The Scots Independent Newspaper Online

9/11 – Five Years On

Ever since the attacks on the World Trade Centre, it’s become something of a truism to state that 9/11 ‘changed everything’. Like the Kennedy assassination, 9/11 has come to represent a loss of innocence for a country long used to fighting its battles far from domestic shores. Yet with the conflict on course to outlast WWII, now seems an opportune time to reflect on what, if anything, has really changed since that fateful morning five years ago.

Twin Towers Certainly, 9/11 provoked the US and UK into an ill-advised ‘War on Terror’, while behaving ruthlessly towards those at home who questioned the wisdom of those actions. Yet horrific as the 9/11 attacks were, the sudden and shocking deaths of 2,749 people in New York were surpassed in
number long ago by those killed in response.

Tens of thousands are now dead in the Middle East, but even the ousting of Saddam Hussein and the Taliban hasn’t been enough to redeem the poor prosecution of the military campaigns. Large tracts of Afghanistan remain, as they have for centuries, in the hands of armed militias. Iraq seems likewise to teeter on the brink of civil war. And while it may now be much harder for al-Qaeda to function, it seems that anti-western anger has multiplied the number of potential recruits to their cause.

But the international impact doesn’t end there. Alongside a UN rendered rudderless by the invasion of Iraq, a paralysis has gripped nearly all of the western powers. President Bush is now in his final term and faces difficult November elections, while enfeebled administrations in the UK and France play out their dying days. The expanded EU is also in no position to offer leadership, facing as it does an uncertain political future following the rejection of a constitution which might have given it renewed purpose.

However, what might be more worrying than this inertia is the geopolitical trend that the US response has helped to expose. It was said that on the eve of the Great War, the British Empire was in the position of having written cheques which it was unable to cash. Although talking of similar overstretch would have seemed fanciful even just a decade ago, it seems now that the US might be finding itself in much the same position.

George Bush Consider. Any further mobilization to aid the missions in Iraq and Afghanistan would mean moving detachments from historical flashpoints, or call-ups on a scale likely to meet with serious resistance at home. In light of this, the projection of US power seems for the moment to have reached the limits the American people are prepared to tolerate.

Economically, too, it seems that limits are being reached. The US faces increased competition for resources alongside an accumulated budget deficit of $1 trillion. Meanwhile, an undervalued Renminbi pegged to a depreciating Dollar ensures the continued flow of export goods from China to the US. Although mutually dependent for the time being, on current trends the Chinese may soon have the sort of economic hold over the US which the US was able to use to end in hours the British occupation of Suez.

Throughout history, declining empires have lead to instability as new forces assert themselves. However, there is no hint as yet that the emerging superpowers of India and China have any aspirations to use their growing economic might for anything other than raising living standards for their people. Perhaps rather than facing an apocalyptic clash of civilizations, the ability to obtain resources through trade rather than conquest and an increased understanding of each other’s cultures will be enough to douse the rivalries which have led us to global conflict before.

UN logo With these trends towards multi-polarity in evidence long before 9/11, perhaps little has really changed other than our own perceptions of vulnerability. Nonetheless, an unintended consequence and one which seemed most unlikely in the aftermath of 9/11, is that Europe and the US remain as far apart as they have been at any point over the past five years in the quest to find a more effective response to the al-Qaeda threat.

Perhaps a future administration in Washington will be able to operate with more humility towards the rest of the world, winning back some of the sympathy and standing which it enjoyed in the immediate aftermath. Yet in spite of our current disagreements with US policy, we Europeans would do well to recognize the huge interests we continue to share with the US in promoting our interests around the world.

Culturally, philosophically, historically and economically, Europe and America have each contributed so much to the other through the centuries. By looking forwards to fresh leadership and therefore beyond our current disagreements, we can perhaps find better ways than the barrel of a gun to win acceptance for those things we claim to value most.

Relatively Speaking

In case you missed it, big bad Gordon Brown came to town last week. No doubt keen to leave behind the ‘spasm’ over when Tony Blair would step down, Brown turned his fire away from his party leader and some would say his own feet, choosing instead to concentrate on the forces which he fears will mean the ‘Break up of Britain’ and with it an end to his ambition to one day occupy Number 10.

Brown remains terrified of Tory noises about having ‘English votes for English laws’. However, it was the SNP, which he claimed wanted to tear asunder all of the cross-border relationships and connections existing between Scotland and England, that bore the brunt of his ire this time

Irish passport It was said Brown “time to remind ourselves of the depth and breadth of connections and indeed the growing connections and relationships; what I sometimes call the golden thread that links our history as Scotland to that of the UK”. Choosing to concentrate on family ties, Brown cited the two-and-a-half million Scottish residents that are either English or have relatives who are English.

Claiming that Independence would mean millions having to regard family members as ‘foreigners’, it was hard to pick a better issue to act as a straw man since no-one disputes that a ‘social union’ exists in the
British Isles as a result of proximity and large elements of shared history. Yet these are matters which transcend constitutional arrangements. As such, they can never be convincing arguments in themselves for common statehood.

Since the EU guarantees the free movement of people, Independence might mean having EU passports with different crests or perhaps opting for dual nationality. However, the way Brown described it you could be forgiven for thinking that Independence would mean some strange pruning of the family tree, meaning you might never get to see your granny in Grimsby again.

All things considered, as a contribution to the constitutional debate it set new standards for triteness and irrelevance, boding ill for the standard of argument to be deployed by Labour against the SNP in the months ahead. Exhortations to turn pictures of our current foreign family members to the wall, lest their graven images divert our worship from his 'golden thread' of Britishness, must surely follow.

15 September 1595
Edinburgh High School scholars rioted and seized control of the school buildings after being refused a holiday. Bailie John MacMorrane was shot dead by one of the scholars, William Sinclair, during the riot. The scholar was freed without punishment.

15 September 1931
12,000 Royal Navy sailors on 15 ships of the Atlantic Fleet went on strike at Invergordon in protest over cuts in pay.

15 September 2005
Dundonian Frank Hadden was confirmed as Scotland’s new coach by the Scottish Rugby Union, beating off competition from Borders coach Steve Bates and New Zealander John Kirwan. As interim coach he had led Scotland to victories over the Barbarians and Romania.

16 September 1701
Death of James VII, King of Scots, (King James II of England), in exile at the Chateau of St Germain-en-Laye, France.

16 September 1873
Tourism in Scotland received a boost when Queen Victoria cruised the Caledonian Canal on her way to Balmoral. She travelled on the paddle-steamer Gondalier which was built specially for use on the canal. She operated from 1866 to 1939 and was deliberately sunk at Scapa Flow to help protect Royal Naval ships from attack by German submarines.

16 September 1936
Benny Lynch successfully defended his World Flyweight title in front of 35,000 fans at Shawfiel, Glasgow.. He knocked out Englishman Pat Palmer, London, in the eighth round.

18 September 1995
An inquiry was ordered after it was discovered that Brian MacKinnon, 32, a carpet fitter, posed as a 17-year-old and returned to school at Bearsden Academy. He had left school 15 years earlier, and won a place at Dundee University medical school.

20 September 1582
Death of George Buchanan, noted historian, scholar and tutor to James VI, King of Scots, in Edinburgh. He was buried in Greyfriars’ Churchyard and was regarded as ‘The finest writer of the tongue of ancient Rome since the age of Augustus’ and ‘one of the founders of modern constitutional liberty.’

21 September 1832
Death of Sir Walter Scott, novelist and poet, at his Abbotsford home.

“Scott is dead. He expired yesterday. I had been on a visit to Kirklands, and on coming home today I saw Abbotsford reposing beside its gentle Tweed, and amidst its fading woods, in the calm splendour of a sweet autumnal day. I was not aware till I reached Edinburgh that all that it then contained of him was his memory and his remains. Scotland never owed so much to one man.”

Lord Cockburn ‘Journal’

See Dates in History in our Features Section

SCOTTISH QUOTATIONS

I like to have quotations ready for every occasions - they give one's ideas so pat and save one the trouble of finding expression adequate to one's feeling.

Robert Burns

We continue our new Feature in this section of the Flag - Scottish Quotations - statements in prose and verse which reflect all aspects of Scottish life and outlook from the 13^th century to the present day. New quotes added every week. The quotations are not restricted to native Scots but include observations from abroad which help us, in the words of our National Bard, Robert Burns, "To see oursels as others see us"

From the outset Scottish Quotations has featured quotes from non-Scots, to enable us
in the words of Robert Burns – ‘To see oursels as ithers see us.’.
This week, for the first time, all quotes come from furth of Scotland – a comment by an English spy which is still relevant 300 years on, an uncomplimentary remark from an English poet, a complimentary contribution from a leading American politician, and a put-down from an Italian singer. All grist to the mill of Scottish Quotations!

Daniel Defoe (born Daniel Foe) (1660-1731)

The Scots are as diligent, as industrious, as apt for Labour and Business, and as capable of it, when they are abroad, as any People in the World; and why should they not be so at Home? and, if they had Encouragement no doubt they would.

John Dryden (1631-1700)

Treacherous Scotland, to no interest true.

Albert (Al) Arnold Gore

Scotland is absolutely unique in its history, and the question [whether the US government should push for an independent Scotland] demands respect. Coming from a part-Scottish background, I’m all for you.

(Edinburgh International Film Festival 28 August 2006)

David Riccio (1533-1566)

Parole, parole, nothing but words. The Scots will boast but rarely perform their brags.

See Scottish Quotations in our Features Section

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

The Leaboy's Lassie
Traditional
19th Century Farming

First fan I cam' tae the toon,
They ca'd me young and bonnie;
But noo they've changed my name
Ca' me the leaboy's honey.

Chorus:
Hum dum dum derry day
Hum dum dum derry daddy,
Hum dum dum derry day
Oh, he's a bonnie laddie.

First fan I cam' tae the toon,
They ca'd me proud and saucy,
But noo they've changed my name,
Ca'me the leaboy's lassie.

I'll dye my petticoats red
And face them wi' the yellow.
I'll tell the dyster lads
That the leaboy I will follow.

The black horse draws the cairt
And the blue ane follows sae bonnie,
And sae weel I like the lad
That drives them on sae cannie.

It's over hills and dales
And over dykes and ditches,
And sae weel I like the lad
That wears the moleskin breeches.

Feather beds are saft
And painted rooms are bonnie,
But I wad leave them a'
And jog alang wi' Johnnie.

Oh my back's been sair
Shearin' Craigie's corn,
I winna see him the nicht
But I'll see him the morn.

Oh for Saturday nicht
Fan I’ll see my dearie.
He’ll come whistlin’ in,
Fan I am tired and weary.

Footnote: Another song from the Duncan/Greig Manuscript.

See the SING A SANG AT LEAST in our Features section

A BURNS COLLECTION

For your next Burns Supper
Compiled by Peter D Wright

It is never to early to plan ahead for your next, or indeed first, Burns Supper, and the intention of this new feature is to give you a ready accessible collection of the National Bard’s material for the 25^th of January each year. Over the next few months we will give you a variety of items by Robert Burns, which should prove useful to you.

Interest in the life and work of Robert Burns has never faltered and, indeed, as we now approach the 250^th anniversary of his birth in 2009, this should grow apace. He holds a special place in the hearts of his countrymen and his appeal spans the continents. A genius, he spoke for his people and captured their hopes and fears, their joys and sorrows, in poetry and song. The Flag collection will reflect this.

WEEK FIVE

This week we have another beautiful love song from the pen of our National Bard – ‘Ae Fond Kiss’ – which he wrote following the end of his platonic affair with Clarinda and his humourous attack on Mauchline Kirk Elder William Fisher which is a poem quaranteed to amuse any Burns Supper.

AE FOND KISS

Ae fond kiss and then we sever;
Ae fareweel, and then for ever!
Deep in heart-wrung tears I'll pledge thee,
Warring sighs and groans I'll wage thee.

Who shall say that Fortune grieves him,
While the star of hope she leaves him?
Me, nae cheerful twinkle lights me:
Dark despair around benights me.

I'll ne'er blame my partial fancy,
Naething could resist my Nancy:
But to see her was to love her;
Love but her, and love for ever.

Had we never lov'd sae kindly!
Had we never lov'd sae blindly!
Never met - or never parted,
We had ne'er been broken-hearted.

Fare-thee-weel, thou first and fairest!
Fare-thee-weel, thou best and dearest!
Thine be ilka joy and treasure,
Peace, Enjoyment, Love and Pleasure!

Ae fond kiss, and then we sever!
Ae fareweel, Alas, for ever!
Deep in heart-wrung tears I'll pledge thee,
Warring sighs and groans I'll wage thee.

Footnote : Burns ( Sylvander ) penned this song towards the close of 1791 and enclosed it with a letter from Dumfries, dated 27 December 1791, to Clarinda. The song celebrates their last meeting on 6 December 1791. Mrs Nancy McLehose ( Clarinda ) sailed from Leith in February 1972 to join her husband in Jamaica and although she returned to Scotland she and Burns never met again. She penned a memorandum, dated 6 December 1831, which said, "This day I can never forget. Parted with Burns in the year 1791, never more to meet in this world. Oh, may we meet in heaven!" Both Scott and Byron praised this beautiful song.

HOLY WILLIE'S PRAYER

Click here to listen to this in Real Audio read by Marilyn P Wright

Holy Willie was a rather oldish bachelor elder, in the parish of Mauchline, and much and justly famed for that polemical chattering, which ends in tippling orthodoxy, and for that spiritualized bawdry which refines to liquorish devotion. In a sessional process with a gentleman in Mauchline-a Mr.Gavin Hamilton-Holy Willie and his priest, Father Auld, after full hearing in the presbytery of Ayr, came off but second best; owing partly to the oratorical powers of Mr. Robert Aiken, Mr. Hamilton's counsel; but chiefly to Mr. Hamilton's being one of the most irreproachable and truly respectable characters in the county. On losing the process, the muse overheard him [Holy Willie] at his devotions, as follows:-

O Thou, who in the heavens does dwell,
Who, as it pleases best Thysel',
Sends ane to heaven an' ten to hell,
A' for Thy glory,
And no for ony gude or ill
They've done afore Thee!

I bless and praise Thy matchless might,
When thousands Thou hast left in night,
That I am here afore Thy sight,
For gifts an' grace
A burning and a shining light
To a' this place.

What was I, or my generation,
That I should get sic exaltation,
I wha deserve most just damnation
For broken laws,
Five thousand years ere my creation,
Thro' Adam's cause?

When frae my mither's womb I fell,
Thou might hae plunged me in hell,
To gnash my gums, to weep and wail,
In burnin lakes,
Where damned devils roar and yell,
Chain'd to their stakes.

Yet I am here a chosen sample,
To show thy grace is great and ample;
I'm here a pillar o' Thy temple,
Strong as a rock,
A guide, a buckler, and example,
To a' Thy flock.

O Lord, Thou kens what zeal I bear,
When drinkers drink, an' swearers swear,
An' singin there, an' dancin here,
Wi' great and sma';
For I am keepit by Thy fear
Free frae them a'.

But yet, O Lord! confess I must,
At times I'm fash'd wi' fleshly lust:
An' sometimes, too, in wardly trust,
Vile self gets in:
But Thou remembers we are dust,
Defil'd wi' sin.

O Lord! yestreen, Thou kens, wi' Meg-
Thy pardon I sincerely beg,
O! may't ne'er be a livin plague
To my dishonour,
An' I'll ne'er lift a lawless leg
Again upon her.

Besides, I farther maun allow,
Wi' Leezie's lass, three times I trow-
But Lord, that Friday I was fou,
When I cam near her;
Or else, Thou kens, Thy servant true
Wad never steer her.

Maybe Thou lets this fleshly thorn
Buffet Thy servant e'en and morn,
Lest he owre proud and high shou'd turn,
That he's sae gifted:
If sae, Thy han' maun e'en be borne,
Until Thou lift it.

Lord, bless Thy chosen in this place,
For here Thou hast a chosen race:
But God confound their stubborn face,
An' blast their name,
Wha bring Thy elders to disgrace
An' public shame.

Lord, mind Gaw'n Hamilton's deserts;
He drinks, an' swears, an' plays at cartes,
Yet has sae mony takin arts,
Wi' great and sma',
Frae God's ain priest the people's hearts
He steals awa.

An' when we chasten'd him therefor,
Thou kens how he bred sic a splore,
An' set the warld in a roar
O' laughing at us;-
Curse Thou his basket and his store,
Kail an' potatoes.

Lord, hear my earnest cry and pray'r,
Against that Presbyt'ry o' Ayr;
Thy strong right hand, Lord, make it bare
Upo' their heads;
Lord visit them, an' dinna spare,
For their misdeeds.

O Lord, my God! that glib-tongu'd Aiken,
My vera heart and flesh are quakin,
To think how we stood sweatin', shakin,
An' p-'d wi' dread,
While he, wi' hingin lip an' snakin,
Held up his head.

Lord, in Thy day o' vengeance try him,
Lord, visit them wha did employ him,
And pass not in Thy mercy by 'em,
Nor hear their pray'r,
But for Thy people's sake, destroy 'em,
An' dinna spare.

But, Lord, remember me an' mine
Wi' mercies temp'ral an' divine,
That I for grace an' gear may shine,
Excell'd by nane,
And a' the glory shall be thine,
Amen, Amen!

Epitaph On Holy Willie

Here Holy Willie's sair worn clay
Taks up its last abode;
His saul has ta'en some other way,
I fear, the left-hand road.

Stop! there he is, as sure's a gun,
Poor, silly body, see him;
Nae wonder he's as black's the grun,
Observe wha's standing wi' him.

Your brunstane devilship, I see,
Has got him there before ye;
But haud your nine-tail cat a wee,
Till ance you've heard my story.

Your pity I will not implore,
For pity ye have nane;
Justice, alas! has gi'en him o'er,
And mercy's day is gane.

But hear me, Sir, deil as ye are,
Look something to your credit;
A coof like him wad stain your name,
If it were kent ye did it.

See the Burns Collection in our Features section

SCOTTISH FOOD, TRADITIONS AND CUSTOMS

readers at a Wigtown bookshop Today, 15 September 2006, sees the 499^th anniversary of the granting of a patent by James IV, King of Scots, to Androw Myllar and Walter Chepman authorising them to set up a printing press in Edinburgh – the first in Scotland. The earliest known output from their press – ‘The Complaint of the Black Knight – is dated 4 April 1508. The National Library of Scotland and the Scottish Printing Archival Trust is jointly promoting the 500^th anniversary of this publication in 2008. Please visit www.500yearsofprinting.org for details of the preparation of many events which will be held throughout Scotland to celebrate this historic publication.

The printed word has played a long history in Scotland with the establishment of many leading publishers. Writers such as literary figures from the past Robert Burns, Sir Walter Scott and Robert Louis Stevenson down to present day writers such as William McIllvaney and Ian Rankin have provided us with a wealth of reading material. Book reading continues to play a prominent part in Scottish life with Book Festivals proving to very popular. The largest such festival is the August Edinburgh Book Festival but the second largest takes place in the much smaller burgh of Wigtown. Now in its 8^th year the Wigtown Festival takes place in Scotland’s officially recognised National Book Town from Friday 22 September to Sunday 1 October 2006. Visit www.wigtown-booktown.co.uk for full details of this popular festival.

Wigtown was chosen in 1997 as Scotland’s National Book Town from a leet which included Dalmellington, Dunblane, Gatehouse-of-Fleet, Moffat, Strathaven and the winning town, Wigtown, a royal burgh from at least 1292 now houses some thirty book related businesses with new and second-hand books galore.

a Wigtown sheep Wigtown was the county town of Wigtownshire which before local government reorganisation formed the extreme south-west corner of Scotland with a coastline of 120 miles. But this week’s recipe – Pot Roast of Lamb – looks to the rural area of the county, which was most famous for dairy farming, but like the all areas of Scotland had its share of sheep.

Pot Roast of Lamb

Ingredients: 2 lbs neck end lamb, trimmed and cut into bite sized chunks; 2 tbs olive oil; 2 large onions, chopped; 1 clove of garlic, chopped; 1 tin of tomatoes; 1 lb flour; 4 sprigs of fresh rosemary; 1 tin of haricot beans; vegetable stock; salt and pepper

Method: Put half the flour into a plastic bag with the salt and pepper, and add the lamb, shaking until each piece is well coated. Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil until smoking, then add the lamb in small batches, making sure each piece has been well browned. Remove the lamb, add more olive oil, then fry the onions and garlic, add the rest of the flour, making sure it has absorbed all the oil. Stir in the stock gradually, making sure the mixture is smooth and free of lumps. Add the tomatoes and bring back to a simmer, then add the lamb and haricot beans. Cook in a covered casserole at 150 degrees for two to three hours. Serve with new potatoes and peas.

See our Scottish Food, Traditions and Customs 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)

aipple: apple

baffies: slippers

dad: bang; beat; drive of wind; hit; slam; jolt; knock; thud

fower: four

ooze: fluff

saft: soft

Cairryin saut ti Dysart an puddins ti Tranent: Carrying out a redundant task - Scottish version of carrying coals to Newcastle.

Scotland is like a bonnie woman pent

Ahint castle waas. The castle maun be

Forced and she delivered frae her bands.

frae "The Wallace" - Sydney Goodsir Smith

The Working Life of Linda Fabiani MSP