Message to the Scottish People

I know the referendum is still a ways off, but I just wanted to share my humble opinion.

The Scottish people deserve to steer their own fate, and I say that time has just about come. The powers to the south no longer have the old excuses to levy.

There were empires and there were wars: Britain is stronger united, and we'll gladly let you share in the bounties of an empire- but we need your men to fight for us, and we need your cooperation, and you must accept our rule for the good of the whole.....

Well, Britain no longer has an empire, and there is no more imperial prosperity for Scotland to share in, and there are no more great wars threatening the British people.

There was modernization and industrialization, and the extensive economic growth that comes with it: Scotland is backward, remote, and poor. We will modernize you, bring you into the modern era and you will reap the benefits of the industrial age, but you must play by our rules....

Well, England can no longer offer economic prosperity, it is no longer theirs to give. Scotland doesn't need England's guidance. It's somewhat of an insult to my mind, that they think you cannot prosper on your own. As if they think you are still just a bunch of rustic, simple-minded, provincial crofters farming oats and raising beef.


And don't forget: it was necessity, because you had no choice. Don't forget Culloden, don't forget how you were cleared out of the glens, and forced to dwell in some dismal, cramped city choked with fumes, and to labor in some grim industrial hellhole, away from the green vales and foggy moors you called home. Don't forget how they sent the folk in chains to some far-flung, desolate colony thousands of miles away, to toil in service of the British crown. Some of those people and their families had been living in those same valleys for hundreds, maybe thousands of years, it was the only home they knew, only to be forced out, never to return. And don't forget how your language was nearly taken from you, and Scots-Gaelic is now relegated to being learnt and spoken as some kind of rare novelty.

And even through it all, Scotland was still the last place to be conquered in the British Isles. No hostile foreigner had stepped foot into those highlands and made it out unscathed, before Culloden in 1746. While Normans were prancing around unchecked all through Ireland and Wales in the 13th century, conquering as they went, they were allowed into Scotland only with the Scottish King's permission. It was a full 4 centuries before Scotland was ever subdued in the way that Ireland and Wales were long before. Don't forget this.


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I know a lot of this would seem to refer to “highlanders”, as far as specific references, and I know that not all Scots lived in a clan-based society at that time (Scotland of course adopted a feudal system in the lowlands many centuries before during Canmore's reign, like the rest of western Europe). But aren't all Scots highlanders at heart? Weren't they the purest expression of your people and culture, free of the influence of foreign Saxons, Normans, Danes, and whoever else?

Ironically, the first man to unite the crowns of Scotland and England, King James, was a Scotsman himself. Doesn't this give the Scots the right to withdraw from the union when and how they see fit?

You don't 'need' the UK any longer. Don't forget, they may have given you prosperity for a time, but they also tried to take your pride, and to reduce you and even destroy you as a unique and separate folk.

This is coming from an ignorant colonial of partial Scottish descent, who happens to love your country. Sorry if this was a bit melodramatic and over-the-top, but I just really want to see Scotland succeed. I want Scots to remain Scots, not just some quaint folk living up north with an interesting dialect. I want Scotland to remain Scotland, not just a vacationing destination for people down south who want to get in touch with their “Celtic” side, as if those ancient Highland vales are a just a f*cking tourist attraction for jaded old aristocrats to build mansions on.

Now, this is not meant to be spiteful or provocative towards the English in any way. I greatly admire England as a nation, and I obviously recognize the close kinship they share with the Scots. I revere my English ancestry just as I revere the Scottish. But this isn't about England. This is about freedom.



Anyway, good luck to my Scottish brothers and sisters, however it turns out.

Nice post

I'm glad Scotland are going for Independence. In fact I wish counties would brake up and be more of a community based Government. Brake that # up into tiny peaces and get more people involved in the governance their own county. A few hundred people governing tens of millions has proven not to work.

originally posted by: n00bUK
Nice post

I'm glad Scotland are going for Independence. In fact I wish counties would brake up and be more of a community based Government. Brake that # up into tiny peaces and get more people involved in the governance their own county. A few hundred people governing tens of millions has proven not to work.

Exactly! We need more people thinking like this. Remember to support the Catalan independence movement in Spain this coming November, they are looking at Scotland right now as a beacon of hope. If it goes through for Scotland, the Catalans surely will have a fighting chance as well. And more will follow.

a reply to: Cruithneach

Nice writing. Very nice.

Looking forward to the road trip.

It is widely recognised that an Independent Scotland would be good not only for Scotland but also other regions of England and Wales which are equally downtrodden by London and more specifically the Westminster elite establishment who seem to think that the rest of the UK is only there to serve their greedy needs.

If Scots vote for Independence it sends a message to those at the top that the game is up and things will very rapidly change for everyone's benefit.

FREEDOM!!!!!!

Sorry, I just had to.

a reply to: Cruithneach

Nice post....mostly irrelevant, but I get the gist of your sentiment. I'll base my decision (my vote) on how it'll affect myself and my family in present day, not by dwelling on centuries old grudges. Sadly, there are too many Scots basing their decision on exactly what you wrote about. But does harbouring hatred for what happened to one's ancestors in a battle or how those ancestors were treated really compensate for what we may (or may not) lose in today's economic climate?

Nobody in Scotland is oppressed. Everybody in Scotland has "freedom". And as a democracy, on September 18th 2014, we'll have the choice in what direction our future will take. Because that's what's important: the future. There's good arguments for both going independent and remaining part of the UK. None of them resort to scanning the history books.

This wasn't a personal attack on you. Just an opinion from someone on the "inside" of this debate.

a reply to: Cruithneach

Nice movie. I really don't know where to start counting the historical inaccuracies within the film, but yeah, and enjoyable movie for the "YES" camp.