r/Scotland Sep 06 '23

Discussion "Where are you originally from?" comments.

721 Upvotes

Hello, I am just needing advice on a long term issue. Im black, lived in Scotland all her life (moved to Glasgow at 5 months) moved to Edinburgh when I was five and has been my primary residence ever since. Growing up I have had a lot of comments from people constantly asking me "where I am originally from?" So basically just judging me on my race. I know I am not ethnically Scottish (nor do I claim to be) but I know Scotland more than my own "country of origin" so when it comes to nationality yes I did claim to be Scottish. However when I tell people (especially older generations) they would tell me that I am not Scottish or tell me to go back where I come from blah blah blah... Its effected me to the point where I feel uncomfortable with my identity (I never immigrated here by choice.) When I go abroad and people ask me where I am from I just say "British" as its an easier term. This is not as severe but people sometimes assume me as a tourist, which is quite funny and awkward when I tell them that I live here. Yes I have the accent.

No I am not ashamed of my ethnicity either. I claim both sides of my nationality and I am happy talking about it to friends and people I'm close with. Im just tired of some random joe asking me "where I am originally from?" Like the only thing they care about that is im black and not the fact that I am a person who is a lot more than just a "race". Its tiresome just giving long explanations like this every time this question is asked. Whats your opinion/advice for this?

r/Scotland May 22 '24

Discussion I researched and geo-mapped 1,000 women and girls killed in Scotland (1922- 2022)

746 Upvotes

Hi all,

I posted a thread on Twitter about this map and also had a good experience posting on Reddit when I did similar maps for Ireland and Wales. I'm Irish, so helpful feedback would be to let me know if there's a pin in the wrong place or factual mistakes.

This Scottish map below isn't finished yet, I have names still to be added for every decade.

Map link: Women and Girls killed in Scotland (1922 - 2022)

The map is colour-coded and includes both male and female killers of women and girls.

YELLOW - Killed by partner or former partner
BLUE - Killed by family member or other person known to victim
GREEN - Killed by stranger or person not well known
RED - Unsolved / Nobody held responsible

There's over 100,000 words of description on the map, giving the following details:

-Date & Place of death
-Information about the victim, whether school, job, interests, hobbies
-Murderer/Killer
-Sentence

To give one example (TW: sexual assault on spoiled text)

Name: Jessie Gibson (34)
DIED: May 12th, 1964
Killed by: Hendrik Pals (29)
Sentence: 15 YEARS imprisonment for intentional homicide (Dutch law)
First appeal: Sentence quashed, replaced with 12 years imprisonment. 
Second appeal: Sentence quashed, replaced with 8 years imprisonment.
Notes:
1. Jessie lived at 165 Albert Avenue, Grangemouth.
2. After a night out, she was seen by multiple witnesses walking hand-in-hand with a Dutch seaman, Hendrik Pals, towards her house. 
3. It was alleged in court that he killed her after she refused to have sex with him and then fled the country.
4. A diplomatic row broke out between Scotland and Netherlands, with the Dutch accusing Scottish police of being "sluggish" and "inept".
5. Jessie's naked body was discovered by her neighbours children, 16 days after her death, in a manhole right outside her front door.
6. Dutch prosecutor wanted to know why Scottish police couldn't find a body right under their noses but small children on the street could.
7. Hendrik Pals extradition request was refused and he was prosecuted in a Dutch court under Dutch law.
8. His lawyers mounted one of the most ridiculous legal defences to the evil crime he committed.
9. They claimed he walked Jessie home and said goodnight. That the scratches on his face and broken teeth were due to a fist fight on the boat and not due to Jessie fighting for her life
10. Charge of rape was dropped due to insufficient evidence, as the body was badly decomposed by the time it was found.

Lastly for the hundreds of women murdered by their husband, I used their maiden name out of respect for their families.

All suggestions to improve a pin placement (in this format 55.97465, -3.25068) or correct factual errors are very welcome.

Ok well if anyone finds it interesting you're welcome to take a look.

r/Scotland Sep 23 '24

Discussion What is your take on The Overtoun Bridge phenomena? Why do so many dogs go insane on it and jump off?

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708 Upvotes

It’s honestly quite horrifying.

r/Scotland Jun 19 '24

Discussion Kingshouse hotel car park will be charging £20/4hrs and £100/night

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667 Upvotes

r/Scotland Jul 17 '24

Discussion Innis & Gunn are a horrible exploitative Edinburgh based company. Their business model relies on a high turnover, blatantly lying to staff and screwing them over.

823 Upvotes

Innis & Gunn are a horrible exploitative company in Edinburgh just wanted to post my experience to hopefully deter others from working for them.

I was lied to during my interview that I'd get full time hours working events all through the Summer. In the month I worked for them I ended up getting about 40 hours of work (a quarter of what I was promised). I kept telling myself it'd get better over the Summer (as I was also told by my manager).

Despite being promised work all through the Summer 2 days ago a message was put out about how they didn't need many staff for the rest of the events so they were terminating people's contract. No mention was made at all of them only needing the majority of people for 10 days. They left me in suspense for 2 days before firing me today. I don't know anyone who has still got a job with them.

It's a pretty disgusting and morally wrong business practice. They rely on a high turnover of staff (I barely met anyone who had worked for them before) each year. They lied to me and my coworkers to get us to accept a job offer and continue working for them. I've basically wasted a month and a half working for them when I could have been working for a much better employer that actually delivers on reliable hours and work. A life lesson has been learned from me that some employers don't care at all about their employees and I should be wary of this.

I understand they are perfectly within their legal rights to do this. However that still doesn't mean that it isn't an exploitative business practice. I was on a zero hour contract which seems to unfortunately be the norm in the hospitality industry. (As it's what I've been on in all 3 of my jobs)

The main reason I'm sharing this is to deter people from working for them in particular students. If you know anybody thinking of applying tell them don't! The job is nothing like what they make it to be.

r/Scotland Jan 26 '25

Discussion Scottish Colonies in North America

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550 Upvotes

I corrected the previous map posted by a reddit user 8 years ago, I will add my source down below. Feel free to point out any mistakes!

Charles island, In 1627 while accompanying England to the battle of Biscay against France, The acting Admiral High Admiral John Gordon of Lochinvar sailed to the West Indies, And founded the Scottish colony of Charles island, Now known as Floreana, One of the Galápagos Islands off the coast of Ecuador, in addition of founding this colony the Scot’s also seized and privateered french prizes.

(Sources) S. Murdoch, The Terror of the Seas?: Scottish Maritime Warfare, 1513–1713 (Leiden: Brill, 2010), ISBN 90-04-18568-2, p. 174.

The Scots also returned to the West Indies, with Lochinvar taking French prizes and establishing the Scottish colony of Charles Island.[39] - Scottish navy Wikipedia page

the Royal Scots Navy and accompanying contingents of burgh privateers participated in the major expedition to Biscay.[97] The Scots also returned to the West Indies, with Lochinvar taking French prizes and founding the colony of Charles Island on Floreana in the Galapagos Islands off Ecuador.[80] In 1629, two squadrons of privateers led by Lochinvar and William Lord Alexander, sailed for Canada, taking part in the campaign that resulted in the capture of Quebec from the French, which was handed back after the subsequent peace.—- the Royal Navy pre 1707 Wikipedia page.

———

Nova Scotia, in 1621 King James VI of Scotland granted a charter for the foundation of the colony to Sir William Alexander, The colony's charter, in law, made Nova Scotia (defined as all land between Newfoundland and New England (The Maritimes) or (Acadia)

Between 1622 and 1628, Sir William launched four attempts to send colonists to Nova Scotia, These all failed for various reasons. A successful settlement of Nova Scotia was finally achieved in 1629. The colony existed until England unlawfully ceded the colony to France in 1632 under the treaty of Suza. This treaty benefited England and France since England never lost any land. Scotland was an independent state, but shared the same monarch with England ever since the Union of crowns in 1603, which heavily favoured England. And since then Scotland has been neglected which is one of the reasons why our empire failed. https://www.britannica.com/place/Acadia

the King of Scotland granted Acadia to Sir William Alexander, under its new name of Nova Scotia. In 1629 a Scottish settlement was founded at Port Royal by Sir William, and 70 people were settled along the Annapolis Basin. Thirty settlers died the next winter, and most of the survivors returned to England in 1632, after the signing of the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (*) in which the British abandoned their attempts at colonization. Some of the Scottish settlers stayed behind, and married into French families. https://www.acadian.org/history/founding-acadian-people/

— East New Jersey, On 23 November 1683, Charles II granted a charter for the colony of New Jersey to 24 proprietors, 12 of whom were Scots. The colony was to be split between an English settlement in West Jersey and a Scottish settlement in East Jersey. The driving force among the Scots was Robert Barclay of Urie,[7] a prominent Quaker and the first Governor of East Jersey.

Scots began arriving in East Jersey in 1683 at Perth Amboy and spread south to Monmouth County. The city became the provincial capital in 1686.[8] During the 1680s, around 700 Scots emigrated to East Jersey,

(Source) “Scottish Colony" (PDF). Using the Records of East and West Jersey Proprietors. nj.gov. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 January 2012. Retrieved 1 March 2012.

https://www.cnrs-scrn.org/northern_mariner/vol30/tnm_30_155-166.pdf

——

Stuart’s town, Carolina.

Although the Province of Carolina was an English colony in the early 1680s, Sir John Cochrane of Ochiltree and Sir George Campbell of Cessnock negotiated the purchase of two counties for Scottish settlement. These were intended, with the support of the Earl of Shaftesbury, the leader of the Carolina Proprietors, to provide a haven for Covenanters, as they negotiated a guarantee of freedom of conscience and autonomous control of their colony,[9]: 31–32  which extended from Charles Town towards Spanish territory.

148 settlers arrived from Gourock to build a settlement at Port Royal, the site of former French and Spanish settlements. This was renamed by as Stuarts Town. The colony was later destroyed by the Spaniards in 1686

https://www.scotsman.com/heritage-and-retro/heritage/scotlands-forgotten-colony-in-america-that-was-burned-to-the-ground-2531651

https://scottishrecordsassociation.org/documents/scottish-archives/volume-27/joseph-wagner.pdf

——

Darien scheme

Scotland wanted Darien to establish a colony that would serve as a strategic trading hub between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, aiming to boost their economy and secure independence from England. The venture was seen as a way to create wealth and enhance Scotland's status in global trade.

England affected Scotland's efforts by withdrawing financial support and actively undermining the colony. They discouraged investors and cut off supplies, fearing that a successful Scottish colony would threaten English interests in the Americas. This lack of backing contributed significantly to the colony's failure.

Around 1,200 settlers initially went to Darien, located in present-day Panama. The harsh conditions, disease, and conflicts with indigenous peoples ultimately led to the collapse of the settlement.

https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofScotland/The-Darien-Scheme/

——

Darien, Georgia.

Darien, Georgia, was a settlement created by Englishman James Oglethorpe and his aide Captain George Dunbar who brought in 177 Scots settlers to the Province of Georgia. It was named after the previous failed settlement on the Isthmus of Panama, though it was, for a time, also known as "New Inverness"

https://electricscotland.com/history/america/darien.htm

r/Scotland Jan 12 '23

Discussion Found this at my Gran's house...

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1.8k Upvotes

"With folding map"

r/Scotland Jan 09 '25

Discussion I’m a teacher in Scotland. All Schools Should Stop Using Twitter

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840 Upvotes

r/Scotland Jan 11 '23

Discussion Bill Gates was asked about Scotland.

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1.2k Upvotes

r/Scotland Apr 11 '24

Discussion Has American tipping culture infected Scotland?

333 Upvotes

Has American tipping culture infected Scotland?

Let me preface this by saying I do tip highly for workers who do their job well but yesterday I was told that 10% was too low a tip for an Uber Eats delivery driver to even consider accepting delivery of my order? Tipping someone well before they have even started their job is baffling to me. Would you tip your barber/hairdresser before they have started cutting your hair? What's everyone else's thoughts on tipping culture?

r/Scotland Oct 27 '22

Discussion What’s a misconception about Scotland that you’re tired of hearing?

576 Upvotes

r/Scotland Jun 25 '24

Discussion "Yer face looks like a melted wellie".... what's the best Scottish insult you've heard?

264 Upvotes

Must be some Stoaters oot there...

r/Scotland Jan 10 '25

Discussion Was I just scammed?

180 Upvotes

I locked myself out of my flat tonight so calles a locksmith. When all was said and done the locksmith wanted to charge £960 for replacing a high security lock. The breakdown was off the top of his head on his phone calculator and he claimed he gave me a “discount” on the lock by £50 since I needed to replace it with the exact same one. When i asked repeatedly for the total before he was done he wasn’t clear except for the price of the lock itself which was £205 if i remember correctly, after discount. I regret not fighting him on it but I don’t know anything about locksmithing and it was off hours (9-10pm) and honestly the whole ordeal was a bit of a shock. Please advise?

Update: I called my bank and because it was a bank transfer they couldn’t do anything about it. So i’m speaking with the police and HMRC and hopefully can get something resolved. Thank y’all for your help and reassurance and suggestions, it really means a lot <3

r/Scotland Feb 12 '25

Discussion BBC Scotland News

161 Upvotes

Every time I watch BBC news, every single interview they do with the public, about whatever subject, the majority of people who are being interviewed are English. Particularly in the Highlands and Islands.

Why do you think this is? Is this because locals refuse to be filmed? Are English people just in the right place at the right time? Does the BBC actively seek them out? What is going on!

r/Scotland May 14 '21

Discussion The worst thing about /r/Scotland getting to the front page is all the wee auth-right pricks crawling out the woodwork

1.1k Upvotes

EDIT Something I want to clarify for a lot of people either new to this sub or not enjoying how pro-indy this sub is, but this sub Reddit's demographic is roughly young tech-using adults - which is the same sort of demographics for the SNP/Yes votes/Greens. This isn't a bad thing - yes it can lead to an echo chamber - but you can post here and disagree with SNP/Greens/Indy and still be upvoted because you didn't do it in a shite way.

r/Scotland Mar 01 '25

Discussion we need more scottish characters in media

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195 Upvotes

r/Scotland 12h ago

Discussion I think this cycle path layout in Stirling should be standard across Scotland, instead of the mess of confusion painted on our roads. Kerbs used for separation from both road and pavement. Neat.

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199 Upvotes

I went by it the other day and didn't get a photo, this is from this video : https://m.youtube.com/shorts/ 6ofUSLkbff4?cbrd=1

You can see the idiot drivers parked on it in the video, and irl I saw idiot cyclists on the pavement. Both should have their vehicles seized and turned into cubes. A standard cyclepath layout, delineation and proper enforcement would make it safer for us all.

(I am a pedestrian, cycler, and driver)

I don't know what the carbon footprint per cyclist would be for current or advanced roadworks putting lanes in. I'm sure it'd get more people on their bikes.

I prefer the sandy colour to the red too.

Well done, Stirling!

r/Scotland Dec 21 '22

Discussion People aged 16 and 17 to be allowed to change gender

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711 Upvotes

r/Scotland Jun 07 '24

Discussion Witnessed blatant racism several times, what's the deal?

205 Upvotes

In Glasgow and Stirling this week, and my friends and I saw/experienced some blatant rudeness and racism for absolutely no reason multiple times. Why is this tolerated here.

  1. Quietly walking down the street mid day and some local shouts at my black friend some short song and finished it with "hahaha black!"
  2. Woman took her phone right in my other black friend's face and took a picture
  3. 1st friend also got kicked out of a bar that we had already been to the night prior, but we had absolutely done nothing wrong whatsoever. (Called a guy out for shouting a racial slur, got booted instead of the racist)
  4. Witnessed a few other instances of white people beings rude to immigrants completely out of the blue.

For reference, I'm a white guy, but it was absolutely obvious how racist people were being towards my friends, who are very kind and quiet people. It's so disappointing. Why is Scotland like this?

Edit: I think it's interesting how many people are straight up calling me a liar. These things happened and I wouldn't lie about it. Most of you are good people, several of you are very misinformed people.

r/Scotland Sep 27 '24

Discussion 65 UK nightclubs have closed in 2024 in “unprecedented crisis”

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252 Upvotes

Scotland lost 42 nightclubs, leaving behind only 83 venues with a 34 per cent decrease.

r/Scotland Jan 02 '25

Discussion Which town/city in Scotland do you think gets a harsh reputation?

78 Upvotes

I often read threads here or on other UK subs about towns/cities that are complete dives, so I thought I’d change it up as I’m quite interested in a lot of the towns that are often decried online. There’s a few in Scotland especially that I thought got a bit of a hard time having visited them myself.

I’m not saying it even needs to be a really nice place, just somewhere that gets a bit of a rough time. If you judge a town from its high street, you’re going to struggle to find many you like!

r/Scotland 2d ago

Discussion Who’s your favourite famous Scot who isn’t a household name?

82 Upvotes

Basically anyone who’s perhaps famous in their field but not everyone would have heard of them. I’m into history and ww2 aircraft so for me it’s Eric “Winkle” Brown, I was talking to my colleagues today and was surprised none of them except for one have heard the name before; which is surprising given he’s considered by some to be the greatest pilot to have ever lived. For those who’ve also never heard the name:

https://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/usbiography/b/ericbrown.html

I read his biography and often thought to myself “if this was fiction I’d say the author has overdone it because that can’t be real”.

r/Scotland Oct 17 '23

Discussion What's up with the wave of landlords selling flats?

335 Upvotes

I'm a PhD student in Edinburgh and I've been living in my current flat for 3 years. Just recently my landlord called to tell me that they want to sell the flat and I have 3 months to find something else. Now I live in a one bedroom flat, but I've been checking places, and rent for a room in a shared flat costs more than what I pay for my current flat... Which is giving me massive anxiety since I have to live on a student stipend for a while still. Apparently, this is happening to a lot of people, and I wonder why suddenly all these landlords want to sell the properties. Are they really selling or are they just wanting to evict tenants to rent flats at the current, much higher rates? I don't want to think ill of my landlords, they're landlords but they've been fairly nice to me these past years, but obviously losing my home is a hard time and I can't help but wonder if we aren't, as always, being victims of this predator system that only values money.

Just a quick edit to appreciate how easy it is to judge a person just from a tiny snippet of information. To be honest, I mostly just wanted to rant a bit to cope with an awful situation, because it's appaling just how terrible the system is. But also thank you to everyone who's actually given useful input in the comments, I hope this can be of use to more people going through a similar situation, so I'm just going to leave here a couple useful links for anyone that needs them and hope you all have a nice rest of your day :)

Your rights if your landlord is selling https://scotland.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/eviction/landlord_selling

Wrongful termination of your tenancy https://www.mygov.scot/emergency-measures-private-tenants/unlawful-evictions#:~:text=If%20your%20landlord%20gets%20a,or%20only%20one%20of%20them.

The First-tier Tribunal for Scotland Housing and Property Chamber https://www.mygov.scot/organisations/the-first-tier-tribunal-for-scotland-housing-and-property-chamber

r/Scotland Jun 08 '24

Discussion Scottish people need to stop apologizing for the weather.

438 Upvotes

I visited Scotland last month. Stayed in Edinburgh on the royal mile. Went to St Andrews and Dunbar. The weather was a mixed bag during my 6 days. Some fog, rain, humid, cold, and luckily enough, even some sun.

During the less opportune weather I found myself being apologized to from locals once they heard my American accent. They were extremely friendly though I could only understand half of what was said. Conversing with a Scot is a linguistic adventure.

But i f I wanted a tropical retreat I would’ve went to Hawaii. Dont apologize. Your country is beautiful in any weather. If tourists are complaining about not enough sun they can always take a trip to the Sahara. The trip was wonderful and exceeded my already lofty expectations. I recomend to anyone. Just pack a rain jacket and comfy trainers

r/Scotland Sep 13 '23

Discussion This is why I hate landlords in this country. What's the most jaw dropping demand for an average flat to rent that you've come across here?

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489 Upvotes