Scotland - Rich with
Celtic History

Scotland is my home and the home of my father’s family. My great grandfather like many Scotsmen was a Ships engineer. He was a very large man and very proud of his heritage, his family name was Wallace.

The name Wallace originates from an old French word "waleis" meaning a "Welshman", however, the name is also thought to refer to a Strathclyde Briton. The name was common in Renfrewshire and Ayrshire.

Scotland in my mind, is one of the most wondrous places in the world, both for its Sheer beauty and the fact that it is steeped in a turbulent fluid history that at times will chill you to the bone and bring out the rebel in the most timid of people.

It is also famous for its men in the kilt, its bagpipes and not forgetting its scotch whiskey that warmed its many famous warriors and poets.

When entering the city of Edinburgh the first thing that hits your senses is the smooth aroma of its breweries that fills the air like a mist falling down around you.  As you enter Princess Street you are greeted by the wonderfully haunting sound of the Bagpipes being played in the distance.

Slowly as your eyes lift to take in the view you are filled with awe as you see the sheer majesty of Edinburgh castle which fills the skyline as it watches intently over every Scott in the city below. Stirling with its formidable and dark mountain backdrop looks like something from a Scottish fairy tale.  The Wallace monument towering out of its low lying mists and Stirling castle stand there steadfast protecting the valley below.

I live between these two great places close to the old capitol city of Scotland Dunfermline.  It is truly a place full of history and magnificent architecture and many stories of the burning of witches and Celtic Christianity

Before the time of the Celt it was populated by the Picts.  However, in Ireland there was a Celtic clan know as the Uí Néill. This Celtic family launched many colonies across the Irish Sea.

This is when Celtic Scotland was first founded, as it was these Uí Néill that the Romans called Scotti - not the original Picts. It was this Celtic Expansion that brought Christianity to Scotland in 563 AD.

Headed by St. Columba, who was a member of a powerful family in Dál Riata, and in order to keep his ties in both Scotland and Ireland he settled on an island.  The island was named Iona and was close to them both.

St. Andrew is Scotland's patron Saint and the St. Andrew's Cross (or Saltire) is Scotland’s Flag. (The Roman historian Diodorus, of the European Celts, tells us this.) Their aspect is terrifying...

They are very tall in stature, with rippling muscles under clear white skin. Their hair is blond, but not naturally so: they bleach it to this day, artificially, washing it in lime and combing it back from their foreheads.

They look like wood-demons, their hair thick and shaggy like a horse's mane. Some of them are clean-shaven, but others - especially those of high rank, shave their cheeks but leave a moustache that covers the whole mouth and when they eat and drink, acts like a sieve, trapping particles of food...

The way they dress is astonishing:
 - They wear brightly coloured and embroidered shirts, with trousers called bracae and cloaks fastened at the shoulder with a broach, heavy in winter, light in summer.

 - These cloaks are striped or chequered in design, with the separate checks close together and in various colours.

However, Scotland’s tartan has a different history.  We can see some similarity here in the old Celtic culture and the Celtic history of Scotland.  On April 6th America now annually celebrates Tartan Day and the number of Americans with Scottish ancestry is currently estimated at about 13 to 15 million.  The same is true of Canada, Australia and New Zealand.  Like myself they are tied to this land through its rich bloodlines and Celtic cultural history.