Q-Aye! – The Scottish Facts You Need To Know | Part 6
Put yourself to the test with our list of 30 essential weird and wonderful Scotland facts. How many do you know?
Oops! Charles Dickens’ mistake created a literacy world legend.
26. The character of Scrooge was created when Charles Dickens misread a gravestone in an Edinburgh cemetery. Dickens was horrified by the apparently hard-hearted inscription of ‘Meanman’ on businessman Ebenezer Scroggie’s tombstone. However, it actually read ‘Mealman’ in recognition of Scroggie’s successful career as a corn trader. Thus a legend was born!
27. The buttons on the sleeves of traditional Highland dress have their origins in the British army. They were introduced to stop soldiers wiping their noses on their sleeves.
28. It is still an offence to be intoxicated and in charge of a cow in Scotland. It allegedly carries a penalty fine of up to £1,200 excluding the costs of looking after the cow, horse, etc.
29. Football was introduced to World Cup winners Argentina by Alexander Hutton, a Scottish teacher, in 1892.
30. The world’s first infant school was founded in 1817 in New Lanark.
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