In 1681, the Privy Council of Scotland described the country's trade with the Dutch Republic as ‘the great, ancient and most constant … this kingdome ever maintained with aney forraigne cuntry’. This assessment expressed both historic reality as well as admiration for the commercially successful and religiously orthodox Dutch. It was part of a memorial to the Committee of Trade, in which Scotland's economy was discussed at length and followed a document which had identified the founding of an independent Scottish colony in the Americas as essential for the nation's fortune and commercial future. In the two decades that followed, Scotland's concern with its economic challenges translated into a series of ventures and experiments aimed at improving both the nation and its inhabitants, of which commercial and imperial engagement formed an essential part. In the execution and the accompanying discourses, the country's continental connections were ever present, in particular the example provided by the Dutch Republic. It has been argued elsewhere that the Scottish–Dutch relationship was an essential, although not exclusive, part of early modern Scotland's widening horizons. Both within and outside Europe, Scots benefited from the opportunities offered by the Dutch for commerce, employment and education. Moreover, the two countries shared a rivalry with, if not an outright animosity towards, the English.