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CAMPAIGNING FOR SCOTLAND
(Owned, Edited and Printed in Scotland since November
1926)
"Promoting all that is best in Scottish
Nationalism and all that is best in Scotland."
[Issue 142 - 21st
February 2003] |
Compiled by Jim Lynch |
THINKING OF HOME
 Alastair
McIntyre will be sunning himself either in South Georgia, or in Florida,
and we are sure he is longing for the snell winds of Scotland; strangely
enough, when I was in Florida in January I wasn’t longing for the snell
winds, but I’m sure Alastair will be (the lucky dog!)
As stipulated (rare
word that) last week, we continue to publish, even in the absence of the
Website Wizard, which just goes to show that he is one; when he comes back
we’ll have to call him Gandalf.
This week we have an
article by James Halliday from the Scots Independent Newspaper of July
2002.
HOLYROOD - THE
SEQUEL
If the Labour Party
and Government are to any extent being treated unfairly by the Media, they
have some nerve in looking for public sympathy, particularly from
Nationalist voters who have long been accustomed to see their Party
misrepresented and slandered by the Labour Party and its Press
cheerleaders. We can surely be forgiven for taking some grim pleasure in
seeing a proven and habitual bully getting something of a hammering. One
defence which they offer, as their sneaky plottings and dubious sharp
practices are increasingly exposed, is that the Tories were at it too.
Probably so, though that excuse suggests that Labour is setting itself a
very modest standard of probity.
In any case, both they and the
Tories are missing the main point about the Press attacks which they have
been suffering — the charges have in general been well-founded. Most
alarming of all; to the rest of us, has to be the discovery that to
Labour’s leaders the shameful behaviour of at least one Department is seen
only as a "mistake" to be regretted, whereas it should been seen as proof
that unpleasant personalities and moral blindness prevail in the recesses
of Britain’s administration.
However, cheer up, Labour. The worst
of the tabloids will soon find other victims to harry, and not necessarily
by exposing blunders or wrongdoing but rather by laziness, carelessness
and indifference to facts on the part of less reputable editors. The SNP
has, over the years, suffered adverse Media comment because proprietors
and editors didn’t want it to succeed in a purpose which they bitterly
opposed. There has never been anything wrong in their doing all they can
to make the voters shy away from us as long as their motive is genuine
dislike of our policies. What we should have been entitled to expect was a
properly informed understanding of our aims and actions.
Instead the Media have never managed
to get right even simple things like the names of the positions in our
structure. Vice-convener and Vice-presidents are titles thrown about with
no attempt at precision, and any comprehension of terms like
"fundamentalist" is not to be hoped for. The lie that Robert McIntyre
refused to take the oath; required of him on taking his seat, has been
allowed to run and run uncorrected by any political journalist, the
humblest of whom is perfectly well aware of the difference between taking
the oath and submitting, under House of Commons rules, to the acceptance
of sponsors from among existing MPs.
Carelessness towards facts can do
more than damage our Party; it can also impede public understanding of
political issues. Mr Dalyell’s West Lothian question, as he posed it, was
a genuine anomaly but, as reported, it was a question of absurd
simplicity. Labour’s one-time proposed Social Compact was misheard
by some reporter who, most commendably, remembered some school history,
and thought he heard Social Contract, and the mistake became
permanent in the Press.
And in recent times, when there is
much fear and worry over racist prejudices, the Media could help by
publishing some features on what political asylum really means. In a
world, ruled to a great extent, as Conor Cruise O’Brien has pointed out,
by torturers and murderers, there will be desperate fugitives from torment
and death, and doors and borders must be kept open, and generously so, for
them.
Hostility to those who successfully
seek asylum as properly understood, is shameful and demeaning, but many
who display hostility, could be helped to kinder attitudes if the Press
stopped using the term asylum-seekers as if it applied to all who
aspire to a new place of residence. Applications from potential immigrants
are a perfectly normal, orderly and well understood feature of life in any
state, and the forms and interviews ought to be capable of processing
without hysteria. Fugitives need haste, and must be dealt with
differently. It would be helpful if our Press could make the difference
clear.
Next week, Alastair will be back in harness, and the Flag will be back
to normal, or whatever passes for normal; as it is, we have continued our
unbroken run of irritation! On that matter, a friend of mine, who is of
the Labour persuasion, reads The Flag every week, but he goes right past
my bit, as it annoys him, and reads what Peter has written. I must be
doing something right.
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With the hope that our webmaster, Alastair McIntyre, is having an
enjoyable time in the USA, once again this section of The Flag takes a
changed form. Normal (!) service will resume next week. As Tartan Day in
Canada and the USA rapidly approaches, I notice from Electric Scotland
that they will be joined by events in France this year. I reprint below
my Scots column from the April 2002 Scots Independent which looked at 'The
Declaration of Arbroath', Tartan Day and other historical celebrations in
Scotland. The SI Editor, W Kenneth Fee, printed alongside the article the
following words from 'The Declaration of Arbroath' -
"For as long as a hundred of us remain alive, we will yield in no least
way to English domination. For we fight, not for glory, nor for riches nor
for honour, but only and alone for freedom, which no good man surrenders
but with his life."
As in 2001 and 2002, The Flag will be doing a special tribute for Tartan
Day on 6th April 2003 and with the inclusion of French events this year,
mention, probably, will be made of the long alliance between Scotland and
France - 'The Auld Alliance' - which began on 23 October 1295 and lasted
for several centuries. See Tartan Day page at
http://www.electricscotland.com/tartnday.htm
Reference is made in the article to the annual commemoration of the reign
of Alexander III. This year's meeting and wreath-laying in commemoration
of 'The Golden Age' of Scottish History will held be on Sunday 16 March at
the Alexander III Monument, Pettycur, Kinghorn, Fife, at 3pm.The guest
speakers will be the historian James Halliday and the prospective SNP
Kirkcaldy candidate for the 2003 Scottish Parliament Election Colin Welsh.
A special tribute in verse in remembrance of the late Neil R MacCallum
will be included in the programme. Neil MacCallum was one of the founders
of the event in 1981.
Did ye see hou the Irish fair enjoyed Sanct Patrick's Day? - no juist at
hame bit the warld owre. Whaur stauns Scotland in myndin an celebratin our
Historic an National Days? Weill, no a maik oan our Irish kizzens! Bit
thai hae Fredome an we dinna.
Deed ay, it haes bin left ti America fir ti mynd us o the importance o the
Declaration o Arbroath wi US Tartan Day. Oan 10 Mairch 1998 the American
Senate passit Resolution 155, proposit bi US Senate Republican heid-bummer
Trent Lott, makkin ilk Aprile Saxt 'National Tartan Day'. The resolution
tuik tent at the American Declaration o Independence wis based oan the
1320 skreed frae Arbroath ti Paip John XXII. The message o freedome frae
Scotland, whilk mairkit out Scotland as the furst Nation State in Europe i
the modren sense, haes rung doun throu seiven hunner yeir. Bit our
Unionist maisters wad prefer at Scots didna mynd, or deed ay, didna ken
thair ain Historie. Aiblins, thai ar feart at 21st Centurie Scots wad
ettil fir to be the maik o the Scots i the days o The Brus. Fegs, thai
canna allou at fir ti haippen!
Sae, as nou Tartan Day is celebratit in America, Canada an Australia, is
it no about tyme at we celebratit Scotland at hame. We cuid, an suid, dae
mukkil mair fir ti encourage our fella Scots ti celebrate our Historic
myndins an National Days. Thanks ti The Societie o William Wallace, mukkil
dates associatit wi our National hero, 'the ae-man fortress - fully
manned' , ar celebratit ilka yeir .Thanks ti The 1820 Societie, the
mairtyrdome o Baird, Hardie an Wilson disna gaun unmairkit. Thanks ti the
Scottish National Pairty, Bannockburn is gien its richtfu place ilka
towmond. Dinna forget fir ti get yir Bannockburn Ceilidh tickets ( wi
Gaberlunzie) frae Alistair Walker!
Bit whit about Arbroath?
Weill oan Setterday Aprile Saxt, gin ye ar near-haun Arbroath, mak sikkar
at ye see the annual Arbroath Pageant Societie Parade whilk celebrates at
gryte day in our Historie. The Parade, throu the gates o Arbroath, sterts
at Twal nune whan ye kin see the ecclesiatick procession led bi Bernard de
Linton ( whae skrivit the skreed ti the Paip ) an the Bishops o Scotland
oan thair wey fir ti tryst, at Arbroath Abbey, wi the Knichts an airmie o
King Robert 1, The Brus. Gin ye wint onie mair details - phone Steve Crowe
oan 01241 878275. The guid-fowk o Arbroath gie as aw a braw ensempil.
Wi the National Pairty haen stertit the 'I'm Talking Independence'
campaign, it wull shairlie gie us forder i the 2003 Halieruid Elecktions
fir ti mynd our fella Scots at thai ar Scots. As Ian Hudghton MEP myndit
thir at the Mairch Alexander III Commemoration at Pettycur - Scotland in
Europe wis the norm i the days o Alexander. We ettil fir ti dae the same
in our kith-end - our beloued kintra o Scotland suid be a Nation agane.
The Skreed frae Arbroath demands at we accept naethin less !
Peter D Wright (Scots Independent April 2002)
SCOTTISH
FOOD, TRADITIONS AND CUSTOMS
(if you have any suggestions on what you'd like us to include
email peter@scotsindependent.org
See our
Scottish Food, Traditions and Customs in our Features section
DATES IN
HISTORY
21 February 1437
James I, King of Scots (1394-1437), murdered in the Dominican Friary at
Perth.
21 February 2002
Scottish Woman's Curling team led by Skip Rhona Martin won the Salt Lake
City Winter Olympic Gold, defeating Switzerland 4-3 in a tense final
lasting almost three hours. Other team members were Fiona MacDonald,
Janice Rankin, Debbie Knox and Maggie Morton.
25 February 1412
Bishop Henry Wardlaw formally incorporated masters and students at the
centre of higher education at St Andrews as a 'University', although it
was not officially inaugurated until 4 February 1414, when Pope Benedict
XIII's (of Avignon) Bull of Foundation was promulgated.
SING
A SANG AT LEAST
(compiled by Peter D Wright)
"That I for poor auld
Scotland's sake
Some useful plan or book could make
Or sing a sang at least ........"
- Robert Burns
See the
SING A SANG AT LEAST in our
features section
A KIST O
FERLIES
A Keek at the Guid Scots
Tung
By Peter & Marilyn Wright
(Note: All words underlined in
this section are RealAudio links)
See Scots Language in
our Features Section
for other poems, stories, songs, sayings, jokes and words in the Scots language
SCOT WIT
Enjoy a Scottish Joke every week and
listen to it as well
THE MONTHLY PRIZE
CROSSWORD
Each month the Scots Independent Newspaper
offers a prize crossword and we're now offering this online in the Flag in the Wind as
well. Should you complete the crossword by the deadline you can fax it over to
the SI and the first correct one opened on the closing date will win a £10.00 book token.
SI Prize Crossword No.
38 JANUARY 2003
[Click here to bring up the crosswords]
AND
AS WE CONTINUE...
If you read our first issue of The Flag in the Wind you will know that
this is a weekly Internet commentary on the Scottish political scene; if you desire
further erudition click on Archives.
SOME OF OUR FEATURE
SECTIONS....
About Us
Our mission is to fight for an Independent Scotland and to promote its history,
heritage and culture. Learn all about us here.
Events
A running event guide to what's on in Scotland.
The Scots Language
A great introduction to the Scots Language, produced by Peter and Marilyn Wright,
and added to each week both in text and RealAudio. Enjoy listening to words, poems and
stories told in a real Scots accent!
The Rebels Ceilidh Songbook
An excellent introduction to traditional songs from Scotland.
Sing A Sang At Least
Our collection of Scottish songs. A new song is added to the collection each week.
Scottish Food, Traditions and Customs
Enjoy our collections of recipes and our comments on them.
The Prize
Crossword
Each month the newspaper edition produces the Prize Crossword and you can now try it for
yourself with this online edition. We carry previous copies here as well.
Notable
Dates in History
Each week we add three new notable dates in history building this into an historic
timeline for Scottish history.
Features
Lots more stories, recipes, historical articles and even whole books are added here on a
regular basis.
The Oliver Brown Award
An annual award given to an outstanding Scot(s) each year. Also included picture
galleries from the annual lunch.
THE SCOTTISH NATIONAL PARTY
The Scots Independent Newspaper is independent of the Scottish
National Party, but we support the Party in its drive for Independence; while space
precludes us commenting on all the issues raised by the 35 MSPs, 5 MPS and 2 MEPs, also
the Party Office Bearers, we have provided a link to the SNP Website.
THE FLAG IN THE WIND
The above was the title of a book written in the early Fifties by John
MacDonald MacCormick, one of the founder members of the Scottish National Party in 1934.
The sub-title was "The Story of the National Movement in Scotland". His comment
in the book said "It is perhaps in the symbols which men use that their deepest
sentiments are most readily expressed. Flags as well as straws show which way the wind is
blowing". A fuller account appears under
Features.
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