100 Quotes About Scotland

To see the years touch ye gives me joy", he whispered, "for it means that ye live. Diana Gabaldon

I thought the force of my wanting must wake ye, surely. And then ye did come.. ." He stopped, looking at me with eyes gone soft and dark. "Christ, Claire, ye were so beautiful, there on the stair, wi' your hair down and the shadow of your body with the light behind ye…." He shook his head slowly. "I did think I should die, if I didna have ye, " he said softly. "Just then. Diana Gabaldon

More bloodshed followed, as brother fought brother and religion battled religion in the age-old nonsense of settling whose method of worship was the holiest to our Creator, who, for all our murderous efforts, most likely despises the lot of us. Steve Alten

In prehistoric times, early man was bowled over by natural events: rain, thunder, lightning, the violent shaking and moving of the ground, mountains spewing deathly hot lava, the glow of the moon, the burning heat of the sun, the twinkling of the stars. Our human brain searched for an answer, and the conclusion was that it all must be caused by something greater than ourselves - this, of course, sprouted the earliest seeds of religion. This theory is certainly reflected in faery lore. In the beautiful sloping hills of Connemara in Ireland, for example, faeries were believed to have been just as beautiful, peaceful, and pleasant as the world around them. But in the Scottish Highlands, with their dark, brooding mountains and eerie highland lakes, villagers warned of deadly water-kelpies and spirit characters that packed a bit more punch. Signe Pike

But I do like Scotland. I like the miserable weather. I like the miserable people, the fatalism, the negativity, the violence that's always just below the surface. And I like the way you deal with religion. One century you're up to your lugs in it, the next you're trading the whole apparatus in for Sunday superstores. Praise the Lord and thrash the bairns. Ask and ye shall have the door shut in your face. Blessed are they that shop on the Sabbath, for they shall get the best bargains. Oh yes, this is a very fine country. James W. Robertson

People didn't really like McDonald's, same as her mum didn't really like Catholicism, but when you were new in town, at least it was a known quantity. So that'll be a Quarter-Pounder and a Communion Wafer meal-deal to go. Christopher Brookmyre

If the surprise outcome of the recent UK referendum - on whether to leave or remain in the European Union - teaches us anything, it is that supposedly worthy displays of democracy in action can actually do more harm than good. Witness a nation now more divided; an intergenerational schism in the making; both a governing and opposition party torn to shreds from the inside; infinitely more complex issues raised than satisfactory solutions provided. It begs the question 'Was it really all worth it' ? . Alex Morritt

We Slovenians are even better misers than you Scottish. You know how Scotland began? One of us Slovenians was spending too much money, so we put him on a boat and he landed in Scotland. Unknown

News of the death of James V on 14 December gave even further cause for rejoicing, because his heir was a week-old girl, the infant Mary, Queen of Scots. Scotland would be subject to yet another weakening regency–it had endured six during the past 150 years–and should give no further trouble. Alison Weir

Aye, it could', Ian added. 'It's many a time when I've walked alone on the misty moors of Scotland, the fog creeping in, the waves pounding against the shore, and then the lone, eerie call of a dead chicken. Caaa-cluck. Caaa-cluck Terri Reid

Ah don't hate the English. They're just wankers. We are colonised by wankers. We can't even pick a decent, vibrant, healthy culture to be colonised by. No. We're ruled by effete arseholes. What does that make us? Irvine Welsh

In the letters section, a Scot reminds his readers of the ‘Glorious Alliance’ between France and Mary Queen of Scots, which explains why Scotland should not share the rabid Europhobia of Englishmen. Bruno Latour

My life was going exactly where I wanted it to until the Devil showed up. Barbara T. Cerny

Then it kissed me–not as a man would kiss a lover, not with tenderness or even passion. This was a kiss that stole the soul of men. Revulsion at this creature’s kiss was instantly replaced by the warmth stealing through my veins, as if my missing blood were being replenished and contrived to heal me. I craved to keep kissing the beast. My entire being awakened to that kiss feeding me ecstasy, feeding me life. Barbara T. Cerny

Americans may say they love our accents (I have been accused of sounding 'like Princess Di') but the more thoughtful ones resent and rather dislike us as a nation and people, as friends of mine have found out by being on the edge of conversations where Americans assumed no Englishmen were listening. And it is the English, specifically, who are the targets of this. Few Americans have heard of Wales. All of them have heard of Ireland and many of them think they are Irish. Scotland gets a sort of free pass, especially since Braveheart re-established the Scots' anti- English credentials among the ignorant millions who get their history off the TV. Peter Hitchens

The Scottish sun, shocked by having its usual cloudy underpinnings stripped away, shone feverishly, embarrassed by its nakedness. Stuart Haddon

Darnley, who, like Banquo's ghost, seemed to play a much more effective part in Scottish politics once he was dead than when he was alive. Antonia Fraser

The drinking dens are spilling out There's staggering in the square There's lads and lasses falling about And a crackling in the air Down around the dungeon doors The shelters and the queues Everybody's looking for Somebody's arms to fall into And it's what it is It's what it is now There's frost on the graves and the monuments But the taverns are warm in town People curse the government And shovel hot food down The lights are out in the city hall The castle and the keep The moon shines down upon it all The legless and asleep And it's cold on the tollgate With the wagons creeping through Cold on the tollgate God knows what I could do with you And it's what it is It's what it is now The garrison sleeps in the citadel With the ghosts and the ancient stones High up on the parapet A Scottish piper stands alone And high on the wind The highland drums begin to roll And something from the past just comes And stares into my soul And it's cold on the tollgate With the Caledonian BluesCold on the tollgate God knows what I could do with you And it's what it is It's what it is now What it is It's what it is now There's a chink of light, there's a burning wick There's a lantern in the tower Wee Willie Winkie with a candlestick Still writing songs in the wee wee hours On Charlotte Street I take A walking stick from my hotel The ghost of Dirty DickIs still in search of Little NellAnd it's what it is It's what it is now Oh what it is What it is now . Mark Knopfler

The infinitesimal seedlings became a forest of trees that grew courteously, correcting the distances between themselves as they shaped themselves to the promptings of available light and moisture, tempering the climate and the temperaments of the Scots, as the driest land became moist and the wettest land became dry, seedlings finding a mean between extremes, and the trees constructing a moderate zone for themselves even into what I would have called tundra, until I understood the fact that Aristotle taught, while walking in a botanic garden, that the middle is fittest to discern the extremes. ("Interim") . William S. Wilson

The place has entered me...it has coloured my life like a stain. Adam Nicolson

When I was a child in Scotland, I was fond of everything that was wild, and all my life I've been growing fonder and fonder of wild places and wild creatures. Fortunately, around my native town of Dunbar, by the stormy North Sea, there was no lack of wildness... John Muir

Culloden, Scotland, April 1746All around was the awful sound of moaning. It was not just mournful, but the sound of immense suffering, the cries of dying men. The battle had waged on, and the day was far spent. In dirt and blood, the soldiers waded on. Horizontal rain, snow, and wind made the normal battle conditions much worse. Near the edge of the field I stood holding a gun, pointing it at the lad who had once been my best friend. He was dressed in the red coat of a government soldier; I was not. . David Holdsworth

The moment you doubt whether you can fly, you cease for ever to be able to do it. J.m. Barrie

The day I let all that fear and worry consume me was the day it all changed. I slipped off that bridge and fell into the void I’d always dreamt about. The thing was, that was also that day I started to live. Brynn Myers

I’m not broken. Not really, ” I sighed. “My name is Novaleigh. Novaleigh Darrow. Brynn Myers

Trust and faith have left you.” “He will help guide you back to them.” “Blessings to you on your journey. Brynn Myers

Fantasy, myth, legend, truth - all are intertwined in the story that is Scotland. Laurence Overmire

Amelia envisaged that between York and the royal-infested Scottish Highlands there was a grimy wasteland of derelict cranes and abandoned mills and betrayed, yet still staunch, people. Oh and moorland, of course, vast tracts of brooding landscape under lowering skies, and across this heath strode brooding, lowering men intent on reaching their ancestral houses, where they were going to fling open doors and castigate orphaned yet resolute governesses. Or – preferably – the brooding, lowering men were on horseback, black horses with huge muscled haunches, glistening with sweat – . Kate Atkinson

Funny how I keep forgetting you’re insane.” - Colleen O’Brien Shannon MacLeod

Identify yourself, ” Colleen demanded. “I’ve got a bat and I will beat the living shit out of you if you so much as blink. I’ve got a black belt, ” she lied frantically, “and…and…a gun. A big one.” - Colleen O’Brien Shannon MacLeod

Food shouldn’t be that shade of green, lass.” — Faolán MacIntyre Shannon MacLeod

His deep voice drifted to her through the crowd of women. “…my lady when she returns. Och, there ye are, Blossom, ” Faolán grinned, standing up and taking her hand so she could ease back into the restaurant booth. “These lasses were just asking if I was a stripper. I told them I doona think so, ” he said, his face clouded with uncertainty. “I’m not, am I?”The inquisitive lasses in question flushed scarlet and scattered to the four corners of the room at the murderous look on Colleen’s face. “No, you’re not, but I guess I can see how they’d think that, ” she muttered darkly. “What you are is a freaking estrogen magnet. Shannon MacLeod

Submitted for your approval--the curious case of Colleen O’Brien and thegorgeous time traveling Scot who landed in her living room.” — Rod Serling Shannon MacLeod

Och, lass. Yer going to have to not do that.” Faolán exhaled. “Creeping up on a man is a dangerous thing, and I confess I’m jumpier than most. Yer feet are soft as a cat’s.”“ I wasn’t creeping anywhere, I was going to make coffee and this is my house, I’ll creep anywhere I like, ” Colleen muttered with a petulant scowl. “But I wasn’t creeping. Shannon MacLeod

You turn the lights on and off here and if you can’t sleep and want something to read there are books in the living room…” her voice broke off. “Wait. Can you read?” His chin took a slight tilt upward. “Aye, ” Faolán replied, his voice cool, “in English, Gaelic, Latin, or French. My Welsh is a bit rusty, and I doona remember any of the Greek I was taught except for words not fit for a lady’s ears. I can also count all the way up to…” He looked down and wiggled his large bare toes, “…twenty.” — Faolán MacIntyre . Shannon MacLeod

Refusing to lean back against him, Colleen sat ramrod straight until they reached the road. “I guess I should say thank you for saving my life, ” she muttered then turned and slapped Faolán hard across the face. “And that’s for you having to save it in the first place. And I’m not your woman, you big, arrogant, lying, betraying…faery loving…” She searched for the perfect insult and couldn’t find one, “…Scot.” She gave a very unladylike snort. “Happy now? That fiery enough for you? . Shannon MacLeod

At the negotiations in Irvine, it became clear to me that there was no side I could stand on. The English despise me and my countrymen don’t trust me. Wallace and the others are rebelling in the name of Balliol. I cannot fight with them. It would be as much a betrayal of my oath as when I was fighting for England. I know what I must do. What I should have done months ago.’ Robert felt embarrassed, about to say the words. Inside, his father’s voice berated him, but he silenced it. ‘I want you to weave my destiny, ’ he finished. ‘As you did for my grandfather.’ When she spoke, her voice was low. ‘And what is your destiny?’ He met her eyes now, all hesitation and embarrassment gone. ‘To be King of Scotland.’A smile appeared at the corners of her mouth. It wasn’t a soft smile. It was hard and dangerous. ‘I will need something of yours, ’ she said, rising. Robyn Young

But he'll never be fully recognised, because Scots literature these days is all about complaining and moaning and being injured in one's soul. Alexander McCall Smith

He said that if I ever hurt you, he'd find me and kill me. I told him that if I ever hurt you, I'd want him to." - Aiden MacRae Cyndi Tefft

I'm not one to let such a striking man pass without looking my fill. Donna Grant

After a taste of a Scot, you'll never look elsewhere again." A brunette smiled seductively, "That's quite a boast."" I'm quite a man. Donna Grant

She leaned a shoulder against the tunnel wall and thought of Kellan. A Dragon King. A dragon and a King.A gorgeous man who kissed as if there were no tomorrow and made love skillfully, adeptly. He could have let her die. Instead, he took her on a journey that opened her eyes to an entirely new world both beautiful and frightening. Donna Grant

His mouth descended on hers in a fierce kiss. He seized, he captured. He dominated. And she loved every second of it. Donna Grant

Listen to the earth, Feel the fire. Allow the power to flow through ye. Jean M. Grant

Hannah Rose Brown was not quite 13 years old when she discovered her family was cursed. THE PUZZLE RING Kate Forsyth

The calm skies that drifted above us lulled us into thinking this traversée would be smooth, but after several hours, the unsteady sea had taken its toll on me and after a light lunch and a brief swim in the open sea failed to do so, I attempted to remedy my mal de mer with rest. When I awoke, the sun had already set and the cool air and soft light of twilight helped recalibrate my disoriented thoughts. Although my seasickness had subsided, I lay starboard side facing the heavens - that were now a deep shade of purple - so as to not provoke another episode. We set to anchoring behind several large volcanic pillars just a stone’s-throw away from where the Tyrrhenian Sea kissed the east of the island. A handful of wishes scattered the skies as we approached the shores of Aci Trezza. As these stars traced their dying song across the void above, part of me felt ashamed for even entertaining the notion of wishing upon a star, but that voice was speedily silenced by words He had once shared with me in Scotland: “There is always some truth to fiction. RJ Arkhipov

For me, writing stories set, well, wherever they're best set, is a form of cultural curiosity that is uniquely Scottish - we're famous for travelling in search of adventure. Sara Sheridan

My father could talk about the Romany way of life and its culture. He could talk about freedom and the Scottish spirit. But that was all he could talk about. I was desperate for someone to talk to but there was just nobody there. Sara Sheridan

Doomed to Hell. Every last one of you. June Ahern

Alan Campbell opened one eye. From somewhere in remote distances, muffled beyond sight or sound, his soul crawled back painfully, through subterranean corridors, up into his body again. Toward the last it moved to a cacophony of hammers and lights. Then he was awake. The first eye was bad enough. But, when he opened his second eye, such as rush of anguish flowed through his brain that he hastily closed them again. John Dickson Carr

Her fingers clutched him now, and her body writhed with a frustration he knew all too well. He wanted her. Now. Here. Madeline Martin

He has cat blood, I reflected sourly, no doubt that was how he managed to sneak up on me in the darkness. Diana Gabaldon

One of Scotland's most important cultural exports - stories. Sara Sheridan

Scotland consistently produces world-class writers. Sara Sheridan

But I despised men who accepted their fate. I shaped mine twenty times and had it broken twenty times in my hands. Dorothy Dunnett

This is no dream, Novi. Everything you are experiencing is real and until you accept that, you will not be able to go home.”“ Yeah, okay. Sure. Twin queens, talking otters, Autumn Fae, houses suspended in midair. Yep, totally real. Got it. Brynn Myers

My heart's in the Highlands, my heart is not here; My heart's in the Highlands a-chasing the deer; A-chasing the wild-deer, and following the roe, My heart's in the Highlands wherever I go. Robert Burns

I'm proud of the culture I come from - we're a small country and a close-knit community. Sara Sheridan

Another lesson to file away about Scotland: insulting other people in a childish manner was the national pastime. Molly Ringle

She remembered Fiona saying something once, there was nothing more attractive than a competent man. At the time she'd been a young girl, without true understanding, but now she agreed. Lily Blackwood

I also told you when I made you my bride that I would not count the days if you would promise me the same. I don't intend to start now, love. You're my wife, yesterday, today, and forever. - Aiden MacRae Cyndi Tefft

I went to this beautiful place where the ground moved underneath me and the air was a part of me, and where time stopped. It was amazing and wonderful. But God sent me back, back to my body, back to you. - Lindsey Water Cyndi Tefft

She drank in the sight of him, the power, the virility, the sheer sexiness. She knew just how well those lips of his kissed, how gentle and coaxing his hands could be, and how mouth-watering his body was. Donna Grant

Lilith opened the shutters and allowed herself to bathe in the bright moonlight, as it shone across the Highland Glen. Alan Kinross

The village lay in the hollow, and climbed, with very prosaic houses, the other side. Village architecture does not flourish in Scotland. The blue slates and the grey stone are sworn foes to the picturesque; and though I do not, for my own part, dislike the interior of an old-fashioned pewed and galleried church, with its little family settlements on all sides, the square box outside, with its bit of a spire like a handle to lift it by, is not an improvement to the landscape. Still, a cluster of houses on differing elevations - with scraps of garden coming in between, a hedgerow with clothes laid out to dry, the opening of a street with its rural sociability, the women at their doors, the slow waggon lumbering along - gives a centre to the landscape. It was cheerful to look at, and convenient in a hundred ways. ("The Open Door") . Mrs. Oliphant

Ah sortay jist laugh whin some cats say that racism's an English thing and we're aw Jock Tamson's bairn up here .. . it's likesay pure shite man, gadges talkin through their erses. Irvine Welsh

The sound of running footsteps made them all start. Then the refectory door opened and the round, freckled face of Sister Belinda appeared. She was breathing heavily, and her veil was crooked, showing short tufts of red hair sprouting around her glowing face like unruly weeds in a parched garden.“ Excuse me, Mother, Sisters, ” she said. “But there is a police car waiting at the gate and what looks like the Black Maria behind it. Also, another car approaching from the farm and a uniformed constable coming in via the beach path. It would appear that the filth have us surrounded. Sharon Bolton

You need to wear less clothing, lass. Terry Spear

Symbols, for me and for many, of freedom, whether it be from the prison of over-dense communities and the close confines of human relationships, from the less complex incarceration of office walls and hours, or simply freedom from the prison of adult life and an escape into the forgotten world of childhood, of the individual or the race. For I am convinced that man has suffered in his separation from the soil and from the other living creatures of the world; the evolution of his intellect has outrun his needs as an animal, and as yet he must still, for security, look long at some portion of the earth as it was before he tampered with it. Gavin Maxwell

We sat still, our breathing loud and rhythmic, its music melancholy, a traditional song of sorrow. Margot McCuaig

Regretfully, he remained an alluring mystery, with fascinating lines and details she could not help but seek to examine further and memorize. Lily Blackwood

This Henry lived in Edinburgh, making him inaccessible and giving her something to do on the weekends – 'Oh, just flying up to Scotland, Henry's taking me fishing, ' which is the kind of thing she imagined people doing in Scotland – she always thought of the Queen Mother, incongruous in mackintosh and waders, standing in the middle of a shallow brown river (somewhere on the outskirts of Brigadoon, no doubt) and casting a line for trout. Kate Atkinson

Ye’re wet, ” he groaned. “ I’m underwater.” “ I ken that, bonny. But this dampness has nothing to do with that. Kerrigan Byrne

The lass was no damsel. He’d prepared himself for a hard sell, one that might require a few extra knee-weakening smiles, perhaps so much as a seduction, but he’d never in a million years expected the disaster that landed his arms. The disaster named Alison Ross. Kerrigan Byrne

Doona fash, Sam.” Calybrid, spying her scowl, hurried to balm the wound. “Ye’re plenty fair.” “ Aye, ” Locryn agreed. “ With eyes the color of the Alt Dubh Gorm.” “Sure, that too.” “ Just… no one will write odes to yer breasts is all.” “ On account of ye not having any, ” Locryn supplied, rather unnecessarily, in Samantha’s opinion. Kerrigan Byrne

It occurred to Gavin that the first thought a groom had upon spying his bride shouldn’t be to wonder whether or not she wore knickers. Kerrigan Byrne

His tongue tapped his top lip as he cupped her breast in his hand. "Tis boidhche --beautiful. Amy Jarecki

I had turned to leave and he had called after me. “Miss Maria, I kin no other woman who could be wearing men’s trousers and be dripping such as ye are and look quite so lovely. It’s a right shame your mother is marrying you off to that great sot! ” I had turned to call back to him, “I doubt very much we will have to worry about that after today! Gwenn Wright

That's how vile i am! I live Ireland, I breathe Ireland, and Christ how I loathe it, I wish I were a bloody Scot, that's how bloody awful it is being Irish! Iris Murdoch

The writing talent of Edinburgh is textured - we have poets, novelists, non-fiction writers, dramatists and more. Sara Sheridan

Her dark eyes slid to him. "I can't remember the last time I felt so good in clothes." And he wanted to get her out of them. Donna Grant

You've walked the woods today. Tell me there isna something about this land that doesna take hold of you and sink into your verra soul." Her smile slowly faded. "It did. How did you know?"" You were born here, Iona.You were part of this land, just as it's a part of you. You've been gone a long time, but it still remembers you. You just needed to remember it. Donna Grant

An enemy is always an enemy, even when they're an ally." - Taraeth Donna Grant

A memory, long buried, sprang up of her father warning her never to cross the stream and go into the forest." The Dragonwood, " she mumbled. How could she have forgotten the Dragonwood?Her father had explained that it wasn't their land, and that dangerous animals lurked in the shadows. Donna Grant

Lord, did he have the best smile. It was in turns sweet, seductive, and downright sexy. How could a man look so good without even seeming to try? Laith was charming, enticing, handsome, and fascinating. If she had to classify him, it would be sex-on-a-stick. Donna Grant