The X60 express bus from Dundee to Edinburgh stopped at Leven to pick me up and I was grateful to escape the bitter, frosty weather outside.

The bus was loaded with students, commuters and Christmas shoppers looking for a bargain, and I know where to get one! Have you ever been approached by young people with big black holdalls full of consumer durables, trying to flog you a bargain? Well I have.

I've been offered watches, radios, perfume, jeans, big black holdalls and other delightful objects that would make wonderful Xmas presents. Some of the patter these people use is brilliant, especially the girls. They'll sell you anything, anywhere, even on the beaches if you're daft enough.

I bought a funny little book called "Scotland for Beginners" on Leven beach for two pounds, what a bargain. And it was the last one too, lucky ay?

The 55,000 tons of steel that make up the rail bridge, standing proudly over the water, is now in sight as we approach the Firth of Forth road bridge.

When completed in 1890 it was hailed as the eighth wonder of the world and has now been nominated as a World Heritage site. It was designed initially by Sir Thomas Bouch but had scarcely been started when disaster struck on his bridge over the Tay in Dundee when it was swept away by a storm.

The Forth road bridge took seven years to complete and thousands of people worked on it. The man responsible for building it, as well as the new Tay bridge, was William Arrol, who was a creative genius an many ways and a brilliant engineer. He built a great fabrication works as well as hundreds of temporary homes for the massive workforce as there was no machinery in existence to build the bridge. Arrol invented and built it all from scratch!

Many of the workforce were French and Italian, selected by Arrol because he considered that they were less likely to get drunk.

On the bridge structure 4000 men worked night and day at a frightening height above the water, for between fivepence halfpenny and eightpence an hour.

Arrols great day came on March 4, 1890 when the Prince of Wales drove the last silver-gilt rivet into the bridge then announced that Queen Victoria was bestowing a knighthood on its creator.

Today, high on the bridge's girders, a giant Millennium clock counts down the days to the year 2000 and the place to be, when it arrives, is Edinburgh, where thousands of happy people will celebrate the greatest Hogmanay of the the last 1000 years and very soon I'll be arriving there for a wee practice run!

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SCOTTISH TARTANS MUSEUM (Extract From Brochure)
Christina Young's Arisaid. This remarkable woman's Plaid or Arisaid is the oldest dated in the world. Initialled and dated 1726. The Arisaid, worn only by women, reached from head to heels, belted at the waist and pinned at the breast. "The ancient dress wore by the women and which is yet worn by some of the vulgar, called 'Arisaid', is a white 'Plaid', having a few stripes of black, blew and red." Martin Martin 1703.

The oldest piece of checked cloth or tartan found in Scotland dates from about 325AD - yes 325AD ! The cloth was found in a pot near Falkirk, a simple check in two shades of brown, a long way from the checked and coloured tartans that came to be worn in the highlands of Scotland in the 1500's. There are now over 2,500 tartan designs, many of them are no longer than 20 years old! Rotating mannequins demonstrate the development of the little kit, showing the advance from the first type of kilt, which was no more than a large piece of cloth (or feile beag) wrapped around the body and held with a belt, to box pleating and knife pleating. Discover how tartan material was made on a full size wooden loom complete with a tartan warp and samples of yarn, cloth, fleece and wool to feel.

A scene of Culloden battle, painted by David Morier, illustrates how the 'Butcher' Duke of Cumberland's government troops decimated 'Bonnie Prince Charlie's ill - equipped Highlanders in 25 minutes, the injured left to die and the captured burned alive. This marked the start of a sustained period of genocidal oppression for the Highlands and the banning of tartan and Highland dress.

William Wilson and his son Alexander, founded a tartan weaving company in the 1760's and supplied the army with tartan during the French, Indian and American wars and exported to as far as Rio and Barbados. By 1784 they produced 35 superfine tartans made of very fine wool, all of which can be found in his treasured sample book.

See the huge kilt measuring over 23 feet (7 metres) long and accoutrements including leopard skin and horse hair sporrans, each encrusted with 21 diamonds and precious stones, a silver hilted sword and dirk, all belonged to the Duke of Sussex, who was the brother of King George the IV. A portrait of John Brown commissioned by Queen Victoria, in 1883, hangs near his Highland suit and underpants ( the Queen insisted that all kilt wearers in her household wore them!). John Brown became one of the Queen's most trusted personal servants and accompanied her everywhere. On one occasion in 1865 he saved her life from an assassin.

The Sobeiski, Stuart, Maclan and MacLeay books, were the first books to publish and formalise tartan and clan tartans. The tartan room displays 700 tartans. There is a book to help you trace your family tartan, two hundred of which can be ordered from the tartan shop situated on the third floor of the store.

If however you don't have any luck, the gift shop stocks a wide range of traditional Scottish and tartan gifts. Visit the home of tartan in the heart of Scotland.… and immerse yourself in a rich Celtic history. Discover a world of tartan as you journey through the museums 'maze'. Learn the facts from the show cases and detailed accounts of historic Scotsmen and women, from the development of the kilt to the present day. Explore the gift shop and find your clan, purchase a souvenir history or printout of your own tartan prepared by the Tartans Society.

Perched high on an extinct volcano, Edinburgh Castle dominates the capital's skyline with stunning views across the city and out to the Firth of Forth.

The rock and its castle have witnessed Scotland's rich tapestry of history from the Romans to the besieging Angles, from the birth of James VI, the king who would unite nations, to Oliver Cromwell's Roundheads and the Jacobite Risings.

As a Royal Castle it has been a residence of Scotland's Kings and Queens. Every occupant modified or added to the original structure , so that today it is a rich architectural mixture of palace, fortress barracks, chapel and war memorial.

It is the home of the Scottish Crown Jewels, the oldest Royal Regalia in Britain. Displayed with the Jewels is the Stone of Destiny, returned to Scotland after 700 years in England. Taken by Edward 1, the stone is a symbol of Scotland's nationhood. It was the coronation stone for Scottish Kings such as MacBeth and John Baliol before its removal in 1296.

dinburgh Castle houses a number of military museums and is home to the Scottish National War Memorial and the world-famous "One O'clock" gun. Open all year, seven days a week it is located in Edinburgh's Old Town and can be telephoned on 0131 225 9846.

Close to Edinburgh Castle, at the top of the historic Royal Mile, stands a delightful building where the story of Scotland's most famous drink is told. No, not Irn Bru, WHISKY, wow, wow!.

Where better to get into the spirit of the festive season than the Scotch Whisky Heritage Centre, where I'll try a jar or two please Mr Bartender.

The oldest distillery in Scotland is the Glenturret by the burn above the ancient town of Crieff. The Glenturret is made by the "pot-still" process - slowly, patiently and in small, precious quantities, a tradition unchanged since it began in 1775. The Glenturret single, Highland malt is a very impressive, aromatic, full lush body with a good depth of flavour and a stimulating finish.

Hogmanay has started early for me. See you somewhere on the streets of Edinburgh in the New Year. Mmmm a smooth, distinctive, orgasmic, mellow, sexy, little, golden beauty. Gie's another one Santa. Cheers Merry Christmas everybody!

"SMILING FACES I CAN SEE" AT THE ROYAL MILE

My visit to the Whisky Heritage Centre up the Royal Mile was braw and yesterday I had a wee wander down the Royal Mile which was even better, the pubs were heaving and there's all the excitement, noise and bustle that you would expect here at the heart of the old town of Edinburgh, with a new year not very far away.

There's thousands of people from all over the world crammed on this famous street, enjoying the Scottish hospitality and the carry-outs and as the famous song goes, "smiling faces I can see" but not for me. I'm broke at the moment and down to my last roll of film and can only afford to take photographs of the quaint little alehouses. Spare change pal? Ah tissue, Big Issue, bless you. Geez a drink of that wino.

The Scots throughout their history have in general been harder drinkers than their English neighbours. In the olden days, wealthy Scots consumed large quantities of claret, and home-made whisky was drunk by the peasants.

When it was commercially produced, innkeepers retailed it within weeks to their punters, at a strength of 70% by volume, compared with today's 40%. Of course spirits are drunk in England but the basic English tradition is a leisurely pint of beer, while the Scots are known for spirits, hard and fast. Is it good medicine or the product of the Devil? Spare change for my prescription missus? Ta.

Smiling faces I can see at the bar and the Big Issue seller is laughing his head off, how can he afford to buy booze at these prices and I thought he was supposed to be saving for a house. Spare change for a poor tax payers happy head? Bless you. Half a special barman, all the best, here's hoping for a hangover. Where was I, ah yes, drinking.

Permitted drinking hours before 1976 in Scotland was from 11am till 2.30pm and from 5 till 10pm. This afternoon closure was introduced, for both England and Scotland, during World War I, under the Defence of the Realm Act to ensure that munitions and other essential workers would be thrown out of pubs to return to work in the afternoons.

After the war pubs in Scotland were still compelled to observe the Sabbath but crafty Scots found a strange loophole in the Bona Fide Travellers Act which recognised that a traveller was entitled to food and drink on his journey, even on a Sunday, and hotels could serve travellers from midnight Saturday until midnight on Sunday. A packet of crisps and fifteen pints please waiter, and my travelling companions will have the same.

Run man, hurry, faster. Running as fast as my poor legs are able, I puff and pant through Princes street gardens, slipping and sliding on the icy path up to Princes Street itself and a mad dash up the road to Waverely Centre,

I join the queue where all the parties begin, no not at the massive imposing structure of the Balmoral Hotel, the sacred cash dispensing machine here on Princes Street. Here goes, pin, money, yes! Bye bye council tax. Hey reveller, spare some change for my court case.

A New Year's Eve knees up without drunks here on Princes Street is the mission of the organisers of the biggest Hogmanay party in the world, a tall order. Organisers have imposed strict drinks embargo on party goers.

A new barrier and gate system will seal off the city centre from 6pm on December 31st and will open for 180,000 pass holders only at 8pm and any drunks will be refused entry.

Ah well, there's a friendly, tolerant, wee bar at Waverley station which should put a smile on my face and fellow travellers from London to Aberdeen, change at Edinburgh for my train fare, cheers!
Wandering Willie