View Full Version : Scottish genius?
I'm not a Scot but....
Just to mention a few names:
Gordon Brown, Alex Ferguson, Billy Connelly, Andy Murray, Colin McRae, KT Tunstall, etc. etc.
Is there something in the Scottish water that inspires genius and/or ambition to achieve?
Surely for such a small country it's mark on the world scene is quite outstanding?
Is it the porage? ;)
John Williams, born Glasgow, developed the vaccine against smallpox.
Alexander Graham Bell, born in Edinburgh, invented the telephone.
John Logie Baird, born Helensburgh, invented the television.
John Boyd Dunlop, born Scotland, patented the pneumatic tyre.
Mrs Keiller, born Dundee, invented marmalade.
Charles MacIntosh, born Glasgow, patented the raincoat.
John Loudon MacAdam, born Ayr, invented tarmac road surface.
John Chalmers, born Dundee, invented the adhesive stamp.
Robert Louis Stevenson, born Edinburgh, wrote the world famous book treasure island.
Patrick Ferguson, born Scotland, invented the breech-loading rifle.
James Simson, born Bathgate, was the first man to use chloroform.
William Symington born Lanarkshire, was the first man to propel a boat by steam.
James watt, born Greenock, Scotland, invented the modern steam engine.
Alexander Fleming, born in Ayrshire, Scotland, discovered penicillin.
Kirkpatrick MacMillan, born Thorhill, Scotland invented the bicycle.
John Paul Jones, born in Scotland, founded the American navy.
Alan Pinkerton, born in Glasgow, 1819, founded the world famous detective agency in the U.S.A.
John Law, born in Edinburgh, founded the Bank of France.
William Paterson, born Dumfries, founded the Bank of England.
William Smith, born in Thurso, Scotland, founded the Boys Brigade.
Samuel Craig from Inverkething founded the Russian navy.
The first Prime Minister of Australia was Andrew Fisher, born in Lanarkshire , Scotland.
James McDonald, born in Dundee , Scotland, was the voice for Mickey Mouse for over 40 years.
Patrick Gordon from Aberdeen was Peter the Great's adviser in Russia
Charles Cameron from Aberdeen designed many buildings in Leningrad during the reign of Catherine the Great
Scotland is the only country in the World to invade England twice.
Well there must something in the water .... or maybe its the Irn Bru !!;)
xx_chickie
13-Nov-07, 12:16
John Williams, born Glasgow, developed the vaccine against smallpox.
Alexander Graham Bell, born in Edinburgh, invented the telephone.
John Logie Baird, born Helensburgh, invented the television.
John Boyd Dunlop, born Scotland, patented the pneumatic tyre.
Mrs Keiller, born Dundee, invented marmalade.
Charles MacIntosh, born Glasgow, patented the raincoat.
John Loudon MacAdam, born Ayr, invented tarmac road surface.
John Chalmers, born Dundee, invented the adhesive stamp.
Robert Louis Stevenson, born Edinburgh, wrote the world famous book treasure island.
Patrick Ferguson, born Scotland, invented the breech-loading rifle.
James Simson, born Bathgate, was the first man to use chloroform.
William Symington born Lanarkshire, was the first man to propel a boat by steam.
James watt, born Greenock, Scotland, invented the modern steam engine.
Alexander Fleming, born in Ayrshire, Scotland, discovered penicillin.
Kirkpatrick MacMillan, born Thorhill, Scotland invented the bicycle.
John Paul Jones, born in Scotland, founded the American navy.
Alan Pinkerton, born in Glasgow, 1819, founded the world famous detective agency in the U.S.A.
John Law, born in Edinburgh, founded the Bank of France.
William Paterson, born Dumfries, founded the Bank of England.
William Smith, born in Thurso, Scotland, founded the Boys Brigade.
Samuel Craig from Inverkething founded the Russian navy.
The first Prime Minister of Australia was Andrew Fisher, born in Lanarkshire , Scotland.
James McDonald, born in Dundee , Scotland, was the voice for Mickey Mouse for over 40 years.
Patrick Gordon from Aberdeen was Peter the Great's adviser in Russia
Charles Cameron from Aberdeen designed many buildings in Leningrad during the reign of Catherine the Great
Scotland is the only country in the World to invade England twice.
Well there must something in the water .... or maybe its the Irn Bru !!;)
Good investigative work, weestraw! And yes, keep up the Irn Bru, everyone! :lol:
Closer to home. Alexander Bain [Watten] invented the electric clock
Closer to home. Alexander Bain [Watten] invented the electric clock
Bain was born in Watten (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watten%2C_Highland), Caithness (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caithness), Scotland (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotland). Bain's father was a crofter (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crofter). Bain had a twin sister, Margaret, and, in total, he had six sisters and six brothers. Bain did not excel in school. He was apprenticed in the art of clockmaking to a clockmaker in Wick (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wick%2C_Caithness) and moved eventually to Edinburgh (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edinburgh) and then in 1837 to London (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London) (Clerkenwell (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clerkenwell)). Bain frequented the lectures at the Polytechnic Institution and the Adelaide Gallery (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Adelaide_Gallery&action=edit). Bain later constructed his own workshop for building instruments which was at Hanover Street.
His first patent was in October 1840 for the first electric clock (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_clock), followed by a patent in January 1841 for one with a pendulum (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pendulum) kept in motion by electromagnetic (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic) impulses. He went on to design a number of electric clocks and the earth battery (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_battery) to supply them with a reasonably stable and constant current of low electromotive force (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromotive_force) (or voltage (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voltage)). He also developed the automatic telegraph (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telegraph), electrical timepieces, and insulation for electric cables (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Electric_cable&action=edit), an electric fire alarm (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_alarm), inkstands (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inkstand), ink holders (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ink_holder&action=edit), and a form of ship's log (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ship%27s_log).
Bain's ideas on electrical horology (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horology) were incorporated in five UK (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UK) patents taken out during the period 1841 to 1852, and these also include much of his work on telegraphy. In 1842, he transmitted a first image over a wire and went on to patent the facsimile machine in May 1843. His fax machine relied also on the movement of a pendulum. Initially Bain made a considerable sum from his inventions but, due to poor investments, he was eventually supported only by his Civil List (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_List) pension of £80 per year.
NickInTheNorth
13-Nov-07, 13:23
There's mention of Robert Louis Stevenson, as an author, but what an incredible family of engineers, responsible for virtually all the major lighthouses in Scotland, and their inventions in the field were used far and wide.
It's definately the IRN BRU. It's made in Scotland - from Girders. Te he.[lol]:roll:
love the avatar johno :cool:
Billy Boy
13-Nov-07, 16:17
and what about "oor wullie" "Jings! Crivvens! Help ma Boab!". he's got to be one of scotland's famous legends :D
Metalattakk
13-Nov-07, 16:41
I'm not a Scot but....
Is it the porage? ;)
Nope, it's the spelling.
Scotland is the only country in the World to invade England twice.
I would have thought that invading anyone twice wouldn't be something worth crowing about.
Scotland is the only country in the World to invade England twice.
Oh my, now what will Fred make of that [lol]
DeHaviLand
13-Nov-07, 16:55
and what about "oor wullie" "Jings! Crivvens! Help ma Boab!". he's got to be one of scotland's famous legends :D
but hardly a genius :confused
but hardly a genius :confused
Aye that's true. I always looked at Oor Wullie and wished he would just grow up!!
Its a bit off the thread but Robert Louis Stevenson's house in Wick is rather a mess. I went past it on sunday and saw the plaque on the wall but the house is boarded up and run down ! Would have thought it would have been worth trying to keep it in some form of good order just for posterity !
I would have thought that invading anyone twice wouldn't be something worth crowing about.
Aye and it's like the Football Scores, you only ever hear about the wins and not the times it wis poot right up yee!!
Oh my, now what will Fred make of that [lol]
Unless Geordie MacBush was somehow involved, I would say, not a lot ;)
Unless Geordie MacBush was somehow involved, I would say, not a lot ;)Are you saying that there may have been a Conspiracy then? [lol]
Nope, it's the spelling.
<snip>
I thought Scots got irony? ;)
Had a French friend staying with us, and offered him a cafetiere of coffee, he joked and said "how do I use this?" - I said "you must know; it's French". "Oh not it's not" he says "it was invented by a Scottish lady".
Anyone know if this is true?
I'm not a Scot but....
Just to mention a few names:
Gordon Brown, Alex Ferguson, Billy Connelly, Andy Murray, Colin McRae, KT Tunstall, etc. etc.
Is there something in the Scottish water that inspires genius and/or ambition to achieve?
Surely for such a small country it's mark on the world scene is quite outstanding?
Is it the porage? ;)
Och, I think it's more likely to be the water than the porridge, Saveman! ;)
Nobody's mentioned our national poet Robert Burns yet, as far as I can see. Nor historical novelist and poet, Sir Walter Scott. Then there's Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, author of the Sherlock Holmes books. And we musn't forget geologist Hugh Miller, and geologist and botanist Robert Dick. Robert Dick was born in Clackmannanshire, but moved north to Thurso as a young man.
I'm not a Scot but....
Just to mention a few names:
Gordon Brown, Alex Ferguson, Billy Connelly, Andy Murray, Colin McRae, KT Tunstall, etc. etc.
Is there something in the Scottish water that inspires genius and/or ambition to achieve?
Surely for such a small country it's mark on the world scene is quite outstanding?
Is it the porage? ;)For such a small country we have contributed so much to world society as a whole and I am proud to have been born a scot, as a race we have been an unmeasurable success.
peter macdonald
13-Nov-07, 20:44
"Nobody's mentioned our national poet Robert Burns yet,"
Sporran ..if you think of it Auld lang Syne must be the most international of all songs but I wonder how many people know it was Burns who wrote it????
Scottish thinkers and scientists Francis Hutcheson, David Hume, Adam Smith, Adam Ferguson, and James Hutton from the "Enlightenment"
Sir John A MacDonald from Rogart was the 1st Prime minister of Canada
Nearer home Dane Sinclair from Brickigoe invented the office switchboard
"The new manager of BI&H, Mr Dane Sinclair, could see that this was the way of the future. He had actually patented an automatic switchboard in Britain in 1883 and was well placed to judge the efficiency of the Strowger design. He had been Engineer-in-Chief of the National Telephone Company, giving him experience of the competing Gilliland, Betulander and Lorimer systems and he knew their deficiencies. He urged the company to get the British rights to the Strowger system."
PM
My personal favourites are drawn mainly from the Scottish Enlightenment (and the period just after it)...
Joseph Black - chemist
Adam Ferguson - philosopher
David Hume - philosopher
James Hutton - father of modern geology
James Clerk Maxwell - physicist
Adam Smith - economist/philosopher
Thomas Telford - ye ken him!
A few favourites from a wee bittie later...
The Brahan Seer
David Livingstone
Sir Thomas Lipton
James Keir Hardie
Charles Rennie Mackintosh
Andrew Carnegie
John Muir
Kenny Dalglish
Ewan McGregor & David Tennant ;)
The 'other half' are a wee bittie harder to find. [disgust]
Moi x
DeHaviLand
14-Nov-07, 01:41
J K Rowling, Evelyn Glennie, Mary Somerville, Elsie Inglis. Theres some "other halfs" for you :D
alanatkie
14-Nov-07, 01:44
Loving this thread. My daughter came home & had to think of a famous scot to write about & i could only give her a few suggestions so she was really pleased when today i gave her more. Thanks to all of you :D
J K Rowling, Evelyn Glennie, Mary Somerville, Elsie Inglis. Theres some "other halfs" for you :DGolly gosh, I didn't know Mary Somerville was Scottish. Thank you kind sir.
Moi x
Jeemag_USA
14-Nov-07, 03:16
John Williams, born Glasgow, developed the vaccine against smallpox.
Alexander Graham Bell, born in Edinburgh, invented the telephone.
John Logie Baird, born Helensburgh, invented the television.
John Boyd Dunlop, born Scotland, patented the pneumatic tyre.
Mrs Keiller, born Dundee, invented marmalade.
Charles MacIntosh, born Glasgow, patented the raincoat.
John Loudon MacAdam, born Ayr, invented tarmac road surface.
John Chalmers, born Dundee, invented the adhesive stamp.
Robert Louis Stevenson, born Edinburgh, wrote the world famous book treasure island.
Patrick Ferguson, born Scotland, invented the breech-loading rifle.
James Simson, born Bathgate, was the first man to use chloroform.
William Symington born Lanarkshire, was the first man to propel a boat by steam.
James watt, born Greenock, Scotland, invented the modern steam engine.
Alexander Fleming, born in Ayrshire, Scotland, discovered penicillin.
Kirkpatrick MacMillan, born Thorhill, Scotland invented the bicycle.
John Paul Jones, born in Scotland, founded the American navy.
Alan Pinkerton, born in Glasgow, 1819, founded the world famous detective agency in the U.S.A.
John Law, born in Edinburgh, founded the Bank of France.
William Paterson, born Dumfries, founded the Bank of England.
William Smith, born in Thurso, Scotland, founded the Boys Brigade.
Samuel Craig from Inverkething founded the Russian navy.
The first Prime Minister of Australia was Andrew Fisher, born in Lanarkshire , Scotland.
James McDonald, born in Dundee , Scotland, was the voice for Mickey Mouse for over 40 years.
Patrick Gordon from Aberdeen was Peter the Great's adviser in Russia
Charles Cameron from Aberdeen designed many buildings in Leningrad during the reign of Catherine the Great
Scotland is the only country in the World to invade England twice.
Well there must something in the water .... or maybe its the Irn Bru !!;)
You missed out a few, Alexander Bain and McAdam for two. I always get people over here in the USA making fun of me and I always remind them that without us you probably may not have the telephone, TV, Asphalt (Tar McAdam), Microwave, Fax Machine, Penecillin in fact if you took the Scots away then USA would grind to a halt and not be able to function.
Let me see, no communication, nothing to watch, no road surfaces to drive on, nothing to cook your TV dinners in !!!
Thanks for your post though, I learned something very interesting, I knew about John Paul Jones but I did not know that a Scot founded both the US and Russian Navies, thats cool!
http://forum.caithness.org/images/misc/progress.gif
Scotland is the only country in the World to invade England twice.
Well there must something in the water .... or maybe its the Irn Bru !!;)The Scots invaded England more than twice without question.
Robert de Brus was busy at one time burning towns in Lancashire.
King James VI had a brainstorm, felt bored and decided it might be fun to invade south for a bit of excitement. I won't say much about his brain power but I think blowing himself up with one of his own cannons at Flodden might give you a clue.
Then there were The Pretenders (No, not the pop group!) in both 1715 and ’45.
And that's not even thinking about the hooligans along the Border, on both sides of it that is. I suspect they just enjoyed a good fight. When they weren’t raiding on another across the Border, which never meant much to them in any case, they were fighting amongst themselves.
I don’t know about the Irn Brew, I have always put it down to something in the water making Scots slow learners. My own suspicion is it is though taking too much whiskey in their water! Hic! :Razz
I wouldn't say too much about Macadam either, you will have the Eco-warriors boycotting you before you know it!
Perhaps I should admit that I got thrown out of my History Classes for being a "disruptive influence"!
Here's tae us!
Wha's like us?
"Damn few and they're a' deed" :D
J K Rowling, Evelyn Glennie, Mary Somerville, Elsie Inglis. Theres some "other halfs" for you :D
J K Rowling is English, not Scottish!!! :Razz
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J_K_Rowling (http://forum.caithness.org/go.php?url=http://forum.caithness.org/go.php?url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J_K_Rowling)
In the world of sport how about the late great Colin Macrae?, Jim Baxter(the 67 keepie uppies are legendary),Jim Watt, Denis law or Kenny Dalglish
In recent years Stephen Hendry,Lord McCoist of Bellshill to name but two.
I am not a scots genius but according to my IQ test I am an "above average" scot!!!! :) (121)
Gives me something to aim for!
James Bremner
from wick???????? surely not!!!!!! :)
James Bremner was born in Keiss,
He was indeed an extraordinary man and well known for being a Wreck Raiser..... SS Gt Britain was one of the great ships he rescued when Brunel was not able to .
You will find more about him if you google james Bremner
There is also something here on caithness.org about this great Caithness man.
On page 5 I started a thread called COAST - have a look.
If you live in Wick you will have noticed the monument in his honour by the braehead.
Cedric Farthsbottom III
14-Nov-07, 20:31
See oor Wullie was like life today not purely Scottish but multi-national.It was written originally by Scots,but drawn by an English man Dudley D Watkins.Crackin drawer he was too.Ma Scottish genius must be Robert Burns,he could put down in words the exact measure of what he felt himself and folk could see what he meant.
George Brims
14-Nov-07, 20:45
In the world of sport how about the late great Colin Macrae?, Jim Baxter(the 67 keepie uppies are legendary),Jim Watt, Denis law or Kenny Dalglish
In recent years Stephen Hendry,Lord McCoist of Bellshill to name but two.
I am not a scots genius but according to my IQ test I am an "above average" scot!!!! :) (121)
Gives me something to aim for!
For goodness sake, you missed out Jim Clark! Greatest. Driver. Ever.
George Brims
14-Nov-07, 20:55
The Scots invaded England more than twice without question.
Robert de Brus was busy at one time burning towns in Lancashire.
King James VI had a brainstorm, felt bored and decided it might be fun to invade south for a bit of excitement. I won't say much about his brain power but I think blowing himself up with one of his own cannons at Flodden might give you a clue.
Perhaps I should admit that I got thrown out of my History Classes for being a "disruptive influence"!
May be you should have listened instead! The king who died at Flodden was James IV, not VI (though maybe that's just a mistake from two-fingered typing like I do myself). The one that was blown up by his own cannon was James II.
Phoebus_Apollo
15-Nov-07, 01:54
I'm not a Scot but....
Just to mention a few names:
Gordon Brown, Alex Ferguson, Billy Connelly, Andy Murray, Colin McRae, KT Tunstall, etc. etc.
Is there something in the Scottish water that inspires genius and/or ambition to achieve?
Surely for such a small country it's mark on the world scene is quite outstanding?
Is it the porage? ;)
KT Tunstall - Genius - are not two words I would put in the same sentence,paragraph or even book!!
highlander
19-Nov-07, 16:19
Was clearing out some old letters today and came across this.
Wha's like us?
The average Englishman in the home he calls his casle, slips into his national costume~ a shabby raincoat~patented by chemist Charles Macintosh from Glasgow, Scotland. En route to his office he strides along the English lane, surfaced by John Macadam of Ayr, Scotland.
He drives an English car fitted with tyres invented by John Boyd Dunlop of Dreghorn, Scotland.
At the office he receives the mail bearing adhesive stamps invented by John Chalmers of Dundee, Scotland.
Durling the day he uses the telephone invented by Alexander Graham Bell born in Edinburgh, Scotland. At home in the evening his daughter pedals her bicycle invented by Kirkpatrick Macmillan, blacksmith of Dunfries, Scotland.
He watches the news on tv and invention of John Logie Baird of Helensburgh, Scotland. and hears an item about the U.S. Navy, founded by John Paul Jones
of Kirkbean, Scotland.
Hehas by now been reminded too mush of Scotland and in desperation he picks up the bible only to find that the first man mentioned in the good book is a scot~King James VI~who authorised its translation.
Nowhere can an Englishman turn to escape the ingenuity of the Scots.
He could take to drink but the Scots make the best in the world.
He could take a rifle and end it all but the breech~loading rifle was invented by Captain Partick Ferguson of Pitfours,Scotland.
If he escaped death he could find himself on an operating table injected with penicillin discovered by Alexander Fleming of Darvel, Scotland and given an anaesthetic, discovered by Sir James Young Simpson of Bathgate, Scotland.
Out of the anaesthetic he would find no comfort in learning that he was as safe as the Bank of England founded by William Paterson of Dunfries, Scotland. Perhaps his only remaining hope would be to get a transfusion of guid scottish blood wih would entitle him to ask~ "WHA'S LIKE US"
weedonald
19-Nov-07, 19:11
Tommy Douglas.
Camel Spider
19-Nov-07, 19:20
I'm not a Scot but....
Just to mention a few names:
Gordon Brown, Alex Ferguson, Billy Connelly, Andy Murray, Colin McRae, KT Tunstall, etc. etc.
Is there something in the Scottish water that inspires genius and/or ambition to achieve?
Surely for such a small country it's mark on the world scene is quite outstanding?
Is it the porage? ;)
There are many Scots I would clasify as a Genius but Gordon Brown aint one of them !!
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