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I stayed up until dawn the other night waiting for the final results of the Scottish election. I was hoping the Scottish National Party would sweep to power, and set the country on the road to independence.
So when the results were finally in I was happy.....but disappointed.
The Scottish National Party, which is pushing for a 2010 vote on independence, won 47 seats in the Scottish Parliament, one more than Labour -- and ending more than a half-century of Labour dominance in Scotland.
But it didn't get enough seats to hold a referendum on independence
"No matter who takes power, they are not going to have the kind of authority you need to rule the country. So they have won the election, but lost the country...."
They mugged the Scottish people with scare tactics. The election was a debacle.
But the bottom line is it looks as if I'm going to have to wait for a few more years for one of my most precious dreams to come true. The awesome day when they raise the flag of a free Scotland over Edinburgh Castle. While I party in the streets below.
Canada may be my country now. I love it more than any other country in the world. I don't want Quebec to separate unless it feels it absolutely has to. But back in the lonely place I came from squeezed between the highlands and the North Sea, I'm a Scottish separatist and always have been.
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I can't really explain it. I mean I could but it would take too long. It's about history, and bad blood. It's about people driven from their homes, about a million battles, about lordy lords and lairds, about poverty, pain, and pride.
It's not that I'm anti-English. I'm half English myself. And it's not that Scotland is perfect. The real Scotland, not the tourist one, has a drunken violent streak. It has too many sectarian or regional quarrels....too many neds and chavs..... and too many knives. As well as a widespread culture of dependency, inferiority, and despair.
But I figure if Ireland can be a real country and a Celtic Tiger so can Scotland. And Scotland really is another country. Not only is it different geographically from England...not only does it have its own rich culture...but these days it has a different political culture. If Scotland seceded it would be a left of centre country, while England without Scotland would almost certainly be a centre-right one. Take the war in Iraq....
Britain's war in Iraq is an English war...it's always been unpopular in Scotland...but once again Scottish soldiers have paid heavily for it with their lives....just as they have so many times before. If Scotland became independent only the Scottish people could send their soldiers off to war. After so many dead soldiers wouldn't that be something?
Oh yeah.... there are so many reasons..... but in the end it's just a feeling that I have carried in my heart since I was a boy growing up in this isolated but beautiful place.
And the hope I now have that Scotland will rise again, cast off its culture of dependency, and become master of its own destiny. A small ,peaceful, progressive country modelled on Sweden and Norway...its neighbours on the other side of that angry sea.
That's why I'm disappointed. But at least the first major step has been taken. Scotland is closer to independence today than it was just a few days ago.
So guess I'll just have to put my faith in this party.... and be patient.
It didn't happen this time...but one day it will.
As Sebastien said in a little note he sent me today to cheer me up.
À la prochaine fois!
Alba Gu Brath! Scotland Forever!
Until the next time....
6 comments:
I hope Quebec is listening and decides to do the same thing!
alba go brath indeed. baby steps, it seems. :)
I was wearing my kilt while waiting for the results to come in...happy, but could be happier.
Oh come on anonymous I know you don't really mean that. I know you would miss the frenchies if they left.Where on earth would English Canadians go for a dirty weekend?
Winnipeg? we need that ooh la la badly.But then I slept with my high school French teacher so I'm biased...;)
Hey Jay...I haven't worn a kilt in years...since my brother's wedding....in Texas!!! On the one hand it was convenient because it was about 100 degrees in the shade. On the other hand...after all the attention it attracted I don't think I'll ever do that again outside of Scotland. As for the SNP I'm encouraged although I want to see what the party looks like with all these new MPs. Some SNP people are very progressive...but some of the others are a little on the tweedy slightly batty side if you know what I mean. The ones who ALWAYS wear kilts... :)
...if I could, I would throw away all of my pants and wear nothing but kilts.
get me some tweed!
there's a guy in Vancouver making kilts at a reasonable price....Bear Kilts. Also, in Seattle, modern kilts with POCKETS. Utilikilts.com
Simon, you need a kilt. or three. hehehehe.
winnipeg for a dirty weekend...that's one of the funnier things you've written, frere. :D
i would LOVE a utility kilt....been eyeing them up for years. hmmm....that doesn't sound good....'been wanting one for years'.
we can't have quebec seperate until they recognize first nations as sovereign....sometimes i think the continuuing genocide is worse in quebec then any other province.
as for scotland...the brits gave them their own parliament, which was a step in the right direction. however , when there crossing over to ulster on the ferry i was talking with the chief financial officer of englands official peace office . i asked why they didn't turn scotland's finances over to scotland.
'why, they're just not ready' , she replied. 'then when do you think they'll be because i get the feeling that will always be the excuse'. she didn't like that and half admitted that scotland may never be ready. oh ya right.....just another lame way for the brits to hang on to the last of the empire.
oh the arrogant english.....when oh when will they just 'let go'?
Good post. I run a site you may be interested in, the Scottish Independence Guide: www.scottishindependence.com
The Labour party pulled out all the scaremongering tactics they could during the campaign backed up by a compliant media. Luckily they failed and the SNP won even if it was narrowly.
The SNP have started well in Government and other parties are reported to be supportive of a referendum (the Tories if you can believe that!).
The Lib Dems supported the Claim of Right for Scotland so they should support a referendum as well. When we hold a referendum I think we'll win it.
Thanks for thinking of your fellow Scots from Canada.
All the best - JOE
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