Scotland Quotes
More Scotland Quotes
O flower of Scotland, when will we see your like again, That fought and died for your wee bit hill and glen And stood against him, proud Edward's army, And sent him homeward tae think again.
Roy Williamson— 1968 'Flower of Scotland', stanza 1. Unofficial Anthem of Scotland, performed by the Corries.
He's the bafflement of Scotland Yard, the Flying Squad's despair: For when they reach the scene of crime Macavity's not there!
— Macavity: The Mystery Cat
'In Scotland,' Tavish muttered, picking up my bags,'the women dothehod carrying whilewe blokesretiretothe nearest pubto deliberate upon the role of labour in society.'
— 1992 A Calculated Risk.
Auld Scotland wants nae skinking wareThat jaups in luggies; But, if ye wish her gratefu'prayer, Gie her a Haggis!
Robert Burns— 1786 'To a Haggis', stanza 8.
We look forward to the time when this moment will be seen as a turning point: the day when democracy was renewed in Scotland, when we revitalized our place in this our United Kingdom.
Donald Campbell Dewar— 1999 Speech at the official opening of the Scottish Parliament, 1 Jul.
Scotland is not wholly surrounded by the seaunfortunately.
Grieve— 1934 Scottish Scene,'The Sea'.
Iceland, though it lies so far to the north that it is partly within the Arctic Circle, is, like Norway, Scotland, and Ireland, affected by the Gulf Stream, so that considerable portions of it are quite habitable.
harry johnston— Pioneers in Canada
In Scotland, land of the omnipotent No.
Alan Bold— 1969 'A Memory of Death'.
Auld Reikie! wale o' ilka town That Scotland kens beneath the moon; Whare couthy chiels at e'ening meet Their bizzing craigs and mous to weet.
Edna Ferber— 1773 'Auld Reikie, A Poem'.
For the cleansing of that horror, if cleanse it they could, I would welcome the English in suzerainty over Scotland till the end of time. I would welcome the end of Braid Scots and Gaelic, our culture, our history, our nationhood under the heels of a Chinese army of occupation if it could cleanse the Glasgow slums, give a surety of food and playthe elementary right of every human beingto those people of the abyss?
Lewis Grassic Gibbon— 1934 Scottish Scene,'Glasgow' (with Hugh MacDiarmid).
If there is writing on Hadrian's Wall, it reads that the English should leave Scotland to its own devices.
Simon Heffer— 1999 Nor Shall My Sword: The Reinventing of England.
For who would leave, unbrib'd, Hibernia's Land, Or change the rocks of Scotland for the Strand?
— 1738 London: a Poem, l.9-10.
Oats. A grain, which in England isgenerally given to horses, but in Scotland supports the people.
— 1755 A Dictionary of the English Language.
Seeing Scotland, Madam, is only seeing a worse England.
— 1778 Remark quoted in a letter to Boswell,7 Apr. Quoted in James Boswell The Life of Samuel Johnson (1791), vol.3.
I look upon Switzerland as an inferior sort of Scotland.
Rev Sydney Smith— 1815 Letter to Lord Holland, [August]. In The Letters of Sydney Smith edited by Nowell C Smith (1953), vol.1.
Joh. Mayor, in the first book of his "History of Scotland," contends much for the wholesomeness of oaten bread; it was objected to him, then living at Paris, that his countrymen fed on oats and base grain…. And yet Wecker out of Galen calls it horse-meat, and fitter juments than men to feed on.
robert burton— Section 2, member 2, subsection 1.
I am legitimately Scottish. I can officially say — yes. Yeah, I am from Inverness in the Highlands of Scotland.
karen gillan— When asked if she is "legitimately Scottish" in YouTube video
As touching nature I am a worm of this earth, and yet a subject of this commonwealth; but as touching the office wherein it has pleased God to place me [head of the Reformed church in Scotland], I am a watchman...For that reason I am bound in conscience to blow the trumpet publicly.
john knox— As quoted in World Studies for Christian Schools (2000) by Terri Koontz, Mark Sidwell & S. M. Bunker, ISBN 1-59166-431-4
If there's a sword-like sangThat can cut Scotland clearO a' the warld besideRax me the hilt o't here.For there's nae jewal tillFrae the rest o earth it's free,Wi the starry separatenessI'd fain to Scotland gie.
hugh macdiarmid— To Circumjack Cencrastus
We who represent the Unionist Party in England and Scotland have supported, and we mean to support to the end, the loyal minority [in Ireland]. We support them not because we are intolerant, but because their claims are just.
andrew bonar law— Speech in the Albert Hall (26 January, 1912).
The "second sight" possessed by the Highlanders in Scotland is actually a foreknowledge of future events. I believe they possess this gift because they don't wear trousers... That is also why in all countries women are more prone to utter prophecies.
Georg Christoph Lichtenberg— L 26 (Notebook L (1793-1796))
Lyndsay, with all his ancient coarseness…maintained for two centuries, even among the precise, his position as the popular poet of Scotland.
david lyndsay— George Gordon The Discipline of Letters (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946) p. 91.
Shillong is widely known as Scotland of the East. It is a beautiful town.
— M.M. Jacob, in David R. Syiemlieh From Shillong: Speeches Of M.M. Jacob, Daya Books, 1 January 2005, p.20
A Scotchman must be a very sturdy moralist, who does not love Scotland better than truth.
samuel johnson— Samuel Johnson, A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland (1775).
There is not such a word Spoke of in Scotland as this term of fear.
william shakespeare— William Shakespeare, Henry IV, Part I (c. 1597), Act IV, scene 1, line 84.
The cure for a broken heart is simple, my lady. A hot bath and a good night's sleep.
Margaret George— Mary Queen of Scotland and the Isles (1992)
A wise man should never resolve upon any thing, at least never let the world know his resolution; for if he cannot arrive at that, he is ashamed. How many things did the resolve in his declaration concerning Scotland, never to do, and yet did them all?
— Selden, John (1689). Table Talk: Being the Discourses. T. White. p. 175.
Beloved Scotland of the winter and the hills! ’Tis little that thou’lt get from them, but they will make thee hard and brave!
— The New Road, ch. 23 (Sourced)
Lyndsay, with all his ancient coarseness…maintained for two centuries, even among the precise, his position as the popular poet of Scotland.
— George Gordon The Discipline of Letters (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946) p. 91.
