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LONDON: London Scots

Written by Kenny Macaskill MSP

Friday, 08 February 2008

When I started researching a book on Scottish societies around the globe, London was an obvious first destination.

When I started researching a book on Scottish societies around the globe, London was an obvious first destination. For centuries, Scots have headed south to England’s capital city seeking to make their fortune, and a vast and vibrant Scottish community has been created as a result. Like many Scots communities across the globe, one of the most striking features of the London Scots community is its diversity. It includes folk from a wide range of backgrounds and professions, and varies from those who have left Scotland temporarily and plan to return, to those who have made a permanent home in the city to those who may not have been born in Scotland but have a strong family bond with our country passed down over generations. One thing they all have in common, however, is a commitment to, a love of, and an abiding interest in Scotland.

Why is this so? Why do people living in London, and indeed further a field, still associate with this country of ours so strongly? One answer lies in the strength of Scottish identity. ‘Scottishness’ may mean different things to different people, but whatever the individuals own take it provides a welcome sense of identity and distinctiveness in a globalised and increasingly homogenous world.

That such a strong identity has survived over the centuries is little short of extraordinary. The obstacles to a Scottish identity remaining alive and well are myriad. The most obvious is 300 years of an incorporating Union with a larger neighbour, a situation that would have seen less durable national identities wither and die. Closely associated with the Union is, of course, the British Empire – a phenomenon in which the Scots played an active, even disproportionate, role and one which proved so successful that it threatened to replace any genuine sense of ‘Scottishness’ north of the border with a singular British identity. Throw into the mix two World Wars and the persistence of a distinct Scottish identity within the United Kingdom is even more remarkable.

At the outset of the 21st century, the restoration of the Scottish Parliament means that Scotland’s place in the UK and its relationship with England is changing. In one sense, the relationship is becoming similar to that which preceded the Union – a strong social bond between two distinct yet connected people symbolised by the 1603 Union of the Crowns, but with diverging political paths. The London Scots, with its roots dating back to the early 1600’s, is in a unique position to cope with that changing relationship. The bond that Scots in London have with their homeland is not predicated on a political partnership between Scotland and England, and the Scots community in London will prosper with or without the Union. The basis for that prosperity will be a proud, confident and inclusive Scottish identity that looks not just southward to London but outward to a global world.

Article written by Kenny Macaskill MSP. Kenny MacAskill has been an MSP for the Scottish National Party (SNP) since 1999. Between 1999 and 2007 Kenny served as a Member for the Lothians, before winning the constituency seat for Edinburgh East and Musselburgh in May 2007. While the SNP was in opposition he was a senior member of the Shadow Cabinet, holding portfolios covering enterprise, transport, tourism, telecommunications and justice, as well as being deputy leader of the Holyrood Parliamentary Group. Following the formation of an SNP government in May 2007, Kenny became Cabinet Secretary for Justice. Kenny has written and edited four books on Scottish politics, Scottish society and the Scottish diaspora. Kenny was educated at Linlithgow Academy and Edinburgh University and was a senior partner in a law firm until becoming an MSP. He is married with two sons.

'For Scots living in Scotland today, the idea of a society of exiled and ancestral Scots in another country conjures up varying images of nostalgia and sentimentality for their homeland.

For emigrant and ancestral Scots around the world, Scottish societies offer a chance for like minded, passionate people to join together in celebrating past and contemporary Scotland.

Based on a series of lively interviews with members of Scottish societies, 'Wherever the Saltire Flies' charts a memeorable journey in the ever evolving concept of Scottish identity. Providing genuine support and inspiration, these societies play a huge part in the preservation of Scottish culture and the worldwide promotion of Scotland, and the people involved are as much a part of Scottish history as those living in Scotland.'

Image: Courtesty of Kenny Macaskill's Office.

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