On Sun, 2 Nov 2003 09:49:34 -0600, jmcquown > wrote:

> The connections between ENGLAND and France were strong. Perhaps there were
> many years spent at the French court, but Bonnie Prince Charlie did not
> establish Scotland as a free country.

You don't have to go back very far to realize that there
were lots of intermarriages between the royal families, and not just
between France and England. Also, regardless of Bonnie Prince Charlie's
failure, France was a major player in trying to establish his father
back on the throne, and also supported BPC in his efforts as well. I
think it's clear there was greater connection than merely time spent
in France!

> And if you read about Mary, Queen of Scots (she was also a Stuart) spent
> much time in the French court. However, apparently she did not want to have
> much to do with it.

It's a fascinating subject. Mary was raised in the
French court from the age of 5 until she was a young woman, was
educated there as a French princess (her letters to Scotland were
signed "Marie", the French spelling of "Mary" as "Stuart" is generally
thought to be the French spelling of "Stewart"), and married the
Dauphin. Her mother, Mary of Guise, was French, and she was
influenced by her powerful Guise relatives as well. She was,
briefly, Queen of France. If she took to Scottish ways after she
left France for Scotland, that was the politically savvy thing to
do. I don't think it shows that she personally didn't want anything
to do with France, only that she was smart enough to realize that if
she wanted to be Queen of the Scots and one step closer to the English
throne, it would endear her more to her people to remember her
Scottish roots. The connections between France and Scotland in that
particular case was obviously very strong, too. Gotta love European
history... Hey, there's a future Halloween costume idea-- Mary, Queen
of Scots. You even get to pick whether or not you portray her with or
without her head. <g>

> Scotland is still a British province.
>
> Be that as it may, St. Andrews Night is still a fun custom

And popularly celebrated by Scots even when living abroad, I
understand. It's no more unusual than people celebrating
St. Patrick's Day, Oktoberfest or Chinese New year here in the States, really.
I've never had a Scotch egg, but it sounds delicious. Artery
hardening, maybe, but delicious.

Ariane