Four centuries on, that question vexes us still; and we may be about to find out the answer. One consequence of the EU referendum is to put the United Kingdom at risk once again. In her speech in London this week, Nicola Sturgeon, the SNP First Minister, reiterated that if Scotland voted to remain in the EU in June, while the UK as a whole voted to leave, it could trigger demands for a second independence referendum.

But what if England votes narrowly to leave but the votes in Scotland and the rest of the UK keep us in? This is by no means an improbable outcome. Pollsters calculate that 55 per cent of Welsh, 64 per cent of Scots and 75 per cent of Ulster voters favour staying in. The English, by contrast, are almost split down the middle and have been for leaving in several polls. A YouGov map published this week shows the 10 most Eurosceptic areas are all in England.