Towns and town life in Scotland: introductory remarks

When people think of Scotland, especially from a distance, it is the romantic rural image that springs to mind, the image often found on the tartan-coated shortbread tin. There are usually wild windswept coastlines or vast expanses of rugged mountainous countryside with herds of wild deer or golden eagles caught against a menacing skyline. Scotland’s historic castles and other vestiges of its past in their idyllic settings also figure large in this stereotyped image, usually with a kilted pip..