Doctor Fiona Watson, a lecturer in history, was due later this week to reveal her own thoughts about the location, but plans have been thrown into disarray with the publication of a new book "Tidying up Scottish History" by Torquil Lysander, emeritus professor of Edinburgh Studies at Edinburgh University.

Professor Torquil argues that all of Scottish History, including the Battle of Bannockburn, actually took place within the city boundaries of Edinburgh. "By rightly locating all of Scotland's past within sight of Arthur's Seat," he argues "we do away with the need to bother with all those marginal bits that no-one in their right mind would visit anyway."

While steering clear of commentating on the contentious central thesis contained in the Professor's work, a spokesmap for the Edinburgh tourist agency was upbeat,

"If true, then this confirms what we've been saying for years, that there's no point in visitors leaving Edinburgh, there's nothing out there, in a very real sense, the rest of Scotland isn't real..."

Doctor Fiona Watson meanwhile has other duties to occupy her as, next month, she presents a History of Scotland on TV. The series is widely regarded as a rebuttal of Simon Schama's anglocentric "History of Britain" but Doctor Watson insists that nothing could be further from the truth.

"I'd like to think that Scottish academics have got past the childish habit of simply seeing the study of Scottish History as a chance to score cheap points against our English cousins. My series will be a measured accounting of Scottish History within an international context."

Part one of "Us against the bastard English" can be seen next month.