Scotland is a unique and austere place, laden with history, where you can find aristocratic palaces and castles,as well as the traditional parades in national costumes. It has some of the most beautiful cities in Europe, a living testimony of a proud and splendid past.

In order to see and diScover the true soul of Scotland today,what forged the character of this splendid region, we have to go towards the northern regions, to the Grampian Mountains.Beautiful and unspoiled, it was difficult to farm. The Scots subdued the environment with simple spades and strong arms.

The history of this ancient struggle, and its people's ancient love affair with the hard land, is enclosed within the walls of the Angus Folk Museum. You are able to get a feel of the typical rural atmosphere of times past from the everyday artifacts displayed here.

One of the attraction here is a legendary monster: the Loch Ness Monster. Is it real or imaginary, this monster,which has been nicknamed Nessie, has collected a good 3,000 sightings over the last 50 years. To fuel the debate about the monster, and perhaps also curiosity about the lake, a price of 500,000 pounds sterling has been pur on Nessie's head.

The true flag of Scotland, tartan, is recognizable from the brightly coloured plaid patterns which are used to distinguish the various clans. Over the last few decades this fabric has made a comeback and is part of the daily life of this country.

The typical Scottish garment, the kilt, is de rigeur when the Scots play the Great Highland bagpipes, especially when they march in parades.

Bagpipes and dancing open the competitions of local sporting events, which are called Highland Gatherings. The games, which have strange rules, involve a spirit that has more to do with brute force than with athletics.

參考中文譯文

蘇格蘭是一個獨(dú)特的地方，自然條件惡劣，但是這個國家的歷史卻十分悠久。豪門望族的府邸與城堡盡在眼前，儀仗隊(duì)的士兵也穿著傳統(tǒng)服飾。這里有全歐洲最美的城市，訴說著蘇格蘭昔日的榮耀和輝煌。

想要探尋真正的蘇格蘭精神，造就這一絢麗地區(qū)的精神，就得去北部的格蘭扁山區(qū)。格蘭扁山區(qū)景色怡人，還沒有受到現(xiàn)代文明的污染。格蘭扁一度不適合耕作，倔強(qiáng)的蘇格蘭人，憑著勤勞的雙手和簡單的工具征服了這片土地。? ??

蘇格蘭先祖的艱苦勞作與他們自古對這片貧瘠土地的眷戀，在安格斯民俗博物館里一覽無余。從這里展出的平常物品，讓你可以感受到往日鄉(xiāng)間的氛圍。? ?

這里游人如織的一個原因是傳說中的尼斯湖水怪。真假姑且不論，這個昵稱“Nessie”的水怪在過去的半個世紀(jì)中已經(jīng)吸引了3，000余名游客。如今它頭上有五十萬英鎊的懸賞，使得學(xué)術(shù)界的爭論日益激烈，也引起了游客關(guān)于尼斯湖的好奇心。??

蘇格蘭格子呢是蘇格蘭真正的標(biāo)志。它顯著的花格子圖案曾經(jīng)是區(qū)分不同宗族的標(biāo)志。在過去幾十年里，格子呢在蘇格蘭再度流行，如今則已在日常生活中不可或缺。? ??

蘇格蘭傳統(tǒng)的褶裙按照禮節(jié)是應(yīng)該在演奏高地風(fēng)笛時穿的，尤其是列隊(duì)前進(jìn)的時候。?

高地風(fēng)笛與利爾舞揭開了高地運(yùn)動盛會的序幕；運(yùn)動會的比賽項(xiàng)目規(guī)則奇特，與其說是田徑比賽，不如說是大力士的較量。