*
On Sundays many services in Harris and Lewis
in the Western Isles close down due to religious
beliefs.
Telephone
Calls
*
Remember when making an overseas call from
the UK dial 00 before the area prefix and
telephone number.
Tipping
*
It is normal to leave a 10% tip of the total
bill in restaurants if service charge is
not included. Tipping in hotels is not compulsory
and it is not normal to tip bar staff.
*
Taxi drivers are often tipped, particular
on longer journeys, with 50p-£1.00 normally
being sufficient.
Tourist
Information Centres
*
If in London, remember to visit the Scottish
Tourist Board at 19 Cockspur Street, just
off Trafalgar Square. Opening times are
between 09:30-5:30 Monday to Friday and
until 6:30 on Thursdays.
*
There are over 150 Tourist Information Centres
in Scotland, some of which are open all
year.
*
Scottish Tourist Board operates a Grading
and Classification scheme which covers all
types of accommodation, and is your guide
to quality. For your free listing of quality
assured establishments contact your local
British Tourist Authority office or get
in touch with the Scottish Tourist Board
in Edinburgh.
Weather
*
Scotland enjoys mild and varied weather
all year round. Generally speaking the east
coast tends to be cool and dry and the west
coast is warmer and wetter. More importantly,
if it rains, with Scotland's ever-changing
weather patterns, it will probably not last
for long. With very long summer daylight
hours, you have plenty of time to fit in
your excursions.
The
Kilt
There
is a good deal of argument among the experts
as to when the kilt reached Scotland, but
there is not much doubt as to how is came.
There were kilts of a sort on the Celtic
tribes who fought Caesar, and when the Celts
moved north up through Cornwall and Wales,
and Ireland and eventually to Scotland,
they brought the kilt with them. A thousand
years ago there was nothing especially Scottish
about it. Now its use has been discontinued
elsewhere and it has become the national
dress of the Highlands.
It
is a useful garment and the modern version
is built on lavish line; there are anything
up to eight yards of material in it, thickly
pleated at the back and sides, but with
the pleats stitched together only at the
waistband. Below this they swing free. It
is probably the best walking dress yet invented
by man, for it is both warm and airy, leaves
the legs free, stands rain for hours before
it soaks, hangs well above the mud and grass
which wets other garments and wards off
(thanks to the many thicknesses where the
pleats are stitched at the small of the
back) the chills which a halt after exercise
can bring. It is warm enough for a cold
day, and cool enough for a warm one. And
it is a fine dress to look at. Its Gaelic
name is feile beag, the little kilt.
It
was not always used in its present form.
In the days of the clans it was the breacan-feile,
the belted plaid, a sort of tartan blanket
about two yards wide by five or six long.
One end of it was wrapped round the body
like a modern kilt, and the rest thrown
over the shoulder and pinned there. It was
a good campaigning dress: you fought in
it by day and at night you simply undid
the pin and there you were with a blanket.
Since
the clans were broken in 1745, the wearing
of the kilt has gradually declined. Today
it is not a common article of dress in Scotland,
but it is still worn by the Highland Regiments.
In the cities you will usually see it amongst
the white ties and tails at a dance and
of course it is much in evidence at the
Highland Games and Gatherings.
More
detail on Scotlands rich History- Click
here!
Enjoy
your visit to Scotland!
