How to traverse the Scotch Border

So... Edinburgh to York via car. What's the quickest way? A1 is easiest but it seems to take an age. I'm pretty sure that going back towards Glasgow and via the motorways from there could be better. I think today we were over four hours from E to Y on the A1 and that was with pretty clear roads. Can this be improved on?

Plus side is that you get to see some cool sceneries that you don't see off of the train.

A Scotch New Year

For the first time in my life I'm spending New Year's Eve in Scotland (with my girlfriend and her family). The Scotch always claim that New Year is much better there than anywhere else in the world so I'm looking forward to seeing if I agree with them or not. I have a vague feeling that I won't and that New Year is crap wherever in the world you are.

But I do have a cider-box (like a wine-box, but with cider) so the evening can surely not be that bad :-)

Main differences I can discern so far from an English New Year:

1. It's colder.
2. TV is differently rubbish here. The main highlight appears to be a comedy show called Still Game which is the Scotch equivalent of Last of the Summer Wine. It features a lot of people dressed as old men, wearing ridiculous wigs and speaking in absurd accents.
3. It's quarter past seven and I'm sober.
4. They don't call it "Midnight". They call it "The Bells". Like out of Quasimodo.
5. They also do some weirdo stuff with coal. Apparently.

But that's all before the event. I shall go into it open-minded and try and enjoy myself. Or at least I will once I get the cider open :-)