Is there cultural differences between the 4 countries of the UK?

[Lynsey953]

I often see a lot on the news about British Culture and UK culture but I know that Scotland has a different education system to England and Wales as well as higher taxes paid to the government and a lot of "free" things paid for by these taxes i.e. free prescriptions, free university tuition etc ... A lot of people in Scotland also identify as Scottish, not British. Do you think this means Scottish people have a different cultural identity than English or Welsh people?

I know how you feel! I always tell people who call me a Brit, that I'm English first and British second.

So I'm Scottish but have lived in England for most of my adult life. There are multiple cultural differences.

1. Language. Scots speak Gaelic or Scots.
2. Education. In Scotland you start school later, and finish earlier. University is 4 years and St Andrews, Aberdeen, Glasgow and Edinburgh are all older than Durham. The principles behind the Curriculum for Excellence are very different to the principles behind the National Curriculum. Children sit different exams at different ages, and breadth is maintained for longer so there isn't the same two cultures you get in England between the sciences and the humanities. The Scottish private schools are not as elitist as the English private schools and there's a longer history of people bettering themselves through education and empire.
3. Law. There is the Children's Panel system for children. There are Advocates not Barristers. There's the 'not proven' verdict. The qualifications to practice law are different.
4. Religion. Scotland is a Presbyterian (Calvinist) protestant country. The church is not hierarchical, there are no bishops and no cathedrals.
5. Sport. Scots play golf, shinty, curling. We don't play cricket
6. Politics. The government is devolved in Scotland. Scotland is generally more left leaning than England. Scotland didn't want Brexit.
7. Marriage. Gravestones have the surname women were born with. The profession of the mother of the bride and groom is included on the marriage certificates.
8. Most importantly, the water tastes amazingand the Scots talk to everyone

I’m was born in England but live in Scotland (wouldn’t live anywhere else now). Most supermarkets very clearly label Scottish products they obviously feel that this is a selling point. When I come down to England I just don’t see this much. Scots are very proud of there history and culture, I was surprised to hear that they have to learn Scottish country dancing at primary and secondary, a colleague showed me a video of her DS and his friends all doing Scottish country dancing at the leavers disco, all seem able to quote large chunks of Robbie Burns, I doubt many English could quote large chunks of even Shakespere, and they study Scottish history at school and are happy to fill any gaps in my knowledge 😀. They have some different foods here as well, forget haggis everyone has heard of that, I’d never heard or a square sausage/lorne or tattie scones before I came here and “mince and tatties” is a very popular dish again it’s not something I’d ever really heard of.
Culturally it just feels very different. Personally I love it but I know some English up here who are not so keen they feel it’s quite insular.

You are aware that the English have Celtic ancestry too?

No cricket but you forgot about football. For my colleagues its a big topic of conversation during lunch breaks etc here both men and women talk about it with passion. Not something I’d ever heard in England.

I think there are some differences but people over egg it. Interestingly how some non English are generalising all English as not friendly or stuck up or obsessed with class.

Yes we do. People like football more than cricket.

Yes of course. I think that it’s probably even more specific than that; I’m a Londoner and definitely feel that my culture and identity as a Londoner is quite different to that of someone from- for example- Cornwall or the Midlands, despite us all being English.

I always think there are 5 distinct nations in the UK : Scotland, England, NI, Wales & London.

As someone who grew up in the north of England, has also lived in Scotland then moved to London, I found that northern England, Scotland & Wales all have more in common with each other than they do with London, which really does exist within its own bubble.

Class doesn't factor at all in my life or for many other English. You still get the aristocrats, lairds etc in Scotland. Maybe not so much in Wales. You seem to be stereotyping English as snobby types. I bet some English are much more friendly than Welsh to be honest.

I’m Irish but I have lived in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland. They have shared things but are also still different. Scotland and the Republic of Ireland feel the most similar. Northern Ireland has a unique flavour and England was different again.

Is there cultural differences . . .

Are there cultural differences . . .

Depends on what part of London as well.

My village outside Glasgow has a cricket club, I don't recognise your gravestones, but then I am Catholic not Presbyterian and I speak English not Gaelic or Scots, though obviously I can understand Scots. I would say Glasgow is entrenched in football, while rugby is important elsewhere, but I know a fair few who play curling.
I totally agree the water is much better 😀

It's not ridiculous it's quite true. We English have a history of treating our neighbours badly. Ad the dominant nation we suppressed the Welsh And a Celtic languages almost to extinction at one point. We contributed hugely to the death of a million Irish people during the potato famine, stole northern Ireland and #ubject Irish to centuries of abuse.

Exactly.

The cultural differences between the Scottish and the English are nowhere near as big as some people (mainly Scottish nationalists) like to make out that they are.

Google the Ulster plantation by James VI. Often conveniently forgotten by the Scots. Plus it was the British government that made many of these actions so not just the English. I don't deny they happened but it is not just the English that should the blame. Mainly the aristocrats across the British Isles. For example the Highland clearances were often caused by Scottish landlords.

I will concede English did a lot but let's not blame ourselves totally. It seems a convenient rewriting of history at the moment.

@Lynsey953 yes three of them didn’t fall for the lies of or support the Farage.

The Scots were also hugely involved in plundering the British Empire, and the Act of Union was brought about because of a Scottish attempt at colonialism that went badly wrong.