Dear Carissa, THRILLED for you! I’ve never been to Ireland so you will have to enjoy that for me. Scotland will take your breath away 🙂 Epic, epic, epic. A dad-sister trip will make a lifetime of memories, for sure. I went with my brother once and then with Liz Curtis Higgs the rest but am ready to go again in a heartbeat. If I could only take up a corner of your suitcase 🙂

LOL dear Winnie! Love those bagpipes and aye, you’ve hit upon something I recollect very well! Those Scots talk very fast and leave me lagging and trying to catch up :). Especially since I’m southern and we tend to drawl everything out s…l…o…w…l…y. Wonderful that you have your very own personal, Scottish connection – and a concert! BLISS!!

I do recall the Braveheart backlash! And the history of kilts is fascinating to me as well as most every other aspect of Scottish history. You are very knowledgeable. I am always learning and am sure my Hume/Ballantyne/Duncan ancestors would be happy to correct my misconceptions being American. So much of their history can only be guessed at, looking back at them from this century. And now we revisionist history is being created and in the case of southerners like myself, whitewashed entirely and historic statues being removed, etc. Thank you for your interesting, insightful comments!

Yeeeek! I think even some Scottish people would be horrified at the idea of ‘experiencing’ Scotland through Braveheart. It was not even filmed in Scotland for the most part: and its so inaccurate in virtually everything. The Picts stopped wearing blue paint about 1000 years before, and did not start wearing kilts until about 300 years afterwards.

It came over with the Scotti Tribe from Ireland, which also gives its name to the country. Yup, the Scots are actually Irish: well some of them. There are Britons, Picts, and Anglo-Saxons too- and in the outer Hebrides quite a lot of Viking blood: the people of Orkney, its said, think of themselves as more Norse than Celtic. Linguists think that the lowland Scots dialect has its origins in Old English, which would make sense considering the similarities with certain dialects in Northern England.

Don’t forget that Britain and Scotland are not the same place though: Britain is all three nations of Greater Britannia, England, Scotland and Wales. I lived Simon Schama’s series though.

Dear Sue, Love your Scots roots! I just did my ancestry DNA and wow – Scotland, aye, but also French/Western Europe! Toe dancing happy with you, dear friend. This is such a different novel than Lacemaker. I’m getting whiplash veering off the frontier to genteel Williamsburg and then across the pond to Alba. Hugs and happy spring to you!

Love that ‘armchair travel,’ dear friend. I’m still looking for that picture of us two at the dinner and charades that night 🙂 Scotland is one of a kind. Chuckling about your open door and whiskied memories! Sinclair is a beautiful name with rich history. Please let me know if you even hear a whisper of Liz doing another tour. Not sure I could go but I’d so love to. Lifelong memories and so glad we shared one together!