The Native Says,  "Some wee bits of gen aboot paple from a lang time ago up tae aboot right noo that you didnae ken aboot:-" Dont Panic, its not a war cry, he or she only meant :- "Scottish Historical Facts about people from past to present that you maybe didn´t know about."
That cleared up lets get on with it.

Scotland gets its name from the Scots, or Scotti who first arrived in Argyll in the late 3rd to mid 4th centuries AD, it was round about 500AD that these settlers had built up a sizeable colony; And the first Scots spoke Irish, not Scots. Scots is a Germanic language like English, "Scotti" is the name Romans called them and they built a wall to keep the "Scotti" at arms length.

Anyway for all intents and purposes you wouldnt be looking at this, if it wasnt for some Scotsman dilligently working away at making his little contribution to our global society. We list just a sprinkling of some of the more noteworthy both alive and dead, their legacies live on with us:-

LETS SHOUT ABOUT FAMOUS SCOTS.

Alexander Fleming 1881- 1955
Discovered Penicillin - Knighted in 1944, joint winner of Nobel prize in 1945.

James Clerk Maxwell 1831- 1879
Demonstrated: The first colour photograph in 1861, He wrote a thesis on the composition of Saturn's rings as well as explaining the movement of molecules in gases- "Kinetic Theory of gases", his other achievements saw him supervise the standardisation of units of electricity. On the centenary of his birth Einstein acknowledged his contribution to the scientific community as "the most profound and fruitful physics experienced since the time of Newton"

David Lane 1952 - Genetics researcher / Oncologist
Discovered gene 'p53'- the body's natural anti-cancer mechanism.

Alexander Graham Bell 1847 - 1922
One of the world's most famous inventors, a man whose discoveries changed the world forever. His best known inventions are the telephone, the tetrahedron and the hydrofoil. Bell also developed his own methods of teaching the deaf to speak. Two months after his discovery, the first long-distance telephone message travelled between Paris and Brantford, Ontario.

James Lind 1716- 1794
'Father of Naval Medicine' Started his career as a surgeon's mate in the British navy, he discovered that lemon and lime juice improved sailors health and eradicated scurvy. Authorities were slow to react and it was not until after his death in 1795 that vitamin C became a compulsory part of all sailors diets.

Charles Rennie Mackintosh 1868 - 1928
Scottish architect, designer, water colourist and artist. He was a designer in the Arts and Crafts movement and the main representative of Art Nouveau in the British Isles influence upon European design was extensive born in Glasgow he died in London.

James Young Simpson 1811- 1870
Pioneering Obstetrician in the use of anaesthetics, particularly chloroform, developing its use in surgery and midwifery. Championed its use against medical and religious opposition. Queen Victoria used chloroform during child-birth...and this brought general acceptance. He also poneered obstetric techniques and responsible for much reform of hospital practice

Joseph Lister 1827- 1912
Pioneered antiseptic surgery. Early interests in amputation but healing/ preventing sceptic wounds became his area of focus he used carbolic acid to sterilise instruments, wounds and dressings. Simpson & Lister left surgeons who followed them with two major legacies: The ability to work slower and the ability to work at greater depths with risking infection .

James Black 1924-
Pharmacologist - tested new and natural chemicals and was very critical of the negative commercial pressures on research Discovered: Beta-blockers and Propanolol for angina, Cimetidine for stomach ulcers, he was knighted in 1981, shared Nobel prize for medicine 1987

JJR MacLeod 1876- 1935
Dedicated his life to the investigation and treatment of diabetes Co-discovered insulin- the hormone which controls blood-sugar levels. He shared the Nobel prize for medicine with Banting. He also investigated air sickness, electric shock and TB

James Watt 1736- 1819
His name immortalised in the unit of power, the watt, stamped on every light bulb in the world. Watt discovered the power of steam by watching a kettle boil by studying the 1712 Newcomen engine which was essentially a pump brought to him for repair. Patented the steam engine in 1774 and sold it to Matthen Boulton whose pragmatic approach complimented Watt's highly strung nature. He retired a wealthy man in 1800 but continued inventing things to his death including a steam locomotive, pipe organs, sculpturing machines and a chemical document copier. He also discovered the composition of water and defined the unit of energy, the horsepower

John McAdam 1756- 1836
Born in Ayr, son of an American family with enough money to buy an estate in Ayrshire. McAdam lived in both America, England and Scotland during his lifetime. His interest in roads began during the Napoleonic wars but he did not become a professional road engineer until he was 60 years old. His 'Tarmacadam' roads were vital to moving people and goods around the industrialising country.

Thomas Telford 1757- 1834
The 'Colossus of Roads' Telford founded the Institute of Engineers, built numerous canals, bridges, harbours, churches and manses including: Caledonian Canal (1823), Dean Bridge (1832), Menai Suspension (1825). He is buried in Westminster Abbey.

Henry Bell 1767- 1830
Bell designed 'The Comet,' the first passenger carrying ship in Europe.

Ann Gloag 1942 -
Co-founder of the noteable Stagecoach Group, an international transport group operating buses, trains, trams, express coaches and ferries. Ann was born in Perth, Scotland.

Robert Napier 1791- 1876
The 'father of Clyde shipping' Napier the first marine engine in 1823 and later in 1839 built The Fire King steam yacht, fastest boat afloat at the time. As a result was asked to build engines by Samuel Cunard and he built a series of ocean liners and naval ships

Kirkpatrick MacMillan 1813- 1878
Designed and built the first foot-pedal bicycle which was called "the Devil on wheels", neighbours thought he was mad! Fined in 1842 for knocking someone down in the Gorbals but the judgje was so impressed that he loaned him the money for the fine! Did not patent his design and sold it to an English firm.

• Frankie Boyle (born 1972)
• Rory Bremner (born 1961)

• Kenny Dalglish (born 1951), retired footballer and manager of Liverpool F.C.
• Sir Alex Ferguson (born 1941), retired footballer and current manager of Manchester United F.C.

Captain Kidd (1645–1701), pirate
Jimmy Logan (1928–2001)
Rikki Fulton (1924–2004)

• William Paterson (1658–1719), The Bank of England

John Boyd Dunlop 1840-1921
He did not patent the tyre and it was sold in 1896, the company later became the Dunlop Rubber Company.

Great Writers
Arthur Conan Doyle 1859- 1930
Not so much of an inventor but creator of Sherlock Holmes sitting in his surgery with no patients, based on an eminent forensic scientist in Edinburgh- Joseph Bell. Dr John Watson was his genuine partner!

Sir Walter Scott 1771- 1832
Some say, Scotland's best and most prolific story writer some of his Masterpieces included Rob Roy, Kenilworth, Ivanhoe and Quentin Durward

Adam Smith 1723- 1790
His notion of the ''invisible hand'' stands as the guiding principle of capitalism. An advocate of laissez-faire but not unbridled greed arguing restrained passion was a recoil to the evil of stagnation he wrote the ''Wealth of Nations'' in 1776 which has never been out of print since In 1778, he was appointed commissioner of customs in Edinburgh but requested most of his writings were burned in his final year!!!

Robert Louis Stevenson 1850- 1894
Born into a famous engineering family, he qualified as an advocate but never practised. His novels include: Treasure Island (1882), Kidnapped and Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1886).
listen to or download some of his works click here.

Of course this list would not be complete with a mention to
Ian Lancaster Fleming 1908 - 1964
author of the James Bond books (007).

We welcome feedback on this page, we have tried to make it as accurate as possible, we know there are many more to add, so please tell us, we´ll review your submissions and make ammendments if we have made a boo boo.