In his memoirs Shanks For the Memory, legendary Liverpool manager Bill Shankly wrote about the pride he felt while representing Scotland as a player, particularly against England. "Playing for Scotland is fantastic," he said. "You look at your dark blue shirt and the wee lion looks up at you and says 'get out there after those English bastards'."
There is no doubt that matches between England and Scotland have always carried an edge. The passion might not be quite as fervent now as in Shankly's days, but there is no doubt the level of intensity is raised amongst Scottish players whenever they take on the "Auld Enemy".
Whether they can translate that intensity into an upset victory we will find out tonight when the teams clash at Hampden Park in a World Cup qualifier.
England, who top Group F by four points, will begin as favourites against a Scottish team that lie in fourth place. When the two teams met at Wembley in November it was a reasonably comfortable 3-0 win for England with the goals, all headers, coming from Daniel Sturridge, Adam Lallana and Gary Cahill.
Scotland manager Gordon Strachan took the defeat in philosophical fashion. "They gave it their best shot," he said of his players. "You just need a wee break now and again, or a wee bit of magic to finish it off."
But Strachan's men will be encouraged by their 1-0 win over Slovenia in their last qualifier thanks to a late goal by substitute Chris Martin. It has given them just a faint glimmer of hope of making it to Russsia next year. Another unexpected boost came last week when Scotland U20s beat Brazil 1-0, the first time Scotland have beaten the South Americans at any level.
Tonight's match will be the first time the teams have met at Hampden since November 1999, when England won 2-0 in a Euro 1999 qualifying play-off. Scotland went on to win the second leg at Wembley 1-0, but England went through on goal difference.
The teams also met in Scotland in a 2014 friendly but that game was held at Celtic Park. England won the match 3-1.
There was a time when England playing Scotland was an annual affair. Dating back to 1872, these games were always eagerly anticipated. For a whole century the teams would clash in the old Home Championship along with Wales and Northern Ireland and there were plenty of lively encounters.
However, in the 1970s as the World Cup and European Championship rapidly expanded, the traditional Home tournament began to lose its relevance. A combination of fixture pile-ups, hooliganism and falling attendances (except for England/Scotland), meant its days were numbered. It came as no surprise when the Home Championship fizzled out in 1984.
The first time I went to Wembley was as a 14-year-old in 1961. It turned out to be that extraordinary game in which England beat Scotland 9-3. I will spare the details but suffice to say, I could hardly believe what I was witnessing. For the curious the England forward line that day was: Douglas (Blackburn Rovers), Greaves (Chelsea), Smith (Spurs), Haynes (Fulham), Charlton (Man U). That's quite a line-up.
It was a personal nightmare for the rather eccentric Scottish goalkeeper Frank Haffey who never fully recovered and ended up as a cabaret singer in Australia.
Denis Law recalled the scene after the match.
"I could not believe it when I got onto the dressing room after the game. Frank Haffey was singing in the bath! The rest of us were trying to drown ourselves. In fact we were trying to drown him."
Scottish fans threw bottles as the team bus as the players left Wembley. Law related, "Most of us were crouching out of sight, but there was Frank, waving to the fans as if he were the Queen."
I was to see Scotland's next two matches at Wembley in which they performed much better, winning 2-1 in 1963 and managing a 2-2 draw in 1965.
One of Scotland's most famous victories over England at Wembley was a 3-2 win in 1967. Being shortly after England's triumph in the 1966 World Cup, Scottish supporters felt it made their team unofficial world champions. England manager, Sir Alf Ramsey, with that tongue just a little bit in cheek, commented: "I warned that it would take a great team to beat us."
A decade later, in 1977, there was a less savoury incident. After a 2-1 win, Scottish fans invaded the pitch and tried to take the goalposts back home with them. Law swears he saw part of the crossbar being squeezed onto a London Underground train. The following week, numerous Glasgow shops were selling "genuine" Wembley penalty spots.
A certain G Strachan attended that match and once admitted there's a small patch of Wembley turf in the back garden of his former residence near Dundee.
Another memorable Scottish victory came back in 1928 when they thrashed England 5-1 at Wembley. Heavy underdogs, Scotland totally outplayed England and were dubbed the "Wembley Wizards". Even more remarkable, not one of the five-man Scottish forward line was taller than 5ft 7in.
In their preparations for tonight's match England have been training with the Royal Marines so they should be either super fit or totally exhausted when they take to the field at Hampden.
It is 18 years since Scotland have played in an international tournament so nothing less than a win tonight will do if they are to break that unwelcome record. Maybe Scotland might find that "wee bit of magic" that Strachan dreams of.