Some of the discussion here brings me back to a point I made earlier in a different thread. There is a great difference between the way the younger generation and the older generation of these countries (England, Scotland, Ireland, etc.) view their connection to New World folk. Here in Canada (I can't vouch for America), if you encounter an older person originally hailing from Scotland or Ireland you will invariably be asked what your ancestry is. (If it isn't immediately apparent.) If you simply tell them "I'm Canadian", they won't accept that as an answer! The connection between Mother Country and the colonies/dominions were much closer in their day.