Scotland the Loud

January 4, 2009 on 12:30 pm by Michael Grey | In News | 2 Comments

There’s an excellent book around, “How Scots Invented the Modern World“.  A good read.  The Scots also invented, among a long list of other things, the Great Highland Bagpipe (duh), whisky, curling and golf.  All seriously popular exports in most places I know, especially Canada.  I don’t get the curling thing so much, I have curled, and it’s sort of fun, but not a pursuit that makes me jump out of bed at the prospect of curling a game (or is it sweeping a game?). 

Reading my favourite news sites this morning I tripped on an article advocating ear plugs for golfers.  Apparently new-school clubs can make big noise when hitting the ball the right way (something I know very little about).  It’s the tail-end of the holiday season and I have to think it was a slow news day but still, the story made me pause to think of the correlation of Scottish invention and ear plugs.

The pipes, infamously loud, have long been the hero of the ear plug manufacturing industry (I assume there’s an industry).  Whisky, we know, when taken at the right time, the right place, also has the power to make people loud.  Now golf and ear plugs for golfers!

What is it about Scotland and “loud”? 

Who knows.  But the next time you have a reckless un-ear-plugged tune on the pipes, or game of golf, or, for that matter, be asked by someone to, “turn down that television“, we really have nothing else to do but blame the Scots.

M.