1.
Rangers F.C.
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Rangers Football Club are a football club in Glasgow, Scotland, which plays in the Scottish Premiership, the first tier of the Scottish Professional Football League. Their home ground, Ibrox Stadium, is in the south-west of the city, Rangers were the first British club to reach a UEFA tournament final and won the European Cup Winners Cup in 1972 after being runner-up twice in 1961 and 1967. A third runners-up finish in Europe came in the UEFA Cup in 2008, Rangers have a long-standing rivalry with Celtic, the two Glasgow clubs being collectively known as the Old Firm. The four founders of Rangers – brothers Moses and Peter McNeil, Peter Campbell, Rangers first match, in May that year, was a goalless friendly draw with Callander on Glasgow Green. David Hill was also a founder member, in 1873, the club held its first annual meeting and staff were elected. By 1876 Rangers had its first international player, with Moses McNeil representing Scotland in a match against Wales. In 1877 Rangers reached a Scottish Cup final, after drawing the first game, Rangers refused to turn up for the replay, Rangers won the Glasgow Merchants Charity Cup the following year against Vale of Leven 2–1, their first major cup. The first-ever Old Firm match took place in 1888, the year of Celtics establishment, Rangers lost 5–2 in a friendly to a team composed largely of guest players from Hibernian. The 1890–91 season saw the inception of the Scottish Football League, the clubs first-ever league match, on 16 August 1890, resulted in a 5–2 victory over Heart of Midlothian. After finishing joint-top with Dumbarton, a play-off held at Cathkin Park finished 2–2, Rangers first-ever Scottish Cup win came in 1894 after a 3–1 final victory over rivals Celtic. By the start of the 20th century, Rangers had won two titles and three Scottish Cups. During William Wiltons time as secretary and then team manager. Taking over as manager from William Wilton in 1920, Bill Struth was Rangers most successful manager, on 2 January 1939 a British league attendance record was broken as 118,567 fans turned out to watch Rangers beat Celtic in the traditional New Years Day Old Firm match. During the wartime regional league setup, Rangers achieved their highest score against old firm rivals Celtic with an 8–1 win in the Southern Football League, Rangers also lost by their biggest Old Firm margin of 7–1. Rangers reached the semi-finals of the European Cup in 1960, losing to German club Eintracht Frankfurt by a record aggregate 12–4 for a Scottish team. In 1961 Rangers became the first British team to reach a European final when they contested the Cup Winners Cup final against Italian side Fiorentina, Rangers lost again in the final of the same competition in 1967, by a single goal after extra time to Bayern Munich. The Ibrox disaster occurred on 2 January 1971 when large-scale crushing on an exit at the culmination of the New Years Day Old Firm game claimed 66 lives. An enquiry concluded that the crush was likely to have happened ten minutes after the final whistle and to have been triggered by someone falling on the stairs
2.
Ibrox Stadium
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Ibrox Stadium is a football stadium located on the south side of the River Clyde in the Ibrox district of Glasgow. The home of Rangers F. C. Ibrox is one of the largest football stadiums in the UK, and it was opened as Ibrox Park in 1899, but suffered a disaster in 1902 when a wooden terrace collapsed. Vast earthen terraces were built in its place, while a main stand, a British record crowd of 118,567 gathered in January 1939 for a league match with Celtic. After the Ibrox disaster of 1971, the stadium was largely rebuilt, the vast bowl-shaped terracing was removed and replaced by three rectangular, all-seated stands by 1981. After renovations were completed in 1997, the ground was renamed Ibrox Stadium, Ibrox has also hosted the Scotland national football team, particularly when the national stadium Hampden Park was redeveloped in the 1990s. Ibrox also hosted three Scottish domestic cup finals in the same period and it has also been the venue for concerts by major performers, including Frank Sinatra. Rangers played its first match in May 1872, on Glasgow Green, the club then played home matches on public pitches across Glasgow, first moving to a regular home ground at Burnbank in 1875. A year later, Rangers played at the Clydesdale cricket ground in Kinning Park and this ground was improved to give a capacity of 7,000, but it was not owned by Rangers. After hints by the landlords that they wished to develop the site, the club shared Cathkin Park with Third Lanark for the remainder of the 1886–87 season. Rangers first moved to the Ibrox area later in 1887, playing on a site immediately to the east of the current stadium. The first match at this stadium was an 8–1 defeat to English side Preston North End on 20 August 1887 and this inaugural match had to be abandoned after 70 minutes due to a pitch invasion. The first Ibrox Park was a success in the short term, Celtic Park, built in 1892, was more advanced, however. Rangers opted to construct a new stadium, raising funds by forming a limited company, the last match at the old ground was played on 9 December 1899. The new Ibrox Park was formally opened with a 3–1 victory over Hearts on 30 December, Ibrox Park, as it was known between 1899 and 1997, is almost completely different from the Ibrox Stadium of today. It followed the model of most Scottish stadiums of the time, comprising an oval track around the pitch, with a pavilion, the ground had a capacity of 40,000. Celtic Park, Ibrox and Hampden Park all competed with other to host Scottish Cup Finals and Scotland matches. To aid their chances of gaining that revenue, Rangers constructed a large terracing, holding 36,000 people, the terracing, designed by Archibald Leitch, was formed by wooden planks bolted onto a framework made of iron. A similar wooden terracing was constructed at the end, giving a total capacity of 75,000
3.
Scottish Cup
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The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the Scottish Cup, is an annual association football knock-out cup competition for mens football clubs in Scotland. The competition was first held in 1873–74, entry is open to all clubs with full or associate membership of the Scottish Football Association. The competition is called the William Hill Scottish Cup for sponsorship reasons and it was first presented to Queens Park, who won the final match of the inaugural tournament in March 1874. The current holder is Hibernian, who won the tournament for the time by defeating Rangers 3–2 in the 2016 final. The tournament starts at the beginning of the Scottish football season in August or September, the Scottish Cup Final is usually the last game of the season, taking place at the end of May. Participating teams enter the tournament at different stages depending on their league ranking, the lowest ranked clubs enter the tournament at the first round whilst the highest ranked, those that compete in the Scottish Premiership, enter at the fourth round stage. The competition is a knock-out tournament, in each round of games the teams are paired at random, with the first team drawn listed as the home team. Every game lasts 90 minutes plus any additional stoppage time, the winner of each game advances to the next round, whilst the loser is eliminated from the tournament. If a game ends in a draw, the fixture is replayed at the ground of the other team at a later date. If the replay also ends in a draw,30 minutes of time is played followed by a penalty shoot-out if there is still no clear winner. In the semi-final and final rounds, if the ends in a draw there is no replay. The competition has a staggered entry system, Scottish League One and six Scottish Championship clubs started in the third round, while the remaining four Championship clubs and all 12 Scottish Premiership clubs entered in the fourth round. Any club that is a full or associate member of the Scottish Football Association is entitled to compete in the tournament, every team that plays in the Scottish Professional Football League is therefore eligible. Between 1895 and 2007, clubs that were SFA members but not competitors in the professional football leagues could only qualify for the tournament by winning the Scottish Qualifying Cup. Clubs that are not members of the SFA may still qualify for the tournament by winning the Highland League, Lowland League, three junior clubs, Banks O Dee, Girvan and Linlithgow Rose are also SFA members and therefore qualify automatically. From 2015, the winners of the Scottish Amateur Cup are also eligible to qualify, players that are registered with a competing club are eligible to play. However, players are not entitled to play for more than one club during the same tournament, each club names eleven players and up to five substitutes before every match. In order to play in the match, a player must have also been registered to compete in the semi-final round for the same club
4.
Association football
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Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball. It is played by 250 million players in over 200 countries and dependencies making it the worlds most popular sport, the game is played on a rectangular field with a goal at each end. The object of the game is to score by getting the ball into the opposing goal, players are not allowed to touch the ball with their hands or arms while it is in play, unless they are goalkeepers. Other players mainly use their feet to strike or pass the ball, the team that scores the most goals by the end of the match wins. If the score is level at the end of the game, the Laws of the Game were originally codified in England by The Football Association in 1863. Association football is governed internationally by the International Federation of Association Football, the first written reference to the inflated ball used in the game was in the mid-14th century, Þe heued fro þe body went, Als it were a foteballe. The Online Etymology Dictionary states that the word soccer was split off in 1863, according to Partha Mazumdar, the term soccer originated in England, first appearing in the 1880s as an Oxford -er abbreviation of the word association. Within the English-speaking world, association football is now usually called football in the United Kingdom and mainly soccer in Canada and the United States. People in Australia, Ireland, South Africa and New Zealand use either or both terms, although national associations in Australia and New Zealand now primarily use football for the formal name. According to FIFA, the Chinese competitive game cuju is the earliest form of football for which there is scientific evidence, cuju players could use any part of the body apart from hands and the intent was kicking a ball through an opening into a net. It was remarkably similar to football, though similarities to rugby occurred. During the Han Dynasty, cuju games were standardised and rules were established, phaininda and episkyros were Greek ball games. An image of an episkyros player depicted in low relief on a vase at the National Archaeological Museum of Athens appears on the UEFA European Championship Cup, athenaeus, writing in 228 AD, referenced the Roman ball game harpastum. Phaininda, episkyros and harpastum were played involving hands and violence and they all appear to have resembled rugby football, wrestling and volleyball more than what is recognizable as modern football. As with pre-codified mob football, the antecedent of all football codes. Non-competitive games included kemari in Japan, chuk-guk in Korea and woggabaliri in Australia, Association football in itself does not have a classical history. Notwithstanding any similarities to other games played around the world FIFA have recognised that no historical connection exists with any game played in antiquity outside Europe. The modern rules of football are based on the mid-19th century efforts to standardise the widely varying forms of football played in the public schools of England
5.
FC Porto
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Futebol Clube do Porto, MHIH, OM, commonly known as FC Porto or simply Porto, is a Portuguese sports club based in Porto. It is best known for the football team playing in the Primeira Liga. They are nicknamed Dragões, for the mythical creature atop the clubs crest, the club supporters are called Portistas. Since 2003, Porto have played their matches at the Estádio do Dragão, which replaced the previous 52-year-old ground. Porto is the second most successful Portuguese team, with a total of 74 official trophies,67 were achieved in domestic competitions and comprise 27 league titles,16 Taça de Portugal,4 Campeonato de Portugal, and a record 20 Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira. Porto is the team in Portuguese league history to have won two titles without conceding any defeat, namely in the 2010–11 and 2012–13 seasons. In the former, Porto achieved the largest-ever difference of points between champion and runner-up in a system, on their way to a second quadruple. In addition, they were runners-up in the 1983–84 European Cup Winners Cup, together with Barcelona and Real Madrid, Porto have the most appearances in the UEFA Champions League group stage. At the end of the 2015–16 season, Porto were 16th in the UEFA club coefficient ranking, Porto was the only Portuguese club that was part of G-14 member. Porto played its first matches with other Portuguese clubs, including one against Lisbons Foot-Ball Club Lisbonense on 2 March 1894. This match had the patronage of King Carlos I and Queen Amélie of Orléans, almeidas enthusiasm and involvement with the club waned due to family pressure, and by the turn of the century, Porto had entered a period of inactivity. In 1906, José Monteiro da Costa returned to Porto after finishing his studies in England, on 2 August 1906, Porto was revived and Monteiro da Costa appointed its president. Although football was the force, the club also promoted other sports, including gymnastics, weightlifting and wrestling, athletics. Shortly after, Porto rented its first ground and recruited a French coach named Adolphe Cassaigne, on 15 December 1907, Porto played its first match against a foreign team, hosting Spains Real Fortuna. In the following month, Porto returned the visit and played its first match abroad, four years later, the club won the inaugural staging of the Taça José Monteiro da Costa, securing its first-ever official title. In 1912, Porto joined efforts with Leixões to establish the Porto Football Association, Porto finished the first season as runners-up, behind local rivals Boavista, but in the following season the club won its first championship. The 1921–22 season was marked by the creation of the first nationwide football competition – the Campeonato de Portugal, organised by the national federation, this knockout tournament gathered the winners of the different regional championships to determine the Portuguese champion. After clinching its fourth consecutive title, Porto defeated Sporting CP in the inaugural edition
6.
Malta
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Malta, officially known as the Republic of Malta, is a Southern European island country consisting of an archipelago in the Mediterranean Sea. It lies 80 km south of Italy,284 km east of Tunisia, the country covers just over 316 km2, with a population of just under 450,000, making it one of the worlds smallest and most densely populated countries. The capital of Malta is Valletta, which at 0.8 km2, is the smallest national capital in the European Union, Malta has one national language, which is Maltese, and English as an official language. John, French and British, have ruled the islands, King George VI of the United Kingdom awarded the George Cross to Malta in 1942 for the countrys bravery in the Second World War. The George Cross continues to appear on Maltas national flag, the country became a republic in 1974, and although no longer a Commonwealth realm, remains a member state of the Commonwealth of Nations. Malta was admitted to the United Nations in 1964 and to the European Union in 2004, in 2008, Catholicism is the official religion in Malta. The origin of the term Malta is uncertain, and the modern-day variation derives from the Maltese language, the most common etymology is that the word Malta derives from the Greek word μέλι, meli, honey. The ancient Greeks called the island Μελίτη meaning honey-sweet, possibly due to Maltas unique production of honey, an endemic species of bee lives on the island. The Romans went on to call the island Melita, which can be considered either as a latinisation of the Greek Μελίτη or the adaptation of the Doric Greek pronunciation of the same word Μελίτα. Another conjecture suggests that the word Malta comes from the Phoenician word Maleth a haven or port in reference to Maltas many bays, few other etymological mentions appear in classical literature, with the term Malta appearing in its present form in the Antonine Itinerary. The extinction of the hippos and dwarf elephants has been linked to the earliest arrival of humans on Malta. Prehistoric farming settlements dating to the Early Neolithic period were discovered in areas and also in caves. The Sicani were the tribe known to have inhabited the island at this time and are generally regarded as being closely related to the Iberians. Pottery from the Għar Dalam phase is similar to found in Agrigento. A culture of megalithis temple builders then either supplanted or arose from this early period, the temples have distinctive architecture, typically a complex trefoil design, and were used from 4000 to 2500 BCE. Animal bones and a knife found behind an altar stone suggest that temple rituals included animal sacrifice. Tentative information suggests that the sacrifices were made to the goddess of fertility, the culture apparently disappeared from the Maltese Islands around 2500 BC. Archaeologists speculate that the builders fell victim to famine or disease
7.
Pittodrie Stadium
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Pittodrie Stadium, commonly referred to as Pittodrie, is an all-seater stadium in Aberdeen, Scotland. Used primarily for football, it has been the ground of Scottish Professional Football League club Aberdeen F. C. since they were formed in 1903. Prior to then, the hosted the original Aberdeen F. C. from 1899 until the merger that created the present club. With a seating capacity of 20,866, Pittodrie is the fourth largest stadium in the SPFL, as of 2017, Pittodrie has hosted fourteen matches involving the Scotland national team. The ground has also staged rugby union, with four Scotland international fixtures being held, in club football, Inverness Caledonian Thistle temporarily shared Pittodrie during part of the 2004–05 season. Pittodrie’s original tenants were the original Aberdeen club, a precursor to Aberdeen FC, having previously played their football at various venues within the city, a former dung hill for police horses was chosen by Aberdeen to be cleared and readied for football on 1 February 1899. The land was leased from Mr Knight Erskine of Pittodrie with an agreement to construct a terrace on what is now the site of the Richard Donald Stand. On 2 September 1899, the first game was played in the new home, known then as Pittodrie Park, on 15 August 1903,8000 spectators turned up to watch the new Aberdeen FC draw 1–1 against Stenhousemuir, the first game played at Pittodrie by its amalgamated tenants. Increasing popularity of the team and rising attendances lead to continued construction on Pittodrie, Aberdeen FC purchased the ground they had been leasing, with the final payment made on 1 December 1920. In 1925 the Main Stand, where the offices, dressing rooms. Also in the 1920s, the dugout was introduced to football by coach Donald Coleman, after the Second World War, the team won its first trophy, a Scottish Cup victory, and with increased success came more additions to Pittodrie. The record attendance occurred on 13 March 1954, when 45,061 spectators turned up for a Scottish Cup match between Aberdeen and Heart of Midlothian, floodlights were introduced at Pittodrie on 21 October 1959, when English league side Luton Town were beaten 3–2 in a friendly. By the 1 August 1968, the Main Stand had become all-seated as part of a £100,000 improvement of the ground and this coincided with a change of name from Pittodrie Park to Pittodrie Stadium. On 6 February 1971, a destroyed part of the Main Stand. The Scottish Cup – held by Aberdeen at the time – had to be rescued by firemen, in 1978, Pittodrie became the second all-seated stadium in Great Britain, after the south terracing was fitted with bench style seating. This improvement pre-dated the Taylor Report on British football grounds by a decade and coincided with an upturn in the fortunes of the home team. The south side became the South Stand in 1980, following the installation of a roof which covered most of the seats. A year later, the benches were replaced by individual seats, both during the subsequent run in the 1980s and at numerous other times over the century the stadium has been in operation, there have been many memorable nights for the local fans
8.
Celtic F.C.
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The Celtic Football Club is a professional football club based in Glasgow, Scotland, which plays in the Scottish Premiership. The club was founded in 1887 with the purpose of alleviating poverty in the immigrant Irish population in the East End of Glasgow and they played their first match in May 1888, a friendly match against Rangers which Celtic won 5–2. Celtic established itself within Scottish football, winning six league titles during the first decade of the 20th century. The club enjoyed their greatest successes during the 1960s and 70s under Jock Stein when they won nine league titles. Celtic have won the Scottish League Championship on 48 occasions, most recently in the 2016–17 season, the Scottish Cup 36 times, Celtic also reached the 1970 European Cup Final, and the 2003 UEFA Cup Final. Celtic have a fierce rivalry with Rangers, and the clubs have become known as the Old Firm. The two clubs have dominated Scottish football, winning 102 league titles between them since the inception of the Scottish League in 1890. The clubs fanbase was estimated in 2003 as being around nine million worldwide, an estimated 80,000 fans travelled to Seville for the 2003 UEFA Cup Final. The club has the nickname, The Bhoys. However, according to the Celtic press office, the established club was known to many as the bold boys. A postcard from the early 20th century that pictured the team, the extra h imitates the spelling system of Gaelic, wherein the letter b is often accompanied by the letter h. On 28 May 1888, Celtic played their first official match against Rangers, Neil McCallum scored Celtics first ever goal. Celtics first kit consisted of a shirt with a green collar, black shorts. The original club crest was a green cross on a red oval background. In 1889 Celtic reached the final of the Scottish Cup, this was their first season in the competition, Celtic again reached the final of the Scottish Cup in 1892, but this time were victorious after defeating Queens Park 5–1 in the final, the clubs first major honour. Several months later the moved to its new ground, Celtic Park. In 1895, Celtic set the League record for the highest home score when they beat Dundee 11–0, in 1897, the club became a Private limited company and Willie Maley was appointed as the first secretary-manager. Between 1905 and 1910, Celtic won the Scottish League Championship six times in a row, in both 1907 and 1908 Celtic also won the Scottish Cup, this was the first time a Scottish club had ever won the Double
9.
Hampden Park
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Hampden Park is a football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland. The 51, 866-capacity venue serves as the stadium of football in Scotland. It is also used for concerts and other sporting events. There were two 19th century stadia called Hampden Park, built on different sites, a stadium on the present site was first opened on 31 October 1903. Hampden was the biggest stadium in the world when it was opened and this was increased further between 1927 and 1937, reaching a peak of 150,000. The record attendance of 149,415, for a Scotland v England match in 1937, is the European record for a football match. Tighter safety regulations meant that the capacity was reduced to 81,000 in 1977, the stadium has been fully renovated since then, with the most recent work being completed in 1999. The stadium houses the offices of the Scottish Football Association and Scottish Professional Football League, Hampden has hosted prestigious sporting events, including three Champions League finals, two Cup Winners Cup finals and a UEFA Cup final. Hampden is a UEFA category four stadium and it is served by the nearby Mount Florida, Queens Park, the oldest club in Scottish football, have played at a venue called Hampden Park since October 1873. The first Hampden Park was overlooked by a terrace named after Englishman John Hampden. Queens Park played at the first Hampden Park for 10 years beginning with a Scottish Cup tie on 25 October 1873, the ground hosted the first Scottish Cup Final, in 1874, and a Scotland v England match in 1878. The club moved to the second Hampden Park,150 yards from the original, a lawn bowling club at the junction of Queens Drive and Cathcart Road marks the site of the first Hampden. The second Hampden Park opened in October 1884 and it became a regular home to the Scottish Cup Final, but Celtic Park shared some of the big matches including the Scotland v England fixture in 1894. In the late 1890s, Queens Park requested more land for development of the second Hampden Park and this was refused by the landlords, which led to the club seeking a new site. Henry Erskine Gordon agreed to sell 12 acres of land off Somerville Drive to Queens Park in November 1899, james Miller designed twin grandstands along the south side of the ground with a pavilion wedged in between. The natural slopes were shaped to form banks of terracing, designed by Archibald Leitch, construction of the new ground took over three years to complete, during construction, a disaster occurred at Ibrox in which part of the wooden terraces collapsed. In response, the terraces at Hampden were firmly set in the earthwork, Third Lanark A. C. took over the second Hampden Park in 1903 and renamed it Cathkin Park. The club rebuilt the ground from scratch due to a failure to agree a fee for the whole stadium, Third Lanark went out of business in 1967 and Cathkin Park is now a public park with much of the original terracing still evident
10.
Scotland
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Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and covers the northern third of the island of Great Britain. It shares a border with England to the south, and is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the North Sea to the east. In addition to the mainland, the country is made up of more than 790 islands, including the Northern Isles, the Kingdom of Scotland emerged as an independent sovereign state in the Early Middle Ages and continued to exist until 1707. By inheritance in 1603, James VI, King of Scots, became King of England and King of Ireland, Scotland subsequently entered into a political union with the Kingdom of England on 1 May 1707 to create the new Kingdom of Great Britain. The union also created a new Parliament of Great Britain, which succeeded both the Parliament of Scotland and the Parliament of England. Within Scotland, the monarchy of the United Kingdom has continued to use a variety of styles, titles, the legal system within Scotland has also remained separate from those of England and Wales and Northern Ireland, Scotland constitutes a distinct jurisdiction in both public and private law. Glasgow, Scotlands largest city, was one of the worlds leading industrial cities. Other major urban areas are Aberdeen and Dundee, Scottish waters consist of a large sector of the North Atlantic and the North Sea, containing the largest oil reserves in the European Union. This has given Aberdeen, the third-largest city in Scotland, the title of Europes oil capital, following a referendum in 1997, a Scottish Parliament was re-established, in the form of a devolved unicameral legislature comprising 129 members, having authority over many areas of domestic policy. Scotland is represented in the UK Parliament by 59 MPs and in the European Parliament by 6 MEPs, Scotland is also a member nation of the British–Irish Council, and the British–Irish Parliamentary Assembly. Scotland comes from Scoti, the Latin name for the Gaels, the Late Latin word Scotia was initially used to refer to Ireland. By the 11th century at the latest, Scotia was being used to refer to Scotland north of the River Forth, alongside Albania or Albany, the use of the words Scots and Scotland to encompass all of what is now Scotland became common in the Late Middle Ages. Repeated glaciations, which covered the land mass of modern Scotland. It is believed the first post-glacial groups of hunter-gatherers arrived in Scotland around 12,800 years ago, the groups of settlers began building the first known permanent houses on Scottish soil around 9,500 years ago, and the first villages around 6,000 years ago. The well-preserved village of Skara Brae on the mainland of Orkney dates from this period and it contains the remains of an early Bronze Age ruler laid out on white quartz pebbles and birch bark. It was also discovered for the first time that early Bronze Age people placed flowers in their graves, in the winter of 1850, a severe storm hit Scotland, causing widespread damage and over 200 deaths. In the Bay of Skaill, the storm stripped the earth from a large irregular knoll, when the storm cleared, local villagers found the outline of a village, consisting of a number of small houses without roofs. William Watt of Skaill, the laird, began an amateur excavation of the site, but after uncovering four houses
Peter McCloy
John McClelland
Robert Prytz
David Mitchell