DESPITE French horror at England´s violent football louts, who smashed up Marseilles on June 15th before a match between England and Tunisia, some Britons still get a friendly press in France: the Scots. They have been widely praised (1) for their seemingly in-domitable high spirits (2) (amid expected defeat on the playing field) and sense of fair play. One French reporter, impressed by the “indestructible smile and ever-genuine kindness” of Scots fans, has called for an inquiry into the “euphoric effects” – more potent, it seems, than Viagra or Prozac – of wearing a kilt. Scottish fans who imbibe gallons of beer and whisky and who occasionally bare their bottoms are readily forgiven.

(THE ECONOMIST, JUNE 20TH 1998)

According to the passage, one French reporter