Culture

The word ceilidh comes from the Old Gaelic cèilidh, meaning simply “a visit” — originally a night of storytelling, song and gossip by the fireside, with no dancing involved at all. The dancing we now associate with the word arrived later, and the key figure at any modern ceilidh is not a dancer but the […]

On the esplanade at Edinburgh Castle there is a small cast-iron drinking fountain called the Witches’ Well, marking the spot where more people were burned as witches than almost anywhere else in Britain. This is Guide № 006 in The Love Scotland Guide series. Get the Full Collectible Guide (Free PDF) Scottish Superstitions — in […]

Get the Full Collectible Guide (Free PDF) Scots & Scottish Slang — in a beautifully designed, printable booklet. The Love Scotland Guide № 005. Download The Love Scotland Guide № 005 (Free PDF) In the 2011 census, around 1.5 million people in Scotland reported being able to speak Scots — the first time the question […]

By law, a whisky cannot be called Scotch until it has matured in oak casks in Scotland for at least three years — and if you see the words “single malt,” it means every drop was made from malted barley at one distillery, not that it comes from a single cask. Those two rules do […]

Scottish and Irish accents share Celtic roots but sound completely different. Here is exactly what separates them — from vowels and consonants to words the rest of the world does not have.

Contrary to what many souvenir shops suggest, there is no ancient “clan tartan” system stretching back to the mists of Highland history. The idea that each family has always owned a specific named sett was largely codified in the 19th century, much of it popularised around King George IV’s 1822 visit to Edinburgh. That does […]

Scotland has words for things English simply can't name — from dreich to coorie to gallus. Here are the Scottish words and phrases the rest of the world genuinely needs.