Vikings 'were warned to avoid Scotland'

The Daily Telegraph ^ | September 20, 2009 | Telegraph News

[Arec Barrwin]

Vikings 'were warned to avoid Scotland'

Scotland is full of dangerous natives who speak an incomprehensible language and the is weather awful. That was the verdict of a series of 13th century Viking travel guides that warned voyagers to visit at their peril.

[To-Whose-Benefit?]

“Aye, they thought they would get off scot-free.”

That is where the expression actually Does come from.

In old Norse it’s “skat-fri” meaning free from tribute or taxes.

[eddie willers]

What is left unsaid is that they were told by some Jutes that the Scots would frequently refuse to pay the dinner tab, and wouldn’t tip for service.

Which is why they pleaded to go Dutch.

[muawiyah]

Mixed bag. As George Washington moved his Army across the Hudson to relative safety in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, the Maryland colonial militia called the Maryland 400, commanded by General William Alexander (that's a Scot for you Fur Shur) held the Brits at bey.

256 died in the battle. Another 100 were taken prisoner.

So, who were these guys? Amazingly the majority were descendants of the people who founded the old New Sweden Colony. A smaller group were descendants of the Catholics who founded the settlements starting at St. Mary's in the South. Others were Irish of recent vintage but they knew what they were about.

So you're coming pretty close to the baddest badasses on the planet, but it looks like the same old mix that started in the Orkneys over a thousand years ago.

[Badabing Badablonde]

Yeah, Glasgow...........

[KosmicKitty]

One word..Haggis

[vetvetdoug]

I am descended from the Scotch Irish from Rowan County, N.C. I wonder about any people that enjoy a delicacy called haggis.

[Texas Eagle]

One word..Haggis

I had to look up the word "haggis" in a dictionary. Here's what I found:

[Apercu]

A Scottish man was at a baseball game. It was the first time he had ever seen the sport so he sat quietly.

The first batter approached the plate, took a few swings and then hit a double. Everyone was on their feet screaming “Run, Run!” This happened two more times, with a single and a triple.

The Scottish man was now excited and ready to get into the game.The next batter came up and four balls went by. The umpire called “walk” and the batter started on a slow trot to first.
The Scotsman, extremely excited now, stood up and screamed, “R-R-Run ye basstarrd, rrrun!” Everyone around him started laughing. So the Scotsman, extremely embarrassed, sat back down.

A friendly fan, seeing the Scotsman's embarrassment, leaned over and said, “He can't run - he got four balls.”

The Scotsman then stood up and screamed, “Walk with pride,man...walk with pride!”

[KosmicKitty]

I worked with a guy who served in the Air Force & was stationed for awhile in Scotland.

He tried Haggis. Had the same reaction as viewers of that picture!

BARF!!!!

[Republic of Texas]

I spent a few days in Peterhead Scotland and they will also try to drink you to death there. It wasn’t easy, but I barely escaped when I found a bottle of Cuervo at the local bar and turned the tables on them.

[muawiyah]

No doubt the Scots call it haggis but I think the Saudi Arabians eat something pretty similar made from various parts of goats.

One such thing they call Maqaniq ~ which sounds very suspiciously like McAniq ~ and no doubt is exceedingly closely related to haggis.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Are you sure that’s not a 9/12 photo at the White House?

[Eaker]

Scotland is full of dangerous natives who speak an incomprehensible language and the is weather awful.

Crummy country to be from ping!

[Sir Francis Dashwood]

The Scots are what motivated Hadrian to build a wall completely across Britain...

And they wore kilts because the sound of zippers scared the sheep as well...

[Texas Eagle]

Are you sure that’s not a 9/12 photo at the White House?

I think that's actually a photo taken at Obama's family reunion on Marxist Vineyard a few weeks back.

Three.....two....one....

Is my post still here?

[Sir Francis Dashwood]

The Scots are what motivated Hadrian to build a wall completely across Britain...

And they wore kilts because the sound of their zippers scared the sheep as well...

[Sir Francis Dashwood]

And they wore kilts because the sound of their zippers scared the sheep as well...

[Eaker]

Good job!

[Gator113]

I am of Scottish heritage. I can tell you, you will find no better friend, nor a worse enemy. LOL

[Mr. Silverback]

Bannockburn to you, you git.

:-)