With none of the small nations of Europe, outside Scandinavia, has Sweden maintained such intimate connections through the years as with Scotland. France can compete with Sweden as to the number of enterprising Scots who have immigrated into the country.

The ability to adapt shown by these men, and their skill and character, enabled them to function as leaders, in some cases pioneers, in different sectors of Swedish life. They served as officers in the armies with which Sweden defended its newly won status as a great power in the different theatres of war on the Continent, and they worked as merchants and captains of industry, above all in Gothenburg on the Swedish west coast. They introduced new and more efficient methods of agriculture, and in the 19^th century they played a leading role in achieving freedom of religion. Scotland has been the giver and Sweden the receiver, and we have every reason to be deeply grateful to a country that has supplied us with so much skill, enterprise and devoted energy. If this exhibition can quicken the interest of our history it will not have been in vain.

We can recall here that many Scottish families met with great success in their different fields, and amassed considerable fortunes. This in its turn led to numerous donations, the generosity of which bears witness to the ease with which they had settled in their new home. The body responsible for this exhibition, the 90-year old Nordiska Museet in Stockholm, was, for instance, largely financed originally by a man of Scottish extraction and with a Scottish name, Oscar Dickson. This exhibition has been made possible largely by the lively interest shown by Swedish families of Scottish descent.