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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 2005 (SND, online supplement).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

CENTRAL BELT, prop.n. The area of central Scotland, from the River Forth to the River Clyde, from the Edinburgh to the Glasgow area, taking in the surrounding industrial towns. Also attrib.Sc. 1989 A. Gibson and T. C. Smout in R. A. Houston and I. D. Whyte Scottish Society 1500-1800 84:
By the 1840s it was the Central Belt, urban and rural divisions alike, where the labouring classes had made most gains in real income and obtained a slightly wider dietary choice than their forbears in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.wm.Sc. 1995 Alan Warner Morvern Callar 134:
My mother has died. It took me a year to save for this holiday and my brother just phoned to tell me she died, he says in a Central Belt accent.Sc. 1997 Shetland Times 21 Nov 12:
Movement executive member Sandy Cluness has accused Labour of still suffering from a 'Central Belt mentality' and being quick to forget the pledge it signed while on Opposition.Sc. 1999 Press and Journal 17 Jul 40:
Most people outside the central belt of Scotland just don't understand why wee Craig Brown's alleged warbling of a few bars of a well-known Orange song down a lady friend's phone has set the tabloids raging for his resignation or sacking and led to the appellation bigot being bestowed on him.Sc. 1999 Sunday Mail 19 Dec 30:
It's the harmless end of Scotland's sex industry, and it is booming like nothing on Earth. This party scene will be repeated 200 times this week across the central belt of Scotland alone.Sc. 2001 Business a.m. 18 May :
" ... That will allow us to limit the number we have to recruit from the Central Belt, people you might lose after six months because the lifestyle is not what they expect." Sc. 2002 Scotsman 12 Apr 15:
... that economic development is in danger of being held back by a lack of co-operation between local authorities, public agencies and business. Reading between the lines, this says that there is too much trivial rivalry and small thinking in Central Belt Scotland.Sc. 2003 Sunday Herald 10 Aug 10:
"This is very much a forgotten corner," he said. "It's getting better but there's almost a psychological barrier between the central belt of Scotland and the southwest."Sc. 2004 Aberdeen Evening Express 14 Sep 12:
The city council and Aberdeen and Grampian Tourist Board plans seek to address national awareness and perceptions of the area.
It is targeting the over-30s in the central belt but hopes to reach throughout the UK.