Since 1707, Scotland has made a military contribution greatly above her fair share having regard to the Scottish proportion of the British population (Warrior clan's 230 years of Army service, News, June 24).
One of my ancestors serving with the 78th Highlanders was blinded in Egypt fighting the Turks in the early 1800s. The reward for many of his comrades when they returned from abroad was to find their homes in ruins and their families evicted during the Highland Clearances. While Highlanders and islanders were being cleared, their sons were fighting and dying from the Plains of Abraham to Assaye for the greater glory of the state that was destroying their culture and families.
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