Sport in Scotland
Sport plays an important role in Scottish culture, all-weather sports like football, rugby union and golf being the most important in the national sporting consciousness. As there are loads of them, I will only present you a few significant ones.
Scots, and particularly Scottish emigrants, brought many important innovations to the history of sport, and develop some, like: golf, curling, football, Highland games (which contributed to the evolution of modern athletics events), shinty (the predecessor of both ice hockey and bandy), cycling (Kirkpatrick Macmillan invented the pedal bicycle), and basketball.
Football:
The history of football in Scotland includes various traditional ball games. The exact nature of these games is still uncertain because, before 1863, the term "football" implied almost any ball game that was played with feet and not played on horseback. Some of these games were already played during the Middle Ages. The first contemporary written records of these games were written in the eighteenth century.
Many of these records refer to the violence of traditional Scottish football. As a consequence, many local games were outlawed, abolished or modified.
Football is the national sport, in term of participation, as well as in number of spectators.
The nickname of supporters of the national team is the Tartan Army.
Members of the Tartan Army…with kilts and beers of course!!
Curling:
The word curling comes from the Scots language verb curr which means “makes a low rumble”. Scotland is the home of curling, and even if it’s not as popular as it is in Canada, it remains more popular in Scotland than anywhere else in Europe. The first written reference to a contest using stones on ice was written in February 1541. The outdoor curling was very popular in Scotland between the sixteenth and the nineteenth centuries due to the climate that provided nice ice conditions every year. It has been exported in Canada by Scots emigrants
The Highland Games are very special in the national sporting culture. I won’t talk about them because Marc-O does it…
Golf:
According to the oldest record that talks about golf, the first time it was played was at Bruntsfield Links, in Edinburgh, in 1456. But the exact origin of this sport is still unclear. Some say it comes from China, others from Netherlands, others from Scotland.
However, modern golf is considered as a Scottish invention.
Scottish golfers initially dominated the professional sport, were replaced by English golfers, who were themselves, after World War 1, replaced by US ones.
A well-known urban legend says the word golf comes from “gentlemen only, ladies forbidden”. But it’s only an urban legend, the real origin being Dutch or Scots language.
Cycling:
Cycling is a popular amateur sport in Scotland, with 99 cycling clubs in the country. At high level competitions, Scots are more successful at track cycling than road racing. The lack of road races is mainly due to the fact that the Scottish local authorities refuse to close public roads to let races be safely. Mountain biking has become very popular recently, the Scottish geography being perfect for training or racing.