Episode 12: Scotland

Rozhovor se Skotkou Clary o všem skotském. Lesy, louky, dudáci, Loch Ness či skotská národní pochoutka haggis - vnitřnosti vařené v ovčím žaludku. A proč to bylo právě Skotsko a Edinburgh, které JK Rowling inspirovaly při psaní knih o Harry Potterovi?

Transcript

Exploring Scotland

Speaker 1 0:07

Welcome to the English-speaking group with Kudrunat Holko . My name is Pavlina and every week I will talk to my parents from all over the English-speaking world about various interesting topics . I would also like to mention one thing If you really want to practice and improve your English , on my page on patreonpatrioncom you will find a complete list of the following conversations , with meanings , phrases and everything else that is worth knowing . And that's all from me at the beginning . Thank you very much for watching this channel and we can start .

Speaker 2 1:09

Yeah , well , it's getting colder here in Sweden as well , so we're on the same page . And well , today we'll be talking about your homeland , which is Scotland , as you already mentioned , and I'm very excited . And the first thing I have to ask is are you a Harry Potter fan ?

Speaker 3 1:25

Yes , I'm both like the generation and definitely the right timing for me . I read all the books , but the final books were a lot thicker and actually I'm not so good at finishing really long books . But yeah , and I love the movies and yeah , I love Harry Potter .

Speaker 2 1:45

And well , it's a widely known fact that JK Rowling she wrote most of the books in Edinburgh , and the story is also set in Scotland , so I was wondering if you've ever been to any of the Harry Potter locations , perhaps .

Speaker 3 1:58

Yeah , so I think the general atmosphere of Edinburgh really influenced the writing of Harry Potter . It's very atmospheric , very historical , quite spooky . There is a Harry Potter walking tour . You can go on in Edinburgh to go to the specific locations that they think actually influenced the writer JK Rowling , such as Grave Friars , Bobby Graveyard so apparently there's some like weird names on the gravestones that might have influenced the names . You know , like you get some pretty quirky names in the books and yeah , there's apparently a cafe where she went in and wrote the book . But that could be a marketing ploy by this particular cafe to get lots of people to come in and there's literally a queue of people that try and get into this cafe . But I have a friend who actually works on the Edinburgh bus tours and so he knows a lot about history and says that actually , yeah , it wasn't actually that cafe , or that's more of like an exaggeration , but she might have gone through different cafes in Edinburgh .

Speaker 2 3:04

Yeah , oh wow . Well , I definitely want to go now , very sure do . And well , there's so many other things that you know come to mind when I think of your land . You know stone castles and bagpipes and lush forests , and . But there's this one thing the heck is do people eat ?

Speaker 3 3:22

that , yeah , people actually do , and I get really mixed reactions from people like some people really like it , some people don't like it at all . But I think it's just like a blend of different meats and stuff and like traditionally it was put inside like a sheep's stomach or something , but now it's like served in a , maybe like a gelatin casing or something like that . But yeah , I'm actually vegetarian , so I have tried a vegetarian version which is not as scary as the real version , which is okay . It's probably just mashed up vegetables , but actually people need to like on special occasions mostly .

Speaker 3 4:03

Okay so like weddings or like special events or like a burns night , yeah , which is connected to Robert Burns . I don't know if you've heard of Robert Burns , but he's a famous Scottish poet and writer and on the 25th of January , around his birthday , there's a burn tonight , which is where people like have this really formal event with , like Highland dancing and a Kayleigh , which is a Scottish kind of dancing it's like barn dancing but in a Scottish way , yeah , and they serve Haggis and they have kind of ritual for that .

Speaker 2 4:36

Okay , that's very cool . And what would be some other like delicacy coming from Scotland ?

Speaker 3 4:42

Yeah , so shortbread is probably a personal favorite of mine . Have you tried shortbread before ?

Speaker 2 4:49

Well , I'm not sure . I've tried the Scottish version .

Speaker 3 4:52

Okay , yeah . So that's , that's really nice , like a buttery biscuit . I do like Scottish whiskey sometimes , so there's a lot of distilleries because it's really good water from the Highlands , like really yeah . So it's also really good for producing Ale , like Scottish ale . And there's one particular kind of ale I've used like called Heather ale and dates back to Pictish times , so like thousands of years , and they use Heather instead of hops and there's a brewery that still creates that . There's also iron brew . I don't know if you've heard of it , I don't know if they actually sold it in most places in London , but it's like an orange fizzy drink . It's like Scotland's own version of Coca Cola , but it's not cola flavored , it's just yeah , is it like orange flavored when it's orange or it's strange because when you look up , they say that it's like , not orange flavored .

Speaker 3 5:49

But it's what you would imagine orange tastes like , but it's not orange . It's really strange . Yeah , you have to try it to know what it's like .

Speaker 2 5:59

Yeah , I definitely will . And well , yeah , I mean , scotland is obviously so much more than just the Loch Ness or Hague , as we mentioned . Well , can you think maybe of a random fact that people don't know about Scotland or Scottish people ?

Speaker 3 6:14

Yeah , so most people don't know this , but the first Working television set was created in Scotland by a Scottish inventor called James Baird . It was this real name . Yeah , because sometimes people have asked like they would ask oh , do you have TV in Scotland ? What , what do you mean ? I don't know . Sometimes people have asked if we actually have TV in Scotland , like like because you live in the forest or yeah , they might think that we actually live in the forest or like in a shack or something . It's like we invented the TV .

Speaker 2 6:52

Okay , wow , that's shocking . And well , I also read that there are three official languages in Scotland , which is English , then Gaelic and Scots , and I mean , you obviously speak English perfectly , but how about those other two ?

Speaker 3 7:07

Yeah , so most people speak English here , at least now . But Scots Gaelic goes back further in time and you just all get a minority of people that speak it , mostly in the highlands and in really local areas . But unfortunately it's dying out . But there's movements to try and preserve it , like there's BBC Alba and like Gaelic radio stations that speak fully in Scots Gaelic . Can you speak it ? Uh , no , no , no , no , no .

Speaker 3 7:36

I can speak some Scots , though that's more of a dialect . But that's debatable . Some people try and say it's a language , some say it's a dialect , some say it's slang . But Scots is a lot more like English , but with its own , like certain words that have a certain meaning , like in Aberdeen it's kind of like a local dialect to say I can't fit , like I can't fit you on a boat , like firefay hen . I can't fit you . Like what are you saying ? Yeah , so I can means I don't know . So can means no , and like hen is slang for like a woman or a word for a woman , and firefay is where are you from ? So that's one specific to around Aberdeen , but you get so many different words . Actually , trousers comes from the old Gallic word for trousers , like the English word trousers comes from that .

Speaker 2 8:33

So that's very interesting . I mean I don't want to be laughing , but it just sounds like you're making a joke , so that's why I was laughing , like I don't want to offend people from Aberdeen , but yeah .

Speaker 3 8:45

Yeah , no , no , it's quite a musical accent . I've got a friend in Aberdeen who actually speaks fully in Scots , so he speaks like that all the time , even texts like that , and I'm like what's he saying ?

Speaker 2 8:56

Oh , so you don't even understand sometimes , yeah , sometimes don't know . Yeah , and you actually mentioned BBC Alba , and Alba is the Gallic word for Scotland , right ?

Speaker 3 9:07

Yeah , Kingdom of Scotland .

Speaker 2 9:09

And so do people actually use this term . Is it like a widely known term in Scotland , Alba ?

Speaker 3 9:14

Essentially it's used more in like a traditional arty way . Now , like people will just call it Scotland mostly , but in Gallic communities they might call it Alba . But yeah , it comes from the Gallic source .

Speaker 2 9:29

And I mean you obviously have a very specific and amazing accent in English and what would be some maybe words or phrases that we would only come across to you in Scotland ? Can you think of any ?

Speaker 3 9:42

Um , yeah , so things like fit , like , which is what I said earlier , which means what , or like , what are you doing ? And yeah , ken , which is like no it's interesting and well .

Speaker 2 9:59

Next question , which I know might be like a little sensitive for some people , but I so I definitely don't want to be pushing you into anything like political or anything , but how would you describe the relationship between Scotland and England ?

Speaker 3 10:13

Yeah . So it's a funny one , because mostly people joke about rivalry with England . I don't think it's as serious as it used to be . Maybe there was in the past and like sometimes now , a bit of hostility towards English people in some places for some people , which , which isn't really great , but it's kind of dying out now . Now it's more of like a joking thing . So if there is like rivalry , it's meant in a tongue and cheek kind of way , like in a lighthearted , friendly way , like , for example , people might say like oh , who are you supporting ? Like which football team are you going to support ? And you'd say I'm going to support the one that's playing England . So they say that Scottish people supports the team that plays England .

Speaker 2 11:01

Oh , like anyone who plays England , yeah , that's funny and well , if we embark on a road trip around Scotland , which places do you think that we should definitely

Exploring Scotland's History, Nature, and Traditions

Speaker 2 11:13

visit ?

Speaker 3 11:13

You should definitely visit Edinburgh because it's really historical city , really amazing . You've got Edinburgh Castle there , you've got the Royal Mile with all these amazing shops and also like museums and history . And to get out the city vibe you should go to the Highlands , either the Northwest Highlands , which are a bit more wild and rugged and they have like rocks that go back billions of years , or just have a short trip to the Cairngorms , which is more like an essential part of Scotland . If you're into like hiking and stuff , but there's not many forests there , it's quite bare like Heathland with Heather and stuff , and if you're going looking at campervan or something , if you're definitely driving , then you could go Route 66 , which is north of Ivernus and it's this big lake loop that goes across the border of the north of Scotland , so it goes along the coastal paths completely around Scotland . That's a really good route to do .

Speaker 2 12:19

Yeah , route 66 .

Speaker 3 12:20

Yeah , route 66 , yeah .

Speaker 2 12:23

And what are you like the most and least about Scotland ?

Speaker 3 12:27

Yeah . So I probably dislike the weather the most the rain and the cold Because when I go to England I find that it's just way better temperature . It's more sheltered , but even Edinburgh is actually a bit warmer than Aberdeen and more sheltered from the wind . And what I like most is the nature we have here . You can access nature really easily . It's like on your doorstep if you're living in the city . Yeah , it's really nice .

Speaker 2 13:00

Yeah , I mean I've never actually been to Scotland , but I mean it all looks amazing .

Speaker 3 13:05

Yeah , you should come visit .

Speaker 2 13:07

Yeah , I definitely want to go . And what ? Who are some famous Scots that we should definitely learn the name of ?

Speaker 3 13:14

Yeah , so there's Robert Burns , also known as Rabi Burns . Yeah , he's a famous poet and he's like really famous because people kept his tradition alive with Burns Night , which is that formal event where you dance in a caily and have a formal dinner with Haggis , and that's on the 25th of January . My mum actually organises these Burns Nights .

Speaker 2 13:41

Oh , cool , it's a charity event .

Speaker 3 13:43

Yeah , she's done pretty well with it and has become like a burgess of the city by doing a lot of them .

Speaker 3 13:50

Oh , that's , very nice yeah and a lot of charity events for Robert Burns . And so , yeah , he was . I think it was about the 18th century poet who was really influential , and , like people all over the world come together for Burns Night , I think it's celebrated in like America and all over the world , so that's really good . And yeah , historically , Robert the Bruce who fought the First War for independence and the 1300s , and for someone like living now , like a modern , I agree to like history in my head a lot . No , it's fine . Yeah , I would say , like Billy Connolly , have you heard of Billy Connolly ? Like the comedian , yeah , he's done quite a few programmes . I think of one like touring Australia and stuff , and he's quite well known . Yeah , definitely follow him on social media as well . Okay , yeah , Is he ?

Speaker 1 14:49

funny .

Speaker 3 14:50

He's funny . It's probably like one of the most famous Scottish comedians .

Speaker 2 14:56

Okay , that's cool and I know I'm going to sound like a complete tourist in your country right now , but I do have to ask about the Kilt , the traditional skirt of Gaelic men and boys in the Scottish Highlands . Right , yeah , and well , I suppose we all might have heard the rumour that under a Kilt belongs zero underwear , so could you confirm or deny this statement ?

Speaker 3 15:20

Yeah , I would say it's true , because whenever I've asked people , are you wearing anything underneath ? So we're like , no , I'm a wonderful traditional , so yeah .

Speaker 2 15:36

And well , during which occasions would men wear a Kilt ?

Speaker 3 15:40

So it would be formal occasions , a little bit like eating haggis . It would be like weddings and burns nights and like graduation ceremonies . Most people don't wear it every day , but I do occasionally see people like walking around in a Kilt industry just sometimes . Okay , minority .

Speaker 2 16:01

And do people from or like not people , men from your family , wear it .

Speaker 3 16:06

My brother definitely does . He's quite patriotic . I think he's been thrown out of a club for wearing one in England , which is a bit strange . And what do you mean ? Like what kind of club ? Like a bar ?

Speaker 3 16:18

Oh , I was trying to get in and yeah , they didn't let him in because he was wearing a Kilt , but it could have been other reasons , who knows ? And yeah , my dad doesn't . But yeah , most people do , but really occasionally , like most men do , on special occasions , and not always . You do also get tartan trousers that men sometimes wear as well . Or like a waistcoat tartan waistcoat .

Speaker 2 16:46

Okay , I read that Scotland's national animal is the unicorn .

Speaker 3 16:51

Is it correct ? Yeah , on the coat of arms you can see the lion , which represents England , and the unicorn , which represents Scotland . And the unicorn symbol actually goes back to like over a thousand years in Celtic mythology and it's meant to represent mysticism and purity and power . The thing is in the coat of arms you can actually see like that it's got chains around it and when I first saw that at Aberdeen Uni like there was a stone sculpture of the unicorn and chains and I asked about that and someone said that that was like to represent the oppression of England . But actually apparently that's not the case . It's just what sometimes people say about it , that actually it could represent the king at the time that was trying to get control over the lands , because the Highlanders and the people were like quite unruly . So it could be a king trying to get control or just be to do with a symbol . That's like a wild spirit and it's a way of taming it .

Speaker 2 18:03

Beautiful .

Speaker 3 18:04

Yeah , I like unicorns . Yeah , like unicorns too , I was just a bit surprised . Yeah , yeah , it's quite cool . What about in Sweden ? Is there a particular symbol there .

Speaker 2 18:16

I should probably look this up , because I have zero clue . We have lion in the Czech Republic , but I don't know if that's what we've done .

Speaker 3 18:24

Oh cool , yeah , lions are used quite a lot . The robber at the Bruce also has a flag which is a lion and , yeah , England uses that symbol as well .

Speaker 2 18:35

Yeah , and well . Can you ever see yourself living anywhere else ?

Speaker 3 18:39

Yeah , I can see myself staying in Scotland , but I'm definitely quite adventurous and I quite like to live somewhere else at some point . I don't really look that Scottish and I feel like I might blend in somewhere else like Spain , and it's also sunnier in Spain , so I don't know . I think I need to see how it goes Like . For now , I'm going to stay in Scotland , of course . Yeah .

Speaker 2 19:01

And also with the situation now and everything .

Speaker 3 19:03

Yeah , yeah , definitely , it's kind of hard to travel now .

Speaker 2 19:08

Yeah Well , thank you so much for sitting down with us today and telling us about your beautiful end .

Speaker 3 19:12

No worries . Thanks for inviting me .

Speaker 1 19:14

All the best in Sweden , and thank you to everyone who's listened to this episode as well , and I hope to see you next week . Bye .