Day 15 - Scotland South West Coast - Quick facts...

From Whitehaven (click on name to see on my Google Map), I left England and entered Scotland. The land of tartans, clans, haggis, surnames beginning with Mc and Mac, and whisky.

Here are some quick facts, a few of them taken from Wikipedia:

- Scotland was an independent country until 1707, when it entered into political union with England, to form the Kingdom of Great Britain. Most Scots were vehemently anti any association with the English – think of the movie Braveheart! (And some say that these sentiments are lingering...)

- The name Scotland is derived from the term Scoti, which was applied to raiders from Ireland who made sporadic attacks against Roman Britain. These people eventually established a kingdom called Del Riata in the Highlands in the 400s.

- Scotland makes up a third of the land mass of Great Britain, and its capital is Edinburgh, but the largest city is Glascow. About 5.5 million people live in the country.

- Scotland uses the British Pound, as well as its own bank notes...

- The national flag is called the Saltire, or St Andrew’s Cross, he being the patron saint of Scotland.

The national flag of Scotland...St Andrew's Cross.