by Kevin Dyer ... Just love his art! Scottish Thistle  The Official Emblem of Scotland  http://castpaper.com/index.php?main_page=product_info=10_id=12  Legend has it, that in the 9th century, when the Norse were often raiding Scotland, a group of vikings tried to sneak up on a group of sleeping Clansmen. They had removed their shoes to creep quietly but stepped on thistles and cried out in pain. The alerted Scots made them pay.