One in ten Brits can’t name the capital of Scotland

By Leanne Dempsey

With the commonwealth games a big success north of the border and the Scottish referendum imminent, it is no surprise that all eyes are on Scotland. So, it is somewhat shocking that one in ten of us do not know what the countries capital is.

A recent YouGov survey, commissioned by Sykes Cottages, asked 2,390 respondents from England, Scotland and Wales to name Scotland’s capital city. Some of the results were shocking, to say the least. Amongst the incorrect answers were some of Scotland’s other cities including Aberdeen, Inverness and Glasgow but more worrying were answers such as Belfast, Cardiff, London and even Ireland!

Additionally, the poll revealed that a further 14% of people had the right idea, but had trouble spelling the name of the Scottish capital. Some respondents did make honourable attempts such as ‘Edinboourough’, ‘Edenbrer’ and ‘Edhinburgh’ but some really did seem to struggle with ‘Edenb’, ‘Edenburber’ and one attempt at just an ‘e’.

However, reassuringly 100% of Scots were able to correctly identify their capital, with just 1% misspelling ‘Edinburgh’. With so much history, beautiful scenery and numerous things to do it comes as no surprise that two in five respondents of the same survey stated that they would be most likely to take a city break should they holiday in Scotland. Although, with Wales’ capital Cardiff and Northern Ireland’s capital Belfast being identified as Scotland’s capital city, it would be interesting to see whether or not they make it to Scotland at all!

When approached about the survey results, Manuela Calchini, VisitScotland’s Regional Director for Edinburgh and the Lothians, said: “Regardless of whether some people are unaware that Edinburgh is the capital of Scotland, or that others find it difficult to spell, it doesn’t take away from the fact that it is one of the world’s most beautiful, vibrant and cosmopolitan cities. Next month, it will again play host to the fantastic Edinburgh Festivals, including the Fringe – the world’s largest arts festival. One thing’s for sure, anyone who pays a visit to Scotland’s capital city will have no difficulty remembering it in future.”