THE CURSE OF SCOTLAND

When I was a child (now about half a century ago) my father used to explain the origin of the nine of diamonds being called "The curse of Scotland" thus: That it was the "cross of Scotland," which, in the Scotch pronunciation, had become "curse." St. Andrew is the patron saint of Scotland: he suffered on a cross, not of the usual form, but like the letter X, which has since been commonly called a St. Andrew's cross. It was supposed that the similarity of the nine of diamonds to this form occasioned its being so called. The arms of the Earl of Stair, alluded to in your publication, are exactly…