5N1 avian flu in the United Kingdom, and was once home to a 200-strong fishing fleet?

...that North Berwick Harbour was built in the 12th century as a ferry port for St. Andrews bound pilgrims, while legend has it that "Satan himself" once worshipped on the Harbour's "Auld Kirk Green"?

...that a cuttie-stool is the Lowland Scots name for a three legged stool that was thrown by Jenny Geddes at the Dean of St Giles High Kirk, in protest at the introduction of Anglican style prayer books in 1637?

...that the Royal Navy operated a secret training and anti-submarine warfare base at Seacliff in East Lothian during World War I?

...that Bonnybridge, forming part of the "Falkirk Triangle" in Scotland, is considered by many UFO enthusiasts to be world's number one UFO hotspot, with around 300 sightings every year?

...that Rough Castle Fort is the best preserved of 19 Roman forts along the Antonine Wall?

...that Kellie Castle in Scotland dates back to 1150 and it is rumoured that the 5th Earl of Kellie hid there in a burnt-out tree stump for the entire summer following the Battle of Culloden in 1746?

...that the 14th-century Lennoxlove House in East Lothian, Scotland contains many important artworks and artefacts, including the death mask of Mary, Queen of Scots?

...that the Dunmore Pineapple was a folly where pineapples were grown in Scotland from 1761 and that it was built by the 4th Earl of Dunmore, John Murray, who later became governor of Virginia Colony in the U.S.?

...that the Reverend Dr. James Blair of Scotland was a clergyman and missionary to the Virginia Colony, and is best known as the founder in 1693 of the College of William and Mary, where he served as President for 50 years?

Portal:Scotland/Did you know/Archives

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Views

Navigation

Interaction

Search