THE SCOT VERSUS THE ENGLISHMAN
[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.]
SIR,—The interesting article of NorthOmbriensis seems to me to leave out one very important difference between the sect and the Englishman—it is that the Scot is so much better educated. That is no doubt due mainly to John Knox, and so much is implied in the explanation of Northumbriensis. If anyone compares the early life of Hugh Miller and his friends with 'that of young Englishmen of his time and class the difference is vast ; these quarrymen and stone-masons in the north of Scotland took the keenest interest in history, in literature, and, in fact, in knowledge generally. Where could their like have been found in England ? There are many other examples—Dr. John Brown's ancestor studying Greek on the hillside. Brown, too, in very poor circumstances managed to get a very good education. No wonder that the Scots remember the past and are proud of it. The English don't so much forget their own past ; they never knew it and don't care to knowit. I met one Englishman, however, who gave a Scot a good answer. Passing Stirling in a railway carriage the Scot pointed out of the window and said " Bannockburn." " Yes I know," said the Englishman, "I'll be walking over Flodden Field to-morrow." The Scots are also much more religious than the English, or were until lately. It used to he said when I was young that every Scottish lit:ly carried the Book of Proverbs in his pocket and that that accounted for .their_ success in life. That they also owe to John Knox.—I am, Sir, &c.,
Kincorct, Lyme Regis, Dorset. J. L. N. Room.
Previous page
