Happy National Tartan Day!

for, as long as but a hundred of us remain alive, never will we on any conditions be brought under English rule. It is in truth not for glory, nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting, but for freedom -- for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself.

The Arbroath Declaration.

Happy National Tartan Day! On this day in the year 1320, a delegation of Scottish nobles signed a letter composed by the abbot of Arbroath Abbey and sent to to Pope John XXII, declaring that Scotland would never submit to English rule and appealing to the pope for a judgment against the English. One of the signatories, Andrew Leslie, may have been a distant ancestor of mine. This document is considered Scotland's national declaration of independence and may have been a model for the American Declaration of Independence some 400 years later. April 6 has since become known as National Tartan Day an opportunity for Americans of Scottish descent, such as your humble blog host, to show off their Scottish pride. Hat tip to the incomparable Fiona Ritchie, host of The Thistle & Shamrock, for bringing this to my attention.

Suas Alba! (Loosely translated: Up with Scotland, Hurray for Scotland, Scotland Rocks, etc.)