Jenny Macdonald's Edinburgh
| Published date | 01 December 1998 |
| Date | 01 December 1998 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/002070209805300404 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
Jenny
Macdonald's
Edinburgh
W
HA'S
LIKE
US?
WAS
THE
QUESTION
POSED
BY
A
RECENT
EXHIBITION
on Scottish
identity at
the
City
Museum
of
Edinburgh.
This
reference
to
a
popular
Scots
toast
evades
the
somewhat
dissatisfying
answer:
'damn
few
and
they're
all
dead.'
For
me
it
was
somewhat surprising
to
see
another nation
grappling
with
an issue
I
perceive
as
obsessively
Canadian and
the
nation
is
Scotland
(if
Scotland
is
not
technically
its
own
state,
it
is
certainly
a
political
nation),
a
land
to
which young
Canadians
of
even
the
most
nebulous Scottish ancestry
flock
in
search
of
the
type
ofobjectifiable
culture
they
feel
is
lacking
in their
own
coun-
try.
I
am
often
told
by
compatriots
abroad
that
they
identify
more
strongly with
their
'Scottish
identity'
(transposed
through
a
parent,
grandparent,
great-grandparent, and
so
on)
than
with
their
Canadian
one.
But to
assume
that
because
they
have
shortbread and
tartans
and
William
Wallace,
the
Scots
have
not
had
identity
struggles
of
their
own
does
disservice
to
the
extraordinary
achievement
of
Scottish
devolution.
On
11
September
1997,
the
Scottish
people
voted
overwhelmingly
in
favour
of
a
Scottish
parliament
(78
per
cent)
with
tax-raising
powers
(68
per
cent).
What
young
Canadians
can learn
from
living
in
Scotland
is
what
the
Scots
already
know: bagpipes
are
great
for
tourism,
but
sov-
ereignty
is
what
identity
is
for.
It
has been
a
long journey
from
the
time
of
Macbeth,
when
Macduff
stood
on
a
frosty
rampart
and
enquired
of
Ross,
'stands
Scotland
where
it
did?'
The
reply,
'alas
poor
country,
almost
afraid
to
know
itself,'
could
INTERNATIONAL
JOURNAL
Autumn
1998
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