Tim...it was my understanding that James I was very much a Scots noble, down to speaking with the very broad lowland Scots accent. When he became King of England and went to London to assume the Throne, many of his ministers were also native scots and their accents/language made them the butt of many (secret) jokes.Due to this, James instructed that English as spoken at the English court be adopted by all Scots nobility, thus ending official use of what was rapidly becoming a separate language.Where's Cuillinon (sp?) when we need her?