English - Scottish divorce

Who knows what might happen in the Scottish referendum later this year.  What made England and Scotland join together in the first place? On Queen Elizabeth's death in 1603, King James of Scotland ascended the English throne. He wanted the two countries to merge together and have one parliament.  Although the Scottish parliament was quite keen on the idea, the English parliament would have none of it, so the idea was dropped. Cromwell united England and Scotland as a single republic but on the restoration of King Charles the English parliamentarians threw out the Scottish MPs.  The Scots liked the idea of remaining part of Great Britain but went back up to Edinburgh. Following the Dutch invasion of England, then Scotland and finally Ireland, William of Orange became king.  He kept the three parliaments but matters came to a head because of the lack of legitimate royal children.  William's successor Queen Anne had no surviving children and the next person in line was not Protestant but Catholic.  The English parliament would not countenance a Catholic king or queen. so the hunt was on for a reliably Protestant relative.  But what if the Scots found a less reliable Protestant or even chose a Catholic king? This could not be allowed.  Scotland had to join England whether it wanted to or not. Scots in favour of union saw the trade advantages or joining a single market.  The historian Simon Schama said "What began as a hostile merger, would end in a full partnership in the most powerful going concern in the world ... it was one of the most astonishing transformations in European history.  I'm inclined to agree. So do the reasons why Scotland and England joined together still exist today? I doubt whether too many English people would be fussed if the monarch was a Catholic and such a problem, if it is one, is nearly century away because a great-grandchild has just been born. Well Scotland would probably want to remain part of a single market but as a member of the European Union (within which it would more likely remain if it divorced England) it would still be part of the world's largest trading nation. But probably the most important reason for Scotland not to leave us it that our country would be weird - not Scotland's problem admittedly. The United Kingdom of England, Northern Ireland and Wales doesn't have a ring to it. Would we be still British? The next Olympics - Team ENIW? The process that Ireland began in 1920 might end up with England being by itself - now there's a thought!