ESSAY ON SCOTLAND.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXV, Issue 72, 2 April 1913, Page 6

ESSAY ON SCOTLAND.

(Stated to be by a Bunbury Schoolboy.)

The following, reprinted from the Southern Times, Bunbury, will be read with interest:— Scotland is a braw wee land on the North of England; it lias water nearly all round it, and whisky over a large part of it. The population is about four and a half millions, including Mr Andrew Carnegie. It has a peculiar language of its own, and if one can pronounce it coherently it is an infallible t?st pf spbriety,. , It possesses considerable mineral wealth, but very little qf it finds,, its way out of the country. Gold has at tinjes been found in certain districts, as well as in the pockets of certain natives, but in both cases it has been found difficult to work. The best known exports of Scotland are Harry Lauder and Scotch whisky, though sufficient of the latter is retained in the country to satisfy the demands of home consumption. The chief import in recent years is Winston Churchill. The national dress, of Scotland is the kilt, which is a kind of short petticoat. In pattern it resembles a chess board, though in cold weather the wearer finds it more like a draught board. It is believed to have been originally invented because the aborigines were unable to find trousers big enough to get their feet through. The bagpipes provide a wind instrument which is said, when blown, to produce a tunc. On many occasions in the history of war, Scotch regiments have marched to death listening to the strains of the bagpipes, though it is not known whether their willingness to meet the former was inspired by their .desire to escape the latter. Scotland has produced many well-known men, among them being Robert Burns, believed to have been a poet. , It is usually denied that he was born in Battersea. His most famous poems arc “Scots who. have” and “Stop your tickling,Jock.” In Scotland for, a couple to declare themselves man and wife in the presence of witnesses is tantamount to a marriage, though there is often a tendency in many quarters to dispense with the witnesses. The chief, national characteristic is reckless expenditure.