Edinburgh and Glasgow are the principal cities in Scotland, a small nation about 443km (275 miles) long and some 242km (150 miles) wide at its broadest point. Occupying the northern half of Great Britain, the country fills about 78,761 sq. km (30,410 sq. miles). Both cities are on tributaries to the sea, and no resident in Scotland lives more than about 65km (40 miles) from salt water. Notwithstanding the size of their country, the Scots have extended their influence around the world.
Inventors Alexander Graham Bell (telephone) and John Logie Baird (television) as well as Africa explorers Mungo Park and David Livingstone came from Scotland. Philosophers David Hume (law) and Adam Smith (economics) were Scots, as were James Watt (steam engine pioneer) and John Muir (the world's first ecologist). This country gave the world entrepreneur Andrew Carnegie; poet Robert Burns; actors Sean Connery, Billy Connolly, and Ewan McGregor; and rock singers Sheena Easton, Annie Lennox, and Shirley Manson. Edinburgh spawned novelists Sir Walter Scott and Robert Louis Stevenson, while Glasgow gave the world architects Alexander "Greek" Thomson and Charles Rennie Mackintosh. But, curiously, the country's most famous offspring is neither man nor woman but the mythical Loch Ness Monster.
The border between England and Scotland is just a line on a map; you'd hardly be aware of crossing it. While the two countries have been joined constitutionally since 1707, Scotland is different from England and has its own identity. In 1999, Scotland gained greater autonomy to rule its own affairs when the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh was restored. Some would prefer the country to be completely independent of its powerful partner to the south.
Although the union with England may well have saved Scotland economically in the 18th century, it also has effectively relegated the country to something little more than an administrative region within Great Britain. Although Edinburgh has long been an intellectual center and Glasgow was considered the "Second City" of the British Empire, many histories of "Britain" tend to ignore or Anglicize developments in Scotland and, in some cases, treat Scotland with condescension. Such biased accounts may in part explain why Scots sometimes act as if they have chips on their shoulders.
Still, consider this. In 1320, after decades of war against English invaders and occupiers, barons loyal to Scottish King Robert the Bruce put their names on a letter to the Pope, the Declaration of Arbroath. It not only clearly affirmed the country's independence but also addressed notions of freedom and liberty as Scots: abstract ideals that most nations didn't contemplate for hundreds of years.
Tracing Your Ancestral Roots -- If you have a name beginning with Mac (which simply means "son of") or one of the other lowland Scottish names, from Burns to Armstrong, you are probably a descendant of Scotland and may have ties to a clan -- a group of kinsmen of common ancestry. Clans and clan societies have their own museums throughout Scotland, and local tourist offices will have details about where to locate them. Bookstores throughout Scotland sell clan histories and maps.
Genealogical records are kept at the General Register Office, New Register House, 3 W. Register St. (tel. 0131/334-0380; www.gro-scotland.gov.uk). It contains hundreds of thousands of microfiche and microfilm documents: details of every birth, marriage, and death in Scotland since 1855. The system is strictly self-service, and it gets crowded in summer. A fee of £10/£17 ($19/$31) for part/full day access is charged. Open Monday to Friday from 9am to 4:30pm. By the end of 2007, a new family history center is due to open (www.scotlandspeoplehub.gov.uk).
The official government source for genealogical data online is at www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk. Simply register to make searches of census records dating to 1841, births between 1855 and 1905, as well as wills and testaments filed as far back as 1513. A basic £6 ($11) fee is charged to look at details.
