September 5, 2001

3:52 PM

Great Scot! Who are the 100 greatest Scots of the 20th century? Vote, then come back here to post your choice, justify it, and discuss. (What is a "great Scot" anyway?)
posted by feckless (31 comments total)

I voted for David Hume, the best thing to come out of the Scottish Enlightenment! It was close, though: him or Adam Smith.
posted by rschram at 4:00 PM on September 5, 2001

. . . I voted for (author) James Kelman. I don't actually think he's the number one Scot (Hugh McDiarmid maybe?) but he should be on the list.
posted by feckless at 4:01 PM on September 5, 2001

Um. Wasn't Hume 18th century?
posted by feckless at 4:02 PM on September 5, 2001

Oops! Oh well. I didn't recognize any other names.
posted by rschram at 4:06 PM on September 5, 2001

I have to choose? Argh!
posted by geoff. at 4:14 PM on September 5, 2001

Great Scot! I had to post it1
posted by leafy at 4:15 PM on September 5, 2001

For those who might wnat to do a little study first.
posted by bjgeiger at 4:18 PM on September 5, 2001

Thnaks, man:

>>
Throughout history Scots have made their mark
>>

I was created in that world, though I am trutly grateful.
posted by leafy at 4:25 PM on September 5, 2001

david dunbar buick
posted by clavdivs at 4:34 PM on September 5, 2001

Architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh had a pioneering sense of style that, for a while, went unrecognized in his home country. He did much of his work at the close of the 19th Century, and his influence on 20th century design can't be disputed. (oh, and I just have to give a big kiss to Sean Connery.)
posted by girlhacker at 4:48 PM on September 5, 2001

I'm going with Connery. It was a tossup between him and Jackie Stewart, but Darby O'Gill and the Little People give him the edge.
posted by gimli at 4:58 PM on September 5, 2001

Willy the Janitor :)

Nah just kidding, I'd say William Wallace because I know his story. Sean Connery is good and Jackie Stewart & David Coulthard are okay.
posted by riffola at 5:00 PM on September 5, 2001

I went for Alasdair Gray. I like the way he always finishes his books with the word Goodbye.
posted by ceiriog at 5:05 PM on September 5, 2001

Why, none other than John Logie Baird, of course.
posted by briank at 5:10 PM on September 5, 2001

After considered study I went with Sir Alexander Fleming, since I at least know about his contributions to medicine.
posted by bjgeiger at 5:26 PM on September 5, 2001

I nominate Stewart Mackenzie from So I Married an Axe Murderer. His rants (.wav file, 250K) were almost enough to make up for the overall crappiness of the rest of the movie.
posted by ratbastard at 5:32 PM on September 5, 2001

Sanford Fleming! The greatest Scot has _got_ to be an engineer, and the one who invented timezones has got to be the best.

Besides, he's a Canadian Scot.
posted by djfiander at 6:14 PM on September 5, 2001

James Hutton, father of the angular unconformity and one of the giants of early Geology.
posted by daveleck at 8:28 PM on September 5, 2001

Whoops - Hutton is definitely not 20th century. Sorry, gang.
posted by daveleck at 8:30 PM on September 5, 2001

Vote for me! I've got the clan tartans and everything. And the arabic name, but that's from the other side of the family. Yeah.
posted by faisal at 9:14 PM on September 5, 2001

Oops neither was Wallace from the 20th century, sorry :)
posted by riffola at 9:21 PM on September 5, 2001

Billy Connely?
posted by normy at 10:10 PM on September 5, 2001

...or maybe the folks responsible for this?
posted by normy at 10:15 PM on September 5, 2001

More seriously, I think my vote has to go to John Boyd Dunlop (1840-1921). The world would be a very different place without the invention of the pneumatic tire.

..ok, I'll shut up now.
posted by normy at 10:20 PM on September 5, 2001

Since John Boyd Dunlop has already been chosen, I would have to say Jill Scott.
posted by catatonic at 12:21 AM on September 6, 2001

If by 'great' you mean 'flatulent', why, then I'm the greatest Scott!
All hail me. From a distance.

Failing that, Irvine Welsh.
posted by dong_resin at 6:55 AM on September 6, 2001

I just want to back up Ceiriog on Alasdair Gray. I think "1982 Janine" is one of the most under-rated novels of the 20th century. And Gray was no mean painter and illustrator, as well.
posted by liam at 8:21 AM on September 6, 2001

I must have read this wrong. I was thinking, Hmm, theres' the footballers Scott Booth and Scott Gemmill. There's Scott Tracey of the Thunderbirds. There's Scott of the Antartic...
posted by salmacis at 8:32 AM on September 6, 2001

I'll third Gray. I'm wading through his loooong Anthology of Prefaces. It's a collection of all of the front-matter of all of the major works of English (and Old English and Scots) through the beginning of the 20th century, together with Gray's . . . unique take on British history, language, and culture in the form of marginal glosses. It's also one of the most gorgeously designed books I've ever seen.

There's also Iain Banks. And Ken MacLeod. And Liz Lochhead. And Janice Galloway. And A.L. Kennedy. And Stuart Adamson of Big Country. And . . .
posted by feckless at 9:30 AM on September 6, 2001

...Hugh MacDiarmid.
posted by holgate at 9:36 AM on September 6, 2001

I went with Sean Connery. I know, how incredibly expected and perhaps undeserved, but I remember visiting Edinburgh in 1992. The man's picture is everywhere. I mean it. He is like everyone's son, and not the crap son that never writes. More like the good son that writes weekly and calls on Tuesday and sends cakes from the bakery and checks in the mail. And he hosts everything from promenades to Highland dances.
posted by grabbingsand at 11:58 AM on September 6, 2001