Why are we bombarded with TV ads every five minutes telling us how unique Scotland is? The words ‘Scotland’ and ‘Scottish’ are added to nearly every sentence. Our response to the pandemic has been more effective because Scotland is so caring; Scottish water is purer - beware of immitation; the best lottery to support is the one that helps out our own Scottish kids (charity begins at home?). When I was young we were taught all the marvellous discoveries and inventions by Scots -television, the fridge, penicillin, the bicycle, the toaster, the telephone, the tyre, logarithms. Instead of just celebrating a fantastic contribution to human discovery and development we felt the need to claim a first for Scotland. What happens when we learn that other countries lay claim to these discoveries and inventions too. For a small country. Scotland’s contribution in so many fields is something to be proud of but we don’t need to feel superior or to be first all the time. We aren’t ‘more caring’ - many Scots care a lot, many don’t. We aren’t naturally more left wing or inclusive - we can be proud of that part of our history but there are plenty of reactionaries and racists here in Scotland too.
Another annoying addition to our communications is the vanity project of Gaelic signage. We should be promoting and preserving Gaelic culture and language but in the most effective and productive ways. Adding Gaelic equivalents to the names of all our public bodies, council logos and to all place names on our road signs is just daft. I’m all in favour of Gaelic signage in places where it is either still spoken, has recently been spoken, or there is a historically good reason to do so. But why have Gaelic equivalents on the signs for towns and villages where the name isn’t derived from the language, and where it hasn’t been spoken for centuries, if ever.
Names like Taigh an Droma for Tyndrum, or Baile a’ Chaolais for Ballachullish help us to see how these names came about and why the English spelling doesn’t always match the local pronunciation. But when the sign says ‘Welcome to Cumnock/Cumnag - home of James Keir Hardie’ and the Scottish Gazeteer declares that ‘Glasgow Prestwick Airport Railway Station is known in Gaelic as Port-adhair Ghlaschu Phreastabhaig’ that’s just nonsense.
I love Scotland and am proud of all its many achievements and contributions but I don’t feel the need to preface everything with ‘Scottish’ or pepper ever sentence with the word ‘Scotland’. The next time that embarrassing menace Sean Clerkin turns up somewhere with his offensive banner saying ‘England out of Scotland’ I’m going to stand right in his face holding up mine saying ‘Scotland out of Scotland’. Then I’ll fall down on the ground in front of him and claim he assaulted me.