Scotland

Scotland is the second largest country of the United Kingdom; about nine-thirty-seconds the size of its larger neighbour England.

Merger with England

After the death of Queen Elizabeth I of England, James VI of Scotland ascended to the Throne of England, becoming James I of Great Britain. This is referred to as the Union of the Crowns.

Fame

Scotland is famous for its disproportionate amount of inventions and discoveries (as immortalised in Wha's Like Us), its world class universities, the Scottish Enlightenment, being the first country to adopt English as its official language decades before England, being the first industrial nation while still preserving some of the last great wildernesses of Europe, and being the home of golf.

The symbols of Scotland include the thistle, a visibly engorged lion rampant, and the white cross or "Holyrood". The first King of Scotland was Kenneth McAlpine, who founded a dynasty known as "McAlpine and Sons, family builders". Other heroes in Scottish history include Rob Roy, Bruce (originally Australian), and Melvin Son of Gib.

Scotland was Christianized in the 4th century A.D. by the disgraced prince and Christian monk Saint Columbo, who, like the Scots, was from Ireland. Scottish and Irish christianity, togeher referred to as the Celtic Church, was based at Islay, the home of the Uisga Beatha or water of life. The patron saint of Scotland is Father Dougal. The national anthem is Fit Like, Ma Bonny Quine?