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"Make the return journey to
Scotland - come this year in particular"
- Sean Connery's US Tartan Day speech
After all these fine performances I’m
glad this is not an audition. If it was, I might not get the part!
Senators, members of congress, members of
the Scottish Parliament, Ladies and gentlemen. On behalf of Micheline
and myself, I am indeed honoured to receive this award, named after one
of Scotland’s greatest patriots and greatest heroes.
I was particularly please to hear the
remarks of Senator Trent Lott, the first recipient of the Wallace Award.
Senator Lott’s love of Scotland and all
things Scottish is well known. I understand from his lovely wife
Patricia that when he comes home from a hard day at the Senate, he
watches the battle scenes from Braveheart – and that’s just to wind
down. I had no idea that the Senate was so lively!
But we all owe a debt of thanks to
Senator Lott and his colleagues, who on a bi-partisan basis inaugurated
the concept of Tartan Day. And I see from he programme of events that it
is now more of a Tartan Week!
And choosing the anniversary of the
Declaration of Arbroath of 1320 for Tartan Day was an act of
inspiration.
For it is this anniversary which links our democratic Scotland to your
free and democratic America. There was an old song which goes:
”What is America to me, a name, a map,
the flag I see, a certain word, a democracy that is America to me”
Your Constitution is liberty and
democracy, and is the envy of so many in today’s troubled world. And
just as the will of the American people is enshrined in the Constitution
and the Declaration of Independence, then so is the will of the Scottish
people enshrined in the Declaration of Arbroath.
Let me quote these lines:
”It is not for glory, nor riches, nor
honors that we are fighting but for freedom – for that alone – which
no honest man gives up but with life itself.”
Academics trace the linkage between our
Declaration and your Declaration – even though they were separated by
nearly 500 years. Almost half of the signatories to your Declaration
were Scots – and I can’t wait for you to return the compliment!
Of course, the links between our nations
are not just about constitutional thought. The most important link is
people. According to the United States census, 12 million Americans are
of Scottish or Scots-Irish descent. However, I’m told that no less
than 20 million claim Scottish ancestry. Well, this must be the ultimate
compliment – 8 million people who want to be connected with Scotland.
This event tells the world that Scotland
wants to be connected with all of you.
Many of us have left Scotland to make our
way in the world – and many have left their mark on his country.
Millions of Americans make the return
journey to Scotland and let me say, “Come this year in particular.”
You will find our majestic countryside open. You will find our championship golf courses open –
although not easy – but most of all you will find the hearts of our
people open. You will always be sure of a healthy and hearty welcome in
Scotland.
The mark of the Scot has been extensive.
Fifteen Presidents have had Scottish
roots, from James Monroe to Lyndon Johnson and Ronald Reagan, whose
great great grandparents came from Paisley. Of course, we Scots like to
believe that we have invented just about everything worth inventing –
from television, to golf, to Dolly the sheep. And Scottish Americans can
claim the telephone and the first daily newspaper in these United States
as well as the world’s first detective agency.
John Kenneth Galbraith once said that the
two smallest nations who have made the largest impact on human progress
were the Jewish people and the Scottish people. And that is true –
whether it be the giant leap of an Albert Einstein or the small step of
a Neil Armstrong.
Certainly, Scotland has done this world
some service.
And we can do more. Scotland is
blossoming once again – coming into its own as a distinctive and, I
believe, soon be an equal and independent member of the community of
nations.
Sir William Wallace would have liked
that.
So do I!!
Sir Sean Connery,
Speaking on the steps of the Capitol Building, Washington Thursday,
5th April 2001
See
the SI's tribute to US Tartan Day 2001 here!
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