26 SEPTEMBER 1998, Page 31

Sir: Sir Peregrine Worsthorne's article with which I do not

fundamentally disagree — would be more persuasive if it didn't dis- play his ignorance of history. He writes, inter alia, of foreign threats from Catholic Spain and Bourbon France, implying that the Scots played a major role in defeating them.

The Spanish Armada was exclusively an English victory. I do not believe the Scots were heavily represented at battles such as Blenheim, Ramillies, Oudenarde or Malplaquet. Nor, for that matter, albeit in pre-Bourbon times, were they present at Crdcy or Agincourt.

Finally, one should remember that the first two words of Nelson's famous signal at Trafalgar were, 'England expects . . . . ' Michael Wyndham Quarry House, Ampney Crucis, Cirencester,