I imagine the first question anyone will ask is what is a column called "Scottish Flotsam". I guess we will have to begin with what is "flotsam". Among the definitions of the word are "things washed ashore" or "miscellaneous trifles". Well, we believe you can find some great treasure on the ocean shore. But -- you will never know what you will find or its value. So we decided that is what this column is - flotsam. We wanted a place to put things that didn't fit anywhere else and might be of interest. Each item could be a column itself and might be some day but for now it will be the flotsam, which washes our way.

Malcolm II (954 - Nov. 25, 1034 )
Malcolm was king of Scotland from 1005 to 1034, the first to reign over an extent of land roughly corresponding to much of modern Scotland.

Malcolm succeeded to the throne after killing his predecessor, Kenneth III, and allegedly secured his territory by defeating a Northumbrian army at the battle of Carham (c. 1016); he not only confirmed the Scottish hold over the land between the rivers Forth and Tweed but also secured Strathclyde about the same time. Eager to secure the royal succession for his daughter's son Duncan, he tried to eliminate possible rival claimants; but Macbeth, with royal connections to both Kenneth II and Kenneth III, survived to challenge the succession.

Source: http://www.pantribalconfederacy.com/research/kings.htm

It is time to stop combing the library but we can not quit without some quotes from The Pocket Book of Scottish Quotations another great History bookshelf resident. Let's see what quotes we can find.

This month we continue with the subject of love.

0 ye'll tak' the high road,
And I'll tak' the low road:
And I'll be in Scotland afore ye;
But me and my true love will never meet again,
By the bonnie, bonnie, banks o' Loch Lomond.
Lady John Douglas Scott (1810-1900) ,Loch Lomond

Love swells like the Solway, but ebbs like its tide
Sir Walter Scott (I 771-1832 ), , Lochinvar

Love rules the court, the camp, the grove,
And men below and saints above;
For love is heaven, and heaven is love.
Sir Walter Scott, The Lay of the Last Minstrel

Thy fatal shafts unerring move,
I bow before thine altar, Love.
Tobias Smollett (I 721-1771), The Adventures of Roderick Random