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History of Scotland

Can you guess these facts about the history of Scotland?
Quiz by Aaron197
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Last updated: August 16, 2022
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First submittedFebruary 25, 2020
Times taken16,508
Average score65.0%
Rating4.50
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Answer
Popular sport thought to have originated in Scotland in the 15th century
Golf
Scottish hero portrayed by Mel Gibson in "Braveheart"
William Wallace
Antibiotic discovered by accident by Alexander Fleming in 1928
Penicillin
Author of "The Wealth of Nations", the foundational text of economics
Adam Smith
Shakespeare play that was set in Scotland
Macbeth
Group who invaded Scotland in the 8th century
Vikings
Fictional detective who first appeared in print in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's
"A Study in Scarlet" in 1887
Sherlock Holmes
Ancient Roman name for Scotland
Caledonia
Scottish victory referred to in the song "Flower of Scotland"
Battle of Bannockburn
Celtic-speaking group who inhabited eastern and northern Scotland
during the British Iron Age
Picts
King who led the Scottish to independence in the 14th century
Robert the Bruce
Scottish king who became the king of England and Ireland in 1603, thus forming a
personal union of the three kingdoms
James VI
Queen of Scots who was found guilty of plotting to assassinate Elizabeth in 1586
Mary
Canadian province which was briefly a Scottish colony between 1629–1632
Nova Scotia
Treaty which established the border between England and Scotland in 1237
Treaty of York
Machine improved by James Watt in the 18th century, which helped to
spark the Industrial Revolution
Steam Engine
Scottish Labour politician who served as Prime Minister from 1997–2007
Tony Blair
Enlightenment philosopher who said that "Reason is, and ought
only to be the slave of the passions"
David Hume
Scottish tennis player who won the Wimbledon championship in 2013 and 2016
Andy Murray
Traditional province of Ireland settled by the Scots starting in the 17th century
Ulster
+1
Level 76
Feb 25, 2020
Good quiz. Thanks to Monty Python, I was able to guess the philosopher that others missed! "_ _ could out-consume etc."
+2
Level 86
Mar 10, 2020
Yes, and I remember their famous version of "The Death of Mary, Queen of Scots".
+2
Level 77
Mar 4, 2020
Fun fact: South Korea has professors in their SKY (elite 3) universities who teach that "golf is a S.Korean invention".

Not the only funny thing they teach you over there.

+6
Level 75
Mar 4, 2020
Korean nationalists claim a ton of things are actually Korean. Confucius is another big one.
+10
Level 88
Mar 4, 2020
When I was there they were even trying to claim Korean Abdul Jabbar.
+3
Level 74
Nov 30, 2020
First time I've seen Blair referred to as a "Scottish Labour politician" - that usually refers to politicians who come from a Scottish family and/or represent a Scottish constituency.

(e.g. Gordon Brown - Scottish family, Scottish constituency, Scottish accent, Prime Minister of the UK 2007 - 2010...)

+3
Level 66
Nov 30, 2020
Yes, I just had to google him. Despite being born and raised in this country I had no idea he was born in Scotland.
+2
Level 50
Dec 2, 2020
He was born in Edinburgh
+7
Level 74
Dec 2, 2020
Yes we know, but nobody thinks of Tony Blair as a "Scottish politician". It would be better if it said, "UK Prime Minister 1997-2007 born in Scotland" - at least that wouldn't be trying to crowbar him into a Scottish identity just to fit the quiz.

I just made the point that the PM after him, Brown, has a very well-known and deeply-rooted Scottish identity.

+2
Level 55
Dec 3, 2020
I think of Blair as a Scottish politician!

The lack of general awareness is probably 99% to do with his accent. But as any fule kno, the poshest Scots talk with the same accent as the poshest English people, and Tony Blair is nothing if not a total posho. He went to Fettes, after all. I watched a programme not long ago on BBC Alba where they were talking to the Countess of somewhere in the north-west, and she sounded as English as English could be (no Gaelic of course).

+1
Level 74
Sep 16, 2023
If you asked people to name Scottish politicians, most would tell you to go away.

But those of us who are interested would say:

Alex Salmond

Nicola Sturgeon

Gordon Brown

Anas Sarwar

Humza Yousaf

William Wallace

Donald Dewar

- probably in that order. Tony Blair wouldn't appear on anyone's list because obviously he isn't/wasn't a Scottish politician. The clue just needs to add that Blair was born in Scotland, rather than implying a Scottish identity.

I'm not being narky because I'm Scottish, I'm just pointing out an oddity in the quiz.

Aaron seems to have left Jetpunk so this will probably go unchanged.

+1
Level 75
Jul 18, 2023
Indeed, he's far better-known as hated war criminal Tony Blair.
+1
Level 80
Dec 1, 2020
Tried Britons, I guess the Picts were similar but had different customs and lived north of the wall. Interesting. They were the wildlings.
+2
Level 46
Mar 2, 2021
Good quizz, but nothing about the "Auld Alliance" ??
+1
Level 69
Sep 1, 2022
Norse should be accepted for Vikings.
+1
Level 83
Nov 30, 2022
how is Hume the least guessed answer? and by such a wide margin vs some other questions, too. weird.
+3
Level 88
Nov 30, 2022
Too many Scottish questions! There should be more questions from other countries so that other people can actually answer them!
+2
Level 83
Dec 1, 2022
totally. Impossible for anyone not from Scotland to answer any of these. Why not throw a bone to the other 195 countries in the world?
+1
Level 59
Dec 1, 2022
I could remember the battle thanks to Sabaton
+1
Level 53
May 26, 2023
Now that our time has come to fight. Scotland must unite