List of fictional Scots

This is a list of Scottish characters from fiction.

Disbanded by John Pettie was used to illustrate the 1893 edition of Waverley by Sir Walter Scott. The novel is set in the Jacobite uprising of 1745 and the picture shows a returning Highland warrior.[1]

Authors of romantic fiction have been influential in creating the popular image of Scots as kilted Highlanders, noted for their military prowess, bagpipes, rustic kailyard and doomed Jacobitism. Sir Walter Scott's Waverley novels were especially influential as they were widely read and highly praised in the 19th century. The author organised the pageantry for the visit of King George IV to Scotland which started the vogue for tartanry and Victorian Balmoralism which did much to create the modern Scottish national identity.[2][3]

Fictional Scottish characters

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  • Dr. Finlay is the central character of stories by A.J.Cronin, set in the fictional village of Tannochbrae. Other characters included partner Dr Cameron, housekeeper Janet and rival Dr Snoddie.[15] The television productions have been seen as an example of modern Kailyardism.[16]
  • Groundskeeper Willie is a well-loved character in The Simpsons. He has flaming red hair and a powerful, muscular body.[20] A 2007 study conducted in the US concluded that Willie was the character that US residents "...most believe personifies the Scottish temperament."[21]
  • James Bond - following the success of Sean Connery in the role, author Ian Fleming gave Bond a mixed parentage - a Scottish father and Swiss mother. This background gave the character a colonial perspective, being an outsider in England.[24]
  • Lobey Dosser is the Sheriff of Calton Creek – an Arizona town loosely based on the Calton district of Glasgow and populated by Glaswegians. The cartoon strip by Bud Neill was a popular feature in the Glasgow Evening Times from 1949 to 1956 and is now commemorated by statues.[27]
  • Montgomery Scott is the chief engineer in Star Trek, famous for the alleged catchphrase, "Beam me up, Scotty".[34] The actor, James Doohan, was Canadian and auditioned with a variety of accents but suggested that Scottish would be best for the character, following the long tradition of Scottish nautical engineering. Producer Gene Roddenberry liked the accent and so it was settled.[35]
  • Para Handy is the captain of a puffer on the Clyde in stories by Neil Munro, which have been filmed many times.[36] His crew included Dan Macphail, Dougie, Hurricane Jack, Sunny Jim and The Tar.[37]
  • Super Gran is a grandmother with super powers in books written by Forrest Wilson. In the television adaption, she was played by actress Gudrun Ure.[46]
  • Jim Taggart is the title character of the successful television drama about a Glaswegian detective, played by Mark McManus. The title persisted even after the lead character was killed off following McManus' death.[47]
  • Tam Lin is a knight in thrall to the Queen of Faerie in the ballad of that name.[48]

Real and apocryphal Scots who have been extensively fictionalised or mythologised

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The Execution of Mary Stuart was the first movie to use a special effect. (click ▶ to play)
  • The Loch Ness Monster was sighted in 1933. Its existence has not been proven but it has since appeared in numerous fictional forms.[52]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Disbanded, McManus Gallery
  2. ^ Walter H. Conser, Rodger Milton Payne (12 September 2010), Southern crossroads, ISBN 978-0813129280
  3. ^ "Scotland and Sir Walter Scott", The Economist, Jul 29, 2010
  4. ^ Rick Fulton (Mar 22, 2010), "It's great to be a Scots redhead in the Tardis", Daily Record, archived from the original on 2011-06-09
  5. ^ Kirsten Stirling (2008). Bella Caledonia: woman, nation, text. Rodopi. p. 88. ISBN 978-90-420-2510-3.
  6. ^ Gerard Carruthers (2009). Scottish literature. Edinburgh University Press. p. 128. ISBN 978-0-7486-3309-8.
  7. ^ Andrew Nash (2007), Kailyard and Scottish literature, p. 225, ISBN 978-9042022034
  8. ^ Shawn Shimpach (5 February 2010), Television in Transition: The Life and Afterlife of the Narrative Action Hero, ISBN 9781444320688
  9. ^ Christopher Harvie (2004). Scotland and nationalism: Scottish society and politics, 1707 to the present. Routledge. p. 99. ISBN 978-0-415-32725-1.
  10. ^ Robert Kiely (1964), Robert Louis Stevenson and the fiction of adventure, ISBN 9780674775954
  11. ^ McKittrick, Chris (2012-05-15). "Bill Nighy on his 'Pirates' Accent: "I wanted something that didn't repeat anything anyone else had done"". Daily Actor. Retrieved 2022-09-29.
  12. ^ Mark Dykeman (2010), Desmond Hume from Lost, archived from the original on 2014-02-02, retrieved 2014-01-19
  13. ^ Wanda Leibowitz (2007), Ten Facts About Henry Ian Cusick, Aka Desmond Hume on TV's Lost, archived from the original on 2014-07-28, retrieved 2014-01-19
  14. ^ Julia March; Rona Skene (2018), Thomas & Friends Character Encyclopedia, Dorling Kindersley, ISBN 9781465466624
  15. ^ Robert Crawford (30 January 2009), Scotland's books: a history of Scottish literature, ISBN 9780199727674
  16. ^ Andrew Nash (2007), Kailyard and Scottish literature, p. 234, ISBN 978-9042022034
  17. ^ Neil Blain, David Hutchison (2008), The media in Scotland, ISBN 9780748627998
  18. ^ G. Gregory Smith (February 2008), Scottish Literature, Character & Influence, ISBN 9781408649459
  19. ^ Charles Frederick Partington (1836), The British Cyclopædia of Literature, History, Geography, Law, and Politics
  20. ^ Cort Cass (2003), The Redhead Handbook, ISBN 9781587860119
  21. ^ Groundskeeper Willie is the classic Scot for Americans, The Scotsman, 2007-09-19
  22. ^ Ronald Carter, John McRae (2001), The Routledge history of literature in English: Britain and Ireland, ISBN 9780415243186
  23. ^ Fiona MacGregor (12 February 2008), "The greatest work of fiction?", The Scotsman
  24. ^ Vivian Halloran (2005), Ian Fleming & James Bond: the cultural politics of 007, ISBN 0253217431
  25. ^ Diana Gabaldon (2015), The Outlandish Companion, vol. 1, Random House, p. 263, ISBN 9781473535916
  26. ^ Berthold Schoene-Harwood (2007), The Edinburgh companion to contemporary Scottish literature, ISBN 9780748623969
  27. ^ a b Sam Booth (25 January 2019), "10 of the best Scottish cartoon characters", Scottish Field
  28. ^ "TV Timewarp", The Journal, April 21, 2005
  29. ^ Tom Cole (31 January 2012), "Peter Capaldi reveals true inspiration for Malcolm Tucker's character", Radio Times
  30. ^ J.K. Rowling (July 2002), Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone Sparknotes, ISBN 9781586635183
  31. ^ Leo Baxendale: Bash Street Kids and Minnie the Minx comic legend dies, BBC, 27 April 2017
  32. ^ Frank Northen Magill (1983), Survey of modern fantasy literature, ISBN 9780893564506
  33. ^ Ray Dexter; Nadine Carr (2015), Dirty Work, Spinderella, ISBN 9781326415211
  34. ^ Stacey Endres, Robert Cushman (1992), Hollywood at your feet, p. 330, ISBN 9780938817086
  35. ^ James Van Hise (1992), The Man Who Created Star Trek, p. 26, ISBN 9781556983184
  36. ^ Neil Wilson, Alan Murphy (2004), "Essential Scottish Reads", Scotland, ISBN 9781741041569
  37. ^ Alan Norman Bold (January 1989), Scotland: a literary guide, ISBN 9780415007313
  38. ^ Jeffrey Richards (15 September 1997), Films and British national identity: from Dickens to Dad's army, ISBN 9780719047435
  39. ^ Richard Webber (2001), The complete A-Z of Dad's Army, p. 228, ISBN 9780752846378
  40. ^ John Corbett (1997), Language and Scottish literature, ISBN 9780748608263
  41. ^ Maureen M. Martin (2009), "Redgauntlet, the Lowlands, and the Historicity of Scottish Nationhood", The mighty Scot, ISBN 9780791477304
  42. ^ Douglas S. Mack (2006), Scottish fiction and the British Empire, ISBN 9780748618149
  43. ^ In DuckTales episode 26: "The Curse of Castle McDuck", Scrooge, the nephews, and Webby visit Scrooge's ancestral home in Scotland, only to be embroiled in a mystery surrounding Castle McDuck. Available on volume 1 DVD set.
  44. ^ Glasgow claims McDuck as its own, BBC, 1 October 2007
  45. ^ Lucy Hewitt (24 December 2008). "Best fictional Scots character". The Scotsman.
  46. ^ Hayley Dodwell, "Super Gran! The Childhood Show We All Loved?", 80's kids
  47. ^ Adrienne Scullion (2003), "Scottish identity and representation in television drama", Group identities on French and British television, ISBN 9781571817938
  48. ^ Graham Seal (2001), Encyclopedia of folk heroes, ISBN 9781576072165
  49. ^ Hugh Walker (August 2008), Three Centuries of Scottish Literature, ISBN 9780554740966
  50. ^ "The Demoman from Team Fortress 2 is a Black Scottish cyclops!". Destructoid. 2007-10-09. Retrieved 2023-07-08.
  51. ^ Colin McArthur (2003). Brigadoon, Braveheart and the Scots: distortions of Scotland in Hollywood cinema. I.B.Tauris Publishers. p. 107. ISBN 978-1-86064-927-1.
  52. ^ Jeffrey Andrew Weinstock (2016), "Loch Ness Monster", The Ashgate Encyclopedia of Literary and Cinematic Monsters, Taylor & Francis, pp. 383–387, ISBN 9781317044260
  53. ^ Ingibjörg Ágústsdóttir (2012), "Mary Queen of Scots as Feminine and National Icon: Depictions in Film and Fiction", Études écossaises (15): 75–93, doi:10.4000/etudesecossaises.603
  54. ^ Francis James Child (1866), English and Scottish ballads, vol. 3
  55. ^ Graham Seal (2001), Encyclopedia of folk heroes, ISBN 9781576072165