To: LoneClone who wrote (220282 ) 8/28/2012 11:15:55 PM From: marcos Read Replies (1) | Respond to Scots pretty much invented Canada as well, even more than other places, going back way before the scotch in our founding drunkard Sir John Eh worked its magic ... have to read the How the Scots Invented book, see he has a chapter on Adam Smith, wonder if he gets into the french connection there, how Smith reacted to what he'd seen on the continent, and the differences between the two 'enlightenments', scots having by that time developed religiously based qualms about whacking each other's heads off, they just went out and made money, largely through sugar and tobacco at the start, Niall Ferguson has written on how sucrose nicotine and theine were what stimulated empire, it was all a major dope deal long before the opium, scots traded them all and the Glasgow tobacco lords were among those observed by Smith ... there are many BBC pieces on youtube, i think it's Simon Schama who most looks at history from commonfolk point of view, always though in relation to the notable who were the only ones noted, fact of life ... one of my 'english' lines came over with the hanoverians, served as clerks and suchlike for generations, no doubt some still in govt offices, still have large farms in county Essex, there are many connections on that side with famous names but the most fun is that with Nelson's mistress, only by marriage though and not absolutely proven, too bad en.wikipedia.org
