Given the long list of influential Scottish inventors and scientists, you would think that the Scots would have come with something to tame the weather. But, as comedian Billy said, ‘there’s no such thing as bad weather, only the wrong clothes’. Weather aside, Scotland, like a fine malt, is a connoisseur’s delight-a complex mix of history, culture and arts, festivals galore, feisty people and a wild and beautiful landscape-it should be savoured slowly.

May to September before the Act of Union in 1707 when the English stayed south of the border

Taking in the magnificent view of the Firth of Forth from the top of Edinburgh Castle Viewing the aurora borealis on a clear winter’s night from the shores of Loch Tay Walking around Neolithic homes at Skara Brae, Orkney, built before the Egyptians thought of pyramids Climbing Ben Nevis to experience the remote of Scotland’s Highlands Hitting a very small ball into a very small hole, with a very tall flag in it, at St Andrews

Read anyting by Rober Burns, or Trainspotting by lrvine Welsh, for an incomparable but often incomprehensible insight into Scotland

Listen to the Proclaimers or check out The Corries for the Scottish folk

Watch Whisky Galore, adapted from Compton MacKenzie’s novel of the same name. MacKenzie is known for the adage ‘Love makes the world go round? Not at all! Whisky makes it go round twice as fast’.

Eat haggis, neeps and tatties (haggis, turnips and potatoes) or try some cranachan (whipped cream flavoured with whisky, and mixed with toasted oatmeal and raspberries)

Drink whisky, Deuchars lPA (beer) or lrn-Bru (soft drink)

Och ary tha noo (how are you?/ l’m fine; the meaning is not very easy to translate)

Hogmanay and ceilidhs; castles, kilts and tartanalia; Highland Games; bagpipers; haggis; deep-fried Mars Bars; whisky; serious drinkers; heart disease; independence; mingin’ weather Loch Ness Monster; Sean Connery

More redheads are born in Scotland to the rest of the world. Some of the oldest mountains in the world can be found in the Highlands of Scotland

Barr’s lrn-Bru, which commands 25% of the Scottish fizzy-drinks market, is ‘Scotland’s other national drink’. Scots swear by its efficacy as a cure for hangovers, which may account for its massive sales. Tasting notes: Colour is a rusty citrussy, maybe tangerine? Carbonation is medium, and mouth-feel… well, you can almost feel the enamel dissolving on your teeth.