Dear Heather Thanks for your message. The best place to go is the website I listed www.robertburns.org - it is now live - and this has links to other sites that will tell you a great deal about Scotland. You could also try my website http://ourworld.cs.com/INSLaird/ where I have listed a number of websites that you can click on for more information on things Scots, not least the "Gateway to Scotland" at the bottom of the page. The Thistle is the emblem of Scotland as it warned of the arrival of Viking raiders in the 11th Century. Scotland was part of the Kingdom of Norway down to Perth, and the Norse were keen to take in more territory. They were advancing barefoot on Perth having rowed up the river and but leader trod on a thistle and cried out, thereby warning the Scots and therefore preserving the Kingdom. The Thistle has its motto "Nemo me impune lacessit" - "No-one hurts me with impunity!" Yours aye Iain