Correct Big Jim,the West of Scotland,Glasgow in particular has a very large Irish connection going way back to the famine in Ireland,they came over in their droves mostly to work in the coal mines in the west of scotland,my own grandfather originally came from County Cavan..going back to Gerry Rafferty,his father was Irish,his mother was Scottish,he actually wrote a song about her.."Mary Skeffington"..his father was a violent alcoholic,who died when Gerry was 16,according to reports Gerry's funeral will be held in Paisley,his hometown.Brian iam in the West of Scotland..(God's Country)a town called Hamilton,roughly 15 miles South of Glasgow..in historical terms this part of Scotland (the west)was the industrial heartland of the nation at one time,all the heavy industry was based here,coal mining,steel making,shipbuilding,and all sorts of manufacturing,light & heavy..this has all been decimated,due to several factors...but we don't want to get into that,i could be here all night,suffice to say the industrial heart of Scotland has been ripped out,there aren't many hills or coastlines around here Brian,just the ghosts of a great industrial past,don't get me wrong within a couple of hours drive from here,you then enter the gateway to the Highlands,which is a different world alltogether..Scotland is a beautiful country with magnificent natural beauty,only sometimes, we who live here are oblivious to it,and as you correctly say it is breathtaking,at least,they can't take that away from us..hope you make it across again sometime...Terry..