Scotland culture has developed over time with its rich history and other influences. A series of cultural events has created such a diverse community of people with such a unique story. The Scots’ history has even affected us here in the United States because of a large number of immigrants that came to America during the development of Scotland. From the research I have done, I found that the Scots have a love for their cultural foods and drinks, as well as a strong passion for their traditional literature, music, dances, and folk. The Scottish culture is unique because of how it has been marked by religion, race/ethnicity, political organization, kinship, subsistence, colonial influence, language, and so much more.
With that being said, a large part of their roots and beliefs consist of religion/magic, and race/ethnicity. According to Scottish Government Riaghaltas na-Alba, in 2016, 48% of the population said that they did not affiliate with any religion, but 47% of the population identified with Christianity (Church of Scotland, Roman Catholic, and others), 2% identified as Muslim, 2% identified as other, and 1% said that they didn’t know. With such a big portion of the people identifying as Christian, leaders in their religious groups play a pretty big role in their country. Leaders in the Episcopal, Catholic, and Presbyterian churches make public announces for the media regarding important current events or social issues. Although Christianity is by far the main religion, over the past few years other religions that are in Scotland would be Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism. Although these religions are much smaller than Christianity, they cannot be ignored because they make up the growing diversity in Scottish religion. When it comes to magic, the Scots are really not as into it as their ancestors were, as most Christians don’t necessarily practice some of the ancient magic their ancestors did. Basically, witchcraft in the Scottish culture consisted of “foolish women” and “wise women”. Foolish women were considered to talk to the spirits for self-gain and not help in their community. A wise women’s main goal was to help out her community in any way possible. They are healers and charmers and have a relationship with other world figures. According to Satan’s Conspiracy, “A witch, from the perspective of Scottish folklore, has huge negative connotations made up from self-obsession and self-serving interests.” Also according to Scottish Government Riaghaltas na-Alba, the leading ethnicity in Scotland is White (Scottish), followed by others White descents such as British and Polish, and then a small percentage of Asians or others. Ethnic relations were important for the development of this country because the tension that sat between Scots and English and some discrimination occurs for jobs and housing, and it is not uncommon for non-white Scots to experience racism.
A few other important roles that play into the development of a countries culture are a political organization, kinship, and subsistence. According to Countries and Their Cultures, “Scotland is a nation within the multinational UK state, administratively distinct, with its own legislature.” The government in Scotland is responsible for all the issues in Scotland that are not under the control of the United Kingdom Parliament. Further, there are 32 local administrative authorities for basic services and a separate system of courts and laws. Scotland’s class system runs mainly with ties to heredity in the UK. The Catholic community is often paired with the urban working class, and the rural/urban working and middle classes are more associated with the Presbyterian church. Tourists and historians take great priority in the clan system and what it looks like in Scotland today. This kinship attributes things such as economic conditions and class, poverty, family business, and other things that keep its ties together. Differentiating from England, early Scottish kinship was agnatic, meaning that it was mainly passed down through the male line. Laws for marriage include those such as that it must be consensual on both sides, and both parties must be 16 years or older. Marriage in Scotland looks a lot like what it does here in the United States, in ways such that they also have traditional weddings with brides that wear white (although men usually wear formal kilt attire), and the groom cannot see the bride the entire day until the wedding. As far as subsistence goes, they prepare a lot of foods with gathered fruits and vegetables. Some traditional Scottish meals would be mince and tatties, which consists of mashed potatoes and ground beef, and different cultural curries. According to the book “Iron Age Communities in Britain”, Scots are heavy consumers of sugar, chocolate, salt, and butter, but recently they have begun eating less meat and more fish, bread, and vegetables. Similar to the United States, whiskey can often be used for celebrations, as well as wine for fancy occasions, which creates a strong economy for whiskey and wine businesses. Over 70% of the land in Scotland is used for agricultural purposes, which directly corresponds to the growing agricultural industry in Scotland.
The last points that I wanted to mention that added to the richness of Scotland’s culture would be warfare, colonial influence, and language. In 1558, there was a war between England and Scotland. The main reason that created the dispute that led to a war was the failure of peace negotiations between these two groups, and the tensions created led to a bigger issue. This led to the Scottish Reformation which was the process of how Scotland broke up with the papacy and created a predominantly Calvinist national Church, which had similar Presbyterian views. The Scottish Army and Navy merged with those of England after the 1707 Act of Union. So as of right now, the British army has a number of Scottish regiments such as the Scots Greys, The Royal Scots 1st of Foot, Scots Guards, and many more. The colonial influence was important to the ancient traditions that still live in Scotland today. In Scottish history, the Picts were the first people to inhabit the land where Scotland is now. The Picts were first mentioned by the Romans in 400 A.D. and described them like they were barbarians who were heavily tattooed. In the 18th century, a political union between Scotland and England began to look like a good idea because of the larger English economic opportunity and the growing English empire. The Scottish community began to grow and became more prevalent in Britain, and now is a growing country in the United Kingdom. Early language in Scotland consisted of the Gaelic language (a Celtic native language), which most people don’t speak any more; however, they do still translate government statements and publications into Gaelic. Scots can be considered a modern English with a heavy Danish influence. With that being said, there is also a variety of different dialects depending upon different regions such as Gaelic, Norse, and Norman French.
In conclusion, many different aspects such as religion, race/ethnicity, political organization, kinship, subsistence, colonial influence, language, and more come together to create the rich culture and tradition of Scottish culture. Culture is so important to the development of a group of people because it influences views, values, hopes, beliefs, loyalties, and fears. What makes such a tight-knit group so close is their similar values, and this creates a sense of respect and the invisible bond that ties people together. I think that all of these main points are important to creating the unique culture of the Scots and there in-depth history and development that has turned their country into what it is today.