SCOTLAND 



5258 



SCOTLAND 



Interior Wall of Burns' Tcwnt 



terns. The many religious and civil struggles 

 of the country did not prevent the early pro- 

 vision for public instruction. In 1872 the Scot- 

 tish Educational Department was created, and 

 boards having charge of elementary and sec- 

 ondary schools were elected in every burgh and 

 parish. These boards may impose religious 

 instruction, but children are not compelled to 

 receive such instruction. Since 1891 instruc- 

 tion has been free to all between the ages of 

 three and fifteen years and compulsory between 

 the ages of five and fourteen. Parish schools 

 are chiefly elementary, secondary education 

 being given in academies and burgh schools. 

 Unlike England, Scotland has never had many 

 private boarding schools. 



The growth of technical education in recent 

 years has been remarkable. In every impor- 

 tant town technical schools have been estab- 

 lished, and instruction is also provided in rural 

 districts. The Royal Technical College at Glas- 

 gow, the largest institution of its kind in the 

 British Empire, and among the most impor- 

 tant in the world, is the center of technical 

 education. 



In higher education, too, Scotland is in ad- 

 vance of England, having more universities 



and a much larger attendance in proportion to 

 the population. Women are admitted on the 

 same conditions as men, and university educa- 

 tion may be had at much less expense than in 

 England. The universities are aided by the gov- 

 ernment and by an annual income of $2-500,000 

 from the gifts of Andrew Carnegie. The promi- 

 nent universities are Saint Andrews, founded 

 in 1411; Glasgow, 1450; Aberdeen, 1496; and 

 Edinburgh, 1582. 



The Land. The Northern Highlands, occupy- 

 ing one-third of Scotland, are a region of par- 

 allel, craggy ridges extending from northeast 

 to southwest. They are furrowed and trenched 

 by deep glens, through which flow rapid tor- 

 rents and cataracts and in which lie deep moun- 

 tain lakes. The rugged mountain crests form 

 natural battlements and turrets. Their pre- 

 cipitous slopes are roughened by bosses and 

 corries, or caldronlike hollows scooped out by 

 the streams. Their deep ravines are dark with 

 dense woods of pine and birch. Many of the 

 summits of the Eastern Highlands are broad, 

 undulating moors, and it is said that in this 

 region there is more level land on the moun- 

 tain summits than in the valleys. As one jour- 

 neys westward, the peaks become higher and 



