A
TASTE OF SCOTLAND
KILTS
The
kilt is the national costume, it is a
traditional Scottish skirt for men. Though women can and do wear tartan skirts, they do not wear the kilt.
Every kilt has a squared coloured pattern, known as a tartan. Tartans have an
interesting history. Since the fifteenth century ,every Scottish family or clan
(Gaelic for tribe or family) has worn its own tartan as a kind of badge. It
means a great deal to a Scot, specially
to a Highlander, for every Highland clan has its own special tartan, of which
it is jealousy proud.
Tartans
were a useful way of recognising people, especially in times of war. Many tartans
date only from the nineteenth century, but some of the old patterns still
exist. The patterns and colours are not all the same, each clan has a different
tartan. There are also “Dress” tartans which are worn on special occasions,
they have light, bright colours and “Hunting” tartans which are usually
blue, green or brown.
THE
HIGHLANDS AND THE GAMES
The
Highlands of Scotland (the mountains of Scotland) are the wildest and, some
say, the most beautiful part of Europe. Salmon and trout swim in the clean,
pure water of the rivers.Scotch whisky is made with this water. Some say that
not only fish swim in the deep water of Loch Ness. Speak to the people living
by the Loch. Each person has a story of
the Monster, and some have photographs…
The
Highland games are a Scottish sporting tradition. Families or “clans” started
the Games hundreds of years ago in the
Highlands.
Some
sports at the Games are international: the high jump and the long jump, for
example. But other sports happen only at the Highland Games. One is tossing the
caber. “Tossing” means throwing, and a
“caber” is a long, heavy piece of wood.
To toss the caber you first lift it (it can be five or six meters tall) then
you throw it in front of you.
At
the Highland Games a lot of men wear kilts. So at the Highland Games there are
traditional sports and traditional clothes. And there´s traditional music,too,
from Scotland´s national instruments-the bagpipes. The bagpipes are very loud
.They say Scots soldiers played them before
a battle . The noise frightened the soldiers on the other side.
HAGGIS
AND SHORTBREAD BICUITS
Haggis
is the national dish of Scotland. You make it with meat, onions,flour, salt and
pepper. Then you boil it in the skin from a sheep´s stomach-yes, a sheep´s stomach. In Scotland, people eat haggis and
drinks lots of whisky on Burns Night.(usually on January, 25th) Robbert Burns
(Scots people call him “Rabbie” Burns) was a Scottish poet in the eighteenth
century. Every year Scots people all over the world remeber him and read his
poems. Burns wrote about Haggis and said that Haggis was the best food in the
world!
Shortbread
is Scotland´s most famous biscuit. It is eaten all through the year but
especially at Christmas and Hogmanay (Scottish New Year). The shortbread eaten
in Hogmanay is called “Petticoat tails” because of its shape. It looks like the
skirts which women wore under their dresses in the seventeenth century.
SCOTTISH
SCIENTISTS-A LONG TRADITION
The
Scots have a long tradition of success for science and technology. There are
many famous Scottish inventors.
Alexander
Graham Bell opened a school for teachers of deaf people in the USA and invented
the telephone in 1876.
Alexander
Fleming discovered the first antibiotic penicillin, by accident in 1929.
John
Boyd Dunlop was the first person to make rubber tyres with air inside for his
little son tricycle. He then started the Dunlop company and made “inflatable”
tyres for bicycles and cars.
John
Logie Baird showed the first working TV in 1925, and four years later the BBC
started broadcasting programmes. (information taken from a
Taste of Britain, Longman edition)
QUESTIONS
ON A TASTE OF SCOTLAND
A)
Answer
the following questions:
1.
What
is a kilt?
2.
What
were tartans used for?
3.
What
are the Dress and hunting tartans?
4.
What
are the most important games played by Scottish families?
5.
What
is a caber?
6.
What
is the Scotland´s national instrument?
7.
What
is Haggis? What is it made of?
8.
Who
was Robert Burns? What did he write about?
9.
Why
is the shortbread called petticoat tails?
10. Name two famous inventors and their
inventions.
B)
Say
if the following statements are True or False. If the answer is false, correct
the sentence.
a)
All
the tartans are the same.
b)
Scotch
whisky is made of sea wáter.
c)
High jump and
Long jump are games played only
in Scotland.
d)
Hogmanayis the Scottish equivalent to New
Year´s Day.
e)
Fleming
invented the inflatable tyres.
LISTENING
Melissa talks about Scottish food habits: meals of the day, specialities for each day meal.
Listen to the audio several times and answer the following questions:
a) What does Melissa have for breakfast? What do
most people eat for breakfast in Scotland?
b) What does she have for lunch?
What do a lot of Scots have for lunch? Why?
c) What does she have for tea? What do some Scots have for tea? What is it made of?Does Melissa like it?
d) What does she have for dessert?
e) After tea,
before she goes to bed, what does she have? What is it?
VIDEOS
This is Scotland, a country of ancient heritage and vibrant culture, of breathtaking landscapes and unlimited adventures. You are welcome.
Activate the subtitles to watch this:
Fun Facts about Scotland – Informative Top 7
BBC NEWS SCOTLAND´S DECISION
HAGGIS , Scottish traditional dish.
Although the name "hagws" or "hagese" was first recorded in England c. 1430, the dish is considered traditionally of Scottish origin. It is even the national dish as a result of Scots poet Robert Burns' poem Address to a Haggis of 1787. Haggis is traditionally served with "neeps and tatties", boiled and mashed separately, and a dram (a glass of Scotch whisky), especially as the main course of a Burns Supper.
ROBERT BURNS
SPANISH TRANSLATION ODA AL HAGGIS ROBERT BURNS
Bienvenido
sea tu honesto rostro regordete,
gran
jefe de la raza de los embutidos!
por
encima de todos ellos ocupas tu lugar,
estómago,
tripa o intestinos:
Bien
mereces una gracia
tan
larga como mi brazo.
La
recargada fuente ahí llenas,
tus
caderas son como un cerro distante,
tu
pincho ayudaría a remendar un molino,
si
fuese necesario,
mientras
que a través de tus poros destilan los jugos,
como
gotas de ámbar.
Su
cuchillo ve un rústico trabajo de limpieza,
y te
corta con pronta pericia,
trinchando
tus jugosas entrañas brillantes,
como
cualquier zanja,
y
entonces, Oh! que vista gloriosa!
caliente,
humeante, rico!
Ustedes,
poderes que cuidan la humanidad,
y le
sirven su menú,
la
vieja Escocia no quiere comidas acuosas,
que
salpiquen en platos,
pero si
ustedes desean su plegaria de agradecimiento,
denle
un Haggis!(traducido al español por Edward Macrae)
MARY QUEEN OF SCOTLAND
Click on the following link and find about Mary Queen of Scotland. Then listen to the song that Mike Oldfield´s band and Maggie Reilly dedicated to her.
VIDEO SONG
LYRICS
To France
Taking on water,
Sailing a restless sea
From a memory,
A fantasy.
The wind carries
Into white water,
Far from the islands.
Don't you know you're
Never going to get to France.
Mary, Queen of Chance, will they find you?
Never going to get to France.
Could a new romance ever bind you?
Walking on foreign ground,
Like a shadow,
Roaming in far off
Territory.
Over your shoulder,
Stories unfold, you're
Searching for sanctuary.
You know you're
Never going to get to France...
I see a picture
By the lamp's flicker.
Isn't it strange how
Dreams fade and shimmer?
Never going to get to France...
I see…
Sailing a restless sea
From a memory,
A fantasy.
The wind carries
Into white water,
Far from the islands.
Don't you know you're
Never going to get to France.
Mary, Queen of Chance, will they find you?
Never going to get to France.
Could a new romance ever bind you?
Walking on foreign ground,
Like a shadow,
Roaming in far off
Territory.
Over your shoulder,
Stories unfold, you're
Searching for sanctuary.
You know you're
Never going to get to France...
I see a picture
By the lamp's flicker.
Isn't it strange how
Dreams fade and shimmer?
Never going to get to France...
I see…
VIDEO SONG WITH SPANISH SUBTITLES
Click on the link below:
Click on the link below:
