Another Journey around Scotland Quiz

Answer: Sir Walter Scott

Scott first became famous as a poet but turned to writing novels to earn money to pay off his debts. As well as the "Waverley" novels, he wrote historical stories of which the most famous is probably "Ivanhoe".

James Hogg was a Borders poet and novelist known as the Ettrick Shepherd who was a friend of Scott. Like Scott, Burns and Conan Doyle had connections with Edinburgh.

Answer: Arthur's Seat

Arthur's Seat is an extinct volcano. As well as the palace, the hill overlooks the Scottish Parliament House. Some people believe its name refers to the legendary King Arthur.

Answer: Lands

The Edinburgh lands were remarkable buildings dating from the 16th and 17th centuries. As the population grew, the space within the city walls became limited so buildings of 12-14 stories were built. These lands housed all classes of people, with rich people living in the middle floors and poorer people in the lowest and highest ones.

Answer: Kirkcaldy

The origins of Kirkcaldy go back to the eleventh century, although settlement in the area can be traced as far back as the Bronze Age. The town exported linoleum worldwide from the 1870s until the 1960s when modern floor coverings reduced its popularity.

Answer: St. Andrews

St. Andrews hosts the oldest university in Scotland, founded about 1410. This was where Prince William met his future wife Kate Middleton when they were both students. It is also the home of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club and of probably the most famous golf course in the world, the Old Course, which has often been the venue for the Open Championship.

The town also has a medieval cathedral and the ruins of a thirteenth century castle.

Answer: Tay

At about 120 miles in length, the Tay is less than fifteen miles longer than both the Spey and the Clyde. The river is a favourite of anglers who hope to catch salmon.

Answer: Dundee

With a 2015 population of about 150,000, Dundee advertises itself as "The city of discovery", the name playing on its hosting of the ship Discovery which was the explorer Robert Falcon Scott's vessel on his Antarctic voyage.

The city's nickname refers to its three traditional industries, the 19th century manufacture of jute and the later fame of Keiller's jam and marmalade factory and the D.C. Thomson newspaper empire which include the children's comics "Beano and Dandy". Among the characters appearing in their pages are Dennis the Menace, Desperate Dan and the Bash Street Kids.

Answer: Over 3000 feet

In all there are 282 Munros in Scotland. They are named after Sir Hugh Munro who published the first list of these in 1891. Mountains of this height can be found right across the West Highlands and in the Grampians as well as on the islands of Skye and Mull.

Answer: Cairngorms National Park

Cairngorms National Park was established in 2003. It is the largest of Britain's fifteen National Parks at 1,748 square miles in size. It contains many high mountains and also the royal Balmoral Castle.

Loch Lomond and the Trossachs is the only other National Park in Scotland.

Answer: Inverness

Built at a strategic crossing point on the river Ness, Inverness has been the main population centre of the Highlands for centuries. Its striking sandstone castle, though only built in 1836, stands on what had been a defensive site since the eleventh century.

Inverness was designated a city in 2000 as part of the Millennium celebrations. Only four miles away is Culloden battlefield where the last battle on British soil took place in 1746 to end the Jacobite rebellion.

The city has a special place in the heart of the author of this quiz as he was born there and spent most childhood summer holidays visiting relatives there.

Answer: A Viking longship

Shetland is an archipelago of islands lying over 100 miles north of the Scottish mainland. The Up Helly Aa festival dates back to the nineteenth century. Although it did not always feature the Viking heritage link, it became part of the festival from about the 1870s.

Nowadays a major feature of the day is the procession of people in Viking disguise known as "guizers" and led by the chief guizer who is called the Guizer Jarl. The guizers design and make their own costumes and the ship (called the Galley) is always in a painted to match the colours chosen by the Guizer Jarl.

Answer: Two minutes

The distance between the two islands is under two miles and in perfect weather conditions the flight has been known to last only 47 seconds!

Answer: Mull

Tobermory was selected because of the multi-coloured houses on its harbour front. Though the series is no longer filmed there, many families still visit the town to take photographs of their children in front of the houses.

Answer: Hampden Park

Hampden is Scotland's national football stadium as well as being the home ground of Queen's Park, the only amateur team playing in senior competition in the United Kingdom. It has hosted finals matches in the Champions league and the UEFA Cup (the precursor of the Europa League).

The other choices given are also football grounds in Glasgow. Ibrox Stadium is the home of Rangers, Celtic play at Parkhead (properly called Celtic Park) and Partick Thistle are the home team in matches played at Firhill Stadium.

Answer: Dumfries

Having been a farmer for much of his life, which led to his being known as the "Ploughman Poet", Burns gave up Ellisland farm in 1791 and became an exciseman in Dumfries. However, his health had already begun to decline and he died at the age of 37 in 1796.