Who or what is the Curse of Scotland

A. The first mention of the phrase in a book was in the early 18th century, and it referred to Lord Justice Clerk Ormistone, who at the time had become a hate-figure in Scotland. Apparently, when the nine of diamonds turned up during a game of cards it was called 'Justice Clerk'. However, the origins of the legend go back further than that.

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Q. So, why is the nine of diamonds known as the Curse of Scotland
A. There are numerous explanations given. The two most common are:

• It was the playing card used by Sir John Dalrymple, the Earl of Stair, to cryptically authorise the Glencoe Massacre of 1692. There is a resemblance between the nine of diamonds and his coat of arms.
• The Duke of Cumberland is supposed to have scribbled the order for 'no quarter to be given' after the Battle of Culloden (1746) on a nine of diamonds.

Q. And the others
A.

• It is an English�misreading of the Corse (Cross) of Scotland, that is St Andrew's Saltire, the Scottish national flag. There is a resemblance between the pattern of the nine of diamonds and the Saltire - but this is also true of the other three nines in a deck.
• Nine diamonds were at one time stolen from the crown of Scotland and a tax was levied on the Scottish people to pay for them. The tax was nicknamed 'The Curse of Scotland'.
• There was a popular card game called Pope Joan, in which the nine of diamonds was called 'the Pope', not exactly flavour of the month among Scottish Protestants.
• The nine of diamonds was the chief card in the game Comette, which had been introduced into Scotland by the ill-fated Mary Queen of Scots.
• Another battle, that of Flodden (1513), is given as the origin. James IV of Scotland supposedly drew up his battle plans on a nine of diamonds. The Scottish army was annihilated by the English and James killed.
• In The Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue (1811), Francis Grose states: 'Diamonds, it is said, imply royalty, being ornaments to the imperial crown; and every ninth king of Scotland has been observed, for many ages, to be a tyrant and a curse to the country.'

Q. Any other curses
A. The Curse of...

• Adam: having to work for a living.
• Cain: someone who is forced always to be on the move.
• Tutankhamun: the 5th Earl of Carnarvon - patron of Howard Carter, the Egyptologist who discovered the tomb of Tutankhamun - died in Cairo soon after visiting the dig. He had been bitten by a mosquito at the site of the excavation and the resulting infection caused the pneumonia that killed him. Coincidentally, there was a power failure in Cairo as he died, while back in England Carnarvon's pet dog passed on at the same time. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, a die-hard spiritualist, made the suggestion that this might all have come about as a result of a curse released from the tomb rather than pure chance.

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By Simon Smith