The little Scottish map that taught so much

I listened to "THIS IS THE STORY," the debut album by THE PROCLAIMERS today, and couldn't help but think about a weathered, rather tattered, map book that's among my prized possessions.
"THE BARTHOLOMEW SCOTTISH FOOTBALL MAP" (circa 1978) seemed like a communication from some alien world to a 12-year-old boy growing up a soccer fanatic in suburban CALIFORNIA.
The map constantly taught me.
It told of teams with interesting names like "Queen of the South," "Partick Thistle" and "Alloa Athletic" and it featured such exotic locales as Brechin, Stranraer and Methil.
I learnt about the exploits of managers like Jock Stein and Willie Waddell, and of star players such as Asa Hartford, Danny McGrain and Alan Rough.
I learnt that Raith Rovers weren't from a place called "Raith," but are actually based in a place called Kirkcaldy, that chandeliers hung from the ceiling of Ibrox and that Berwick Rangers were the strangest anomaly of all -- an ENGLISH team playing in the Scottish league.
Today was a grey day, the Proclaimers were stridently singing, and I remembered the little illustrations of the shirts of Scotland. It was fine memory.