Louise writes from North America

Louise has been awarded a Winston Churchill Fellowship

BBC Scotland reporter Louise Stewart has been awarded a Winston Churchill Fellowship to travel in North America and study the historic links between Scotland and the United States.

She will be looking at the impact Scots migrants have had on the culture there and will be travelling to New York, North Carolina, Washington, Boston and then onto Canada.

VIRGINIA

On Sunday afternoon I travel to nearby Virginia and meet several members of the St Andrews Society as well as Douglas Brooks, the current president.

The Society which aims to perpetuate Scottish traditions and culture, dates back to 1760 and is one of the oldest in the country.

Although many now do allow women to join, this one is still for males only - although most members believe it's only a matter of time before that changes. All the men are of Scottish birth or ancestry and have to prove it before they can become members.

WASHINGTON

The following day I head downtown to explore Washington and come across at least 300 trucks - rolling into town.

The truckers, from 26 states, are all protesting at the high price of fuel here. The sound of so many horns blaring is deafening and some have banners saying "Enough is Enough".

They're urging Congress to stop subsidising the big oil companies and to limit the cost of fuel which is currently topping $4 dollars a gallon in some areas - still less than half the price motorists are paying at the pump in Scotland.

But it's obviously an issue hauliers in Scotland can sympathise with, especially at a time when industrial action at Grangemouth has disrupted oil supplies and halted much of North Sea oil production.

On Tuesday, I meet with Senator John Warner (little-know fact he used to be married to Elizabeth Taylor).

Congressman Mike McIntyre founded the Friends of Scotland Caucus

His family originally came from Peterhead and his great grandfather founded James Stewart and Company which build some of the most impressive structures in America, including Grand Central Station in New York.

I also meet up with Democratic Congressman Mike McIntyre - who, along with Republican John Duncan, founded the Friends of Scotland Caucus on Capitol Hill, which now has fifty members.

The Caucus continues to grow in popularity and moves are afoot to extend membership to include Senators too. It's the second time I've met Congressman McIntyre - last time was in Scotland when I took the trip with him, and his wife Dee, to the tiny island of Lismore near Oban last August, to trace his family roots.

He's a Congressman for North Carolina which has the highest number of Scottish immigrants of any part if the US. He was also instrumental in bringing the Tartan Day resolution before Congress in 2005.

The event, now called Scotland Week, has just seen it's tenth anniversary last month.

Although the celebration began in New York, this year also saw a dramatic increase in participation in Washington.

Unknown soldiers

Stuart McLean, of the Scottish Affairs Office, who is based in the capital, says they want to see Scotland Week spread throughout the US with events in as many of the 50 states as possible.

I am lucky enough to be given a personal guided tour of their Capitol building, where the Senate and Congress sit. Obviously all the talk in the corridors of power at the moment is about the battle between Barrack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

On the tour I am shown a marble statue of three woman who worked tirelessly to win American women the vote with the 19th Amendment in 1920.

A piece of the marble has yet to be carved with the head of the first ever female president. So will it be Hillary? She's neck and neck with Obama in the latest poll and they both lead over Republican candidate John McCain.

President John F Kennedy is buried at the Arlington National Cemetery

Clinton seems to have got her campaign back on track but it will all come down to the backing of the Super Delegates in the end and we're unlikely to know which one will go head to head with McCain until the Democratic National Convention in August.

With another three months after that until the Presidential Election on 4 November, no one could accuse America of rushing the democratic process.

As my time in Washington draws to a close I take the opportunity to visit Arlington National Cemetery. About 290,000 people are buried there and their graves chronicle American history.

Former President John F Kennedy is one of only two US Presidents buried there and his grave is marked by an eternal flame lit by his wife Jackie in December 1963. She, and an infant son and daughter, are buried alongside him.

There are simple headstones for the soldiers who have died in every conflict from the Civil War to Afghanistan and Iraq.

The focus of the cemetery is the Tomb of the Unknowns, which represents the thousands who have died in World War I and II as well as Korea, but have no known resting place.

America and Scotland have been united in their condemnation of terrorism and both have suffered atrocities in recent years and the victims are also remembered here.

The Pentagon Memorial is a tribute to the 184 who died when the Pentagon was hit in the September 11th attack. The Lockerbie memorial is a cairn made of 270 stones shipped from Scotland, one for each person killed in the atrocity.