With St Andrew's Day fast approaching, ScotlandNow decided to ask some famous Scots what they'd be doing on November30th. But, more than that, we found out about what being Scottish meantto them, from the things they liked to eat, to their views on Scottishhistory and culture to their favourite Scottish phrases and expressions.

SNPleader and Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond has a busy St Andrew'sDay in store – 'Yes, I've got five events on this year! Including agraduation ceremony, an academic lecture, a race meeting atMusselburgh, where I'll be awarding the St Andrew's Cup, and then theCeilidh in Edinburgh in the evening. I hope that everybody takesadvantage – not just on St Andrew's Day, but all through the WinterFestival period – of the wonderful range of events throughout Scotland.'

Hisviews were echoed by comedienne Elaine C. Smith, who thinks the Scotsdon't make enough of St Andrew's Day: 'It should be more like StPatrick's Day,' she said, 'or Bastille Day in France. We should take aday to say 'We're all Scottish!' and where you welcome people fromabroad into Scotland. A national holiday would be a good idea! Thereshould be balls, dinners, families getting together. . .'

Likemany celebrity Scots we interviewed she was very proud of her roots. 'Iam very proud of the country I was born in, my heritage. The kind ofScottish people who have made it big – whether it's Andrew Carnegie, orEwan McGregor, or Sean Connery – they have a great sense of wherethey've come from and what they want to put back. That makes me veryproud to be Scottish.' And her favourite Scottish expression? 'AGlaswegian phrase I like is 'Yer Jaickets oan a shoogly nail.' It means'Be careful, because your jacket is hanging on a loose nail!'

Radiopresenter and comedian Fred MacAulay was more stumped for a favouriteScots word – 'Favourite Scottish word? 'Oh God . . . Jings, Crivens,Help ma boab . . . I can't think of one!' – but he had no hesitation innaming his favourite Scottish food. 'Porridge! At least four days aweek!' Or in saying why he was proud to be a Scot – 'The number ofinventions we've given the world. I couldn't list them all here, butour impact on the world has been phenomenal. That makes me proud.'

Andwhat would he be doing this St Andrew's Day? 'Just going out andenjoying myself. I've been invited to a dinner on the Royal YachtBritannia. In past years I've been all over the place. One of the bestI ever had was in New York when a few Scots got together for a grandold night.'

Closer to home and the thing TV presenter andcolumnist Kaye Adams misses most about Scotland is simple – 'ByresRoad! I live very close to it and it's my wee street! Just to wanderalong for a wee cappuccino . . . I love it!' And her perfect StAndrew's Day promises to be a simple affair. 'I like to feel like Ireally am in Scotland so, fingers crossed, it'll be a gorgeous day andI'll go for a nice long walk with the kids.' When it came to herfavourite Scottish word or expression Kaye went for an old classic –'Numpty!' 'You don't even need to know what it means!' She says. 'Youcan tell, can't you? Somebody who's just a bit daft, a bit stupid.'

Scottishsinger/songwriter Sandi Thom lives in London now, but will be makingsure she celebrates St Andrew's Day appropriately. 'I'm going to getall my friends around and have a good old celebration and introducethem all to what St Andrew's Day is all about. My family are all veryproud of their Scottish heritage and it's been passed on throughgenerations. Scotland is admired by a lot of people throughout theworld because of how proud we are of where we come from.'

Somethingthat several of the celebrities we interviewed touched upon was thewarm welcome the Scots received abroad. 'Everywhere I visit in theworld,' Thom says, 'America, Australia or wherever, there seems to besome Scottish heritage. Whenever you say you're Scottish . . . everyoneloves Scotland!'

Her views were shared by fellow singer,18-year-old Daisy Chute who said, 'When I tell people I'm from Scotlandtheir faces just light up! I love being Scottish!' Daisy also hadsomething in common with Fred MacAulay, 'Porridge! I love it too!'

FewScots are prouder of their country than Scottish rugby captain JasonWhite. 'I think we should celebrate what a great country we have. Insports I think we've shown in the past how Scotland as a relativelysmall nation can go on and take on some of the bigger teams. In recentyears we've beaten teams like England and France and when you stop toconsider how many people play rugby in those countries compared to inScotland. To play for your country is something I always dreamt aboutas a little kid. Pulling on the (Scotland) jersey is a great feeling.'

ScottishFormula One racing champion David Coultard, agreed. 'Scotland and itspeople will always unite in a common voice when facing sportingchallenge from other nations with a passion and sportsmanship that hasno relation to whether or not they realistically have a chance ofvictory. We are very proud of our never-surrender history.'

Indeedsomething all our celebrity interviewees had in common (apart from alove of porridge!) was a sense of pride in being part of the greatestsmall nation on earth. We should all be celebrating our national day –St Andrew's Day – on the 30th November. . .

Courtesy of Scotland.org