Caledonian Antisyzygy - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The term Caledonian Antisyzygy refers to the "idea of dueling polarities within one entity", thought of as typical for the Scottish psyche and literature. It was first coined by G. Gregory Smith in his 1919 book Scottish Literature: Character and Influence in which he wrote:

"the literature [of Scotland] is the literature of a small country...it runs a shorter course than others...in this shortness and cohesion the most favourable conditions seem to be offered for a making of a general estimate.