Ask a Scotsman

I can answer a bit on the issue of sectarianism:

It's still quite a big problem, at least where I live (Lothians and the Borders, Midlothian to be precise). The orange order parades don't do much to help and infact make the situation worse, all they do is remind people that there is still a "divide" of sorts.

The thing is that sectarianism is now tied intrinsically with football nowadays, so much so that it's an automatically assumed that if you support Celtic or Hibs you're a catholic and a protestant if you support Hearts or Rangers.

It's very shameful and as someone who has been an army brat and travelled around with Scottish people (I am Scottish myself as well) it's something that seems to be uniquely Scottish in that I have only really seen Scottish kids engage in it (at school).

There's also a degree of racism behind it: If you're a catholic you'll often hear insults about being a "fenian" (a word for Irish terrorists) and it's assumed you're of Irish descent, regardless if that's the case of not.
 
This is a big big shame. What is the solution to it? Is it just a matter of keeping on trying to maintain a dialogue?
 
How do Japanese and Scots get along?
 
Very well. They like our picturesque scenery and folksy tat, we like their money and eagerness to spend it. Everybody wins.
 
I think I'm only going to listen to useless in this thread. He is a ginger AKA natural Scot.
 
Were'nt the Picts the indigenes? And the Scots came over from geographical NI - later going back to NI (having "dealt" with the Picts - though perhaps this latter's disappearance had nothing to do with the Scots) as the Ulster Scots? Traffic via Mull of Kintyre (?) Confused? I am.

Didn't the Welsh invite (i.e. pay) the Anglo-Saxons into Northumbria (England's first kingdom - though Norwegian in origin(?)) in order to deal with Pictish raiders coming cross the border? (long term big mistake by the Welsh)

I dunno. I should pay more attention when I read things. Otherwise, it's just one big waste of time. :sigh:
 
Do Scots look to the Picts as their ancient heritage, in the same way as the Italians do the Romans?
Yes and no; it's a bit regional. Most Scots will recognise a continuity in abstract, historical way, but it tends to have a bit more weight in the East- Angus, Aberdeenshire and Fife- which were the Pictish heartlands. It's never as strong an identification as that made by Italians or Greeks with their ancient past, though, because the Picts don't really have the same concrete presence; there's no Pictish acropolis overlooking Dundee, if you see what I mean.

Were'nt the Picts the indigenes? And the Scots came over from geographical NI - later going back to NI (having "dealt" with the Picts - though perhaps this latter's disappearance had nothing to do with the Scots) as the Ulster Scots? Traffic via Mull of Kintyre (?) Confused? I am.
Well, the Picts never actually went anywhere, they just became Gaelicised, and it's increasingly believed that this Gaelicisation was a voluntary rather than coercive process; that Gaelic culture came part and parcel with adopting Irish Christianity, rather than being imposed by Gaelic conquerors. The original Gaels in Scotland came from the North-East, and there's been a pretty constant exchange since (until the modern era, it makes more sense to talk about a "Gaelic world" stretching from Cork to Caithness than to talk about "Ireland" and "Scotland).
 
Interesting. Can you suggest a good introductory text to this subject, please.
 
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