Ultimate Scottish quiz
So, you think you know Scotland?
From Castles to Celebrities put your knowledge to the test!
Find the answers further down the page.
Question 1 Question 2
A ‘Munro’ is the name for a Scottish mountain Where did President Eisenhower of the
above which height? United States have a residence in Scotland?
1,000 feet Culzean Castle, Ayrshire
2,000 feet Glamis Castle, Angus
3,000 feet Holyrood Palace, Edinburgh
4,000 feet Edinburgh Castle
Question 3 Question 4
The Gaelic for whisky is Uisge Beatha. What is its Where do the smoked haddock known as
literal meaning? ‘smokies’ come from?
Spirit of Scotland Aberdeen
Heart-warming liquid Oban
Good Health Arbroath
Water of Life Peterhead
Question 5 Question 6
Which famous US novel based its title from a poem Roughly, how many golf courses does Scotland have?
by Robert Burns?
250
‘Catcher in the Rye’ by J.D. Salinger
350
‘Catch 22’ by Joseph Heller
450
‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’ by
Ken Kesey 550
‘The Grapes of Wrath’ by John Steinbeck
Question 7 Question 8
This castle is said to be one of Scotland’s most In the Scots language what does it mean
haunted. What is it? to ‘haver’?
Fyvie Castle near Aberdeen Talk profoundly
Glamis Castle in Angus To boast
Brodick Castle on the Isle of Arran Brood in silence
Eilean Donan Castle in the Scottish Highlands Talk nonsense
Question 9 Question 10
Gerard Butler is one of Scotland’s most successful The first ever Scotland football team was made up
actors, but what did he originally train to become? entirely of players from which club?
A lawyer Inverness Caledonian Thistle
A doctor Queen’s Park
A teacher Heart of Midlothian
An accountant Motherwell
Question 11 Question 12
Which famous Scottish figure was depicted in the Towards the end of the Victorian era, Dundee was
film Braveheart by Angus Macfadyen in 1995? famous for its three Js - Jam, Jute and what?
William Wallace Jokes
Rob Roy Joinery
Thomas Muir Jigsaws
Robert the Bruce Journalism
Question 13 Question 14
Slains Castle in Aberdeenshire is said to have inspired What is the longest river in Scotland?
which tale of horror?
River Tay
‘Frankenstein’ by Mary Shelley
River Clyde
‘Dracula’ by Bram Stoker
River Don
‘The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’ by
Robert Louis Stevenson River Dee
‘The Fall of the House of Usher’ by
Edgar Allan Poe
Question 15 Question 16
What Scottish title was given to Prince William and St Andrews is Scotland’s oldest university.
Kate Middleton once they married? When was it founded?
Lord and Lady of Balmoral 1413
Duke and Duchess of Glamis 1513
Earl and Countess of Strathearn 1613
Count and Countess of Linlithgow 1713
Question 17 Question 18
Andrew Carnegie made his fortune in the USA. But McCaig’s Tower overlooks which Scottish town?
where was he born?
Pitlochry
Dunfermline, Fife
Peterhead
Glasgow
Oban
Blantyre, Lanarkshire
Rosyth
Greenock
Question 19 Question 20
On which Scottish Island did George Orwell write his What are curling stones traditionally made of?
novel 1984?
Granite
Iona Limestone
Islay Iron
Jura Marble
Skye
How did you do in the Ultimate
Scottish quiz?
ANSWERS
Question 1 Question 4
A ‘Munro’ is the name for a Scottish mountain above Where do the smoked haddock known as ‘smokies’
which height? come from?
Answer Answer
The correct answer is 3,000 feet The correct answer is Arbroath
Munros are named after Sir Hugh T. Munro who An Arbroath Smokie is a haddock smoked over a
in 1891 surveyed all the country’s mountains above beech wood fire and is unique to Arbroath in Angus.
3,000 feet. Currently, there are 283 Munros in
Scotland. Question 5
Which famous US novel based its title from a poem
Question 2 by Robert Burns?
Where did President Eisenhower of the United
States have a residence in Scotland? Answer
The correct answer is ‘Catcher in the Rye’ by J.D.
Answer Salinger
The correct answer is Culzean Castle, Ayrshire J.D. Salinger’s famous 1951 novel ‘Catcher in the Rye’
In 1945 when the owners of Culzean Castle in based its title from a poem by Robert Burns ‘Comin’
Ayrshire donated it to the National Trust for Scotland Thro’ the Rye’.
they requested that the top floor be given to
General Eisenhower as a thank you from Scotland Question 6
for America’s support during World War II. General Roughly, how many golf courses does Scotland have?
Eisenhower and members of his family stayed there
on several occasions. Answer
The correct answer is 550
Question 3
The Gaelic for whisky is Uisge Beatha. What is its Scotland has more than 550 golf courses.
literal meaning?
Answer
The correct answer is Water of Life
Whisky is Scotland’s national drink and is enjoyed the
world over. The law dictates that Scotch Whisky must
be matured for a minimum of three years in Scotland
to earn the name. Most Scotch whiskies are aged for
much longer.
Question 7 Question 11
This castle is said to be one of Scotland’s most Which famous Scottish figure was depicted in the
haunted. What is it? film Braveheart by Angus Macfadyen in 1995?
Answer Answer
The correct answer is Glamis Castle in Angus The correct answer is Robert the Bruce
Glamis Castle, the former family home of the late Born in 1274, Robert the Bruce became King of
Queen Mother, is said to be one of Scotland’s most Scotland in 1306 and went on to defeat Edward II’s
haunted. Alleged sightings include child ghosts, a armies at Bannockburn in 1314. He died in 1329.
Lady in White and an old lady wandering the grounds
at night. Question 12
Towards the end of the Victorian era, Dundee was
Question 8 famous for its three Js - Jam, Jute and what?
In the Scots language what does it mean to ‘haver’?
Answer
Answer The correct answer is journalism
The correct answer is Talk nonsense
Dundee is synonymous with jute, jam and journalism
In spite of its popularity among Scots speakers on account of the industries that once dominated
today, haver or haiver is a relative newcomer to the the region. Dundee is also famous as the City of
language, the earliest quotation in the Dictionary Discovery: it’s here that you will find the Royal
of the Scots Language dating from as late as 1776. Research Ship Discovery in which the explorers Scott
(Scots Language Centre) and Shackleton sailed to Antarctica at the beginning
of the 20th Century.
Question 9
Gerard Butler is one of Scotland’s most successful Question 13
actors, but what did he originally train to become? Slains Castle in Aberdeenshire is said to have inspired
which tale of horror?
Answer
The correct answer is a lawyer Answer
The correct answer is Dracula by Bram Stoker
Paisley-born Gerard Butler trained as a lawyer at
Glasgow University and turned to acting in the mid- The Irish writer Bram Stoker wrote Dracula in 1897
nineties. while staying at the Kilmarnock Arms Hotel at
Cruden Bay. Nearby ruined Slains Castle is said to
Question 10 have inspired Stoker’s gothic vampire horror.
The first ever Scotland team was made up entirely of
players from which club? Question 14
What is the longest river in Scotland?
Answer
The correct answer is Queen’s Park Football Club Answer
The correct answer is River Tay
Formed in 1867 Queen’s Park are the oldest
Association football club in Scotland. At 119 miles long the River Tay is the longest in
Scotland.
Question 15 Question 18
What Scottish title was given to Prince William and McCaig’s Tower overlooks which Scottish town?
Kate Middleton once they married?
Answer
Answer The correct answer is Oban
The correct answer is Earl and Countess of
Strathearn McCaig’s Tower was built in 1897 by local banker
John Stuart McCaig who’s aim was to provide work
The royal couple were given the title the Earl and for local stonemasons and a lasting monument to the
Countess of Strathearn by the Queen to mark their McCaig family.
marriage in April 2011. Strathearn, which means
Valley of the River Earn, stretches from the central Question 19
lowlands to the Highlands. On which Scottish Island did George Orwell write his
novel 1984?
Question 16
St Andrews is Scotland’s oldest university. When was Answer
it founded? The correct answer is Jura
Answer Eric Blair, better known as George Orwell, moved
The correct answer is 1413 to Jura where he lived between 1946 and 1948. He
stayed in a remote farmhouse called Barnhill, at
St Andrews is Scotland’s first university and the third the northern end of the island, which he had visited
oldest in the English-speaking world, founded in for the first time in 1945. It was during his stay that
1413. Orwell penned his most famous novel 1984, which
was published in 1949.
Question 17
Andrew Carnegie made his fortune in the USA. But Question 20
where was he born? What are curling stones traditionally made of?
Answer Answer
The correct answer is Dunfermline, Fife The correct answer is granite
Andrew Carnegie (1835 – 1919) is the most famous Curling stones are traditionally fashioned from
example of a Scot who made his fortune in the granite. The first stones were made in the 1750s, the
USA. Born in Dunfermline, Fife, Carnegie arrived in original source being Ailsa Craig in Scotland.
America as a poor weaver’s son but built a fortune in
the steel industry.
