The country of Scotland rests in the Northern portion of the island that makes up most of Great Britain.

With a population of approximately 5.2 million, Scottish history dates back to the Paleolithic Age, when
African migrants landed there while the islands were still a part of the European mainland. These foraging
peoples moved around the islands, hunting and gathering as their way of life. However, they did start to
settle down in villages towards 3000 B.C.E., when the Neolithic Revolution began to occur in the new
civilizations. Scottish people lived in peace, a network of agrarian villages scattered around the island
territory, for many centuries, until the Roman Empire arrived wishing to conquer in 120 C.E. Their
presence was never truly defined in what is now Scotland (Caledonia to said Romans), although the
Romans conquered much of what is now England, and did in part advance farther North. Around 700
years later, the Vikings began to arrive in Scotland, and to settle the region. However, in eastern Scotland,
the Kingdom of Alba was formed by a people known as the Picts, one of the sections of people who first
settled in during the Paleolithic Age. Alba became a Feudal state around the time of the middle ages, and
at this point in time, much of the Western land that was settled by the Vikings fell under the control of the
Alban kings, and the Feudal state kept the economy as remaining mainly agrarian. However, in the years
following this peace, war broke out between Scotland and England, the nation forming to the South. The
English king, Edward I, thought that he was the rightful ruler of Scotland. Eventually, the Scots proved
victorious, and signed the Declaration of Arbroath to declare themselves an independent nation. After
Protestant-Catholic disagreements inadvertently led to the execution of Mary Queen of Scots, her son,
James VI of Scots, ended up becoming both monarch of Scotland and England in 1603 C.E., because the
English queen, Elizabeth I, died without an heir. This historic event is called the Union of the Crowns,
and it was followed by the merging of the two parliaments of Scotland and England in London in 1707
C.E. Around the year 1750 C.E., the Age of Enlightenment began, and Scotland embarked on a new era of
discovery and innovation, followed by the transition into a more industrial nation, adopting industry as its
main economic factor, replacing farming. From then on, Scotland became a major part of the British
Empire in all its endeavors. In 2014, a bill to secede from Great Britain was unsuccessful at the House of
Parliament.
In ancient times, oats were a true Scottish staple, as they were for many places. The Cranachan is
truly a Scottish classic, and it consists of whipped cream sweetened with sugar, honey, fresh raspberries,
and toasted oats. A combination of sweet, tart, and crunch, this is a dessert that has existed since the early
centuries C.E. in the northern British regions of Scotland and Ireland.