WEBVTT - How to Make a Scottish Tartan (Without Going to Scotland!) 0:00:07.880 --> 0:00:08.560 Glascope. 0:00:14.560 --> 0:00:17.880 You're listening to part time Genius, the production of Kaleidoscope 0:00:18.120 --> 0:00:25.360 and iHeartRadio. Guess what, Well, what's that mango? So if 0:00:25.360 --> 0:00:28.160 it weren't for a nineteenth century Scottish scientist, my career 0:00:28.240 --> 0:00:29.600 right now would be completely different. 0:00:29.880 --> 0:00:30.960 And what do you mean by that? 0:00:31.640 --> 0:00:34.159 Well, this particular invention is something you hear mentioned at 0:00:34.159 --> 0:00:36.599 the beginning of all the podcasts I work on these days. Oh, 0:00:36.680 --> 0:00:38.960 like Kaleidoscope, right, that's right, it's the name of the 0:00:39.000 --> 0:00:41.040 podcast network I co founded. And it turns out that 0:00:41.040 --> 0:00:43.440 the kalidoscope was invented by a guy named David Brewster. 0:00:43.640 --> 0:00:45.720 He was born in the southern Uplands of Scotland and 0:00:45.760 --> 0:00:48.640 attended the University of Edinburgh. He actually became a minister 0:00:48.680 --> 0:00:50.920 at first, but his lifelong passion for science, particularly the 0:00:50.960 --> 0:00:53.400 science of light, inspired him to study optics, and in 0:00:53.440 --> 0:00:56.120 eighteen fourteen, while doing an experiment that involved bouncing light 0:00:56.160 --> 0:00:58.400 between plates of glass, he noticed that if the glass 0:00:58.400 --> 0:01:00.760 was placed at specific angles, it actually created the striking 0:01:00.840 --> 0:01:03.279 symmetrical patterns, and he decided to see if he could 0:01:03.320 --> 0:01:05.479 recreate this effect in different way, so he tried again, 0:01:05.680 --> 0:01:08.240 this time beaming all this polarized light across gold and 0:01:08.240 --> 0:01:11.400 silver plates, and the result was this stunning, colorful array. 0:01:11.640 --> 0:01:13.760 So he set out to create, in his words, a 0:01:13.840 --> 0:01:16.920 new optical instrument for creating and exhibiting beautiful forms. 0:01:17.319 --> 0:01:19.440 So, if I'm understanding this right, this is really my 0:01:19.440 --> 0:01:21.160 favorite kind of invention because it sounds like he's not 0:01:21.160 --> 0:01:23.240 trying to invent something practical, like he just thought these 0:01:23.280 --> 0:01:25.440 light patterns were pretty, Is that right exactly? 0:01:25.520 --> 0:01:27.520 And after a few months of tinkering, he actually built 0:01:27.520 --> 0:01:29.920 a proto kaleidoscope, and the device had angled mirrors with 0:01:30.000 --> 0:01:32.840 colored glass fastened around them to cast all these reflections. 0:01:32.880 --> 0:01:34.720 And the first people to view it were members of 0:01:34.720 --> 0:01:37.640 the Royal Society of Edinburgh, and they loved it. But 0:01:37.959 --> 0:01:40.080 Brewster wasn't done. His final stroke of genius was making 0:01:40.080 --> 0:01:42.240 the colored glass pieces rotate in order to create all 0:01:42.240 --> 0:01:45.080 these different shapes and patterns, you know, like the kalidoscopes 0:01:45.080 --> 0:01:47.319 we know today. But while the instrument itself might have 0:01:47.319 --> 0:01:50.560 been a novelty, the principles behind it were actually really advanced. 0:01:50.640 --> 0:01:52.720 So in eighteen fifty eight, Brewster wrote a book about 0:01:52.720 --> 0:01:54.800 the science of kalidoscopes, summarizing what he'd learned in the 0:01:54.840 --> 0:01:57.760 process of making his invention, everything from like the geometry 0:01:57.760 --> 0:02:00.240 of kaleidoscopic forms to the physics of light, and in 0:02:00.320 --> 0:02:02.920 chapter sixteen he made a reference to a compound known 0:02:02.960 --> 0:02:05.480 as ido quinine sulfate, the crystals of which he said 0:02:05.480 --> 0:02:08.560 were remarkably good at polarizing light. Almost seventy years later, 0:02:08.560 --> 0:02:10.840 a Harvard student named Edwin h. Land would read this 0:02:11.040 --> 0:02:12.960 and get the idea for a new kind of polarizing 0:02:12.960 --> 0:02:15.200 filter that could be used for photography, and he called 0:02:15.240 --> 0:02:16.000 it polaroid. 0:02:16.120 --> 0:02:17.480 It's amazing, and they think it all began with the 0:02:17.480 --> 0:02:18.959 minister who just kind of liked pretty colors. 0:02:19.160 --> 0:02:20.520 Yeah I know, I mean the idea of this toy 0:02:20.600 --> 0:02:22.480 turning into a camera, it was just like stunning. But 0:02:22.520 --> 0:02:25.400 more specifically, it all began in Scotland. And today we're 0:02:25.400 --> 0:02:28.400 discovering nine surprising facts about the northernmost country in the UK, 0:02:28.600 --> 0:02:30.520 from a once in a lifetime fossil fine to the 0:02:30.600 --> 0:02:33.160 shocking truth behind bagpipes. So why don't we dive in? 0:02:53.680 --> 0:02:55.440 Heay their podcast listeners, Welcome to Part Time Genius. 0:02:55.480 --> 0:02:57.079 I'm Will Pearson and as always I'm joined by my 0:02:57.080 --> 0:02:59.120 good friend mengeshat Ticatter and over there in the booth 0:02:59.280 --> 0:03:01.800 all tuckered out. I'm having walked five hundred miles and 0:03:01.800 --> 0:03:04.080 that's not it, and then five hundred more. That's our 0:03:04.120 --> 0:03:06.880 palent producer, Dylan Thing and his dedication. He never ceases 0:03:06.919 --> 0:03:07.359 to amaze. 0:03:07.440 --> 0:03:09.560 It is incredible. You walked to Daton, Ohio and back 0:03:09.560 --> 0:03:11.519 again just so we could make a ten second reference 0:03:11.520 --> 0:03:14.919 to the proclaivers bitch. I love, Thank you Dylan for 0:03:14.960 --> 0:03:16.320 getting us into this Scottish spirit. 0:03:16.600 --> 0:03:18.960 All right, well, speaking of impressive physical feats, mango my 0:03:18.960 --> 0:03:21.000 first fact is also a new item on my bucket list. 0:03:21.160 --> 0:03:22.800 So I want to bag some Monros. 0:03:23.520 --> 0:03:24.079 Is that legal? 0:03:24.360 --> 0:03:26.680 Not only is it legal, it's actually encourage mango. So 0:03:26.720 --> 0:03:29.120 in Monroe is any mountain in Scotland that's over three 0:03:29.120 --> 0:03:31.160 thousand feet tall? And I was curious how many of 0:03:31.200 --> 0:03:33.040 these there were. There are two hundred and eighty two 0:03:33.160 --> 0:03:34.920 Monros in total, and if you make it to the 0:03:34.920 --> 0:03:36.240 top of one, you've bagged it. 0:03:36.280 --> 0:03:36.920 That's what they say. 0:03:37.040 --> 0:03:38.960 Now you may be thinking that a Monroe is a 0:03:39.000 --> 0:03:41.400 scientific term or a word derived from Gaelic, but actually 0:03:41.400 --> 0:03:43.880 their name for Sir Hugh Monroe, who surveyed and catalog them. 0:03:43.960 --> 0:03:45.400 This was way back in eighteen ninety one. 0:03:45.480 --> 0:03:47.520 Now, first of all, I love this terminology. Bagging a 0:03:47.600 --> 0:03:50.480 Monroe is ridiculous, a great term. It is ridiculous. But 0:03:50.480 --> 0:03:52.320 but did this guy just wake up with day decide 0:03:52.320 --> 0:03:54.120 to make like like a huge list of mountains. 0:03:54.360 --> 0:03:55.880 No, it was actually an assignment. He was asked to 0:03:55.880 --> 0:03:58.200 do it by the editor of the Scottish Mountaineering Club Journal, 0:03:58.360 --> 0:04:00.760 and mountain climbing and hillwalking were and of course still 0:04:00.800 --> 0:04:03.000 are popular past times in Scotland, and that's, of course 0:04:03.000 --> 0:04:05.320 thanks to the country's rugged terrain. So Monroe had co 0:04:05.360 --> 0:04:07.080 founded the club a few years earlier, so he was 0:04:07.120 --> 0:04:09.240 clearly qualified for this. But he had something else going 0:04:09.320 --> 0:04:11.920 for him. According to a biography written by the Monroe Society, 0:04:12.000 --> 0:04:14.320 he was known as a compulsive note taker and quote 0:04:14.400 --> 0:04:17.240 he flung himself with enthusiasm into everything he undertook. So 0:04:17.240 --> 0:04:19.320 it seems like a super interesting guy. But although he 0:04:19.360 --> 0:04:21.920 worked tirelessly to catalog them all, Monroe didn't bag all 0:04:21.960 --> 0:04:24.280 the Monroes himself. He actually sadly died of pneumonia in 0:04:24.360 --> 0:04:27.719 nineteen nineteen with only three mountains left on his climbing list. 0:04:27.720 --> 0:04:28.640 It's just such a bummer. 0:04:28.720 --> 0:04:30.680 That is really tragic, I know, and it means that 0:04:30.720 --> 0:04:33.279 he doesn't qualify as a completer. That's the official term 0:04:33.320 --> 0:04:35.520 for people who reach the top of every single Monroe, 0:04:35.560 --> 0:04:37.480 and that's a lot like that is a lot of climbing, 0:04:37.480 --> 0:04:39.400 a lot of walking, and so doing so gains you 0:04:39.440 --> 0:04:41.400 membership into the Monroe Society, which says there are just 0:04:41.440 --> 0:04:44.360 over seventy six hundred registered completers. And I'd like to 0:04:44.400 --> 0:04:46.720 think that Sir Hugh would be especially proud of Jamie Errens, 0:04:46.720 --> 0:04:48.880 who holds the fastest record from Monroe, completing in a 0:04:48.920 --> 0:04:51.520 single self propelled round, meaning she didn't use any form 0:04:51.560 --> 0:04:54.239 of motorized transportation. She bagged the whole list in thirty 0:04:54.240 --> 0:04:57.440 one days, ten hours, and twenty seven minutes, traveling on foot, 0:04:57.600 --> 0:05:00.200 by bike, and by sea kayak to reach them all. Now, 0:05:00.279 --> 0:05:01.760 out of the I can match Jamie's record or even 0:05:01.760 --> 0:05:03.200 come closed. But one of these days I'd love to 0:05:03.240 --> 0:05:04.840 go to Scotland and put at least one Monroe in 0:05:04.839 --> 0:05:05.040 my back. 0:05:05.040 --> 0:05:06.400 I don't want to overdo it one. It feels like 0:05:06.440 --> 0:05:08.840 that's impressive enough. Yeah, you gotta do it for Sir Hugh. 0:05:09.120 --> 0:05:12.600 I love it. Also, that's incredible. Jja's that really sunning. 0:05:13.120 --> 0:05:14.159 Have you been to Scotland before? 0:05:14.200 --> 0:05:14.520 I have not. 0:05:14.560 --> 0:05:16.200 It's definitely on the list of places I want to 0:05:16.200 --> 0:05:17.800 get to and you know the coming years, how about you. 0:05:18.240 --> 0:05:20.560 We went with my family. My dad organized a trip, 0:05:20.560 --> 0:05:22.920 which you know, my mom does most of organizing, and 0:05:23.000 --> 0:05:25.760 so this was a very poorly organized trip and we 0:05:25.800 --> 0:05:28.480 went to a farmhouse and there are all these generations 0:05:28.480 --> 0:05:33.000 of family and we basically saw none of Scotland. No 0:05:33.000 --> 0:05:34.720 one could get coordinated and everyone wanted to do their 0:05:34.720 --> 0:05:35.040 own thing. 0:05:35.120 --> 0:05:37.920 It's but a nice farmhouse, I hope, so beautiful. 0:05:37.920 --> 0:05:40.320 I mean, like the land was beautiful. Everyone was so nice. 0:05:40.440 --> 0:05:42.320 I really want to go back to Scotland, but I've 0:05:42.320 --> 0:05:44.440 been once. I haven't really seen it, so okay, So 0:05:44.520 --> 0:05:47.520 back to this. In nineteen eighty four, a Scottish paleontologist 0:05:47.560 --> 0:05:50.240 named stan Wood made a remarkable discovery in this old 0:05:50.279 --> 0:05:52.880 limestone quarry and this is in West Lothian. Would by 0:05:52.880 --> 0:05:54.480 the way, it wasn't a trained scientist. He actually never 0:05:54.520 --> 0:05:56.919 finished a school and worked at a shipyard and then for 0:05:56.960 --> 0:05:59.520 an insurance company. But he became this like really respected 0:05:59.560 --> 0:06:02.360 diy fossil collector and in fact he eventually amasked such 0:06:02.360 --> 0:06:04.719 impressive finds that the Royal Museum in Scotland began buying 0:06:04.760 --> 0:06:06.800 them from him, all of which led to this faithful 0:06:06.839 --> 0:06:08.880 day in the quarry would actually uncovered the fossil that 0:06:08.920 --> 0:06:11.320 would turn out to be the oldest known tetrapod, which, 0:06:11.360 --> 0:06:12.560 you know, I didn't know what a tetrapod is. It's 0:06:12.560 --> 0:06:14.400 a class of animals that emerge from the water and 0:06:14.440 --> 0:06:17.600 involved into familiar things like you know, mammals or amphibians. 0:06:17.600 --> 0:06:20.080 And the creature he discovered was about like seven inches long. 0:06:20.160 --> 0:06:22.080 It had four stumpy legs and a lizard like tail, 0:06:22.120 --> 0:06:24.719 so he nicknamed it Lizzie the Lizard, even though scientists 0:06:24.760 --> 0:06:26.640 have since pointed out it's a not really lizard, you know, 0:06:26.920 --> 0:06:28.279 in fact that they don't really know what it is. 0:06:28.520 --> 0:06:30.159 The best guest seems to be some kind of ancient 0:06:30.200 --> 0:06:33.080 relative of the salamander. But even though everyone referred to 0:06:33.080 --> 0:06:35.239 Lizzie as she, we also don't know whether the critter 0:06:35.279 --> 0:06:35.679 was a female. 0:06:35.760 --> 0:06:37.360 Yeah, it's funny how you can take a fossil which 0:06:37.360 --> 0:06:39.080 is really just a rock, right, and the minute you 0:06:39.120 --> 0:06:40.200 give it a name, you start to think of it 0:06:40.200 --> 0:06:41.040 as this cute creature. 0:06:41.080 --> 0:06:41.520 But I don't know. 0:06:41.560 --> 0:06:43.400 It just always amuses me. But but anyway, how old 0:06:43.480 --> 0:06:43.800 is Lizzi? 0:06:43.839 --> 0:06:44.239 Exactly? 0:06:44.440 --> 0:06:46.640 Well, based on the ages of the rocks in which 0:06:46.680 --> 0:06:48.640 she was found, everyone's best guess was that Lizzie was 0:06:48.640 --> 0:06:50.760 around three hundred and thirty one million years old, Right, 0:06:50.800 --> 0:06:53.400 it's pretty old. But last year, a University of Texas 0:06:53.440 --> 0:06:56.320 PhD student and his name is Hector Garza, he decided 0:06:56.320 --> 0:06:58.239 to get more specific, and so he used this technique 0:06:58.240 --> 0:07:00.960 called radiometric dating, and Garza found that Lizzie is actually 0:07:01.040 --> 0:07:03.680 three hundred and forty six million years old, which is 0:07:03.680 --> 0:07:06.680 a huge deal because that means she lived during Romer's Gap. 0:07:06.800 --> 0:07:08.680 Roamers Gap is this mysterious gap in the fossil record 0:07:08.680 --> 0:07:10.360 that runs from about three hundred and forty five to 0:07:10.360 --> 0:07:12.360 three hundred and sixty million years ago, And so when 0:07:12.360 --> 0:07:14.280 you home in on Lizzie's true age, it actually gives 0:07:14.280 --> 0:07:16.760 scientists this better understanding of when vertebrates emerged from the 0:07:16.760 --> 0:07:19.200 water and went on the land, and it also gives 0:07:19.240 --> 0:07:21.440 them a clue about what might have prompted that huge change. 0:07:22.080 --> 0:07:24.040 All right, well, my next fact is also about an animal, 0:07:24.080 --> 0:07:26.280 and it may be less scientifically important, but I dare 0:07:26.320 --> 0:07:28.520 say it is cuter than a fossil. I'm talking about 0:07:28.520 --> 0:07:30.440 the Scottish Terrier, or as it's often known. 0:07:30.400 --> 0:07:30.880 The Scotti. 0:07:31.040 --> 0:07:33.440 Oh like Toto and the Wizard of Oz right well, 0:07:33.480 --> 0:07:34.280 actually pretty close. 0:07:34.320 --> 0:07:35.760 So the dog who played Toto in the old Judy 0:07:35.800 --> 0:07:38.080 Garland movie was actually a Cairn Terrier. But I'm glad 0:07:38.120 --> 0:07:39.920 you did bring that up, because there are several terrier 0:07:39.960 --> 0:07:42.840 breeds that originated in Scotland, including the Cairn, the Sky, 0:07:43.120 --> 0:07:45.480 the Dandie Denmont which definitely sounds like it's in Scotland, 0:07:46.040 --> 0:07:48.480 and the West Highland White, but none have captured the 0:07:48.520 --> 0:07:50.800 public imagination quite like the Scotti, which has become a 0:07:50.800 --> 0:07:51.880 symbol of its native country. 0:07:52.000 --> 0:07:54.000 I mean it is the one. They call it Scottish terrier. 0:07:54.120 --> 0:07:57.640 It's true, that's a fair point. But although the Scotti 0:07:57.720 --> 0:07:59.880 is an icon now, it's got a pretty humble origin. 0:08:00.480 --> 0:08:02.840 So historians believe the breed originated with dogs brought over 0:08:02.840 --> 0:08:04.880 from Europe by the early Celts, and then by the 0:08:04.920 --> 0:08:07.080 fourteenth century it was common for farmers in the Scottish 0:08:07.120 --> 0:08:08.960 Islands to have these short legged dogs that they used 0:08:08.960 --> 0:08:11.280 to hunt rats and foxes and sort of other vermin. 0:08:11.400 --> 0:08:13.640 But these folks were pretty busy with day to day survival, 0:08:13.640 --> 0:08:15.680 so they didn't spend much time writing down the descriptions 0:08:15.680 --> 0:08:17.880 of dogs or determining if this dog counted as a 0:08:17.880 --> 0:08:18.960 different breed from that dog. 0:08:19.080 --> 0:08:20.640 Sure, I mean, all they cared about was was this 0:08:20.680 --> 0:08:21.640 dog catching a rat? Right? 0:08:21.760 --> 0:08:22.520 One hundred percent? 0:08:22.560 --> 0:08:24.360 And you know it actually wasn't until the eighteen hundreds 0:08:24.360 --> 0:08:26.680 that the Scottish terrier became widely known as this unique 0:08:26.760 --> 0:08:29.560 type different from other terriers in Scotland. It was sometimes 0:08:29.560 --> 0:08:31.560 referred to as an Aberdeen terrier, so one theory is 0:08:31.600 --> 0:08:33.480 that the breed emerged from the Highlands via the city 0:08:33.520 --> 0:08:35.560 of Aberdeen, which is to the east and any rate. 0:08:35.559 --> 0:08:38.079 People began compiling these proper breed records in the eighteen 0:08:38.120 --> 0:08:40.880 hundreds and eventually they held dog shows, which further popularized 0:08:40.920 --> 0:08:43.960 the idea of distinct breeds with these desirable traits. Back then, 0:08:44.000 --> 0:08:46.880 sleek hunting dogs or tiny fluffy toys were all the rage. 0:08:47.000 --> 0:08:49.120 The Scotti, with its wiry code and muscular chests, just 0:08:49.200 --> 0:08:51.400 wasn't that appealing at that time, and that all changed 0:08:51.440 --> 0:08:53.840 in the twentieth century. Scotti clubs and breeders started popping 0:08:53.880 --> 0:08:56.160 up across Scotland. And across the US actually for that matter, 0:08:56.320 --> 0:08:58.960 and this former farmhand became known as a wonderful family pet. 0:08:59.120 --> 0:09:01.120 Now it's because of their person They've been described as 0:09:01.160 --> 0:09:03.600 almost human like in their intelligence and their incredible loyalty. 0:09:03.720 --> 0:09:05.560 In fact, Scotty's were so beloved that they were actually 0:09:05.559 --> 0:09:08.360 immortalized as a game piece in Monopoly. You remember this, right, yeah, 0:09:08.440 --> 0:09:10.360 of course? Yeah, and then of course famous owners like 0:09:10.440 --> 0:09:12.480 Fdr Dwight, the Eisenhower and Humphrey Bogart. 0:09:12.520 --> 0:09:15.880 Wow, yeah, I know. I mean when you are next 0:09:15.880 --> 0:09:17.640 to a top hat and a thimble, I feel like 0:09:17.679 --> 0:09:18.520 that's when you know you've made it. 0:09:18.520 --> 0:09:19.760 It's a big deal. Like it's a big deal. 0:09:19.880 --> 0:09:22.040 Yeah all right, Well we have to take a quick break, 0:09:22.080 --> 0:09:23.280 but when we come back, I'll tell you what it 0:09:23.320 --> 0:09:25.840 takes to make a Tardan of your own. Don't go anywhere. 0:09:40.640 --> 0:09:43.240 Welcome back to a very Scottish part time genius. If 0:09:43.240 --> 0:09:45.920 you're enjoying this episode, please share it with friend or 0:09:46.040 --> 0:09:50.560 leave us a nice review and rating. It helps us out. Okay, well, 0:09:50.760 --> 0:09:52.640 I want you to close your eyes and imagine a 0:09:52.760 --> 0:09:54.439 kilt your eyes. 0:09:54.559 --> 0:09:55.320 Yeah, definitely. 0:09:55.920 --> 0:09:57.240 What does it look like? 0:09:58.080 --> 0:10:02.800 Okay, it's long pleated I think made of wool, and 0:10:02.920 --> 0:10:04.120 of course it's plaid. 0:10:04.400 --> 0:10:07.640 Yeah, not bad, but technically you can open your eyes. 0:10:07.960 --> 0:10:11.199 But technically speaking, the pattern most of US Americans call 0:10:11.280 --> 0:10:14.679 plaid is tartan. In Scotland, the word plaid refers to 0:10:14.720 --> 0:10:17.440 a piece of tartan fabric used as a blanket or 0:10:17.720 --> 0:10:21.559 worn over the shoulder. But right now we're just talking tartan. 0:10:22.040 --> 0:10:25.600 So Scottish tartan has a long storied history. In the 0:10:25.600 --> 0:10:29.160 eighteenth century, these patterns became popular as military uniforms, and 0:10:29.520 --> 0:10:33.360 many clans or families adopted signature tartans of their own. 0:10:33.800 --> 0:10:36.600 But the patterns used in Scotland goes back even further. 0:10:37.200 --> 0:10:39.760 In the nineteen eighties, a scrap of wool tartan fabric 0:10:39.840 --> 0:10:43.400 was found in a peat bog in glen Afric, and 0:10:43.640 --> 0:10:47.280 radiocarbon dating suggested it was made in the fourteenth century, 0:10:47.720 --> 0:10:50.880 and although it was stained by pete, the die analysis 0:10:50.920 --> 0:10:54.080 showed that its true colors included green and brown stripes 0:10:54.160 --> 0:10:57.720 on yellow and red backgrounds. And so I know about 0:10:57.760 --> 0:11:00.800 the glen Affric tartan because I actually looked it up 0:11:00.840 --> 0:11:04.600 on the Scottish Registry of Tartans, and I didn't realize 0:11:04.640 --> 0:11:08.079 this existed before, but it's this incredible database that the 0:11:08.080 --> 0:11:11.040 country is collected. It's the Official Database of Tartan Designs 0:11:11.360 --> 0:11:14.440 and it was established by Parliament in two thousand and eight. 0:11:15.000 --> 0:11:17.760 It contains thousands of searchable tartan patterns. 0:11:18.320 --> 0:11:21.640 So how does this actually work? Like, can anybody register 0:11:21.720 --> 0:11:22.160 a tartan? 0:11:22.520 --> 0:11:25.280 Yeah, anyone can, but there are three conditions. So first, 0:11:25.280 --> 0:11:27.480 that has to meet the government's definition of a tartan, 0:11:27.679 --> 0:11:30.840 which is quote, a design which is capable of being 0:11:30.920 --> 0:11:35.160 woven consisting of two or more alternating colored stripes which 0:11:35.200 --> 0:11:39.040 combine vertically and horizontally to form a repeated checkered pattern. Right, 0:11:39.080 --> 0:11:42.439 so it just kind of has that plaid like feel. Second, 0:11:42.600 --> 0:11:44.480 it has to be unique. It can't be the same 0:11:44.520 --> 0:11:47.720 as any other registered tartan. And finally, there has to 0:11:47.720 --> 0:11:50.560 be a clear link between the person registering the tartan 0:11:50.840 --> 0:11:54.400 and the proposed tartan name. Right, So anyone can do it. 0:11:54.559 --> 0:11:58.040 Lots of people have, and even corporations, schools, nonprofits have 0:11:58.040 --> 0:12:00.880 gotten into this game. I've spent maybe too much time 0:12:00.960 --> 0:12:03.319 browsing the register, but I found that there are official 0:12:03.320 --> 0:12:07.720 tartans for the University of Delaware, the Canadian Police College, 0:12:08.040 --> 0:12:12.640 British Airways, Hello Kitty, the New York Jets, and my favorite, 0:12:13.120 --> 0:12:16.280 a tartan created by an Ohio man to raise money 0:12:16.280 --> 0:12:17.560 for cats with cancer. 0:12:17.960 --> 0:12:19.199 Wow, that's why. 0:12:19.559 --> 0:12:22.640 If you're curious, that pattern is ten black and blue 0:12:22.679 --> 0:12:26.120 to mimic the coat and eyes of his late companion JD. 0:12:26.520 --> 0:12:27.480 The Siamese cat. 0:12:27.880 --> 0:12:29.800 Oh that's kind of sweet. But actually, now that you 0:12:29.840 --> 0:12:31.440 say this, are you thinking what I'm thinking? 0:12:31.920 --> 0:12:34.720 Yeah, definitely I want a part time genius tartan. 0:12:35.000 --> 0:12:36.440 I don't even know what we would do with it, 0:12:36.480 --> 0:12:38.720 but it just seems like such an amazing thing to have. 0:12:38.800 --> 0:12:40.280 I would just in fact, I think I need two 0:12:40.360 --> 0:12:40.680 of them. 0:12:41.600 --> 0:12:43.520 Yeah. Well, I mean if Hello Kitty got one, I 0:12:43.559 --> 0:12:44.400 feel like we should. 0:12:45.120 --> 0:12:47.160 That's a that's a fair point, all right. 0:12:47.200 --> 0:12:50.280 My next fact involves another symbol of Scotland, but there's 0:12:50.320 --> 0:12:53.720 no registry for this one. That's because it's a mythical creature. 0:12:54.040 --> 0:12:55.880 And this is, of course the unicorn. 0:12:56.200 --> 0:12:58.240 You know, I noticed that when I was doing my research. 0:12:58.280 --> 0:13:00.520 There's a unicorn on the Scottish coat of arms, but 0:13:01.000 --> 0:13:02.920 I'm not exactly sure why that's true. 0:13:03.200 --> 0:13:05.520 Yeah, I mean, unicorns are obviously great. We need to 0:13:05.520 --> 0:13:07.760 stop for a moment just to acknowledge. 0:13:07.200 --> 0:13:11.080 That unicorns twenty seconds of silence to just think about 0:13:11.080 --> 0:13:11.880 how great they are. 0:13:12.080 --> 0:13:15.560 Recognize the unicorn. But also it has to do with history. 0:13:15.960 --> 0:13:20.320 So in Celtic mythology, unicorns symbolized strength, purity and of 0:13:20.360 --> 0:13:23.720 course innocence, and in art and in legends, unicorns are 0:13:23.760 --> 0:13:27.840 depicted as independent and difficult to capture, and that's probably 0:13:27.880 --> 0:13:31.000 why in the twelfth century, King William the First added 0:13:31.000 --> 0:13:34.120 a unicorn to the Scottish Royal coat of arms. Now, 0:13:34.160 --> 0:13:37.480 as the years rolled on, unicorn legends grew in the 0:13:37.480 --> 0:13:40.719 Middle Ages, people believe that only a king could capture one. 0:13:41.080 --> 0:13:43.640 So it's no surprise that in the early fourteen hundreds 0:13:43.920 --> 0:13:47.680 Scotland's King James the Second kept the unicorn symbolism going 0:13:48.040 --> 0:13:50.720 and from then on the Scottish throne and the unicorns 0:13:50.720 --> 0:13:54.600 were inextricably linked. Now the country's next kings, these were 0:13:54.679 --> 0:13:59.440 James's three, four and five super original. They went unicorn crazy, 0:13:59.480 --> 0:14:03.840 putting the reachers on coins, seals, other emblems, and eventually 0:14:03.880 --> 0:14:06.680 the Scottish Royal coat of arms included a shield supported 0:14:06.720 --> 0:14:10.440 by not one, but two unicorns who were draped in 0:14:10.600 --> 0:14:13.760 gold chains at least until the Union of Crowns in 0:14:13.800 --> 0:14:17.120 sixteen oh three. That's when King James the sixth became 0:14:17.160 --> 0:14:20.320 the King of England and Ireland as well as Scotland, 0:14:20.640 --> 0:14:23.000 and at that time one of the unicorns was replaced 0:14:23.040 --> 0:14:26.480 by a lion to represent England, of course, so today 0:14:26.480 --> 0:14:30.920 you'll find unicorn imagery all over Scotland, and every April ninth, 0:14:31.080 --> 0:14:33.680 Scott's along with the rest of the world, celebrate a 0:14:33.800 --> 0:14:36.120 National Unicorn Day, which is coming up soon. 0:14:36.640 --> 0:14:39.160 So funny. If I was looking for a unicorn or 0:14:39.200 --> 0:14:41.280 a lion, I feel like the last two places I 0:14:41.280 --> 0:14:47.440 would go are Scotland, and that's probably fair. So while 0:14:47.440 --> 0:14:49.000 we're on the subject of sty wait, I got to. 0:14:48.960 --> 0:14:50.680 Ask you, where where do you think you would go 0:14:50.760 --> 0:14:52.200 to look for a unicorn? Exactly? 0:14:54.760 --> 0:14:55.720 It's a good question. 0:14:56.120 --> 0:14:56.480 I don't know. 0:14:56.680 --> 0:14:59.800 I feel I think maybe there are parts of Scott's 0:14:59.840 --> 0:15:01.480 got than like the Islis Sky or something that you 0:15:01.560 --> 0:15:02.000 might go to. 0:15:02.160 --> 0:15:03.160 But I don't know. 0:15:03.520 --> 0:15:06.880 I don't know where unicorn's natural habitats should be, but 0:15:07.360 --> 0:15:12.120 I'm not sure of Scotland's fair. So while we're on 0:15:12.160 --> 0:15:15.840 the subject of Scottish heritage, let's turn our attention to language. 0:15:16.000 --> 0:15:19.640 After English, the most widely spoken language in Scotland is Scots. 0:15:19.960 --> 0:15:22.960 In fact, across the UK more people speak Scots than 0:15:23.080 --> 0:15:27.000 Welsh or Gaelic. You may know some yourself, like if 0:15:27.000 --> 0:15:30.320 you've ever called a small child a we baarn, that's Scots. 0:15:30.600 --> 0:15:33.560 Or if you've ever sung all leanth sign that is 0:15:33.600 --> 0:15:34.400 also Scots. 0:15:36.000 --> 0:15:38.240 You know, I have sung all lanth sign, but I've 0:15:38.320 --> 0:15:40.520 never thought about what those words actually mean. 0:15:40.640 --> 0:15:42.160 Right, You learned something like this as a kid. 0:15:42.200 --> 0:15:43.560 You just kind of go along with it and you 0:15:43.600 --> 0:15:45.400 just keep saying and don't really think about it. 0:15:45.600 --> 0:15:48.880 Yeah, or you just like mumble along to the lyrics 0:15:48.880 --> 0:15:52.960 as other people are singing it on New exactly. Apparently 0:15:52.960 --> 0:15:54.840 it's Scott's for the good old days. 0:15:55.360 --> 0:15:57.479 Of course it even sounds like old. 0:15:57.640 --> 0:16:00.600 Yeah, the old and the old, right. But you know, 0:16:00.760 --> 0:16:04.160 that's one challenge. The Scots language is actually face because 0:16:04.360 --> 0:16:08.120 modern Scots share some similarity and overlap with English, and 0:16:08.440 --> 0:16:11.280 a lot of people even in Scotland don't recognize that 0:16:11.480 --> 0:16:14.440 it is a language. It's often referred to as a 0:16:14.480 --> 0:16:17.840 dialect of English, and in a twenty ten survey of 0:16:17.880 --> 0:16:21.440 Scottish adults, sixty four percent of the people agreed with 0:16:21.480 --> 0:16:24.720 the statement I don't really think scots is a language, 0:16:24.880 --> 0:16:27.480 it's more of a way of speaking. And while most 0:16:27.480 --> 0:16:30.520 respondents felt Scott's was an important part of national identity, 0:16:30.880 --> 0:16:34.240 twenty six percent of people equated it with slang, saying 0:16:34.480 --> 0:16:38.200 it doesn't sound nice or proper. Now. I actually read 0:16:38.200 --> 0:16:40.760 a study from twenty twenty two that looked at perceptions 0:16:40.760 --> 0:16:43.760 of language, and it concluded that people are more likely 0:16:43.800 --> 0:16:48.040 to consider a language legitimate if it's unrelated to other languages, 0:16:48.160 --> 0:16:51.600 if it's written, and if it's spoken widely, as opposed 0:16:51.640 --> 0:16:55.040 to in a limited geographic area. You know, Scotts only 0:16:55.080 --> 0:16:56.400 passes one of those tests. 0:16:56.760 --> 0:16:59.960 Oh it's so interesting and also admittedly kind of sad. 0:17:00.560 --> 0:17:02.920 Yeah, I agree, I mean it's funny, right, Like, if 0:17:02.920 --> 0:17:05.359 you think about it, there's so many similarities between like 0:17:05.720 --> 0:17:08.720 French and Italian, or Spanish and Portuguese. Right, there are 0:17:08.760 --> 0:17:12.800 plenty words that are mutually intelligible, but no one would 0:17:12.840 --> 0:17:14.680 suggest that they aren't distinct languages. 0:17:14.880 --> 0:17:18.040 So their efforts to encourage the use of Scott's. 0:17:17.960 --> 0:17:21.439 Yeah, there are. It's part of Scotland's national curriculum and 0:17:21.560 --> 0:17:25.400 in twenty fifteen, the Scottish government released a Scots Language 0:17:25.440 --> 0:17:28.480 Policy in which it pledged to promote the use of Scots. 0:17:28.560 --> 0:17:30.560 The Scottish Book Trust has also done a lot to 0:17:30.600 --> 0:17:34.600 support Scott's language, education and literature, and speaking of which, 0:17:34.640 --> 0:17:37.680 there's a growing number of modern Scottish authors writing in Scots. 0:17:38.240 --> 0:17:42.160