Sports in Great Britain

British people are very fond of sports. Sport is a part of their normal

life. The two most popular games are football and cricket.

Football, also called soccer, is the most popular sport in the United

Kingdom. England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own

Football Leagues and national teams. Games are played on Saturday

afternoons from August to April. In addition to the FL games there is a

competition called the Football Associations Cup. The Cup Final is played

at Wembley Stadium(London) in May.

Cricket is considered to be the English National game. Its rules are

very complicated. Two teams of eleven men each play it, the player at a

time tries to hit ball with a bat.

Golf is the Scottish national game. It originated in the XV century and

the most famous golf course in the world, known as a Royal and Ancient

Club, is at St. Andrew’s.

Lawn tennis was first played in Britain in the late 19th century. The

most famous British championship is Wimbledon, played annually during the

last week of June and the fist week of July.

Those are the most popular kinds of sport in the UK. But there are many

other sports such as rugby, golf, swimming, horse-racing and the

traditional fox-hunting.

Scotland

Scotland is a country in the north of Great Britain. It is a part of

the United Kingdom. Scotland is divided into three natural regions: the

Southern Uplands, the Central Lowlands and the highlands and islands. A lot

of places in Scotland are a natural paradise, still untouched by man.

The capital of Scotland is Edinburgh, well known for its castle.

Glasgow is the industrial capital of Scotland. It us the third largest city

in Great Britain. The typical products of Scotland are timber, whisky,

salmon. Golf is the Scottish natural sport it seems to have originated in

this country.

Scottish Traditions

The thistle is the national emblem of Scotland. This is how, according

to a curious legend, this plant came to be chosen as a badge, in preference

to any other. Many years ago the Vikings once landed somewhere on the east

coast of Scotland. The Scots assembled with their arms and took their

stations behind the River Tay. As they arrived late in the day, weary and

tired after a long march, they pitched their camp and rested, not expecting

the enemy before the next day. The Vikings, however, were near: noticing

that no guards were protecting the camp, they crossed the Tay, intending to

take the Scots by surprise. For this purpose they took off their shoes so

as to make the least possible noise. But one of them stepped on a thistle.

The sudden and sharp pain he felt caused him to shriek. The alarm was given

in the Scots' camp. The Vikings were put to fight, and as an

acknowledgement for the timely and unexpected help from the thistle, the

Scots took it as their national emblem.

The Scottish national costume (Highland dress) includes a kilt worn by

men. For day wear, the kilt is worn with a tweed jacket, plain long socks,

a beret and a leather sporran, that is, a pouch hanging from a narrow belt

round the hips. The Scottish beret - tam-o'-shanter - is a woollen cap

without a brim but with a pompon or a feather on top, traditionally worn

pulled down at one side. It got its name after Tam o' Shanter, the hero of

Burns's poem of that name.

The Clan

The Gaelic word "clan" means "children", and the central idea of a clan

is kinship. Nowadays it refers, as a rule, only to Highland families, in

Scotland. A clan is a family, and theoretically the chief is the father of

it, although not every clansman can be a direct descendant of the founder.

Many people in Scotland today will be surprised to learn that those who

founded the present clans were not themselves always Highlanders, but

included Normans (Gordon, Eraser), Bretons (Stuart), Flemings (Murrey,

Sutherland). Irish (MacNeil), and Norsemen (MacLeod), Mac meaning "son of".

Concerning that early period of their settlement, which was between the

eleventh and fourteenth centuries, we must not be dogmatic on the subject

of nationality; the important point is that all these were "incomers" to

the Highlands.

When the incomers acquired their land they virtually took over a good

many people who were living on it, and who, perhaps, were already formed

into a family or clan unit. Gradually the old clan came to acknowledge the

protection of their new leader, and at last built up a nominal kinship with

him. In course of time intermarriage made it difficult to determine how

far this kinship was nominal and how far real.

Under the patriarchal system of clanship, which reached its peak in the

sixteenth century, order of precedence was strictly observed. First, after

the chief himself, came members of his immediate family, his younger sons

and grandsons, and then the clansmen. All of them, whether connected by

blood or not, owned a common heritage of loyalty as clansmen. In return for

the help and support of his clansmen, the chief was their leader in war and

their arbiter in peace. Even in the early days the king was, in theory at

least, the "chief of chiefs", and as the royal power spread through the

Highlands the chiefs were made responsible for the good conduct of their

clansmen. Among the most famous clans were: Campbell, Fraser, Munro,

Cameron, Stewart, Murray, MacDonald, Maclean and Mackenzie.

The great period of the clans declined by the beginning of the

eighteenth century and the failure of the Jacobite Risings in 1715 and 1745

completed the destruction. But today clan societies flourish in Scotland

and, perhaps more ' bravely, elsewhere in the world. These societies are

acquiring land and property in their respective clan countries, financing

magazines, establishing museums to preserve the relics, founding

educational trusts, and - perhaps above all - keeping alive the family

spirit.

The Tartan

Tartan is and has for centuries been the distinguishing mark of the

Highlander. It has a long history. Evidence can be brought to show that as

long as the thirteenth century, and probably earlier, Highlanders wore

brightly coloured striped or checked tartan plaids, which they called

"breacan". There is some controversy about clan tartans as such.

Traditionalists state the Highlanders wore tartan as a badge so that they

could recognize each other and distinguish friend from foe in battle. Like

many theories, this looks well on paper, but in practice it seems to break

down. Even though the old tartans were simpler than the modern ones, they

could not easily be recognized at a distance.

On the other hand, various descriptions can be quoted to show that, in

the Highlands, the patterns of the tartans were considered important. A

district tartan is a very natural development in a country divided into

small communities. By the sixteenth century the particular patterns of

tartan worn in a district were connected with the predominant local clan.

But the study of the portraits shows that there was no uniformity of tartan

even in the early eighteenth century. Members of the same family are found

wearing very different tartan and, what is more surprising, many of the men

are seen to wear the kilt of one tartan and a Jacket of another. The

history of development of tartan was sharply broken in 1747, when wearing

of Highland dress was forbidden by law after the failure of 1745.

In the early years of the nineteenth century efforts were made to

collect authentic patterns of each clan tartan, but this does not seem to

have been very successful. The fashion for tartan was fostered by the

amazing spectacle of a kilted King George IV at holyrood in 1822, and

demands for clan tartan poured into the manufactures. The wave of

enthusiasm for tartan outstripped the traditional knowledge of the

Highlanders, and it was at this time and in response to popular demand that

a great many of familiar present-day tartans became associated with their

respective clans. Some of the patterns had previously been identified by

numbers only, while some were invented on the spot, as variations of the

old traditional patterns.

The term "Highland dress'' has not always meant the same thing. In the

seventeenth century the ki1t was not worn. Clansmen wrapped themselves in a

generous length of tartan cloth some sixteen feet wide. The upper portion

covered the wearer's shoulders, and it was belted at the waist, the lower

portion hanging in rough folds to the knees. In the eighteenth century,

this belted plaid was superseded by the kilt. Modern Highland dress

consists of a day-time kilt of heavy material, sometimes in a darker

tartan, worn with a tweed jacket, while for the evening finer material,

possibly in a brighter "dress" tartan, can be matched with a variety of

accessories.

Food and Drink

What sort of food has Scotland to offer the stranger? Scotland produces

a number of dishes: Scots collops - a savoury dish popularly known as

"mince", small mutton pies which must be served piping hot and the immortal

haggis. And no country has a greater variety of puddings and pies, creams,

jellies, and trifles.

The excellence of Scottish soups has been attributed to the early and

long connection between Scotland and France, but there are some genuine

soups, such as Barley Broth, Powsowdie or Sheep’s Head Broth. Hotch Potch

or Harvest Broth. Baud Bree (Hare Soup) is flavoured with toasted oatmeal

and Cullen Skink is made with a smoked haddock.

Plenty of ingenuity is shown, too, in the preparation of both oatmeal

and milk. Porridge, properly made with home-milled meal and fresh spring

water, and served with thin cream or rick milk, is food for the gods.

Lastly there is the national oatcake, which is described as “a masterpiece”

by the French gastronomes.

As a nation the Scots are definitely better bakers than cooks. To beat

the best Edinburgh bakers one must go, it is said, all the way to Vienna.

There is an endless variety of bannocks and scones: soda scones, made with

buttermilk, girdle scones, potato scones, without which no Glasgow Sunday

breakfast is complete. Also the pancakes, the crumpets, the shortbread that

melts in the mouth, buns of every size and shape! They are on offer in

every bakery.

The Scottish housewife likes to buy her meat fresh and sees that she

gets it. She likes the meat off the bone and rolled, as in France, and the

Scottish butcher is an artist at his trade. Most of the cuts are different

from England and have different names. Sirloin, one would understand, but

what is Nine Holes? Steak is steak in any language, but what is Pope's

eye?

And then the puddings! The black puddings, the white puddings, the

mealy puddings. And king of puddings, the haggis! I once asked a Scot:

"What's in a haggis?" His answer was: "I know. But I know no reason why you

should. All you need to know is that it should be served with mashed

potatoes and bashed neeps (turnips), and you must drink whisky with it. You

will discover that the oatmeal in the haggis absorbs the whisky, and so you

can drink more of it. What else do you need to know?" "A recipe of

haggis", was my answer. "Hell, well, here you are", said my friend: B

ounces of sheep's liver, 4 ounces of beef suet (fat), salt and pepper, 2

onions, 1 cup of oatmeal. Boil the liver and onions in water for 40

minutes. Drain, and keep the liquid. Mince the liver finely, and chop the

onions with the suet. Lightly toast the oatmeal. Combine all the

ingredients, and moisten the mixture with the liquid in which the liver and

onions were boiled. Turn into a sheep's stomach, cover with grease-proof

paper and steam for 2 hours.

Although the Scots are not a nation of beer-drinkers in the sense that

the English are, some of the best beers in the world are brewed in the

Lowlands of Scotland. But however good Scots beer and ale are, it is

universally known that the glory of the country is whisky. Scotch whisky

was a by-product of traditional Scottish thrift. Frugal Scots farmers,

rather than waste their surplus barley, mashed, fermented and distilled it,

producing a drink at first called uisge beatha, Gaelic for "water of life",

and now simply called whisky. No one knows when the Scots learnt the art of

distilling, though it may have been before they arrived from Ireland in the

fifth century AD, for in Irish legend St Patrick taught the art. The first

mention in Scottish records of a spirit distilled from grain does not occur

before 1494.

Today there are two kinds of Scotch whisky - the original malt whisky,

made by the centuries-old pot-still process from barley that has been

"mailed" or soaked and left to germinate; and grain whisky, made from maize

as well as matted and unmalted barley. Most of the well-known brands of

Scotch whisky are blends of many different grain and malt whiskies. The

technique of blending was pioneered in Edinburgh in the 1860s, and a taste

for the new, milder blended whiskies quickly spread to England and then to

the rest of the world.

Barley is the raw material of the malt whisky distiller. The first

process in making whisky is mailing - turning barley into malt. Mailing

begins when the distiller takes delivery of the barley, usually in

September or October, soon after it has been harvested. The barley is in

grain form, and must be ripe and dry, otherwise it may turn mouldy and make

properly controlled mailing impossible. The barley is cleaned, weighed and

soaked for two or three days in tanks of water. Then it is spread on the

malting floor, where it germinates for 8-12 days, secreting an enzyme which

makes the starch in barley soluble and prepares it turning into sugar. The

barley is regularly turned over to control its temperature and rate of

germination. The warm, damp, sweet-smelling barley is passed to the kiln

for drying, which stops germination. It is spread on a base of perforated

iron and dried in the heat of a peat fire. Distillery kilns have

distinctive pagoda-shaped heads. An open ventilator at the top draws hot

air from the peat fire through the barley. This gives it a smoky flavour,

which is passed on to the whisky. The barley has now become malt - dry,

crisp, peat-flavored, different from the original barley in all but

appearance. It is ready for the next stage in the process - mashing. It is

stored in bins and then it is weighed to ensure that the right amount of

malt is passed to the mill below, where it is ground. The ground malt,

called grist, is carried up to the grist hopper and fed in measured

quantities into the mash tun. There the grist is mixed with hot water and

left to infuse. This extracts the sugar content from the malt. The sugary

water, called wort, is then drawn off through the bottom of the mash tun.

This process is repeated three times, and each time the water is at a

different temperature.

For centuries, Scotch whisky has been made from mailed barley mixed

with yeast and water, then heated in pear-shaped containers called pot

stills. The early Highland farmers who distilled their own whisky heated

their pot stills in huge copper kettles over a peat fire. Smoke from the

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