Scotland

 Although Scotland belongs to the United Kingdom for many centuries remained an independent country. It was never conquered by Romans who under emperor Hadrian built a wall to divide Britain from Scotia or Alba where fierce tribes named Picts lived and it was not invaded by Angles nor Saxons but they had their own leaders. It is a country with a population of nearly six million people and there are still around sixty thousand people who speak Scottish Gaelic. Scotland was an independent with its monarchs but in 1286  king Alexander III died with no successor, nobles governed the country and seek advise from the English king Edward I who chose the weakes man, John Balliol. Later in 1296 king Edward´s army conquered Scotland forcing John Balliol to abdicate till William Wallace, the son of a Scottish landowner claimed to fight for independence, he led his men to a victory in the Battle of Stirling Bridge in 1297 but Wallace was finally defeated at the Battle of Fakirk in 1298 and was tortured in London afterwards. He is a Scottish hero nowadays and movies like "Braveheart" reflect his heroism. Two centuries later the daughter of king James V of Scotland became a Scottish heroine too.

 She was married to the son of king Henry II of France in her youth, when she became a widow came back to Scotland and married Lord Darnley the great grandson of English king Henry VII and queen Elizabeth I of England became furious and suspicious. Although Darnley was unfaithful and violent, he was murdered and she married the Earl ofBothwell and the Scottish nobles turned against her because they accused her of his murder and imprisoned her, then her baby son became James VI of Scotland. In 1568 she escaped to England seeking refuge with her cousin Elizabeth I though she became imprisoned by the queen of England in the charge of conspiracies with Catholics to kill Elizabeth I, the poor Mary of Scotland remained imprisoned for nineteen years till Elizabeth arranged a show trial to execute her in 1587. Finally after the death of the queen of England the son of her poor murdered mother, Mary I of Scotland, already king of Scotland became the king of England under the name of James I of England united since then. The geography of Scotland is famous its Highlands, the Ben Nevis is the hightes mountain in the island of Britain, there are more high mountains called Munros, after Hugo Munro a mountain climber who published a list of all the high mountains in Scotland naming each of them. Also there are forests mainly in the Trossachs National Park and lakes, the biggest is Loch Lomond and the most famous and deepest is Loch Ness with its famous monster. There are nearly eight hundred islands and people live on 94 of them, the largest are Lewis, Harris, Fair mainly in the Outer Hebrides Islands. The capital city is Edinbugh which has famous attractions as Edinburgh castle located on an extinct volcano built by king David I, later was added St. Margaret´s Chapel in 1130 where are the Scottish Crown Jewels and the National War Museum, the palace of Holyroodhouse at the bottom of the Royal Mile which is the residence of the English monarch along with the Royal Yacht Britannia. There are outstanding views from the hills known as Arthur´s Seat where 17 miniature coffins were found of wooden figures of unknown purpose and origin. Edinburgh is famous for its August festival with magicians, musicians, dancers and all sort of artists displaying their skills in its streets and theatres. Gastronomy its national dish is the haggis, a pudding made of a sheep´s heart, lungs and liver mixed with onion and herbs, its a tradition to serve it on Burns Supper on 25th January, the birthday of Scotland´s national poet, Robert Burns. Porridge is another popular meal which are salty oats with milk. The shortbread  were popular too and Mary, queen of Scots added sugar and later butter was added making these cookies in tartan boxes a famous delicious treat. Scottish sports are famous since golf started here and also the king Malcolm III established in 11th century the Highland Games which are organised yearly in summertime with competitions like caver tossing, races, etc. there are bagpipe or dance competitions like the sword dance. 

Scottish emblems such as the tartan design which reveal an area or family made on  coloured wool which local weavers make and  colour with local plants. They also make  kilts, which are blankets Scottish men used to wear around their waist and their shoulders. Bagpipes were used by clan leaders since the Renaissance and later joined pipers joined the British army, another icon is a wild flower with sharp prickles which legend says saves Scottish soldiers from an Viking invasion once, the Scottish are even prouder if their surnames start with Mac or Mc which means in son in Scottish Gaelic. Traditions such as the Hogmany the celebration of New Year with customs such as to receive the "first footing" the first guest which visits a friend´s home with presents for a lucky new year (coin, coal, shortbread and whisky). Scottish writers such as Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832), Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930), Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894) all of them were born in Edinburgh, inventors like Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922) and researchers like James Watt (1736-1819) in Engineer and in Medicine Sir Alexander Fleming (1881-1955) in Medicine, at present other famous Scottish are tennis player Andy Murray and actors Rose Leslie, David Tennant adn Robbie Coltrane. Nowadays Scotland has its own parliament which opened in 1999 since its closing in 1707 when Queen Anne (1665-1714) joined the English and Scotland parliaments together. Scotland has many resources such as petrol, fishing, agriculture, tourism, green energy companies that build hydroelectric dams, wind turbines and other products for renewable sources of energy.