An analysis of the Scottish psyche, identity and history focusing on invention, development, and the perpetuation of Scottish national myths from personal observations by Iain Finlayson, himself a Scot, and quotations from writers like R.L. Stevenson, Edwin Muir, Hugh MacDiarmid, Muriel Spark and Dr Johnson among others. The study covers a wide range of topics, including literature and the arts, history, religion, politics, education, towns, countryside and humour. Iain Finlayson is a writer and journalist and author of The moth and the candle (a life of James Boswell).