Scotland is a land of mountains, wild moorlands, narrow valleys
and plains. The Highlands of Scotland are among the oldest
mountains in the world. The highest of them is Ben Nevis. The lakes
of Scotland are called "lochs".
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The beautiful Loch Lomond with its thirty islands is the
largest. One third of the people in Scotland live in or near its
capital Edinburgh and its great industrial center Glasgow. Scotland
is a country with the deep national traditions. Scotland is a part
of England but Scotland is not England. Scot's laws are different
from the English. Scotland has its own administration of
government, which is centered in Edinburgh. It has its own national
heroes.
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These heroes fought in endless battles against the England.
Scotland has its own national drink, national musical instruments,
national dances, songs, poetry, traditions, food and sports, even
education and manners. There is the Old Scotland and the New
Scotland. New Scotland is a land of steel and ships, coal and
power, of factories and great ports, of modern literature and
music.
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The Old Scotland is the land of ballads, legendary heroes
defending its independence, legendary knights, outlaws, beautiful
queens, brave and cruel kings. And the shadow of Old Scotland has
its place in the New Scotland. There is a national dress of
Scotland, the kilt. It is the best walking dress yet invented by
men: there is up 5 meters of material in it. It is airy, leaves the
legs free from climbing: it stands the rain for hours before it
gets wet through;
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it is warm for a cold day and cool for warm one. And what is
more, if a highlander is caught in the mountains by night, he has
just to unfasten his kilt and wrap it around him. 5 meters of warm
wool will help him to sleep comfortably enough at night. The kilt
is only worn by men and it is a relic of the time when the clan
system existed in the Scottish Highlands.
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The clan was like a very large family and everyone had the same
family mane like McDonald or Mc George ("Mac" means the "son of").
The clan had its particular territory and was governed by a
chieftain. Each clan had its own tartan which both men and women
wore. Now people can buy tartans,which are new designed in the
shops.
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They are different from the ones worn by the clans long ago.
The old fabrics which were made from local sheep's wool disappeared
and the secret of making them is lost. But the machine-making
tartans are very popular. The thistle is a national emblem of
Scotland.