that the lowly thistle was chosen as the Badge of Scotland because centuries ago, during a secret night invasion of Scotland by the Danes, one of the soldiers stepped on a thistle, and his loud cry of pain alerted the unsuspecting and sleeping Scots? Rallying quickly, they gave chase and drove the Danes from Scotland's shores.

 that it was King James III who made the choice of the thistle for the Badge of Scotland an Official Act, displaying it as his personal Badge, and employing it on coinage of the realm in 1474?

 that among the oldest Orders in Europe, one of the outstanding is Scotland's The Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle? Legend tells us that it was created in the 5th Century as a Companionship of 12 Knights with the King as their Head, in respectful imitation of Christ and His 12 Disciples, and in honor of St. Andrew, whose intercession in the battle between King Hungus of the Picts and his ally, King Achaius of the Scots, against King Athelstane of the West Saxons, won the day for the Picts and Scots. St. Andrew's Cross, which had appeared in the sky as a manifestation of St. Andrew's support and blessing, was incorporated in the jeweled insignia. After some years of being dormant, the Order was revived and placed on the regular fund of Orders on May 29, 1687 by King James VII of Scotland.

 that the Stone of Scone, the Lia Fail or Stone of Destiny, upon which Scottish Kings and Queens have been crowned from Fergus in the 6th Century through John Baliol in the 13th Century, is traditionally believed to be Jacob's Pillow (Genesis 28:10-22 K. Jas. Vers.), carried from Egypt to Ireland to Scotland in the 6th Century?

 that legend also tells us that it was upon the Stone which later came to be known as the Stone of Scone, that St. Columba rested his head as he lay dying before the altar in the monastery Church on Iona; after which it was called by his people "St. Columba's Pillow?"

 that King Edward I of England ordered the Stone of Scone brought to London when he deposed Scotland's King John Baliol in 1296, and since then it has served in the coronation of all subsequent Kings and Queens of England, reposing in a special niche beneath the seat of the Coronation Throne in Westminster Abbey?

 that there is a rather convincing theory that the true Stone of Scone was actually secreted by loyal and patriotic Scots during the English invasion in 1296, who replaced it with a block of native sand-stone; the knowledge of the actual hiding-place having long since been lost?

 that by the Treaty of Northampton in 1328 the Stone of Scone was to have been returned to Scotland, but that the citizens of London refused to part with it?

 that on Christmas Day, 1950, the Stone of Scone was removed from its hallowed resting-place beneath the Coronation Throne in Westminster Abbey by several members of the Scottish Nationalist Party?

 that in the act of stealing the Stone from Westminster Abbey, the careless would-be patriots not only splintered the front seat-board of the Coronation Throne and scratched the marble Abbey floor, but dropped the 485-pound Stone, breaking the old Scottish treasure in two pieces?

that from the time the Stone was recovered in April, 1951 until a week before Queen Elizabeth II's coronation, May 1953, the Stone of Scone had been securely hidden in one of the Abbey's chapel vaults beneath a 400-lb flagstone?

 that although the Stone of Scone has for centuries been treasured as a priceless relic by loyal Scots, the English have placed its intrinsic value at 2s. 6d.?

 that the earliest religion in Scotland, of which there is any evidence, was that of Druidism?

 that Druid-worship consisted of the veneration of the "gods" the Pagan inhabitants of Scotland believed to be in Nature - rocks, trees, streams, storms, fire?

 that the Druids forbade any writing of the history, the legends, and the laws of the land, and of the genealogies of the leaders; ruling that all had to be memorized? This custom was passed on into the subsequent Clan System, and handed down through the centuries by the Clan Bard or Historian who was usually the official Harper or Piper. It was his duty to record in song or chant the history of the Clan and the genealogy of each chief.

 that legends and traditions have claimed that Christianity was originally brought to Britain by St. James, the brother of Christ, by St. Peter, and by Joseph of Arimathea? It is also believed that Britons and Scots carried to Rome as prisoners during the occupation of Britain by the Romans, could well have been converted in prison by St. Paul, himself, during his own imprisonment during that same period of history; thus such prisoners could have carried Christianity back to their homes when they were freed.

 that the first Christian missionary to Scotland of whom we have factual knowledge was a native Scot, St. Ninian, born in 360 A.D.?

 that the Callendish Circle of Standing Stones on the west coast of the Island of Lewis presents a fine example of a prehistoric architectural monument? Comparable to England's Stonehenge, it was once believed to be a Druidical ceremonial site; now, however, the 47 stones comprising the 400-foot long circle and intersecting corridor are believed to have been used to establish a calendar and to predict eclipses.