In the most recent issue of Scotland magazine, there's an article
called "50 Things You Never Knew About Scotland".
Among the fifty was that bagpipes were originally Roman, that Mary
Queen of Scots liked to play billiards, that Robert Burns published
his first book in order to raise money for a trip to Jamaica in order
to become a plantation manager there. His first book was so
successful that he decided to stay in Scotland. An English Quaker
named Thomas Rawlinson introduced the kilt to Scotland because he
found it more practical than traditional Highland dress for his
Highland employees at his iron smelting works to wear. Five thousand
years ago there were huts at Skara Brae in the Orkneys that had indoor
bathrooms connected to a plumbing system. (Methos got tired of using
an outhouse.)
There were also one page profiles of Arthur Conan Doyle and Sean
Connery in which I learned that the Connery family came from Ireland.
Most Scots-Irish that I've heard about are Scots that settled in
Ireland.
There was also an article about emigration from Scotland that
uncritically accepted extremely prejudiced statements about
Highlanders made by Alexander Irvine in 1802.
Shomeret
