Many in Scotland continue to this day to view the English race as the
“Sassenach " a term matched by the Welsh use of “Sais," The terms mean
"Saxon," with negative connotations The Acts of Union of 1536 and 1707 have
been devastating to those who saw Scotland and Wales as separate cultural
entities with different histories, traditions, values and political
aspirations from those of England.. In Scotland following the 1707 Union
Act, much self-confidence and self-respect was lost, it is remarkable that
a resurgence of patriotic pride took place at all. It did, due, in no small
part, to Robert Burns and Sir Walter Scott.
Robbie Burns restored pride and a sense of worth to a people sadly treated
by history. For all that they had endured, "for a'that," the Scots remain a
warm-hearted, open-handed, trusting people, who by fighting for their own
rights, had also fought for the rights of man everywhere. Burns portrayed
Scots as great drinkers and lovers, a man after my own heart. Burns was
the poet of the common man.
Sir Walter Scott came at a time when the transformation of Britain into the
world's leading industrial power was afoot. Social changes were part of his
youth. The Scottish enlightenment part of his manhood. The memories of the
failure of the Jacobite cause had not yet faded into distant romantic
memory. The imaginative Scott had a fertile field upon which to draw his
inspiration. Scott gave back to the Scottish people their history. He gave
the world a picture of a romantic, exciting and patriotic Scotland. In 1822,
when as a Scottish patriot loyal to George IV he presided over the wildly
popular majestic ceremonies that welcomed an English king to Edinburgh for
the first time in 171 years. Burns reminded us that Scotland was another
kingdom, the oldest in Christendom, though part of Britain, was not England.
We are now ripping apart the United Kingdom by our own stupidity with petty
parliaments and assemblies.. One surprising feature of the unsuccessful
referenda of the 1970's in both Scotland and Wales was the lack of
confidence in both people's assessment of their futures as independent
nations. There will always be an England as long as Scotland is strong. As
we plunge into the heart of Europe we must remember that we are the United
Kingdom. Today Jospan, the French Prime Minster, called for a Euro zone
goverment. What next?
As Niven wrote " With our history, it behoves us to be catholic rather
than parochial in our views. Whilst we should be proud of our Scottish
heritage, we should be equally proud of our contribution to European
culture and to the development of the World at large".
There are many proud English Sinclairs who have never been north of the
Watford gap, they are no less my clansmen than those born in Caithness. . My
poor understanding of Paragenetics makes me think that a man is what he
wills himself to be.
Sinclair
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