The golden retriever and its history were feted by 222 goldens and their masters who gathered from around the globe for a celebration in the breed's ancestral Scottish Highlands home in July. Hosted by the Golden Retriever Club of Scotland, the festival is held at the abandoned home of Dudley Coutts Marjoribanks, who bred the first golden retriever.

Two dancers pass each other as they compete in a heat during the All Scotland Championships in Irish Dancing at the Royal Concert Hall in Glasgow, Scotland. The championships attract over 2000 dancers from more than 300 dance schools, from countires such as North America, South Africa, Australia and Russia. (Photo by David Moir/Reuters)

An extraordinary work of art has just been completed in Scotland. The Kelpies by figurative sculptor Andy Scott surge upwards in steel, whinnying and snorting alongside the banks of the Forth and Clyde Canal near the town of Falkirk. These fantastic beasts from Gaelic mythology have risen again as monuments to the horse-powered industrial heritage of Scotland.

Enthusiasts gather for the Model Rail Scotland exhibition on February 24, 2012 in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Jeff J. Mitchell/Getty Images)

Members of the public view crosses in Scotland?s first Field of Remembrance in Princess Street Gardens on November 7, 2011 in Edinburgh, Scotland. Volunteers helped plant approximately 11,000 remembrance crosses as a temporary memorial to mark the 90th anniversary of the Scottish Poppy Appeal. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

Duncan Fenton from the Society of William Wallace stands next to a 700-year-old letter believed to have been in the possession of William Wallace, which has returned to National Records of Scotland on January 12, 2012 in Edinburgh, Scotland. (Photo by Jeff J. Mitchell/Getty Images)

Stuart Haygarth hangs his spectacle chandelier at The Lighthouse, Scotland's national Architecture Design Centre on November 29, 2007 in Glasgow, Scotland. The 7ft chandelier is made of over 1000 pairs of glasses, and is one of a range of products the designer has made out of recycled products. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)