The Italian connection

The Italian influence is strong in Scotland

Since the late 19th century, many thousands of Italians have left their farms and villages and trekked north through Europe to settle in Scotland.

What have they brought with them - and do they still remain Italian? The issue has been debated at a conference in Edinburgh.

Mary Contini has made a name for herself, evangelising on behalf of Italian food.

She has organised pasta-making classes for young children and said it is the younger generation that shows the Italian influence at its strongest.

She told BBC News Online: "If you ask children what their favourite food is, inevitably they say pasta, then pizza.

If you ask children what their favourite food is, inevitably they say pasta, then pizza

Mary Contini

"Then they will go on to other foods - but they very very rarely say Scotch broth or steak pie."

Mary and her husband Phillip both came of Italian stock, though Mary has lived all her life in Scotland.

"I feel Scottish-Italian. I don't really feel Italian in Italy or Scottish in Scotland but I have the best of both worlds."

Debating the issue

The couple run the popular Valvona and Crolla delicatessen in Edinburgh.

By coincidence, not a hundred yards from their shop, conference delegates at the Gateway Theatre have been debating the issues of Scottish-Italian integration and identity.

Milan? Rome? No, Valvona and Crolla in Edinburgh

It was set up by the Italian Institute in the city along with the local government of the Trentino region of Northern Italy, where many of the immigrants originated.

One of the organisers, Emanuela Rossini, said the immigration has been going on for hundreds of years but reached a peak in the last century:

She said: "People came from two valleys in particular in the north of Italy.

"There was nothing there apart from agricultural work. It is an alpine area, and was a very poor part of Italy."

Many of them brought their trades with them - in the case of the Rendena Valley they were itinerant knife-grinders.

But they took to Scotland and Scotland welcomed them. Along with other Italians from Tuscany they began to form a large and important community, mostly working in the food trade.

Cultural influence

But as well as ice-cream and pizza, Scotland has been enriched by their contribution to the arts.

Maverick impresario Richard Demarco, the artist Emilio Coia and the sculptor Eduardo Paulozzi are just three famous Scots-Italians.

Nowadays the immigration has finished but Scots still travel to Italy.

At the conference, law professor Roberto Teniati said: "We have a young Scot who comes every semester to teach legal English.

"I am sure he loves it - and I'm positive he is happy when he comes back to Scotland!"