April

Scotland is the birthplace of golf: a game that has gone on to conquer the world. In April 1744, the first 'official' game was played, according to a set of 13 rules that still form the basis of the game as it’s played today. The winner of that first game, which was played at Leith, was appointed Captain of Golf for the next 12 months and had the honour of signing the first official rule book. The book is now kept safe by the National Library of Scotland.

April is also the month in which a Scottish icon, the Loch Ness Monster, appeared twice in the news. The first time was in 1934, when surgeon Robert Wilson took a picture of what he claimed was the monster emerging from the deep. Despite its authenticity having since been questioned, it remains one of the best-known images of the creature. The second, in 2001, was news of an expedition to trap a smaller specimen of Nessie's family with the aim of extracting a sample of its DNA.

The Stone of Destiny, on which Scottish, and subsequently British, monarchs have been crowned for many centuries, was recovered in April 1951. It had been removed from Westminster Abbey on Christmas day the previous year, and transported back to Scotland. This had led to the border between England and Scotland being closed for the first time in more than 400 years. The stone would eventually be returned to Scotland on a permanent basis, on the understanding it would remain available for future coronations, on St Andrew’s Day 1996.