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First, I apologize for jumping into this off-topic discussion with
another off-topic response but I'll do it anyhow. What Paul says below
is MOSTLY true, with some reservations. My experience is now about
a decade old, so you UK people can help me out here where I've gone
wrong.
1. Scots Law is not, in fact, exactly the same as English Law. The titles
(the "Procurator Fiscal" is one) and duties of the judges and officials of the
legal system are different, and there are some procedural differences. The
most notable is that Scotland allows THREE verdicts in a criminal trial:
Guilty, Not Guilty, and Not Proven. The last basically means that the jury may
think that the accused committed the crime, but that the prosecution messed up
its case, so the accused goes free. For you mystery novel readers, this is the
origin of the term "Scotch Verdict".
Moreover, whenever the Parliament (at Westminster, in London) passes a
law, it applies to England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. They then pass
an identical or similar bill called the "whatever-this-law-is (Scotland) Act".
Note that it really ticked off the Scots back in the late 1980s when
the conservative government imposed on Scotland a "poll tax" which fell
more heavily on low-income people than the English counterpart did, because
they'd worded the two laws differently. (Perfidious sassanachs!)
Perfectly legal in the U.K.
This is because, unlike Wales and Northern Ireland, Scotland did not come
under the Britsh crown by conquest. Instead, a Scottish King, James VI (of
Scotland), inherited the English throne, becoming James I of England
2. Currency: All banknotes in England are printed by the Bank of
England, which is kind of like the U. S. Federal Reserve. Bank Notes in
Scotland are issued by three commercial bankes, the Bank of Scotland,
the Royal Bank of Scotland, and the Clydedale Bank. They all look different
from each other and from the Bank of England notes. (Coins are the same
everywhere). In fact, the last time I was there, on the English side,
all the one-pound paper currency had been replaced with coins, but Scotland
still had one-pound paper notes. Now, all of this currency is SUPPOSED
to be legal tender throughout the U.K., but as those of us who have taken
the overnight train from Edinburgh to London with nothing but a pocket
full of Scottish currency know, it can be darn hard to convince local shops
in the south of that (I've even had public transit people refuse my
Scottish notes) -- they've just never seen the Scottish ones before.
3. Postage stamps: no big deal, cause they all work everywhere in the
U.K., but did you know that there are variants of the basic, non-commerative
postage stamps, too? In Scotland they have a lion (Scottish royal symbol)
in the upper right. In Wales it's a dragon, and in Northern Ireland it's
the hand of Ulster.
Oh, well, end of tirade. Don't even get me started on the Isle of Man,
the Tinwold, and "birching."
Paul Ferguson
(On behalf of the Community of the Realm of Scotland)
In lugnet.lego.direct, Paul Davidson writes:
> Well, whether you like it or not, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales are
> all subordinate to the sovereignty of the United Kingdom of Great Britain
> and Northern Ireland, sharing her laws, defense, and currency.
>
> But I'd be the first one to support an independent Scotland if they ever
> manage to get that far. :) The Scottish Parliament is a good first step!
>
> --
>
>
> Paul Davidson
....<Big snip here of Scott Arthur's message>
> >
> > Scott A
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Message has 2 Replies:
Message is in Reply To:
 | | Re: Just where is Scotland?
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| Well, whether you like it or not, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales are all subordinate to the sovereignty of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, sharing her laws, defense, and currency. But I'd be the first one to support (...) (24 years ago, 28-Sep-00, to lugnet.lego.direct, lugnet.loc.uk, lugnet.loc.ie)
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