h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Yeah that's right, Dougie Maclean (http://www.dougiemaclean.com), that Scottish folk singer song writer. Wrote Caledonia, which I believe touched many Scottish hearts and is tremendously requested at his gigs - lucky he didn't pop out for a "ham and cheese croissant" because of that.

It's unfortunate that research is undoubtedly required when wishing to delve less superficially into any muscial genre (not just Scottish). But that's one of the reasons why we have this guide.

However, it does seem that the term "Scottish" is widely used as a marketing tool, for example:

Scottish Sun
Scottish Citylink
Scottich Executive
Scottish Widows
Scottish Power

I wonder if this is attempting to appeal to nationalism? If the tourists buy into this made-up view of Scotland, I wonder if the denizens are too?

Dougie was and is a fabulous musician. "Caledonia" is nearly my top candidate for Scotland's national anthem (pipped at the post by Michael Marra's "Hermless"!). I have to say I prefer Dougie's old stuff to his new. To me, he seems to have gone into a bit of a "product churning" mode these days but he's still as popular as ever. He used to own a coffee shop on the Mound here in Edinburgh but unfortunately that closed down a couple of months back.

Most people here are as clueless as the tourists - that's one of the problems. "If you don't understand, teach" seems to apply a little too easily.

Thanks for the interest!

Slainte

Cosmic