Surprising new research has revealed that the haggis is a wild animal that roams the Highlands and Scotland is a small county tucked away in England.
That, apparently, is the view of a worryingly high proportion of American tourists visiting the country.
To mark today's celebration of Scotland's patron saint, a haggis maker teamed up with the website of a United States tourist association to ask 1,000 Americans what they expected to see and do on a Scottish holiday.
A third of those surveyed were convinced that the haggis was an animal. Some likened it to a fox while others were sure it was a bird, rather like a small grouse.
Twenty-three per cent believed that they would be able to join a haggis hunt while on holiday to bag one of the elusive creatures.
Served properly, the haggis has neither feathers nor fur. A mixture of heart, lung, kidney, lard, oatmeal and pepper is cooked inside a sheep's stomach and eaten with turnip and mashed potato.
While haggis is served year round in many Scottish homes, it is particularly associated with celebrations such as St Andrew's Day, which falls today, and Burns Night, on January 25.
