Age of Invention: Why Scotland Succeeded

Scotland once punched far, far above its weight. Despite having a population under a quarter the size of its neighbour, England, whose king Henry VIII tried repeatedly to subdue it, it was the smaller nation that prevailed. It is the blood of the cunning and patient James VI and not of the forceful Henry, that has flowed through the veins of the UK’s monarchs ever since. Once James came to rule both nations — he became king of England exactly 423 years ago today — it was the far fewer Scots who ...