0:00:02 > 0:00:03Mountains, lochs,
0:00:03 > 0:00:06distant islands, hills and glens,
0:00:06 > 0:00:11the classic landscapes of picture-postcard Scotland.
0:00:11 > 0:00:16These were the landscapes that people wrote home about in Victorian times.
0:00:16 > 0:00:19But the tourists who put pen to paper
0:00:19 > 0:00:23usually came from a tiny social elite - the rich.
0:00:25 > 0:00:29For most of the population, a holiday was just a dream.
0:00:30 > 0:00:35But when working people eventually won the right to some free time,
0:00:35 > 0:00:39by far the majority of them didn't rush off to the Highlands to enjoy the view.
0:00:39 > 0:00:42Most postcards home were sent from the seaside.
0:00:47 > 0:00:50This is the last of my six journeys
0:00:50 > 0:00:54to discover how Scotland became a major tourist destination.
0:00:54 > 0:01:00For inspiration, I've been following a well-thumbed copy of Black's Victorian Guidebook.
0:01:00 > 0:01:05It's been in my family for generations and has always served us well.
0:01:05 > 0:01:07Letting its pages guide me,
0:01:07 > 0:01:12I've travelled across Scotland in the footsteps of the early tourists.
0:01:12 > 0:01:17My final grand tour sees me in the southeast of the country,
0:01:17 > 0:01:21tracing the rise of the seaside as a worker's playground.
0:01:33 > 0:01:37Scotland has thousands of miles of coastline, and here,
0:01:37 > 0:01:41on the eastern seaboard, are some of the most beautiful beaches.
0:01:41 > 0:01:44I'll be travelling from the seaside town of St Andrews,
0:01:44 > 0:01:47hopping across the Firth of Forth to North Berwick,
0:01:47 > 0:01:50and ending up in the capital city, Edinburgh.
0:01:53 > 0:01:56My journey begins here, in St Andrews,
0:01:56 > 0:01:59a place of pilgrimage for almost 1,500 years.
0:01:59 > 0:02:04And, in Black's day, a significant tourist destination.
0:02:04 > 0:02:10My copy of Black's was written long before the age of day trips and mass tourism,
0:02:10 > 0:02:14and has the middle-class Victorian traveller very much in mind.
0:02:14 > 0:02:20They were a high-minded lot, the Victorians, and any leisure activity had to be improving
0:02:20 > 0:02:28or educational in some way, which no doubt explains why Black's is stuffed full of historical references.
0:02:28 > 0:02:31Heaven forbid you enjoy yourself on holiday!
0:02:33 > 0:02:35To help educate the visitor,
0:02:35 > 0:02:39the pages of Black's Guide are crammed with edifying facts,
0:02:39 > 0:02:43and St Andrews provides a rich vein to mine.
0:02:43 > 0:02:46Founded in the 8th century,
0:02:46 > 0:02:49the town became the most important ecclesiastical centre in Scotland.
0:02:53 > 0:02:58The bones of St Andrew, Scotland's patron saint, were kept in the cathedral,
0:02:58 > 0:03:02and pilgrims came from across Scotland to pay their respects -
0:03:02 > 0:03:06triggering a medieval style of mass tourism.
0:03:06 > 0:03:09Long after the last pilgrim paid homage here,
0:03:09 > 0:03:12St Andrews continues to attract devotees.
0:03:12 > 0:03:18But, 500 years on, these new pilgrims are followers of another religion.
0:03:18 > 0:03:22Today, St Andrews is the world-renowned home of golf.
0:03:22 > 0:03:27But it's hard to believe that, in 1862, when my copy of Black's was published,
0:03:27 > 0:03:34the game was an overlooked minority sport and would not have been a reason for visiting the town.
0:03:39 > 0:03:45In fact "gowff", as it was called in these parts, had often been frowned upon.
0:03:45 > 0:03:49In the 15th century, it was actually banned by the Scottish Parliament.
0:03:49 > 0:03:56Good citizens were meant to spend their time practising archery for home defence against the English
0:03:56 > 0:03:59and not wasting time on the golf course.
0:03:59 > 0:04:03And even after the game was officially sanctioned,
0:04:03 > 0:04:08it could not be played on Sundays, on pain of excommunication.
0:04:08 > 0:04:12Some players simply couldn't help themselves, and preferred
0:04:12 > 0:04:17the prospect of eternal damnation to the thought of missing a game.
0:04:17 > 0:04:21One sinner, caught playing on a Sunday, responded angrily,
0:04:21 > 0:04:25saying, "Farts in your teeth and prayers baith!"
0:04:27 > 0:04:33It wasn't until Victorian times that golf flourished, and I'm off to meet the man who's credited with
0:04:33 > 0:04:37popularising the modern game that we know today.
0:04:37 > 0:04:41Which should be interesting, since he's been dead for over 100 years.
0:04:41 > 0:04:45- Old Tom Morris, as I live and breathe. How are you, sir?- Ah, good.
0:04:45 > 0:04:49I recognise you from your photographs. You're wearing remarkably well.
0:04:49 > 0:04:52You were a legend in your own lifetime, as well as being
0:04:52 > 0:04:56a bit of a legend in death, as the father of Scottish golf.
0:04:56 > 0:04:59I suppose you could say that. It's longevity more than anything else,
0:04:59 > 0:05:02and being in the right place at the right time, you know.
0:05:02 > 0:05:07I was born in 1821 and, you know, my demise was in 1908, so
0:05:07 > 0:05:11I've witnessed all the major changes in the evolution of this great game.
0:05:11 > 0:05:12It's been my life in St Andrews.
0:05:12 > 0:05:17'The spirit of Old Tom Morris is still very much in evidence today
0:05:17 > 0:05:23'around the Old Course, which he remodelled, and is brought to life by actor David Joy.
0:05:23 > 0:05:29'And so, bizarrely, I find myself getting a lesson from a very late golfing legend.'
0:05:29 > 0:05:33- Hit through the ball! Oh, fanta... Oh!- You're going to hit somebody.
0:05:35 > 0:05:37Swing back.
0:05:38 > 0:05:40Aye, you see, you jabbed at it.
0:05:40 > 0:05:41I'm feeling quite nervous now.
0:05:41 > 0:05:43Aye, well, what you're gonna do is you're going to take the club
0:05:43 > 0:05:46- back as full as you can and then just release it.- Right. Release it.
0:05:46 > 0:05:50- Head down.- Looking at the ball the whole time?- Aye, dinnae force it.
0:05:50 > 0:05:53That's a difficult club to use, if you've not played with it before.
0:05:53 > 0:05:54Oh, pathetic! Look at that!
0:05:54 > 0:05:58- You lifted your head, that's all. - Why do you think golf is so popular?
0:05:58 > 0:06:01Because it has drawn in hundreds and thousands of tourists.
0:06:01 > 0:06:05- It's man's instinct to just compete against each other, you know.- Yeah.
0:06:05 > 0:06:09If it was a stone and a stick, I could hit this further than you.
0:06:09 > 0:06:12- I could reach that duned area in fewer swipes than you, sir.- Right.
0:06:12 > 0:06:16- And that's, in a way, how the game developed in the 14th and 15th century.- Here in Scotland?
0:06:16 > 0:06:18Oh, aye. Aye. Particularly here.
0:06:18 > 0:06:23- Do you think there were other games similar to golf being played elsewhere?- Oh, throughout the world.
0:06:23 > 0:06:25As I say, it's man's instinct to hit a stone with a stick, isn't it?
0:06:25 > 0:06:27But we claim it for ourselves.
0:06:27 > 0:06:32Well, until you cut a hole out of the ground and you have a set of rules, which we developed
0:06:32 > 0:06:36- in the late 17th century, that's why we claim it as our game.- Right.
0:06:36 > 0:06:39And then you could say that St Andrews rose as a pilgrim city again
0:06:39 > 0:06:42under the banner of "the home of golf" during my lifetime.
0:06:42 > 0:06:45- So that was very reassuring. - So it's a second pilgrimage.- Aye.
0:06:45 > 0:06:48It was amazing watching that whole Victorian era
0:06:48 > 0:06:52and all the gentlemen and the ladies coming in here to take the sea air,
0:06:52 > 0:06:55all these courses springing up everywhere.
0:06:55 > 0:06:58'The east coast was ideal golfing territory.
0:06:58 > 0:07:01'With it's sandy soil and endless dunes,
0:07:01 > 0:07:05'dozens of links courses sprang up across Fife and East Lothian.
0:07:06 > 0:07:09'As you might have guessed, I've never been a golfer.'
0:07:11 > 0:07:13Oh, now, that was a braw shot, sir!
0:07:13 > 0:07:17'But I think I'm beginning to get the hang of it.'
0:07:17 > 0:07:20To make the next leg of my journey,
0:07:20 > 0:07:24I need to get from St Andrews to North Berwick.
0:07:24 > 0:07:29In Victorian times, this journey would have been easily made by steamer.
0:07:29 > 0:07:32But, sadly, in the name of progress, the steamers,
0:07:32 > 0:07:36together with many of the east coast train lines, are long gone.
0:07:38 > 0:07:42To make the short hop across the Forth, I've therefore had to
0:07:42 > 0:07:47resort to a less than conventional mode of transport - microlight.
0:07:55 > 0:07:58What better way to see the sights than a seagull's-eye view?
0:08:05 > 0:08:07Down there is the Isle of May.
0:08:07 > 0:08:11Back in Victorian times there was a regular steamer service
0:08:11 > 0:08:17that allowed visitors to explore the ruins of a ninth-century Celtic chapel.
0:08:21 > 0:08:26But the Victorians were even more fascinated by the Bass Rock.
0:08:26 > 0:08:30Popular with sportsmen, who came to take pot shots at the gannets,
0:08:30 > 0:08:34its remote and isolated position made it the ideal location
0:08:34 > 0:08:37for Scotland's first high-security prison.
0:08:37 > 0:08:39Back in the 16th century,
0:08:39 > 0:08:44prisoners were sent to languish and die on this lonely rock.
0:08:50 > 0:08:52Safely back on land,
0:08:52 > 0:08:56I'm continuing my journey to the pretty seaside town of North Berwick,
0:08:56 > 0:09:04which Black's Guidebook describes as "the most fashionable watering place on the east coast".
0:09:10 > 0:09:13It may seem surprising today, but 100 years ago
0:09:13 > 0:09:17North Berwick was an internationally famous holiday destination.
0:09:17 > 0:09:20It was a real celebrity hotspot.
0:09:20 > 0:09:22The richest of the rich came here.
0:09:22 > 0:09:30World leaders and royalty all enjoyed the delights of a town known as the Biarritz of the North.
0:09:34 > 0:09:38A glittering array of rich, famous and powerful people came here
0:09:38 > 0:09:43to stay on the chilly shores of the Firth of Forth.
0:09:43 > 0:09:48The Prince of Wales came, the Prime Minister played golf on the links,
0:09:48 > 0:09:53while European royals enjoyed the bracing fresh air.
0:09:55 > 0:09:59North Berwick basked in the reflected glory of its celebrity visitors,
0:09:59 > 0:10:05whose presence here pushed the resort to number one in the top of the posh charts.
0:10:07 > 0:10:11Part of North Berwick's popularity was down to the Victorian obsession
0:10:11 > 0:10:14with the health benefits of sea water.
0:10:14 > 0:10:18Very quickly, the fashionable, rich and health conscious
0:10:18 > 0:10:22were making a beeline for the briny, ready to take the plunge.
0:10:23 > 0:10:27Now, the original idea wasn't to go for a swim at all
0:10:27 > 0:10:31but to immerse yourself completely in the sea.
0:10:31 > 0:10:35This was actually quite a complicated affair
0:10:35 > 0:10:39and great emphasis was placed on discretion and modesty -
0:10:39 > 0:10:44lest the tiniest bit of flesh appeared on public display.
0:10:44 > 0:10:49Which no doubt accounts for this less than flattering bathing costume.
0:10:49 > 0:10:51Right, here goes!
0:10:55 > 0:10:58Horse-drawn bathing machines were provided
0:10:58 > 0:11:01for the use of those keen to dunk themselves in the deep.
0:11:01 > 0:11:05These huts on wheels provided a discreet changing room,
0:11:05 > 0:11:08where gentlemen and ladies could undress
0:11:08 > 0:11:13and, with the help of an assistant, prepare for their invigorating ordeal.
0:11:16 > 0:11:20Now, take it from me, you have to be a very hardy soul indeed
0:11:20 > 0:11:24to enjoy the chilly waters of the Firth of Forth.
0:11:24 > 0:11:26But there's no pain without gain.
0:11:26 > 0:11:31And, as my old gym teacher used to say, if it hurts it's doing you good.
0:11:31 > 0:11:36So, in full expectation of utter agony,
0:11:36 > 0:11:37I'm about to take the plunge.
0:11:40 > 0:11:41Whoa!
0:11:41 > 0:11:45Ugh! Ugh! Ahh...
0:11:45 > 0:11:48It's not that bad actually. Urgh!
0:11:48 > 0:11:50I could spend all day out here.
0:11:50 > 0:11:52Ugh!
0:11:57 > 0:12:01Wealthy families would decant to North Berwick for the whole summer,
0:12:01 > 0:12:05staying in one of the resort's many good hotels.
0:12:08 > 0:12:13But, just as steamers and railways had transformed seaside towns like North Berwick,
0:12:13 > 0:12:16the invention of the internal combustion engine
0:12:16 > 0:12:19changed not only how people got to their destination,
0:12:19 > 0:12:22but where they went and how long they stayed.
0:12:22 > 0:12:29To find out more, I'm continuing my journey in a highly appropriate vehicle - a vintage Daimler.
0:12:29 > 0:12:34In the passenger seat is travel historian Gemma McGrath.
0:12:34 > 0:12:37And we're driving along in a very luxurious period Daimler.
0:12:37 > 0:12:44Now, of course, this would have been an extremely expensive piece of kit back in the 1920s or 1930s.
0:12:44 > 0:12:48What kind of people would have been driving machines like this?
0:12:48 > 0:12:50Well, the very rich.
0:12:50 > 0:12:54The people who first could afford cars were the upper classes.
0:12:54 > 0:12:59North Berwick itself was home, in the holiday times, to the elite,
0:12:59 > 0:13:03and so it was the new toy of the rich - the motorcar.
0:13:03 > 0:13:07And of course they wanted to drive it round and explore other areas.
0:13:07 > 0:13:11In a way, those people who were rich enough to afford a car
0:13:11 > 0:13:16were the first independent tourists to go further afield without a guide.
0:13:16 > 0:13:22The motorcar gave great freedom to venture beyond the resorts
0:13:22 > 0:13:25and set their own agenda, which was a massive revolution.
0:13:25 > 0:13:29So they could go places that no-one had been before, as tourists.
0:13:31 > 0:13:36Can you imagine the excitement of saying, "Let's pack up and go for a picnic"?
0:13:36 > 0:13:40It would have been quite amazing to have that freedom.
0:13:44 > 0:13:47The motorcar opened up new horizons.
0:13:47 > 0:13:50The era of mass tourism was dawning.
0:13:53 > 0:13:58And with this new mode of transport came an all-too-familiar holiday experience.
0:13:59 > 0:14:01Getting hopelessly lost.
0:14:01 > 0:14:07- I seem to have lost all direction. - Well, that's the spirit of adventure, isn't it?
0:14:07 > 0:14:09Losing direction.
0:14:09 > 0:14:14Think we have a hamper with sandwiches in the back, so I'm sure we'll be OK, Paul.
0:14:17 > 0:14:20Eventually, I managed to get back on my route
0:14:20 > 0:14:23and continue my journey from North Berwick
0:14:23 > 0:14:26to a very different type of seaside resort -
0:14:26 > 0:14:30Portobello, on the outskirts of Edinburgh.
0:14:34 > 0:14:40If the 19th century was about wealthy Victorians exploring the Scottish landscape,
0:14:40 > 0:14:46then the 20th century was about ordinary Scots discovering their own country for themselves.
0:14:46 > 0:14:49You often get the impression that the history of Scottish tourism
0:14:49 > 0:14:52is all about rich people and the middle classes
0:14:52 > 0:14:54but when you come here to Portobello
0:14:54 > 0:14:58you very quickly realise that there's a wider story to be told.
0:14:58 > 0:15:04How ordinary working people - the bulk of the population - enjoyed themselves.
0:15:08 > 0:15:11I'm meeting up with writer Eric Simpson
0:15:11 > 0:15:14to find out how the simple pleasures of a day at the seaside
0:15:14 > 0:15:18finally became something that everyone could enjoy.
0:15:18 > 0:15:23That's no good. That's the pointy bit!
0:15:23 > 0:15:25- Ah-ha-ha!- Right.
0:15:25 > 0:15:28When I nod my head, hit it.
0:15:28 > 0:15:35It's about time we settled down to enjoy a traditional seaside picnic, Eric.
0:15:38 > 0:15:42Eric, Portobello was really popular back in Victorian times.
0:15:42 > 0:15:47But there would, I suppose, have been a degree of...I suppose we'd call it snobbery now,
0:15:47 > 0:15:51around the kind of beach, the kind of resort that you went to.
0:15:51 > 0:15:54If you were a middle-class person, you might choose to go to one resort
0:15:54 > 0:15:58and if you were an ordinary person - an ordinary working person -
0:15:58 > 0:16:02- you'd be lucky if you got a few hours on the beach here.- That's right.
0:16:02 > 0:16:08- They didn't... Working people didn't have much time for holidays.- Tea?
0:16:08 > 0:16:12This really only started in the middle of the 19th century,
0:16:12 > 0:16:16when employers were gradually conceding, very reluctantly,
0:16:16 > 0:16:20the occasional day off in the summertime, so that employees
0:16:20 > 0:16:25could go on one of the excursions that were arranged by railway companies or paddle steamers.
0:16:25 > 0:16:31Factories and workshops had machines which required overhauling and servicing.
0:16:31 > 0:16:34They needed annual repairing. So it was convenient.
0:16:34 > 0:16:37So this was really a holiday, not for the workers, but for the machines.
0:16:37 > 0:16:43Yes. All unpaid of course. There was no such thing as holidays with pay,
0:16:43 > 0:16:48for the majority of people, until the middle of the 20th century.
0:16:48 > 0:16:50I think that's really interesting, because that was a big sacrifice,
0:16:50 > 0:16:54they weren't being paid, which would have been a big deal in those days.
0:16:54 > 0:16:57They must have felt it was worth it, to make that sacrifice to get
0:16:57 > 0:17:00some time back for themselves, to get a life really.
0:17:00 > 0:17:05Yes. They had this mass movement of people out of the cities, out of industrial towns,
0:17:05 > 0:17:07down to seaside places.
0:17:11 > 0:17:14Scotland's seaside resorts were increasingly packed with workers,
0:17:14 > 0:17:18seeking fun and frolics away from the daily grind.
0:17:18 > 0:17:21From photographs taken during its heyday,
0:17:21 > 0:17:25Portobello looks like an overcrowded seal colony.
0:17:25 > 0:17:28But not everyone approved of this newfound freedom for the proletariat
0:17:28 > 0:17:31and there were numerous complaints
0:17:31 > 0:17:34about rowdy behaviour and drunkenness.
0:17:37 > 0:17:42Was there a sense amongst certain sections of society that all this free time
0:17:42 > 0:17:45would lead inevitably to immorality of some kind?
0:17:45 > 0:17:47It was all a little bit too free and easy.
0:17:47 > 0:17:53Oh, yes, yes. Well, that's part of the reason why the better-off people
0:17:53 > 0:18:00moved away from the more popular resorts like Portobello, Rothesay and Broughty Ferry
0:18:00 > 0:18:05and they didn't want their children mixing with people that they considered riffraff.
0:18:05 > 0:18:08Some people called them the Great Unwashed,
0:18:08 > 0:18:12and the middle classes moved to other, quieter places,
0:18:12 > 0:18:15or even further afield, to the Continent.
0:18:15 > 0:18:21Can you paint a picture, Eric, of what this place might have been like in its heyday, about 150 years ago?
0:18:21 > 0:18:25It would have been a busy beach on a fine day like this.
0:18:25 > 0:18:27People from factories and shops.
0:18:27 > 0:18:31And they would be wearing their best clothes, their Sunday clothes.
0:18:31 > 0:18:33Just wandering back and forth.
0:18:35 > 0:18:36Some of them would be paddling.
0:18:36 > 0:18:40There were donkey rides for the children, seaside entertainers.
0:18:40 > 0:18:43There were three picture houses. There was a dance hall.
0:18:43 > 0:18:47There was... At the beginning of the 1900s, there was a zoo.
0:18:47 > 0:18:53And, when they got tired of the zoo, they could move along and see the natives in the Somali village.
0:18:53 > 0:18:55Somali village? With real Somalis?
0:18:55 > 0:18:58Real Somalis, brought all the way from East Africa.
0:18:58 > 0:19:00They were in their native costume.
0:19:00 > 0:19:04The men had spears and had mock spear fights.
0:19:04 > 0:19:07All very non-PC, of course.
0:19:07 > 0:19:13- So it was quite a place.- Looking across the Forth of Firth, it's really still a great place to be.
0:19:13 > 0:19:16- It's a splendid beach. - It is. I've just found my sandwich.
0:19:16 > 0:19:18I'm starving.
0:19:18 > 0:19:20Egg mayonnaise, perfect for a beach.
0:19:22 > 0:19:26It seems to me that the freedom to enjoy yourself on the beach
0:19:26 > 0:19:28symbolises a wider social change.
0:19:28 > 0:19:33By the early 20th century, Scotland was becoming a place
0:19:33 > 0:19:39where almost everyone could have a holiday experience of their own.
0:19:41 > 0:19:45For the final part of my journey, I'm heading for the most visited
0:19:45 > 0:19:4921st-century Scottish tourist destination of all -
0:19:49 > 0:19:51Edinburgh.
0:19:52 > 0:19:55You can tell from the guidebooks how important Edinburgh is.
0:19:55 > 0:20:00Just about every single one of them starts with a chapter on this great city.
0:20:03 > 0:20:05Black's Guide sets the trend,
0:20:05 > 0:20:10with the claim that the view of the city is one of the finest to be had
0:20:10 > 0:20:12of any capital in Europe.
0:20:12 > 0:20:15"The prospect obtained is varied and extensive.
0:20:15 > 0:20:17"Traced like a map,
0:20:17 > 0:20:22"the landscape lies in cultured beauty, stretching wide."
0:20:22 > 0:20:26Edinburgh is a truly stunning city.
0:20:26 > 0:20:30Throughout its streets there's a strong sense of its rich history
0:20:30 > 0:20:33and visitors come here from all over the world
0:20:33 > 0:20:35to soak up its unique atmosphere.
0:20:35 > 0:20:37Well, the first stop is the castle.
0:20:37 > 0:20:40We don't have a lot of those in the states. Not really.
0:20:40 > 0:20:42The whole town is amazing.
0:20:42 > 0:20:45This is a European city and it's very different.
0:20:45 > 0:20:47- It's lovely. Beautiful. - Absolutely beautiful.
0:20:47 > 0:20:51You kind of are immersed in the culture, with the people,
0:20:51 > 0:20:53with the ancient buildings.
0:20:53 > 0:20:54You live the history.
0:20:57 > 0:20:59But as I walk along the Royal Mile,
0:20:59 > 0:21:04I'm also struck by the constant bombardment of tourist kitsch.
0:21:04 > 0:21:08Kilts and bagpipes abound, and the casual visitor could be forgiven
0:21:08 > 0:21:11for forming a picture of Scots wearing tartan,
0:21:11 > 0:21:14eating haggis and roaming in the gloaming.
0:21:16 > 0:21:22Of course, this image has virtually nothing to do with everyday life in Scotland today, and the truth is
0:21:22 > 0:21:26that it never actually was like this for the majority of Scots.
0:21:26 > 0:21:29So, where does this national stereotype come from?
0:21:29 > 0:21:33Well, there's a huge monument on Princes Street to commemorate
0:21:33 > 0:21:38the man who many claimed sold his idea of Scotland to the world
0:21:38 > 0:21:41and, in particular, to England.
0:21:41 > 0:21:43His name is Sir Walter Scott
0:21:43 > 0:21:48and he's often described as the man who invented Scotland.
0:21:48 > 0:21:53I'm meeting writer Stuart Kelly, who has studied this incredibly influential figure.
0:21:53 > 0:21:56Stuart, was there a political agenda
0:21:56 > 0:22:01behind Scott's presentation of his country as a romantic destination for tourists?
0:22:01 > 0:22:06Absolutely. Scott was a committed unionist and, in promoting Scotland
0:22:06 > 0:22:09as this destination, he was really trying to cement the union.
0:22:09 > 0:22:13It does seem kind of ironic that emblems of Scottishness -
0:22:13 > 0:22:15tartanry and the Celtic world of myth and legend -
0:22:15 > 0:22:19become associated with the union. I mean, what was the thinking there?
0:22:19 > 0:22:23I think the idea was that Scotland should be Scotland and England should be England
0:22:23 > 0:22:26and Scott was almost negotiating between the two -
0:22:26 > 0:22:30explaining Scotland to the English but also explaining England to the Scottish.
0:22:30 > 0:22:36- So, in a sense, he was trying to broker a marriage of equals? - Yeah.- On cultural terms.
0:22:36 > 0:22:41I've always said that Scott is more like a marriage guidance counsellor than a divorce lawyer.
0:22:42 > 0:22:45Scott transformed the old image of Scotland
0:22:45 > 0:22:49as a place bedevilled with poverty and rebellion.
0:22:49 > 0:22:55In doing so, he literally rewrote history, repackaging it for an English audience.
0:22:55 > 0:23:01Scots were portrayed as noble, loyal and devoted heroes, who belonged to
0:23:01 > 0:23:05a bygone age - an exotic culture in a wild and romantic landscape.
0:23:05 > 0:23:09And the Victorians lapped up Scott's verse.
0:23:09 > 0:23:16"O Caledonia! stern and wild, Meet nurse for a poetic child!
0:23:16 > 0:23:22"Land of brown heath and shaggy wood Land of the mountain and the flood
0:23:22 > 0:23:28"Land of my sires! What mortal hand can e'er untie the filial band
0:23:28 > 0:23:33"That knits me to thy rugged strand!"
0:23:33 > 0:23:35Now, did this work? I mean, was it successful?
0:23:35 > 0:23:39Almost from the outset, tourists were flooding to Scotland, looking,
0:23:39 > 0:23:43not for the real country, but for the image that Scott had created,
0:23:43 > 0:23:45what we now think of as the Scottish stereotype identity.
0:23:45 > 0:23:49And that's why we all should be wearing kilts and living in a glen?
0:23:49 > 0:23:51- Indeed.- And frolicking in the heather.
0:23:51 > 0:23:56Scott's poems and novels inspired the shortbread-tin image
0:23:56 > 0:24:00that has pulled in the tourists since the 19th century.
0:24:00 > 0:24:06But, even as he wrote, Scotland was changing, and already had little in common with his romantic fantasy.
0:24:06 > 0:24:13Scotland had become an industrial and scientific powerhouse of global significance,
0:24:13 > 0:24:20but the image of a tartan-clad warrior was hardly an emblem of modernity and progress.
0:24:22 > 0:24:26Some of the world's greatest thinkers and inventors had emerged during a period
0:24:26 > 0:24:29that came to be known as the Scottish Enlightenment.
0:24:29 > 0:24:35Adam Smith, David Hume, James Watt, to name just a few.
0:24:35 > 0:24:39Yet Scotland was sold as the land of castles and couthy natives,
0:24:39 > 0:24:41and still is.
0:24:42 > 0:24:47Let's face it. Tourists have never come here to see the future.
0:24:47 > 0:24:49They're only really interested in our past.
0:24:50 > 0:24:55So, are we stuck with an image that's fundamentally backward-looking,
0:24:55 > 0:24:57static and unable to evolve?
0:24:57 > 0:25:02In a bid to see the capital through the eyes of a modern visitor,
0:25:02 > 0:25:05I'm going to hop on a tour bus. And joining me is Peter Irvine,
0:25:05 > 0:25:10author of the contemporary tourist guidebook Scotland The Best.
0:25:11 > 0:25:18Peter, do you think we as a nation in Scotland depend too much on the past to attract people here?
0:25:18 > 0:25:20I don't think so really.
0:25:20 > 0:25:24That's why a lot of people come and we've got a lot to be proud of.
0:25:24 > 0:25:28We're unique. We have something unique to offer.
0:25:28 > 0:25:31- It's a really strong identity. - It is part of what we are.
0:25:31 > 0:25:34- It's part of what we are.- Why do you think we have difficulty with it?
0:25:34 > 0:25:39It is part of our identity and it is what a lot of tourists expect to see when they come to Scotland.
0:25:39 > 0:25:44They expect to see at least one kilt in their five-day stay and, if they don't, they feel disappointed.
0:25:44 > 0:25:48But why do we feel somehow uncomfortable with that?
0:25:48 > 0:25:52Well, because we have a strong image of ourselves,
0:25:52 > 0:25:57which may be slightly different to what, you know, visitors might think.
0:25:57 > 0:26:03But I think the trick of course is to be both historical and contemporary
0:26:03 > 0:26:07at the same time, to strike that balance.
0:26:07 > 0:26:09You know, we are a creative people.
0:26:09 > 0:26:16We're endlessly recreating and reinventing ourselves. That's what contemporary culture does.
0:26:16 > 0:26:21This city has made a worldwide reputation as a festival city.
0:26:21 > 0:26:26In fact, it's fairly true to say that we invented the arts festival 70 years ago.
0:26:26 > 0:26:32So, do you think really one of our biggest assets, as a tourist destination, is our culture?
0:26:32 > 0:26:36Contemporary culture mixed with the culture of the past.
0:26:36 > 0:26:40Unquestionably. Culture and landscape are what we have.
0:26:40 > 0:26:46And if it's draped with a little bit of tartan and there's a wee bagpipe player playing, maybe that's OK.
0:26:54 > 0:26:56Edinburgh is the last stop on my journey.
0:26:56 > 0:26:58I've been on the road for two months.
0:26:58 > 0:27:01With my trusty Victorian guidebook,
0:27:01 > 0:27:06I've followed in the footsteps of the first tourists to come to Scotland.
0:27:08 > 0:27:14200 years ago, those early visitors came here in search of the romantic ideal -
0:27:14 > 0:27:17in the belief that the awe-inspiring landscape
0:27:17 > 0:27:22would not only help them to escape the dull routine of the modern world,
0:27:22 > 0:27:25but would give them a sense of their own place in the universe.
0:27:31 > 0:27:36Later tourists found the wide-open spaces of the north an ideal recreation ground -
0:27:36 > 0:27:42a place where they could act out their own fantasy version of Scotland and Scottishness
0:27:42 > 0:27:46- with or without the help of Sir Walter Scott and a bit of tartan.
0:28:01 > 0:28:06As for me, well, being a tourist on my own grand tour of Scotland
0:28:06 > 0:28:12has confirmed a prejudice I've held for a long time - that this is a glorious country.
0:28:12 > 0:28:18There could be few places on Earth that combine such stunning and varied landscape
0:28:18 > 0:28:20with such a compelling history.
0:28:20 > 0:28:26And just when you think you've seen it all, you realise that there's still so much more to discover.
0:28:53 > 0:28:56Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:28:56 > 0:28:59E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk