Did You Know?

The Bagpipes : Weapon of War

The bagpipes are the only musical instrument deemed a weapon of war because it inspired its troups to battle and instilled terror in the enemy.

The Caber:

Basically, you take a 150lb., 18 foot long telephone pole and toss it end over end.  Why?  No historian really knows, but it's a lot of fun to watch!

The Dance: Highland Fling

This is the oldest of the traditional dances of Scotland and is a dance of joy performed at the end of a victorious battle originally by male warriors.

The Kilt: 'Whole Nine Yards'

Your kilt was your tent, your backpack, your blanket and uniform.  It's made of nine yards of wool fabric which lays the claim to the saying 'The whole nine yards'.

Plaid, today, refers to a pattern of stripes or bars in various colour and widths that cross at right angles found on cloth fabric. However, the original word is gaelic, meaning blanket. It seems a language barrier caused confusion of the word's meaning when the patterned 'plaide', or blanket, was brought overseas to the Americas.

The Sword: A Better Grip

In medieval times, the hilt of the sword was wrapped with shark skin, which has a rough sandpaper like texture, for a better grip in battle.  How'd they catch the shark?

Shark skin was used in medieval times instead of leather for a better grip due to its sandpaper-like quality. Leather would become slick when it got wet with blood during battle.

How'd they catch the shark?

Many stories have been passed down through the centuries such as hanging over the side of a boat and stabbing at a passing shark with a sword. Stories also include using poorly behaved children and/or wives as bait! Fun stories aside, we're not talking about catching Great Whites here. Sharks, such as Spurdogs, were highly populated in the North Sea, East coast of Scotland. They commonly fed on herring and crustaceans. Fishermen would head out to make their catch of herring with nets. Sharks would get tangled in them regularly and were deemed more of a nuisance. Not to be wasteful, the shark was used for meat and because of it's rough texture, the skin used on the hilt (the handle/grip) of the sword.

Spurdog sharks are now an endangered species and are now protected under Scottish law.

The Tattoo: Drumming Origins

Dating back to 17th century Holland, drummers were sent into town at 9:30 each evening to inform the barkeepers to 'doe den tap toe', a Dutch term meaning 'turn off the taps'. Time for soldiers to return to the barracks.

More fun facts:

Haggis:

The traditional Haggis recipe calls for the sheep's pluck (heart, lungs and liver) to be boiled, minced, and mixed with chopped onion, toasted oatmeal, and spices. This mixture was steamed in the sheep's paunch (stomach) as a casing.

You can eat it, or, throw it!

The tradition of Haggis Hurling dates back to early Scottish Clan Gatherings, where the women folk would toss a haggis across a stream to their husbands, who would catch the haggis in their kilts.?In the modern version a haggis is hurled for distance and accuracy from atop a platform (usually a whisky barrel). The present World Record for Haggis Hurling has been held by Alan Pettigrew for over 18 years. Hardly surprising if you consider he threw a 1lb 8oz haggis an astonishing 180' 10' on the island of Inchmurrin on Loch Lomond in August 1984.

Who knew haggis could 'fly'!