Chopin (one of Poland's greatest composers) visited Scotland shortly before his death in 1849 and his brief stay in Edinburgh is marked by a plaque on the wall of a house in Warriston Street. Marie Curie, the Polish discoverer of radium, was given the Cameron Prize by Edinburgh University in 1931.

Alexander Chalmers (known as Czamer) was a Scot who was elected mayor of Warsaw four times before he died in 1703. His tomb is in the Cathedral of St John in Warsaw. Many Polish football players continue to come and play for Scottish football clubs.

In recent years, Darius Dziekanowski (Glasgow Celtic), Dariusz Wdowczyk (Glasgow Celtic), Dariusz Adamczuk (Dundee and Glasgow Rangers), Kevin Rutkiewicz (Aberdeen -whose father was born in Warsaw),

Artur Boruc (Glasgow Celtic), Maciej Zurawski (Glasgow Celtic) and Zbigniew Malkowski (Hibernian). Here is just a brief profile of the two past and two present Poles at Parkhead. Artur Boruc Artur Boruc (born February 20, 1980 in Siedlce) is a Polish football player. He is a goalkeeper who currently plays for Celtic F.C., and goalkeeper for the Polish National Squad. On July 12, 2005, he signed from the Polish club Legia Warszawa.

The deal was reported to be initially a year's loan, with an option to make it permanent. The deal has since been made permanent with Boruc penning a three-and-a-half year deal with Celtic; until 2009. He will be forever remembered for his sign of the cross in February in the Old Firm game. So in his short time at Parkhead he has endeared himself to the Celtic faithful. The incident will live long in the minds of many people in Scotland and further afield. He makes the sign of the cross before every game as a good luck ritual.

According to the 'Sunday Herald' "police reports highlighted three hand gestures made by 26 year -old Boruc… a V sign at the crowd, another obscene gesture at the crowd and a blessing." The gestures were not caught on video and a caution was issued on the basis of police reports and witness statements. The police have since reported that it took 10 minutes to restore order in that section of the ground where the Rangers fans were congregated. Amazing stuff! Apart from 'that' incident Artur Boruc is a regular fixture between the 'sticks' for Celtic. He has become a big favorite with the Celtic fans after some outstanding performances.

He was one of the few pluses for his country in this years World Cup with some top drawer saves. With another 3 years of his contract still to run at Celtic Park, the 'Hoops' fans will be hoping for much more of the same from Polish number one.

Maciej Zurawski Maciej Zurawski (born September 12, 1976 in Poznan, Poland) is a striker who currently plays for Celtic. For Poland, Zurawski has appeared 53 times and scored 15 goals. He joined Celtic F.C. from Wisla Kraków in July 2005 and signed a three-year contract. He inherited the no. 7 shirt from former Celtic legend, Henrik Larsson. He was voted Polish player of the year in 2002 and scored 24 goals in season 2004-2005. Fans of Celtic call him "Magic" Zurawski. Zurawski's favourite clubs are Wisla Kraków and Lech Poznan from Poland and Barcelona from Spain. On 19 February 2006, Zurawski scored four goals as Celtic set a new Scottish Premier League record by beating Dunfermline Athletic 8-1 at East End Park.

Zurawski was subsequently voted the SPL player of the month for February [1]. He is now well endeared to Celtic fans and considered one of their best players for the 2005-2006 season. He was selected to the 23-man Polish squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup finals in Germany. Although he was a starting striker, thanks to his seven goals in the preliminaries, he scored no goals, and commentators agree that he did not have a good tournament, much like the rest of the team.

Darius Dziekanowski This character was an instant hit at Paradise when he signed for the Celts in 1989. He was born in Warsaw in 1962 (Sept 30th). He scored 20 goals for Poland in over 50 appearances. He started his career Polonia Warsaw, later moving on to Widsew Lodz whom he won a Polish Cup and Polish Super Cup winners medal with in 1989 before moving to Scotland and the Bhoys. He was big into Archery and represented Poland in numerous events. He was known among the Celtic fans as 'Jacki'. The pronunciation was a little easier at the time. In 1990 he scored 4 goals in a Uefa cup match against Partizan Belgrade but was still on the losing side as the Celts bowed out of Europe.

He left Celtic in 1992 with no cups or trophies to his credit. He joined Bristol City and later returned to his native land. He is currently working for Polish TV as a commentator and living in Warsaw with his partner. He is remembered in Glasgow with affection and being the first Polish player to represent the Bhoys. Darius Wdowczyk Probably on of the best left backs to play for the Celts during the 80's and 90's. He was fondly known to the Parkhead faithful as 'Shuggie'. He joined Celtic in 1989, as part of a double signing along with 'jacki', from Lodz. He spent 41/2 years at Celtic. Both players were signed by Billy McNeill. Like 'jacki' he left with no winners medals to his credit.

Before he signed for Celtic, Giovanni Trapattoni tried to sign him for Inter Milan but Legia turned down the move as they were still a soldier club. He left with some great memories. One such memory was "the St Patrick's Day Massacre" of 1991. He scored a goal with the aid of Terry Hurlock's boot in a famous 2-0 win for the Bhoys over the Huns. Incidentally, Gerry Creaney got the other one.

It was a day that will be well remembered by referee Andrew Waddell, and thousands of Celtic fans, as he sent-off four players (Mark Hateley, Mark Walters and Terry Hurlock of Rangers and Peter Grant of Celtic) He also booked six players. One week later in a league match against the same opposition, Celtic won by 3-0. 'Shuggie' was allowed leave Celtic, by the then manager Liam Brady, in 1994 when he joined Reading Football Club. He is currently the head coach at Legia Warsaw. He won 53 caps for his country. He lives in Warsaw with his wife and two children.

MICHAEL LAWLOR