OT: Scotland (was Re^5: Humour – an important mechanism for language learning)

As usual, you ignore facts. The Kingdom of Scotland existed for a period of time almost four times as long as any national construct referring to itself as Great Britain (though Scotland sometimes shared a monarch with the Kingdom of England during that time). Whether or not all parts of what is now called Scotland belonged to the nation during that time is completely irrelevant, all nations change their borders over time.

As for the "warring tribes", yes there was division, but Scotland was a lot more cohesive than, e.g. Germany which consisted of hundreds of mini-states for most of the last two thousand years.

And it's sad to see that your fact allergy apparently runs in the family. Voting for Scottish independence because "...England would be better off without spongers sapping its' wealth." is completely arse-backwards. Look up "North Sea Oil" for one reason. Scotland has the fourth highest GVA per capita of the 12 regions in the UK.

All dogma is stupid.

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Re: OT: Scotland (was Re^5: Humour – an important mechanism for language learning) by Anonymous Monk on May 23, 2008 at 02:21 UTC
I had a next door neighbor that used to work on the oil rigs, he was English. Need I say more? My Dad voted on the Scottish Independence referendum in the 1970s and oil was not an issue at the time and very shortly oil will cease to be an issue again. Most of the east of England used to be under Dane law. If history took a slightly different course then people could have argued that the east of England is a distinct nation that has a long history, more so than Germany etc. The Romans referred to Britain, not England. The frontiers of the Roman Empire extended as some points far north into what is now Scotland. In my office (in England) 3/7 have substantial Scottish ancestry and 4/7 have red hair (two of those that have red hair are the ones without known Scottish ancestry). OK. I accept that this is not scientific. But it just makes me laugh when the Scottish Nationalists try to paint themselves as Scandinavian nationals. Give me a break.	[reply]

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Re: OT: Scotland (was Re^5: Humour – an important mechanism for language learning)
by Anonymous Monk on May 23, 2008 at 02:21 UTC

I had a next door neighbor that used to work on the oil rigs, he was English. Need I say more? My Dad voted on the Scottish Independence referendum in the 1970s and oil was not an issue at the time and very shortly oil will cease to be an issue again. Most of the east of England used to be under Dane law. If history took a slightly different course then people could have argued that the east of England is a distinct nation that has a long history, more so than Germany etc. The Romans referred to Britain, not England. The frontiers of the Roman Empire extended as some points far north into what is now Scotland. In my office (in England) 3/7 have substantial Scottish ancestry and 4/7 have red hair (two of those that have red hair are the ones without known Scottish ancestry). OK. I accept that this is not scientific. But it just makes me laugh when the Scottish Nationalists try to paint themselves as Scandinavian nationals. Give me a break.

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