Scottish Wit and Wisdom: The Meanings Behind Famous Scottish Sayings

Scotland has had its fair share of comedians, both professional and self-styled, but the wit of Scotland is not traditionally of the ha-ha, belly-laugh variety. It's rather of the understated, wry-smile type, known in Scotland as 'pawkie' humour. The Concise Scots Dictionary defines 'pawkie' as having a matter-of-fact, humorously critical outlook on life, characterized by a sly, quiet wit and this sums it up very well. Alas, this dry stryle of humour has the disadvantage that, unlike the obvious joke, it can go unnoticed. It's partly for this reason that the Scots have acquired a reputation for being dour or humourless, but often the fault has been with the hearers not recognizing wit when it was presented to them. There is less need to explain the wisdom of the Scots, since Scotland, especially considering its size, has produced over the centuries a great number of people who have made a significant contribution to the shaping of the world. These have included people from a wide range of disciplines, such as poets, philosophers, novelists, artists, architects, engineers, explorers, doctors, scientists and so on, and the thoughts of some of these are included in the selection of sayings and quotations in this book.