>>
>On my first trip to the UK in 1998 we visited Stirling, Scotland and at the
>time there was a whopping great tin shed over the main hall at the castle.
>I was told that the shed was for the restoration project. And here I
>thought that they just got such a good deal on it they couldn't resist.
>;-)
>
>Dave (Fully aware that the Scots suffer from an undeserved reputation for
>being overly frugal) Massey
Mr. Massey et al...
Once a long time ago, Angus (Pipe Major to the Blackwatch regiment)
marched in to an apothecary's shop. He walked up to the `pothecary
reached into his soprran and came out with a tattered old worn out
condom which he laid on the counter. "How much to have it repaired?"
He asked in his thick burr.
Squinting at the battered device the `pothecary said "Well now, I can
have `er her fixed for 2 an' 6 but a new one will only set you back
3." Angus picked up the condom and said, "Weel, I don't know boot it.
I'll have tae give it some thought." He placed the condom back in his
sporran and with that, he left.
The next day Angus marched back into the apothecary's shop, dug into
his sporran and layed the same battered old condom on the counter. He
then said to the apothecary, "weell, the regiment's decided ta have
repaired..."
All this blather about the Scots call to mind something George
MacDonald Fraser wrote in his book "THE STEEL BONNETS", a history of
the border wars:
"It must not be thought... That the English underate the Scots. Far
from it; they may forget or ignore Scotland, and patronize
manifestations of Scottishness, but for the Scots people, for the
Scot as an individual when he comes to their attention, they
reserve a higher respect than they show to anyone else. They
recognize the Scot as formidable and are secretly just a little
frightened of them. In their case it may not be folk-memory,
although Scotland in its time was a very real danger to England,
simply by virtue of its existence on the same island; more probably
it has its roots in the knowledge that a Scotsman on the make is a
terrible thing."
As an Italian married to a woman whose family history can claim
one of the bloodier reputations amongst the border clans I can well
understand why my ancestors built "the wall"...
Greg Petrolati
Greg Petrolati Champaign, Illinois 1962 TR4 (CT4852L)
That's not a leak... My car's just marking its territory...
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