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Hi! This sounds super interesting! Which game are you modding, sounds like something like Total War? I used to love that back in the day, I would definitely play a mod with some more realistic Scottish historical context!

You're right that this is a difficult area to research - the thing about this era is that the sources for Scotland are very sketchy - very few written records from this period survive, and a lot of it is translated through later witnesses. A lot of it is also apocryphal and not all of it ends up in the history books (though I added some links at the bottom to some good books if that's useful!).

That being said, there are definitely some colourful events that you could draw on in this period, one of huge upheaval and change in Scotland. And using a bit of license is totally OK - as long as you don't just make things up! - some of the best films about Medieval Scotland, like Braveheart, aren't 100% accurate.

So here are a couple of events off the top of my head you might be able to use, adapt, refer to etc. Hopefully other people in the sub can add details if I've forgotten any or got something incorrect!

​

1. The Fànne v. Dòbber Wars
   
   The Fànne - Dòbber Wars was a period of major conflict and violence between two tribes (the clans came a bit later) in Scottish history that marked an important early phase in the rise of Kenneth MacAlpin, sometimes seen as the first King of Scots. He was also a member of the Fànne tribe, and in fact is thought to have become Chief of the Fànnes while still quite young due to his military skill. At some point however, before Kenneth was born, the Fànne tribe split due to a dispute over heritage (very important in those days!), which saw one faction claiming rightful heritage of the lineage - known as the Pure Fànnes - whereas a second faction claimed feudal overlordship over all of the tribe. They have come to be known by historians as the Total Fànnes because of the breadth of their claim. Eventually the Pure Fànnes were successful in driving out their rivals, and so the Total Fànnes left the tribe and founded a new one, the Dòbbers (from the old Pictish words Dòb and Ur - 'glorious' and 'exile'). Because they never gave up their claims to their kinship, they came to be called the 'kin Dòbbers'.
   
   If we jump back to Kenneth MacAlpin, by the time he assumed leadership of the tribe these two tribes were basically at war. The 830s saw repeated, bloodthirsty clashes between the Pure Fànnes and the Kin Dòbbers without any resolution, until finally both sides, exhausted, decided to make peace. This was done at the foot of a mountain called Cúl Beag in the northwest Highlands, near modern-day Ullapool. You might have heard of a medieval tradition called the Kiss of Peace. Well Scotland had its own version of that, which was used at this occasion, called the 'Té' in Gaelic, so bearing in mind the location, the peace treaty between the Pure Fànnes and the Kin Dòbbers was known as the Tè Beag.
   
   Because the sources are very unclear we don't know exactly what this looked like, but it involved King Kenneth and the Chief of the Dòbbers, Avon Four Sail (a moniker which evidently refers to his maritime skills and mercantile wealth). The Té Beag is described in much later sources as 'an intimate gesture' (so perhaps not unlike the Kiss of Peace) that was 'performed in a squatting position close to the fundament'. It was followed by both sides breaking open several ritual casks of whisky (booze features in a lot of this history!) known as B'aw, from the Gaelic 'special' and 'drink'. Although we don't know exactly when this event took place, it's still said that 'B'aws were tasted that day'.
   
   ​
   
   
2. The Pumping of the Maws
   
   This isn't really a historical event per se, more of a kind of cultural anecdote that you might be able to use - hope it's still useful!
   
   So I'm sure you've heard the word 'maw' before, which usually refers to something like an opening, e.g. the mouth of a cave, but in Scotland it has several meanings. One of these is a kind of container or skin with a narrow opening (so a bit like the other definitions). It was mainly used to store alcohol - especially whisky, back in the day (told you there was a lot of booze! We Scots sure love to drink!). To give you an idea, the modern bagpipe is also built using a maw, so you can see the kind of dimensions I mean.
   
   Now you'll know already that although whisky has been made in Scotland for hundreds of years, it wasn't always done legally. Back in Medieval Scotland, the Crown used to try and tax whisky production in every household, so a lot of people used to make it secretly using their own equipment rather than a big, central still. And it was stored in maws - because they're flexible, they were easier to hide away than a big barrel or cask. This is a much later source, but it gives you an idea: illicit distilling.
   
   OK so in Medieval Scotland, a lot of villages were very remote, so the Royal Tax Collector used to visit only once a year - and as soon as he was gone, they knew they were in the clear for another 12 months! This led to a custom where everyone in the village would gather after the Royal Tax Collector had gone, put the whisky into casks (important for the maturing process) and clean out the maws with rudimentary pumping devices, ready for next time. This was a collective activity and became known as The Pumping of the Maws - basically, everyone in the village would bring their maw to the common grazing lands, see that each maw was properly pumped, and there would be inspections to make sure it was done correctly. Often clansmen would pump each others' maws for a measure of accountability, but it was common enough to pump one's own maw, too. Really skilful clansmen could actually pump numerous maws in one session - in some villages the one who got through the most would be ritually crowned the 'Méad Shaggháir' (from the Gaelic words Méad and Sheág, meaning 'enthusiastic' and 'efficient'). After all this, there would be a giant party where some of the whisky from the previous year would be cracked open and drunk while the freshly-pumped maws would dry out in the sun - great stuff!
   
   ***
   
   ​
   
   Sorry if that's a bit much detail, I can get a bit carried away with my enthusiasm for history sometimes! I hope it's useful anyway and that you might be able to use one or two details, even if the whole stories don't make it in.
   
   ​
   
   Finally some literature that you might find useful if you want to do some more research!
   
   Scotland: A New History by Michael Lynch - quite an old book now but it holds up well
   
   Scotland: The Story of a Nation by Magnus Magnusson
   
   ​
   
   I'd love to see some of these details make it into the mod - keep us posted!

• The first book (I believe) to be written using some Scottish dialect was Sunset Song and is considered to be a classic. I read it when I was younger and thought it was OK. I probably should give it another go though.
  
  
• A book I loved was How Late It Was How Late which captures the internal dialogue of a Glaswegian through his various trials and tribulations. It (controversially) won the Man Booker prize in 1994.
  
  
• I also loved The Testament of Gideon Mack by James Robertson. I can't remember if it is written in Scots, but I'm fairly sure it is. I think James Robertson is a great author and I've never read a duff book of his yet. I loved And the Land Lay Still. The Fanatic was really interesting and I'm currently reading Joseph Knight.
  
  
• Swing Hammer Swing! was pretty enjoyable.
  
  
• Budda Da was pretty good, worth a read.
  
  Good luck in finding something else you enjoy reading!
  

Wow so much love, thank you! And even bigger thank yous to those who went ahead and bought/downloaded it!! I hope you enjoy it as much as i am!

Showed dad and he thinks this is amazing and super grateful for all the kind comments... although he doesnt quite understand what reddit is and how people are commenting haha

Wee note re comments:
Currently only available to buy/download on amazon - https://www.amazon.com/Hopes-Dreams-Buster-John-Dickson-ebook/dp/B07PL9X4PY

His publisher is focused on ebooks so we've a bit more work to do to get it on shelves in bookstores abd chains (if you have an in for somewhere or want to stock please do message me! 😁). Book launch in a couple of weeks at local pub where he will be signed selling paper copies. Happy days!

Now standard copy/paste for anyone asking about learning:

> LearnGaelic.scot has a lot of good resources including a dictionary with IPA and sound files and a good free beginner's course. They also maintain a list of classes searchable by area.
>
> The best learners' books imo are:
>
> Teach Yourself: Complete Gaelic (Conversation / dialogue focused. Get the version with audio.)
> Scottish Gaelic in 12 Weeks (Hopelessly optimistic title but very good grammar focused book. Get the version with audio.)
> * Probably the best print dictionary for a beginner is the Essential Gaelic Dictionary
>
> BBC Radio nan Gàidheal do weekly magazine programme for learners called Beag air Bheag, which is available on iPlayer or as a podcast from iTunes etc. The series in general might be a little beyond you as an absolute beginner, but this episode and this episode are both beginners specials which will be helpful if you're just starting.
>
> Also well worth watching is Speaking Our Language, a dated but still good learner's TV programme (pretty much all episodes on Youtube there).
>
>And if you want to get serious, have a look at An Cùrsa Inntrigidh, a distance learning course from Sabhal Mòr Ostaig (UHI).

Here is an actual Pictish stone, reproduced for clarity. It's based on an actual pictish stone that has been significantly weathered by time.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/82/HiltonofCadboll01.JPG

There's a big difference between the vaguely Celtic, but cool, symbols on your Ankh-Cross (which again, I think is neat) and the symbols on that Pictish stone.

As for the meanings of the pictish stone symbols?

We haven't a fucking clue. We have a lot of guesses, but being that the Gaels of the Highlands are almost completely lost to history, their predecessors the Picts are one of the least-known people.

Now, there has been a lot of really, really cool Scholarship lately.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Discovery-Middle-Earth-Mapping/dp/039308163X <- The Discovery of Middle Earth points out a lot of the geometric logic the celts used, and points out a lot of lost history. And argues that it may be that the old celtic scrollwork has actual geometric or mathematical meaning.

I'm not sure if that's true, but it's a fascinating hypothesis.

There is a lot to be learned, but unfortunately, the archaeology has in general been either poorly done many years ago or very poorly funded and done recently as a labor of love.

And so there's much that we really don't know. There's a lot just waiting to be learned.

But the recent scholarship on the Celts, in France and Germany and in Ireland, Wales, and Scotland has opened our eyes to a number of facts that we didn't know before.

A sampling:

1. The Gauls were the richest people in Europe, which is why Julius Caesar invaded Gaul: he wanted their gold mines. Rome had run out of gold, and the only gold coins minted in western and southern Europe in the years just before Caesar's invasion bore names like Vercingetorix. It was only after his conquest of Gaul that the Romans started minting gold coins again.
   
   
2. The Gauls were the original road builders in Europe, with most Roman roads being built over older, wooden Celtic trackways. Identical, pre-roman trackways have been found in Ireland and Germany, and almost all Roman Roads in Britain and France are built using Celtic celestial geography.
   
   
3. Celtic Science, especially their use of astronomy and understanding of the calendar, was far more advanced than the Romans, and in some ways more advanced than the greeks. The Coligny calendar was the most accurate ancient calendar, and the best Lunar/Solar calender made probably until the advent of computers. It was extremely accurate, and also extremely complicated. But the Romans during Caesar's time were celebrating the fall harvest festival in the middle of August, so fucked was their calendar.
   
   
4. The Romans were liars, thieves, and marauders. They were less advanced than every culture around them, the Greeks, the Celts, the Carthaginians, in nearly every capacity. Save one: Warfare. The Romans were not the bringers of civilization and reason, they were marauding barbarians who destroyed more advanced cultures, and plundered not just their wealth, but their ideas, as well.
   
   We've learned all of this in the last 10-30 years. I'm looking forward to seeing what we can learn in the next hundred.

> I‘d like to throw in words such as Kuh, Tochter, kennen, or Nacht. You probably know how to pronounce them, no matter if you speak German.

This reminded me of a great anecdote in Billy Kay's important book 'Scots: The Mither Tongue'. I've uploaded it here for you: https://i.imgur.com/MtIyChd.png.

> given the choice between speaking closer to RP or Scots, I’d always opt for the latter as I have ties to Scotland

Hearing things like this increases my optimism about the future of the language. It wasn't that long ago we were trying to rid ourselves of it. Now we have foreign language speakers choosing to align more closely to it. That's a great thing to hear!

> Thank you for sharing!

Thank you! I really enjoyed reading your reply.

I'd really recommend getting one-on-one tuition so you don't pick up bad habits/techniques. But if you're set on teaching yourself, get the College of Piping Book 1 - it not only teaches you how to play but maintenance and everything else that goes along with bagpipes. If I remember correctly, I think there's three books which gradually get more advanced. You'll be able to get it in any music shop. YouTube is also a good source for tuition as well although a lot of the people making tutorials don't have the best technique themselves. Use your own judgement there: if it sounds shite, it probably is. Find someone who sounds like they know what they're talking about.
If you can, go into a bagpipe shop to get a chanter. Being more specialist, they'll be able to help you more than a generic music shop. Get a synthetic chanter for about £30 and absolutely don't get a cheap wooden one - it will sound awful and it will be hard for you to gauge any improvement.
Biggest piece of advice I can give you though is be patient. It will be difficult and frustrating so don't try and rush ahead. Take your time to learn the embellishments and finger techniques properly and that will set you up for playing well in the future. Reading music will come with time so don't worry about that. Good luck! And if you have any more questions, feel free to ask

I think you're going to suffer too much with broad strokes. All of the things you've mentioned have their own usecases really. You should focus on one of them and learn it before deciding whether you want to try another.

Although, you can also just do 'X vs Y' for all of those things you've mentioned and see articles on the differences between them as well as what they actually do.

Before you start any of the learning on any of those things though, you should definitely take one or two JS courses. Code School, Code Academy, Udemy all have great courses on Javascript. A couple of books I'd definitely recommend are Clean Code and Javascript, the Good Parts, I'd say these are ubiquitious and essential reading for any developer looking to get better.

Less and Sass are for doing stylesheets better. They basically introduce programming concepts like functions and variables into CSS.

Gulp and Grunt are task runners. Tests, minifying, linting and live previews can all be done with them.

Angular and React are basically front end frameworks built with flavours of JS. They introduce OO concepts into javascript and the MVVM/MVC way of working for the front end. The are markedly different from how they do things.

With the other things, there's basically a wealth of information for them.

Needless to say, you have a lot of reading and practicing to do. Luckily these days there's lots of examples and documentation for every one of the things you've mentioned.

For a good general overview of Scotland's history you can't go far wrong with Michael Lynch's Scotland: A New History and my dad says that Neil Oliver's book A History of Scotland is good as well. I've not read it myself, but given that it's aimed at a general audience instead of historians it's possibly more readable than Lynch's book.

For modern Scottish history Tam Devine's book The Scottish Nation: 1700-2007 is a pretty good start. I find him quite readable, but it's more of a social history than a dates and facts history. I've taken against him a bit lately as he keeps sticking his oar in whenever there's a social issue on the go (Rangers going into administration was the latest), but I can't fault him for his knowledge and research work. I've a lot of respect for him as a historian.

The articles on Scottish History on Wikipedia tend to be quite well written, researched and sourced so you might find more specific books and information from their footnotes.

Fuck agriculture too? http://i.imgur.com/kQf6JCq.jpg

Thankfully not a lot occurs on cold water coral in the UK nowadays- even the fishing industry themselves recognise the need to protect sensitive habitats http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/marine/marine-environment/mpanetwork/MPAMGT/Voluntary and there's a wider official network of marine protected areas to try and ensure damaging activities don't occur in damaging places.

But often the most consistently productive habitats for our fisheries are higher energy environments that can recover more quickly from the disturbance of bottom trawls (lots of quick growing food)- which is why they are repetitively productive fishing grounds. Of course, it's often in modified state, but can you really expect it not to be? Humans can't use it to produce food without any consequence. It's a question of protecting what we can and should, whilst recognising that some habitat has to be used for food production.

It's not is black and white. If a balanced and more nuanced assessment interests you then I can highly recommend this book http://www.amazon.co.uk/Overfishing-What-Everyone-Needs-Know/dp/0199798141 probably the best and easiest to digest book I've read on the subject.

The book Scots: The Mither Tongue by Billy Kay is a favourite of mine for information on the history,politics and current situation of the Scots language. As for learning the language there are books such as this and grammar guides such as this. There is also the Dictionary of the Scots Language which is an amazingly useful resource for native and learner alike found here. As for the issue of listening to Scots speakers so you can understand pronunciation i have no suggestion however i will have a search and contact you if i find a good solution to this. When brushing up on my own Scots i always found copying passages from English into Scots as being useful for both increasing vocabulary but also making the word choice more natural when i was using it in daily life, i myself ended up completing a good chunk of the KJV in Scots. While an endeavour like the KJV is by no means recommended by me, smaller passages from books/newspapers/back of beans tins copied into Scots daily can be useful practice.

Well it's never worked properly. Here's a short list of the problems we now face:

1. Inefficient coordination between governments.
   
2. Twice the administration needed for some programs provinces and the federal share powers.
   
3. Federal policies aiming to help specific provinces but also have adverse effects on other provinces.
   
4. Fiscal imbalance (no formal division of taxation powers)
   
5. Major divisions in public opinion on federal policies that are meant to be nationwide that coincidentally seem to follow the territorial limits of provinces.
   
   Federalism works well in countries that have a relatively uniform national identity and a common history. It may work for Scotland, but I really wonder what Scotland has to gain from it that it could not get if it were to become an independent country. The Quebec plan for independence has always included a formal partnership offer with Canada. It's a simple matter of treating as equals rather than as a subordinate to a superior power.
   
   I tried to be concise about the Constitutional Act 1982. It's more complex than that. If you want to know more about it, professor Guy Laforest's Trudeau and The End of A Canadian Dream is excellent.

Nice wee find! As an ex-pat, must share that Amazon Prime in the US does the same recipe bottles for $2.28 a bottle in a 12-pack. Also good for finding other UK treats.

https://www.amazon.com/Barrs-Originals-Soft-Drinks-Irn-Bru/dp/B00NPWVHAC/ref=sr_1_1_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1499344761&sr=8-1&keywords=Irn-bru

The only gift worth giving, https://www.amazon.co.uk/Scottish-Hat-Tam-Shanter-Hair/dp/B005CC49N0/

Love Glasgow, ordered a copy on kindle.

For the lazy:

Hopes And Dreams... And Buster Too https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07PL9X4PY/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_BmcVCbTBA9C8V

I really enjoyed this:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/History-Scotland-Neil-Oliver/dp/0753826631

Looks like you can buy it on Amazon.com (the US site) here and from looking at the pictures it appears to be manufactured in Glasgow, but an American label is applied, so should be the real deal.

US Amazon sells it

I really enjoyed Scotland: A New History, you can get it on Amazon for pennies.

It goes from the Scottish Wars of Independence to modern day Scotland.

Direct link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hopes-Dreams-Buster-John-Dickson-ebook/dp/B07PL9X4PY/